Terms of Service

Candl ("we," "us," "our") is a WhatsApp birthday reminder service. These terms govern your use of Candl. By messaging Candl on WhatsApp or using our website, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, please stop using the service.

We wrote these in plain language because nobody reads legalese. But they are still a binding agreement between you and Candl.

1. What Candl does

Candl is a birthday reminder bot that lives on WhatsApp. You message us to save friends' birthdays, and we send you reminders when those birthdays are coming up. There's no app to download — everything happens through WhatsApp text messages.

Candl also offers:

• Importing contacts from your phone (via WhatsApp contact sharing)
• Mutual birthday sharing between friends (both people must consent)
• AI-powered birthday message drafting and gift suggestions
• Proactive messages like reminders to fill in missing birthdays and birthday month nudges

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use Candl. If you're under 18, you should have a parent or guardian's permission. You also need a WhatsApp account, which means you're already bound by WhatsApp's Terms of Service.

3. Your account

Your Candl account is created automatically the first time you message us on WhatsApp. Your phone number is your account identifier — there's no username or password.

You are responsible for the activity on your account. If someone else has access to your WhatsApp, they can interact with Candl as you. Keep your phone and WhatsApp account secure.

4. Your responsibilities

When using Candl, you agree to:

• Provide accurate information (real names, real dates)
• Only share contacts you have the right to share (don't import someone else's phone)
• Not abuse the service — no spamming, no automated messaging, no using Candl in ways it wasn't designed for
• Not attempt to reverse-engineer, hack, or disrupt the service
• Not use Candl to harass, stalk, or harm anyone

5. Subscriptions and payments

Free tier

Your first 10 birthdays are free. You can use all of Candl's features with up to 10 saved birthdays at no cost.

Paid plans

To save more than 10 birthdays, you need a subscription: $5/month or $36/year. Payments are processed through Stripe. We never see or store your payment card details — Stripe handles all payment data directly.

Cancellation

You can cancel your subscription at any time. When you cancel, you'll keep access through the end of your current billing period. After that, your account reverts to the free tier. Your birthdays beyond the first 10 won't be deleted, but you won't receive reminders for them until you resubscribe.

Refunds

We generally don't offer refunds for partial billing periods. If you believe you were charged in error or have an exceptional circumstance, contact us at support@candl.app and we'll work it out.

Price changes

We may change our prices in the future. If we do, we'll give you at least 30 days' notice via WhatsApp before the new price takes effect. If you don't agree with the new price, you can cancel before it kicks in.

6. AI-generated content

Candl uses Anthropic's Claude AI to understand your messages, draft birthday messages, and suggest gift ideas. A few things to know:

• Suggestions, not advice. AI-generated message drafts and gift ideas are suggestions. Use your own judgment — we're not responsible for an awkward birthday message or a gift that misses the mark.
• Not always accurate. AI can make mistakes. Candl doesn't compute dates itself — we pre-calculate them — but generated text content may occasionally be off.
• No training on your data. Under Anthropic's commercial API terms, your conversations are not used to train AI models.

7. WhatsApp platform rules

Candl operates on WhatsApp's platform and is subject to Meta's WhatsApp Business Policy. This means:

• 24-hour messaging window. We can send you free-form messages only within 24 hours of your last message to us. Proactive reminders (like birthday notifications) are sent using pre-approved WhatsApp message templates.
• Message delivery. Messages are delivered through Meta's infrastructure. We can't guarantee delivery timing or that messages won't be delayed by WhatsApp.
• Platform changes. If Meta changes their policies or APIs in ways that affect Candl, we may need to adjust how the service works. We'll do our best to keep things running smoothly.

8. Data and privacy

Your privacy matters to us. Our Privacy Policy explains in detail what data we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and what control you have. By using Candl, you agree to our Privacy Policy.

The short version: we collect only what we need, we never sell your data, your conversations aren't used to train AI, and you can delete everything at any time by texting "delete my account" to Candl.

9. Intellectual property

Candl's name, logo, bot personality, and the code that powers the service belong to us. You can't copy, modify, or redistribute them.

The birthday data you provide is yours. The AI-generated message drafts and gift suggestions we create for you are yours to use however you like — send them, edit them, ignore them.

10. Limitation of liability

We do our best to make Candl reliable, but we can't guarantee perfection. Specifically:

• No warranty. Candl is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind, express or implied. We don't guarantee the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or available at all times.
• Missed reminders. We're not liable if a reminder doesn't arrive on time (or at all) due to WhatsApp outages, technical issues, or any other reason. Please don't rely on Candl as your only way to remember important birthdays.
• Liability cap. To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability to you for any claims arising from your use of Candl is limited to the amount you've paid us in the 12 months before the claim. If you're on the free tier, that's $0.
• No consequential damages. We're not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages — including hurt feelings from a missed birthday.

11. Termination

By you

You can stop using Candl at any time. To delete your account and all associated data, text "delete my account" to Candl on WhatsApp. This is permanent and cannot be undone. If you have an active subscription, cancel it before deleting your account.

By us

We may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these terms, abuse the service, or use Candl in a way that could harm other users or the service itself. We'll try to warn you first, but we reserve the right to act immediately if necessary.

If we discontinue Candl entirely, we'll give you reasonable notice and the ability to export or delete your data.

12. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the United States. Any disputes will be resolved in the courts of the State of Texas. We both agree to attempt to resolve disputes informally before filing any legal action.

13. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. If we make significant changes, we'll notify you via WhatsApp. Continued use of Candl after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated terms. If you don't agree with the changes, stop using the service and delete your account.

14. Contact us

Questions about these terms? Message Candl on WhatsApp or email us at support@candl.app.