Terms of Service

The short version

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of BareMeta's cloud infrastructure platform ("Service"), operated by BAREMETA LTD, registered in England and Wales (company number 17142694), with registered address at 124-128 City Road, London, England, EC1V 2NX ("we", "us", "our"). By creating an account or using our services, you agree to these terms.

If you're using BareMeta on behalf of a company or organisation, you're agreeing to these terms on their behalf too.

We've tried to write these in plain English. If something isn't clear, please email us at hello@baremeta.cloud and we'll explain it.

Your account

To use BareMeta you need to create an account with a valid email address. Here's what you need to know:

• You must be 18 or over to create an account and use our services.
• One account per person. Creating multiple accounts to abuse free trials or avoid a suspension is not allowed.
• Keep your password safe. You're responsible for everything that happens under your account. If you think someone else has accessed your account, contact us immediately.
• Accurate information. Please provide accurate details when registering. Don't impersonate anyone else.
• Email verification. You'll need to verify your email address before you can use the service. This helps us keep the platform secure.

What you can and can't do

Our servers are shared infrastructure. What you do on your server can affect others. Here's the deal:

You can use BareMeta to:

• Host websites, web apps, APIs, and databases
• Run game servers, development environments, and personal projects
• Run legitimate business workloads and services
• Test software, run experiments, and learn
• Host VPN services for personal or business privacy

You cannot use BareMeta to:

• Send spam — bulk unsolicited email, SMS, or messages of any kind
• Launch attacks — DDoS attacks, port scanning, hacking, or attempting to compromise other systems
• Host illegal content — including but not limited to child sexual abuse material, content that violates copyright, and content illegal under UK law
• Mine cryptocurrency — without our prior written permission
• Host malware or botnets — viruses, ransomware, phishing pages, or any malicious software
• Abuse our network — generating excessive traffic that impacts other customers
• Resell our services — without a separate reseller agreement
• Circumvent security measures — attempting to access other customers' resources or our infrastructure

If you're unsure whether something is allowed, just ask us first. We're reasonable people.

How billing works

We charge by the hour. Your server starts accumulating charges when it's created and stops when it's deleted — not when it's powered off. A powered-off server still occupies resources (disk space, IP addresses) so billing continues.

Key billing points:

• Prices shown include VAT where applicable for UK customers.
• Payment is collected monthly via the payment method on your account.
• Usage is billed in arrears — you pay at the end of the month for the previous month's usage.
• Failed payments — if a payment fails, we'll retry and notify you. After 7 days of non-payment, your account may be suspended.
• Suspended accounts — your data is retained for 14 days after suspension, after which it may be deleted.
• No refunds on used compute time — once a server has run, that time cannot be refunded. If you have a genuine billing dispute, contact us.
• Price changes — we'll give you at least 30 days notice of any price increases.

What uptime can you expect?

We aim to keep the platform running reliably. Here's our commitment:

• Target uptime: 99.5% measured monthly, excluding scheduled maintenance.
• Planned maintenance — we'll give at least 24 hours notice via email for any maintenance that may affect your service.
• Emergency maintenance — occasionally we may need to act quickly to address security issues. We'll notify you as soon as possible.
• Service credits — if we fall below 99.5% uptime in a month (excluding maintenance), we'll credit your account with a proportional amount for the affected period.

During our current early access period, our SLA is offered in good faith. Formal SLA guarantees will be confirmed once the platform reaches general availability.

Your data belongs to you

We're a UK-based company and take data protection seriously. Here's our commitment:

• Your data is yours. We don't sell it, share it with advertisers, or use it for anything other than running your services.
• We don't access your data unless required by law, to resolve a support issue you've asked us about, or to investigate an Acceptable Use Policy violation.
• GDPR compliance. We comply with UK GDPR. You have the right to access, correct, and delete your personal data.
• Data location. Your data is currently stored in the United Kingdom.
• Data on termination. When you close your account, we'll retain your data for 30 days in case you change your mind, then permanently delete it.
• Backups. We perform infrastructure-level backups for disaster recovery. These are not a substitute for your own backups — please back up your important data.

For full details on how we handle personal data, see our Privacy Policy.

Shared responsibility

Security is a two-way responsibility:

We're responsible for:

• Physical and network security of our infrastructure
• Isolation between customer environments
• Keeping the platform software up to date
• Responding to security incidents affecting our infrastructure
• Notifying you within 72 hours if we become aware of a breach that affects your data

You're responsible for:

• Securing the software running on your servers
• Keeping your operating system and applications updated
• Managing access to your servers (SSH keys, passwords, firewalls)
• Ensuring your applications don't expose sensitive data
• Reporting any suspected security vulnerabilities to us promptly

Limitations on liability

We work hard to keep the platform running reliably, but cloud infrastructure is complex. Here's what we can and can't be held responsible for:

We are not liable for:

• Loss of data due to hardware failure (please back up your data)
• Downtime caused by events outside our control
• Loss of revenue or profits resulting from service interruption
• Actions taken by other customers on the platform
• Third-party services your applications depend on
• Damage caused by your own software or configuration

Our maximum liability to you in any month is limited to the amount you paid us in that month. This limitation applies to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Closing your account

You can leave any time. Delete your servers and close your account from the dashboard. You'll be billed for usage up to that point.

We may suspend or terminate your account if:

• You violate the Acceptable Use Policy — immediate suspension, possible permanent ban
• You fail to pay after 7 days of notice — account suspended until payment
• We receive a valid legal order requiring us to do so
• We're shutting down the service — 30 days notice minimum

What happens to your data:

• On suspension — your servers are stopped but data is retained for 14 days
• On termination — your data is retained for 30 days, then permanently deleted
• You can request an export of your data before deletion

When we update these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Here's our commitment:

• Minor changes (typos, clarifications) — updated without notice
• Significant changes (pricing, liability, new restrictions) — 30 days notice via email
• If you disagree with changes, you can close your account before they take effect
• Continuing to use the service after changes take effect means you accept the new terms

The current version and date are always shown at the top of this page.

Bandwidth policy

Every server — Starter, Small, Medium, Large, and Custom — includes a flat 10 TB of outbound data transfer per month. Inbound data transfer is always free and does not count against the allowance.

What happens if you exceed your allowance:

• Your server's port speed is throttled to 10 Mbps for the remainder of the billing cycle
• Your server remains online and accessible — the throttle affects outbound transfer speed only
• On the first of the following month, your port speed is automatically restored to full speed
• No overage charges apply. Exceeding the allowance does not produce an invoice line item

Blocked ports

Certain ports are blocked by default across all BareMeta servers to protect the platform and other customers:

• Port 25 (SMTP outbound) — blocked by default on all servers to prevent spam and protect our IP reputation. If you have a legitimate need to send email from your server, contact us to discuss options.
• Port 465 / 587 — available by default for authenticated SMTP submission

Refund policy

We want you to be happy with BareMeta. Here's our refund policy:

• 7-day money back — if you're not satisfied within the first 7 days of your first server, contact us for a full refund. This applies to new accounts only.
• After 7 days — no cash refunds on used compute time. We may offer pro-rata account credit at our discretion.
• Commitment periods — if you've paid upfront for 3, 6 or 12 months, we'll refund the unused portion as account credit.
• No refunds — for accounts suspended due to Acceptable Use Policy violations.

To request a refund, email billing@baremeta.cloud with your account details and reason. We'll respond within 2 business days.