Terms of Service
Effective Date: October 21, 2025
Welcome to Roost
We built Roost because renters deserve beautiful spaces, too. If you've ever felt powerless about improving your home—whether it's budget constraints, landlord restrictions, or just not knowing where to start—you're our people.
These terms exist to protect our community and keep Roost sustainable. We've tried to make them readable. If something's confusing, email us at [email protected] .
Our Mission: Democratize access to design guidance. Remove gatekeeping. Build a supportive community where everyone—regardless of budget or experience—can create spaces that bring them joy.
Table of Contents
1. Account Terms
Age Requirement
You must be at least 13 years old to use Roost. If you're under 18, you represent that you have your parent or guardian's permission to use the service.
Account Responsibility
When you create an account, you agree to:
- Provide accurate information. Your email must be valid—we use it to communicate with you.
- Keep your password secure. You're responsible for all activity under your account.
- Not share your account. One account per person, please.
- Notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access (email [email protected]).
Username & Profile
Choose your username carefully—you can only change it once every 30 days (to prevent abuse and maintain community trust). We reserve the right to reclaim usernames that violate our policies or impersonate others.
2. Content You Share
You Own Your Content
Everything you post on Roost—projects, photos, comments, design advice—belongs to you. We don't claim ownership of your creative work.
License You Grant to Roost
By posting content, you grant Roost a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to:
- Display your content on our platform (duh, that's the point)
- Feature your projects in marketing materials, blog posts, social media, newsletters
- Allow others to view and share your public projects
- Optimize and reformat images for web/mobile performance
Why? Because when you create something beautiful on a budget, we want to celebrate it. Your before/after might inspire thousands of other renters. That's the whole idea.
Content You Can't Post
Don't post content that:
- Violates intellectual property rights (don't steal photos from Pinterest)
- Contains personal information (yours or others'—no doxxing)
- Is illegal, harmful, or promotes violence
- Is spam, scams, or excessive self-promotion
- Violates our Community Guidelines
Our AI moderation catches most bad actors automatically. Repeat violations = account suspension.
Removal & Deletion
You can delete your projects, comments, and account anytime. When you delete content, we remove it from public view immediately. Some content may be retained in backups for up to 30 days for technical reasons. See our Privacy Policy for details.
3. Using Roost Responsibly
We're Building a Community, Not a Marketplace for Spam
Roost is designed for genuine design enthusiasts helping each other. Here's what we won't tolerate:
- Harassment or abuse of other users (we have zero tolerance for this)
- Impersonation of other people, brands, or designers
- Scraping or data mining our platform (talk to us if you have a legitimate research use case)
- Automated bots for liking, commenting, or posting (unless we've approved it)
- Security testing without permission (email [email protected] first)
- Circumventing our AI moderation or rate limits
Design Advice is Just Advice
Comments and design suggestions are opinions from community members, not professional consultations. If you DIY something based on a comment and it goes wrong, that's between you and the commenter—Roost isn't liable. (More on this in the Liability section.)
4. Designer Services & Independent Contractors
Note: Paid designer features aren't live yet, but we're documenting this now for transparency about where we're headed.
Designers Are Independent, Not Roost Employees
When we launch designer features (project consultations, paid portfolios, etc.), designers will be independent contractors, not Roost employees. This means:
- Roost is a platform only. We connect you with designers, but we're not the designer.
- Designers set their own rates and terms. We don't control their work or schedules.
- Disputes are between you and the designer. We'll mediate if asked, but final outcomes are between the parties involved.
- California AB5/AB2257 compliance: Designers maintain independence—they can work for competitors, set their own hours, and use their own methods.
Liability Disclaimer for Design Services
If a designer recommends a paint color your landlord hates, or a DIY project causes damage, Roost is not liable. You're hiring the designer directly as an independent contractor. Choose wisely, communicate clearly, and remember: design is subjective.
Designer Vetting
We review designer applications and portfolios, but we don't guarantee quality. Think of Roost like Upwork or Fiverr—we provide the platform, you choose the professional. Read reviews, check portfolios, ask questions.
5. Payments, Tips & Refunds
Note: Payment features aren't active yet, but here's how they'll work when we launch them.
What You Might Pay For
- Tips for helpful comments (think: "this advice saved me $200!")
- Designer consultations (paid project reviews, custom mood boards, etc.)
- Marketplace transactions (future: buy/sell curated design items from community members)
Payment Processing
We use Stripe for secure payment processing. We never store your credit card details—Stripe handles that. By making a payment, you agree to Stripe's terms.
Refund Policy
- Tips: Non-refundable. It's a tip! If you accidentally tipped the wrong person, email us within 24 hours and we'll see what we can do.
- Designer services: Refunds handled case-by-case within 48 hours of payment. After that, disputes go through our mediation process. Designers can offer refunds at their discretion.
- Marketplace purchases: Sellers set their own refund policies (must be disclosed before purchase). Roost facilitates disputes but doesn't guarantee refunds.
