The Qualtrics General Terms and Conditions (GTC) are the foundation of every Qualtrics subscription. Qualtrics presents them as a single set of terms that applies to all of a customer’s contracts regardless of which Cloud Services, professional services or research services are purchased.[1] The GTC is applied together with an Order Form and the Product Terms; this article explains how the pieces fit together and what each says about use rights, counting and consequences of overuse.
Definitions that drive licensing
The GTC defines the Agreement as an Order Form and the documents incorporated into it, including the GTC.[2] An Order Form is the medium by which the parties agree to the purchase of a Cloud Service or Professional Service.[2] A Cloud Service is a distinct, subscription-based, hosted, supported and operated on-demand solution provided under an Order Form, and Product Terms are the terms relating to the customer’s use of the Cloud Service as set forth in an Order Form.[2] The Subscription Term is the term identified in the Order Form together with all renewals, and a Usage Metric is the standard of measurement for determining permitted use and calculating fees for the Cloud Service as set forth in an Order Form.[2] An Authorized User is any individual that the customer authorizes to use the Cloud Service who is an employee, agent, contractor or representative of the customer or its Affiliates.[2] The Usage Metric row in the catalog records the definition.
Grant and restrictions
Qualtrics grants a non-exclusive and non-transferable right to use the Cloud Service, Cloud Materials and Documentation solely for the internal business purposes of the customer and its Affiliates, including collecting information from third parties for those purposes, and use is permitted worldwide except where prohibited by law, including export laws.[2] The customer may permit Authorized Users to use the Cloud Service, may not allow a set of access credentials to be used by more than one individual, and may transfer credentials from one individual to another if the original user is no longer permitted to use the service.[2]
The acceptable use policy prohibits copying, translating, decompiling or reverse engineering the Cloud Service, entering unlawful content, using the service in a way that circumvents Usage Metrics or Product Terms, accessing it by unauthorized means such as scraping, crawling or penetration testing, circumventing its security, and removing Qualtrics’ copyright notices.[2] Usage is limited to the Usage Metrics and volumes in the Order Form, and Qualtrics may monitor use to the extent necessary to verify compliance with Usage Metrics, volume and the Agreement.[2] Qualtrics may suspend or limit use if continued use breaches the acceptable use policy or may materially harm Qualtrics, the service or its users, and it will promptly notify the customer and limit the suspension in time and scope as reasonably possible.[2] Integrations with third-party services are not part of the Cloud Service, and the Agreement does not apply to them.[2]
Fees, term and termination
Fees are as agreed in the Order Form, exclusive of taxes. Qualtrics may suspend a service for non-payment after prior written notice, the customer may not withhold, reduce or set off fees nor reduce Usage Metrics during the Subscription Term, and, except as the Agreement provides, all Order Forms are non-cancellable and all fees are non-refundable.[2] The FAQ that Qualtrics publishes alongside the GTC says that it provides no termination for convenience right, and that termination rights in section 6.2 include certain breaches of service level commitments; the FAQ also states that it does not form part of the agreement.[3]
A party may terminate on 30 days’ written notice for an uncured material breach, and immediately on insolvency or on material breach of the confidentiality, trade compliance or assignment provisions.[2] On termination by the customer, or for an intellectual property infringement termination by Qualtrics under section 8.1(c), the customer receives a pro-rata refund of the unused prepaid fees and is released from fees for later periods.[2] Without Qualtrics’ prior written consent the customer may not assign, delegate or transfer the Agreement, while Qualtrics may assign it to its Affiliates.[2] The GTC provides that terms in customer purchase orders have no force and effect.[2]
Service levels
The GTC warrants an average monthly system availability as set out in the Service Level Agreement, and states that a later modification of the SLA by Qualtrics does not apply to the customer.[2] The SLA itself commits to 99.93% availability, excluding maintenance notified at least five days in advance and causes outside Qualtrics’ reasonable control.[4] Fee credits are computed as a percentage of one twelfth of the then-current annual fees for the affected Cloud Service: nothing for up to 30 minutes of downtime in a month, 5% for 31 to 120 minutes, 7.5% for 121 to 240 minutes and 10% for 241 minutes or more.[4] Credits and the termination right are the sole remedies for an SLA breach; the customer may terminate and be refunded if the SLA is missed for four consecutive months, for five or more months in any twelve, or at an availability of at least 95% for one calendar month, by notice within 30 days of the failure.[2] The credit may be applied to a future invoice or refunded if none is due.[2]
