Terms of service
These terms are an agreement between you and Grounder (“we”, “us”) for grounder.net, api.grounder.net and the Grounder MCP server (together, the service). By creating an account or using the service, you agree to them. If you use the service for an organization, you agree to them for that organization.
The service
Grounder sends a search to one or more search providers, merges what they return, and gives you the results with their sources, through an API and an MCP server for AI agents. The results come from those providers and the sites they index, not from Grounder.
Your account
- Sign up with a Google, GitHub or Apple account whose email address is verified. One account per person.
- You must be at least 18 to use Grounder.
- Keep your search keys secret. You’re responsible for everything done with your account and its keys. If a key leaks, revoke it on your account page and tell us at support@grounder.net.
Free searches and paid plans
Each account gets a free allowance of searches, currently 1,000 in total and up to 100 a day. We may change the allowance; the current one is always shown on grounder.net. Searches beyond it need billing, which you add on your account page. Its price is shown there and in the payment form before you agree to it, and you won’t be charged without agreeing. With billing on, each search past your free ones is charged at that price, and each billing month’s searches, counted from the day you add billing, are billed at its end to the card or account you added. Payments are processed by Stripe under its own terms. You can cancel from your account page at any time; billing then ends at the end of the current billing month, and searches past your free ones stop with it. If a payment fails, those searches stop until it is paid.
Your own provider keys
If you add your own key for a search provider, the searches that use it are billed to you by that provider under its terms, and you’re responsible for following them.
Acceptable use
Don’t use Grounder to:
- break the law, or infringe or violate anyone’s rights;
- get around the free allowance, rate limits or other limits, including by opening extra accounts;
- resell or redistribute access to the service, or offer its results as a search service of your own, without our written permission;
- disrupt, overload or attack the service, or test its security without our permission;
- work out how Grounder decides where a search goes, or build a competing router with it;
- send searches that break a search provider’s terms.
We may limit or suspend an account that breaks these rules.
Results and other sites
Results, titles, snippets and links come from search providers and the sites they index. We don’t control them, and they can be wrong, incomplete, out of date or offensive. Check anything that matters before you rely on it. A link takes you to a site under its own terms.
Your data
You keep your rights in what you send. You let Grounder store and process it to run the service, to improve routing and to keep the service secure, as the Privacy policy describes. You can stop your searches being used to improve routing at any time.
Feedback
If you send us ideas or feedback, we may use them without any obligation to you.
Changes and availability
Grounder is new and changes often. We may add, change or remove features, and the service may sometimes be unavailable. We’ll announce significant changes on grounder.net or by email.
Ending
You can stop using Grounder at any time. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms or puts the service or others at risk, or if we stop offering the service. What is already stored is kept as the Privacy policy describes.
Disclaimers
The service is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the extent the law allows, Grounder makes no warranties, express or implied, including of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy and non-infringement.
Limitation of liability
To the extent the law allows, Grounder is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data or goodwill. Grounder’s total liability for any claim about the service is limited to the greater of what you paid Grounder in the 12 months before the claim and US$100.
Indemnity
You’ll defend and indemnify Grounder against third-party claims that arise from your use of the service in breach of these terms or the law.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, and disputes about them go to the state and federal courts in Delaware, except where the law of your country requires otherwise.
Changes to these terms
When these terms change, the new version is posted here with its date, and account holders are emailed about significant changes. Using the service after a change means you accept the new terms.