Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

Welcome to imkitchen. These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you and imkitchen ("we," "us," or "our") governing your access to and use of our intelligent meal planning platform, including our website, mobile applications, and related services (collectively, the "Service").

By creating an account, accessing, or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not use the Service.

2. Eligibility

To use imkitchen, you must:

• Be at least 13 years of age (or the minimum age required in your jurisdiction)
• Have the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract
• Provide accurate, current, and complete registration information
• Maintain the security of your account password
• Comply with all applicable laws and regulations

3. Account Registration and Security

3.1 Account Creation

You must register for an account to access most features of the Service. You agree to provide accurate information during registration and to update your information if it changes. You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials.

3.2 Account Security

You are responsible for all activities that occur under your account. You agree to immediately notify us of any unauthorized access or security breach. We are not liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to protect your account credentials.

3.3 Account Termination

You may terminate your account at any time through your Profile settings. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, engage in fraudulent activity, or abuse the Service.

4. Service Plans and Billing

4.1 Free Tier

The free tier includes:

• Up to 10 recipes in your personal library
• Weekly meal plan generation (7 complete three-course lunches)
• Automatic shopping list generation
• Access to community recipe discovery
• Basic advance preparation reminders

Recipe limit enforcement: You cannot create an 11th recipe on the free tier without upgrading to Premium or deleting an existing recipe.

4.2 Premium Subscription

Premium subscribers receive unlimited recipes, advanced meal planning features, recipe collections, and priority support. Premium subscriptions are billed monthly at $9/month via Stripe.

4.3 Payment and Billing

• Subscriptions automatically renew monthly unless canceled
• Payment is processed securely via Stripe; we do not store credit card information
• You can cancel your subscription at any time; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period
• No refunds for partial months; you retain access until the end of the paid period
• We reserve the right to change subscription pricing with 30 days' notice

4.4 Downgrade from Premium to Free

If you downgrade from Premium to Free and have more than 10 recipes, you must delete recipes until you reach the 10-recipe limit before generating new meal plans.

5. User Content and Intellectual Property

5.1 Your Content

You retain ownership of recipes, reviews, and other content you create ("User Content"). By uploading User Content to the Service, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, display, reproduce, and distribute your content solely to provide and improve the Service.

5.2 Community Sharing

When you share recipes to the community, you grant other users the right to view, rate, review, and add your recipes to their personal libraries. Shared recipes become publicly visible and searchable. You can unshare recipes at any time, but copies already added by other users will remain in their libraries.

5.3 Content Standards

You agree not to upload User Content that:

• Infringes third-party intellectual property rights (plagiarized recipes, copyrighted images)
• Contains harmful, offensive, or illegal content
• Promotes dangerous food handling practices that could cause harm
• Contains spam, malware, or malicious links
• Violates any applicable laws or regulations

5.4 Content Moderation

We reserve the right to remove, edit, or restrict access to User Content that violates these Terms or is otherwise objectionable. We are not responsible for monitoring all User Content, but we may investigate reported violations.

6. Acceptable Use Policy

You agree NOT to:

• Use automated systems (bots, scrapers) to access the Service without permission
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any part of the Service
• Circumvent free tier recipe limits through multiple accounts
• Interfere with the Service's operation or security
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to other users' accounts or data
• Use the Service for any illegal or unauthorized purpose
• Impersonate others or misrepresent your affiliation
• Transmit viruses, malware, or harmful code
• Harass, abuse, or harm other users

7. Service Availability and Modifications

7.1 Service Availability

We strive to provide reliable service but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. The Service may be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance, updates, or unforeseen technical issues. We are not liable for downtime or service interruptions.

7.2 Service Modifications

We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Service at any time, with or without notice. We may add or remove features, change pricing (with notice), or update system requirements.

8. Third-Party Services and Links

The Service integrates with third-party providers (Stripe for payments, email services for notifications, MinIO for image storage). We are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, or reliability of these third-party services. Your use of third-party services is subject to their respective terms and policies.

The Service may contain links to external websites. We do not endorse or control these sites and are not responsible for their content or practices.

9. Disclaimer of Warranties

10. Limitation of Liability

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless imkitchen and its affiliates from any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including legal fees) arising from: (a) your use of the Service, (b) your User Content, (c) your violation of these Terms, or (d) your violation of any third-party rights.

12. Dispute Resolution and Governing Law

12.1 Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of [Your Jurisdiction], without regard to conflict of law principles. You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of courts in [Your Jurisdiction].

12.2 Informal Resolution

Before filing a formal claim, you agree to contact us at support@imkitchen.app to attempt informal resolution. We will work in good faith to resolve disputes amicably.

12.3 Arbitration (Optional)

If informal resolution fails, disputes may be resolved through binding arbitration rather than court litigation, except for claims related to intellectual property or small claims court matters.

13. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or Service features. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated Terms on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date. For significant changes, we may provide additional notice via email or in-app notification. Your continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

14. General Provisions

14.1 Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and imkitchen regarding the Service.

14.2 Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

14.3 Waiver

Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms does not constitute a waiver of that right or provision.

14.4 Assignment

You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our written consent. We may assign these Terms without restriction.

15. Contact Information

If you have questions or concerns about these Terms, please contact us: