Terms of service

Plain-language terms.

Effective: April 1, 2026 · Last updated: May 25, 2026
Contents
  1. The agreement
  2. What the service is
  3. Acceptable use
  4. Accounts
  5. Paid tier (when launched)
  6. Refunds and cancellations
  7. Availability & reliability
  8. Intellectual property
  9. Limitation of liability
  10. Termination
  11. Disputes & governing law
  12. Changes to terms
  13. Contact

1. The agreement

By using EmailSheriff (the "service"), you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, don't use the service. Pretty simple.

These terms form a contract between you (the "user") and the operator of EmailSheriff (the operator of EmailSheriff, an independent service established in India - referred to below as "we" or "us").

2. What the service is

EmailSheriff is an online email deliverability suite that provides syntax validation, spam detection, MX record lookup, DNS authentication checks (SPF / DKIM / DMARC), blacklist checking across 12 RBLs, CRM-specific DNS verification, header forensics, and related email diagnostic tools.

A free tier is available to all users with no signup required. A paid tier with higher limits, SMTP-handshake verification, PDF audit reports, API access, and other premium capabilities is launching separately and is governed by additional terms presented at signup.

3. Acceptable use

The service is for legitimate email deliverability work - checking your own domain, your own list, your own outbound email infrastructure. It is also acceptable to check on behalf of clients you have authorization to support.

You may NOT use the service to:

  • Validate purchased, scraped, or harvested email lists where consent for processing was not legitimately obtained.
  • Validate email addresses for the purpose of unsolicited bulk mailing (spam) or harassment.
  • Stress-test, scrape, or otherwise programmatically abuse the service beyond its rate limits without prior agreement.
  • Reverse-engineer, copy, or attempt to compete with the service using its own outputs.
  • Submit data that violates the privacy laws of your jurisdiction (e.g., processing EU residents' data without GDPR-compliant lawful basis on your end).

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate access for any user found to be violating these rules. Most violations result in a quiet rate-limit; flagrant violations result in account closure and IP-level blocking.

4. Accounts

You can use the free tier without creating an account. If you create an account (for the paid tier or for usage history), sign-in is passwordless - we email you a magic link rather than asking you to set a password. That means there's no password to leak, but it also means your account is only as secure and recoverable as the email address tied to it. Keep that inbox secure and reachable; if you permanently lose access to it, we may be unable to restore access to the account.

You must be at least 16 (under GDPR), 18 (under DPDP), or the age of majority in your jurisdiction to create an account.

The following terms apply to paid plans and pay-as-you-go credit purchases:

  • Subscriptions and credit packs. Paid plans are offered as monthly and annual subscriptions, alongside one-off pay-as-you-go (PAYG) credit packs.
  • Automatic renewal. Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period - monthly plans every month, annual plans every year - and we charge the payment method on file at the then-current price for your plan, until you cancel. We show the renewal price and date before you subscribe and on your account page. You can cancel anytime from your account; cancellation stops the next renewal, and your access continues until the end of the period you have already paid for. We do not refund the portion of a period already started (see Refunds below).
  • How credits work. Subscription credits are allocated each month and expire at the end of that monthly cycle - they do not roll over (this is the case for annual plans too: the allowance is released monthly). Pay-as-you-go credits never expire.
  • Payment is processed through a third-party payment processor - Razorpay for customers in India and Dodo Payments for customers elsewhere. They handle payment details directly; we never see or store your full card information.
  • You can manage your plan from your account at any time.
  • Pricing may change with 30 days' notice, applied at renewal. Customers are unaffected for the duration of any term they have already paid for.
  • Taxes. Prices are shown in your local currency where supported (INR for India via Razorpay; USD and other supported currencies for the rest of the world via Dodo Payments). For customers outside India, Dodo Payments acts as Merchant of Record and is responsible for collecting and remitting any sales tax, VAT, or GST that applies in your jurisdiction. For customers in India, any applicable indirect tax will be shown on your receipt and charged only where we are registered and required to collect it.

6. Refunds and cancellations

Monthly subscriptions are cancelled rather than refunded. Cancel anytime from your account to stop the next renewal - your access continues until the end of the current billing period, and you are not charged again. The portion of the current month already started is not refunded.

Annual subscriptions can be fully refunded if you request it within 7 days of the initial purchase and have used no more than a small fraction - about a tenth - of that period's credit allowance. Our account page computes this and shows you the answer before you confirm. After 7 days, the plan stays active for its term but is non-refundable.

Pay-as-you-go credit packs can be fully refunded within 7 days of purchase only if none of the credits have been used. A partly-used pack is not eligible for an automatic refund - email [email protected] with your invoice number and we will review your situation individually rather than refusing on a technicality.

If you experience a service outage attributable to us that causes meaningful inability to use the service, contact [email protected] and we will work toward a fair credit or refund.

7. Availability & reliability

The free tier is provided "as is" with no uptime guarantee. The paid tier (when launched) will target 99.9% monthly uptime, measured by external monitoring.

We rely on third-party services (Cloudflare, DNS resolvers, RBL operators) to deliver our checks. When those services are degraded, our checks may be degraded or unavailable. We strive to fail gracefully and inform you when this happens.

Audit results are best-effort technical signals. They are not a guarantee that your email will reach the inbox, that your domain is "safe," or that any given recipient will receive your message. Email deliverability is influenced by many factors outside any tool's view (engagement history, content, recipient mailbox-provider policy, time of day). Treat our results as one input among several.

8. Intellectual property

The service, its code, design, copy, and underlying methodology are owned by us. You may not copy substantial portions of the website or the application code without permission.

Audit results we generate for you (verdicts, exports, PDFs) are yours to use, share, and republish freely. Citation back to EmailSheriff is appreciated but not required.

9. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law: we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the service.

Our total liability for any claim related to the service is capped at the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim (or, if you've never paid us, INR 1,000 / approximately USD 12).

This limitation does not apply where prohibited by law (e.g., gross negligence, intentional misconduct, or matters where consumer protection laws prevent waiver).

10. Termination

You can stop using the service at any time. If you have a paid account, you can close it from your account settings - service continues until the end of your billing period.

We can suspend or terminate access if you violate these terms, abuse the service, fail to pay, or for any reason in our sole discretion (in which case we'll refund any unused prepaid time).

11. Disputes & governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of India.

For disputes that we can't resolve through good-faith conversation, the courts of India have exclusive jurisdiction. Exception: if you are a consumer in the EU or UK, you retain the right to bring proceedings in your local courts under applicable consumer protection law. If you are a consumer in California, the venue and choice-of-law provisions of the CCPA apply where they would override this clause.

12. Changes to terms

We may update these terms occasionally. Material changes will be flagged on the homepage and (if you have an account) emailed to you 30 days before they take effect. Continued use of the service after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

13. Contact

Questions, complaints, or feedback about these terms: [email protected] or use the contact form.