Taxes Are Your Responsibility
If you're a designer earning money on Roost, you're responsible for your own taxes. We'll provide 1099 forms (US) or equivalent tax documentation where required. Consult a tax professional—we're not accountants.
Roost's Transaction Fees
We charge a service fee on payments to cover platform costs (Stripe fees, moderation, hosting). The exact percentage will be disclosed before launch. For now, assume it's in the 10-15% range (industry standard).
6. Advertising & Platform Changes
About Ads (Spoiler: None Yet)
We don't have ads right now. If we ever introduce them, we'll give you 30 days' notice. Why might we add ads? Because we're a mission-driven company trying to stay sustainable without venture capital. Bills need paying—hosting, moderation AI, and our own rent.
If/when we do ads, we promise:
- No creepy retargeting across the internet (we use privacy-first analytics)
- Relevant ads only (design brands, furniture, home goods—not crypto scams)
- Clearly labeled as ads (no sneaky native content)
- User-friendly (not intrusive pop-ups or auto-play videos)
We Might Change Features
Roost is evolving. We might add features, remove underused ones, or redesign the whole thing. We'll communicate major changes via email or in-app notifications. If you don't like a change, you can always tell us why—we listen.
7. Privacy & Your Data
We take privacy seriously. Read our full Privacy Policy for details, but here's the TL;DR:
- We collect minimal data: Email, profile info, content you post, usage analytics (cookieless)
- We don't sell your data. Ever. Not even anonymized.
- You can export or delete your data anytime (email [email protected])
- We use privacy-first analytics (Plausible—no cookies, no tracking across sites)
Third-Party Services
We use trusted partners for:
- Hosting: Vercel (US-based)
- Database: Supabase (EU/US data centers)
- Payments: Stripe (when we launch payments)
- Moderation: Google Perspective API (analyzes text for toxicity)
These services have their own privacy policies. We vet them carefully, but you should read their terms too.
8. Cancellation & Account Termination
You Can Leave Anytime
Delete your account in settings, or email [email protected]. We'll delete your personal data within 30 days. Your public projects can be deleted or anonymized (your choice).
We Can Terminate Accounts Too
We reserve the right to suspend or ban accounts that:
- Violate these Terms of Service
- Harass other users or engage in abusive behavior
- Post illegal content or spam
- Attempt to hack, scrape, or abuse the platform
We'll usually warn you first (unless it's egregious). You can appeal by emailing [email protected].
What Happens to Your Content
If we terminate your account for violations, we may retain your content for moderation purposes (to prevent re-signup abuse). Otherwise, standard deletion rules apply.
9. Liability & Warranties
Legal Disclaimer: This section is important. Read it carefully.
Roost Is Provided "As Is"
We work hard to make Roost reliable, but we can't guarantee:
- 100% uptime (servers crash, things break)
- Bug-free experience (we're a small team, not a trillion-dollar company)
- Accuracy of user-generated content (comments are opinions, not certified advice)
Use Roost at your own risk. We disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Roost (and its founders, employees, contractors) are not liable for:
- Damages from design advice that doesn't work out
- Lost profits, data, or business opportunities
- Disputes between users and designers
- Third-party content or links (we don't control external sites)
- Security breaches (we take security seriously, but no system is 100% secure)
Maximum liability: If you paid us money (tips, subscriptions, etc.), our total liability is limited to the amount you paid in the past 12 months. If you haven't paid us anything, you can't recover damages.
Indemnification (You've Got Our Back)
If your use of Roost gets us sued (e.g., you post copyrighted images you don't own), you agree to indemnify and defend us. Don't make us regret building this for you.
10. Dispute Resolution
Talk to Us First (Seriously)
Before lawyering up, email [email protected]. We're reasonable humans. Most issues can be resolved with a conversation.
Binding Arbitration
If informal resolution fails, we both agree to binding arbitration instead of court. This means:
- A neutral arbitrator decides the outcome (not a judge or jury)
- Faster and cheaper than litigation
- Decision is final (limited appeal rights)
Arbitration will be conducted by JAMS (Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services) under their Streamlined Arbitration Rules. You can still sue in small claims court if your dispute qualifies.
No Class Actions
You agree to arbitrate disputes individually, not as part of a class action. We know this is controversial—it protects us as a small company from getting crushed by legal fees.
Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws of California, USA, without regard to conflict of law principles. If you're outside the US, your local consumer protection laws may still apply.
11. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms occasionally (new features, legal requirements, clarity improvements). When we do:
- Minor changes: Posted here with updated "Effective Date" at the top
- Major changes: We'll email you 30 days in advance
Continued use of Roost after changes = acceptance of new terms. If you don't agree, please stop using the service and delete your account.
Version History
We'll maintain a public changelog of Terms updates at github.com/freshroost/policies (future—not live yet). Transparency matters.
12. Contact Us
Questions, concerns, or just want to say hi?
- General support: [email protected]
- Feedback & suggestions: [email protected]
- Privacy requests: [email protected]
- Security issues: [email protected]
- Disputes & appeals: [email protected]
We aim to respond within 24-48 hours (business days). Be patient—we're a small team trying to change how renters think about their spaces.