Terms of Service

By creating an account, accessing, or using Best Journal App ("the App," "the Service," "we," "us," "our"), you ("User," "you") agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference. If you do not agree, you must not access or use the Service.

You must be at least 16 years old (or the age of digital consent in your jurisdiction, whichever is higher) to use the Service. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you meet this requirement and that you have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms. If you are using the Service on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms.

Best Journal App is a chat-first journaling tool that allows you to submit text, image, and other content ("Entries"). The Service uses automated systems, including artificial intelligence and machine learning models (both self-hosted and third-party), to store, categorize, tag, summarize, and analyze your Entries in order to surface patterns and generate insights, and to allow you to query your own historical entries conversationally.

The Service is provided for personal, self-reflective, and informational purposes only. It is explicitly not a substitute for professional medical, psychological, psychiatric, legal, or financial advice. See Section 9.

• You must create an account to use the Service, using our third-party authentication provider (currently Clerk) or another supported method.
• You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and to keep it updated.
• You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.
• You agree to notify us immediately at bestjournalapp@gmail.com of any unauthorized use of your account.
• We are not liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to protect your account credentials.

4.1 Ownership

You retain full ownership of all content you submit to the Service, including journal entries, images, and any other material ("User Content"). We do not claim ownership over your User Content.

4.2 License You Grant to Us

By submitting User Content, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, process, transmit, analyze, and create derivative data from (such as tags, embeddings, and summaries of) your User Content, solely for the purpose of operating, providing, securing, and improving the Service, including transmission to third-party sub-processors as described in our Privacy Policy. This license ends when you delete the relevant content or your account, except for (a) backup copies retained per our retention schedule, and (b) fully anonymized/aggregated derivative data that can no longer identify you.

4.3 Your Responsibility for Content

You are solely responsible for the User Content you submit. You represent that:

• You own or have the necessary rights to submit the content.
• Your content does not violate any law or infringe any third party's rights.
• You will not submit content that is illegal, that documents or promotes harm to yourself or others in a manner requiring emergency intervention (in which case you should contact emergency services, not this App), or that contains malicious code.

We do not pre-screen User Content but reserve the right (not the obligation) to remove content or suspend accounts that we reasonably believe violate these Terms.

The Service uses automated AI systems to generate tags, summaries, mood scores, pattern detection, and conversational responses ("AI Output"). You acknowledge and agree that:

1. AI Output is generated algorithmically and may be inaccurate, incomplete, biased, or simply wrong.
2. AI Output does not constitute professional advice of any kind (medical, psychological, legal, or financial).
3. We make no guarantee regarding the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of any AI Output, tag, insight, or pattern detected by the Service.
4. You are solely responsible for any decisions or actions you take based on AI Output. You should exercise independent judgment and consult qualified professionals for any matter of importance, including your mental health and well-being.
5. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, thoughts of self-harm, or a medical emergency, stop using the Service and contact a licensed professional or emergency services in your area immediately. The Service is not a crisis response tool and is not monitored for emergency intervention.

• Certain features of the Service require a paid subscription. Pricing and plan details are displayed within the App.
• All payments are processed by our third-party payment processor, Dodo Payments. By subscribing, you also agree to Dodo Payments' applicable terms.
• Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing cycle unless cancelled before renewal.
• Refunds: Except where required by applicable law, all payments are non-refundable, including partial billing periods, unused features, or account terminations initiated by you or by us for a Terms violation.
• We reserve the right to change pricing at any time. Material price changes will be communicated in advance and will apply to your next billing cycle, not retroactively.
• Failure to pay applicable fees may result in suspension or termination of your access to paid features.

You agree not to:

1. Use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law.
2. Attempt to gain unauthorized access to our systems, other users' accounts, or infrastructure.
3. Reverse-engineer, decompile, scrape, or attempt to extract the underlying models, source code, or training methodology of the Service.
4. Use automated means (bots, scrapers) to access the Service outside of any officially provided API.
5. Interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the Service.
6. Upload malicious code, viruses, or content designed to harm our systems or other users.
7. Use the Service to harass, defame, or harm any third party.
8. Attempt to resell, sublicense, or commercially exploit the Service without our written permission.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate this section, with or without notice.

• While we implement reasonable backup and security practices (see our Privacy Policy), we do not guarantee that your data will never be lost, corrupted, or become temporarily or permanently inaccessible, whether due to technical failure, third-party infrastructure issues, security incidents, or other causes.
• We do not guarantee uninterrupted, error-free, or continuous availability of the Service. We may suspend the Service for maintenance, upgrades, or reasons beyond our control.
• You are strongly encouraged to periodically export or back up any journal content that is important to you, where export functionality is available.
• We are not liable for any loss, damage, or inconvenience caused by service interruption, data loss, or data unavailability, except where such loss results directly from our gross negligence or willful misconduct, and then only to the extent of the liability cap in Section 11.

Nothing provided through the Service - including AI Output, insights, pattern detection, or any other feature - constitutes medical, psychological, psychiatric, therapeutic, legal, financial, or other professional advice. The Service is a self-reflection and journaling tool only. Always seek the advice of a qualified professional with any questions you may have regarding a medical, mental health, legal, or financial condition. Never disregard professional advice or delay seeking it because of something generated by the Service.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, ACCURATE, OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ANY DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW:

1. IN NO EVENT SHALL WE, OUR FOUNDERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF GOODWILL, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, OR ANY OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) THE SERVICE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
2. OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (B) ten U.S. dollars (USD $10) / ₹800 INR.
3. THIS LIMITATION APPLIES REGARDLESS OF THE LEGAL THEORY ON WHICH A CLAIM IS BASED, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE, AND EVEN IF ANY REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE.
4. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages, so some of the above limitations may not apply to you. In such cases, our liability will be limited to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Best Journal App, its founders, employees, and affiliates from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including reasonable legal fees, arising out of or in any way connected with: (a) your access to or use of the Service; (b) your User Content; (c) your violation of these Terms; or (d) your violation of any third-party right, including privacy or intellectual property rights.

• By You: You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time via the App or by emailing bestjournalapp@gmail.com.
• By Us: We may suspend or terminate your account, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms, engaged in fraudulent or harmful activity, or for any operational or legal reason, including discontinuation of the Service.
• Upon termination, your right to use the Service immediately ceases. Provisions which by their nature should survive termination, including Sections 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 15, shall survive.
• Termination does not entitle you to a refund except where required by applicable law.

• We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service at any time, with or without notice.
• We may revise these Terms from time to time. We will update the "Last Updated" date and, for material changes, provide notice via email or in-app notification. Continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you must stop using the Service.

1. These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, unless otherwise required by mandatory local law applicable to you.
2. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall first be attempted to be resolved informally by contacting us at bestjournalapp@gmail.com.
3. If a dispute cannot be resolved informally within 30 days, both parties agree that the dispute shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts located in India, except where applicable local consumer protection law grants you the right to bring a claim in your own jurisdiction, in which case that right is preserved.
4. You agree to bring claims only in your individual capacity and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, or representative proceeding, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid under applicable law, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that the remaining Terms will otherwise remain in full force and effect.

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Best Journal App regarding the Service and supersede any prior agreements or understandings, whether written or oral.

Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not be considered a waiver of such right or provision.

For any questions about these Terms:
Email: bestjournalapp@gmail.com