Contentful’s agreement for its cloud service is published online as the Terms of Service, which self-service customers accept by clicking the sign-up button and which larger customers combine with a signed Service Order. The document is not titled a master subscription agreement, but it performs that function: it grants the right to use the Subscription Services, incorporates the Acceptable Use Policy and other linked terms, and states that it comprises the entire agreement between the parties together with the linked terms.[1] A separate Service Level Agreement gives availability and support commitments to customers that have a Contentful Success Plan.[2] This article summarises the clauses that affect licensing and compliance.
Parties and structure
The Terms define Contentful as Contentful GmbH of Berlin for customers located in Europe, the United Kingdom, the Middle East, Africa or Asia, and as Contentful Inc. of Denver, Colorado, for customers in the Americas, Australia or New Zealand.[1] Disputes are governed by Delaware law and the Delaware courts if the agreement is with Contentful Inc., and by the law and courts of England and Wales if it is with Contentful GmbH.[1]
Hierarchy matters. A Service Order that references the Terms controls in the event of a conflict, and terms in a customer purchase order, vendor onboarding process or web portal are void.[1] Policies referenced by URL are incorporated at their then-current version and can be updated with effect on publication, and Contentful may revise the Terms at its sole discretion, with a customer who objects in writing leaving the agreement unchanged but giving Contentful the right to terminate.[1] A customer that needs stability should therefore negotiate a Service Order that freezes or lists the documents that apply.
Grant and customer responsibilities
The grant is a non-exclusive right to access and use the Subscription Services and the documentation during the term, including the right to write and execute software applications or websites (“Customer Applications”) that interface with the services.[1] The customer must comply with the Acceptable Use Policy and is responsible for all use under its account and for the accuracy, quality, integrity and legality of customer content and applications.[1] The Terms do not contain a processor, user or site-based licence metric; the quantities that matter are in the Service Order and the usage limits described in Contentful usage limits and overages.
The Terms contain no audit clause. Contentful may aggregate and analyse information about the provision, use and performance of the services during and after the term, and disclose it to third parties only in aggregated and anonymized form.[1]
Fees and payment
Fees comprise subscription fees, additional usage fees and other fees in Contentful’s standard schedule or in a signed Service Order. They are payable in US dollars or euros by customer location, all payment obligations are non-cancelable and non-pro-ratable for partial months, and fees paid are non-refundable.[1] Where Contentful permits payment in arrears, invoices are payable within thirty days, and a late fee of 1.5% per month or the legal maximum, whichever is less, applies if the customer fails to pay within ten business days of written notice; Contentful may suspend the account until payment.[1] For asset management this means that downsizing a subscription mid-term does not recover fees, and that overage invoices from the usage meters are payable under the same rules.
Warranty, indemnity and liability
Contentful warrants that the services will substantially conform to the documentation, with a notification window of 30 days and a remedy of correction or, failing that, termination; free or trial use receives no such warranty.[1] Contentful indemnifies and defends the customer against third-party claims that permitted use of the services infringes a valid patent, copyright, trademark or trade secret, subject to notice, control and exclusion conditions, and the customer indemnifies Contentful for breaches of the Acceptable Use Policy and for infringement by customer content or applications.[1]
Liability for either party is capped at the fees invoiced in the twelve months before the liability arose, or two times those fees for breach of confidentiality or of the security and data protection section. Indemnification obligations, gross negligence or wilful misconduct, payment obligations and certain personal-injury liabilities are outside the caps.[1] For free or trial use Contentful’s cumulative liability is limited to USD 500.[1]
Term, termination and transfer
The term runs until the customer’s account is terminated or the trial or proof of concept ends. The customer may terminate through the account tools at any time, while Contentful may terminate or suspend for any reason on 30 days’ notice, immediately for breach, and on events such as liquidation, change of control or bankruptcy. No refund is due on suspension or termination for any reason.[1] Neither party may assign without consent except to a successor to all or substantially all of its assets or business or to an affiliate.[1] Because Contentful may terminate on notice for any reason, a customer that depends on the service for production content should secure a fixed term in a Service Order.
Free, trial and proof-of-concept use
For free, trial or proof-of-concept use the customer is prohibited from providing regulated or sensitive information, including personal information, and may use the services only for non-production use cases.[1] The usage limits add that Trial spaces last 30 days, exclude SLAs and still count towards organization-wide usage.[3]
Service Level Agreement
The SLA effective 2 February 2026 applies to customers with a Contentful Success Plan, while the previous version of 22 September 2025 applies to all other customers until they have one.[2] It covers service components including the Content Delivery API and GraphQL endpoint, the asset CDN, the Content Management and Preview APIs, the web editing interface and the Personalization Experience API.[2]
Uptime and credits
The committed uptime percentage and the service credit tables are not in the SLA; they are set in the customer’s Service Order. Downtime means availability of an individual service component below the committed uptime in a calendar month.[2] Scheduled maintenance announced at least three business days in advance and not exceeding four hours per calendar month is excluded, as are problems caused by factors outside Contentful’s control, by customer actions, by beta features and test environments, and by use of the services in excess of usage limitations in the Service Order.[2] A customer claims a credit by opening a support ticket within thirty days after the impacted month; only a single credit applies where several components fail, and credits are applied against future fees and expire if the term is not renewed.[2] The pricing page advertises an uptime SLA of up to 99.99% for Enterprise plans.[4]
Chronic failure and support
If availability of an individual service component is below 99% in any three calendar months during a term, or in any three months in a single year of a multi-year term, the customer may terminate the Service Order on thirty days’ notice and receive a pro-rated refund of prepaid fees for the unused term. Credits and this right are the exclusive remedy for downtime.[2] Support response times are tied to ticket severity and are specified in the Service Order.[2]
Compliance checklist
- Store the Terms of Service version, SLA version and incorporated policy versions with each Service Order.
- Identify the contracting entity and governing law per organization.
- Record the committed uptime and credit table from the Service Order, since the SLA does not state them.
- Check that Free and trial organizations hold no production data or personal data.
- Note that fees are non-refundable and that Contentful can terminate on notice, which should shape renewal and exit planning.
Out of scope
The Acceptable Use Policy, Security Addendum, Data Processing Addendum, AI Terms and Marketplace Terms are separate documents not summarised here.