Liability, ownership and law
Liability for each 12-month period is capped at the annual fees paid for the applicable Cloud Service or Professional Service, with carve-outs including the indemnity obligations and the customer’s failure to pay fees.[2] Qualtrics defends and indemnifies the customer against claims that use of the Cloud Service infringes a patent, copyright or trade secret, excluding use not permitted by the Agreement, use with third-party products and use of a free service.[2] The customer defends Qualtrics against third-party claims related to Customer Data.[2] Customers retain rights in Customer Data, and Qualtrics owns the Cloud Service and Cloud Materials.[2] The Agreement is governed by Delaware law with exclusive venue in Wilmington, Delaware, and excludes the UN sales convention.[2] Customers may not use the service in connection with persons located in comprehensively sanctioned countries or regions, or designated restricted parties.[2]
Common Usage Metric definitions
The Usage Metric Definitions document, dated 2 April 2026, defines five units used across products.[5]
| Unit | Definition summary | Counting notes |
|---|---|---|
| Employees | Total employees, contractors or other personnel directly employed or engaged by the customer’s organization | Used for Employee Experience pricing |
| Page View | Each visit to a selected webpage with the Qualtrics code, or each app launch and in-app page visit with the SDK | Counted whether or not an intercept shows |
| Response | Completed or partially completed survey response collected into the Cloud Service | Excludes unrecorded partials and pre-existing responses imported in the first six months; each video-feedback minute adds a Response |
| SMS Text | A credit for sending and receiving survey data via SMS | A third party determines credits needed per recipient |
| User | Any individual who can access the service to edit, view or manage Customer Data, directly or indirectly | Inactive Users with retained data keep counting |
The User definition expressly includes people using the service through a portal or API and people who indirectly access Customer Data through an automated process, and each User must have their own credentials.[5] When a User leaves, the administrative user may keep the data in that account, in which case the account continues to count, or delete the credentials and reissue them to a new User, transferring the data first if it is to be retained.[5] Qualtrics support documentation also describes per-user Allowed Responses, SMS credit, WhatsApp credit and outgoing email limits that administrators set within the license year.[6]
Overage billing
The Overage Terms apply to customers on a consumption-based pricing model. An overage is any volume above the Usage Metric volumes purchased in the Order Form.[7] The per-unit price is the one in the Order Form or, if none, Qualtrics overage pricing at the time the overage occurs, and after the initial term it rises by the same percentage as the underlying unit price.[7] The process has six steps: the service monitors consumption, Qualtrics identifies excess consumption at the end of each monthly billing cycle, multiplies the excess by the per-unit price, generates an invoice showing period, quantity, unit price and total, delivers it to the billing email, and the customer pays according to the Order Form payment terms.[7] Overage charges are billed monthly after the end of the calendar month in which they were consumed.[7] See the Overage billing program row.
Data, audit and deletion
During the Subscription Term the customer may access and export Customer Data in a standard format, and after the term Qualtrics deletes remaining data on the hosting servers unless law requires retention.[2] The data processing exhibit allows the customer or an acceptable independent auditor to audit Qualtrics’ control environment and security practices relevant to Personal Data, with at least 60 days’ notice unless data protection law requires otherwise, and the customer bears audit costs unless a material breach of the exhibit is found.[2] This is a security audit right and is distinct from usage verification, which the GTC describes as monitoring of use.[2]
Out of scope
Product-specific definitions (Interactions, Feedback Records, Credits, Agent Engagements, Sessions) are covered in the product line articles. The US federal government, Australian small business and online payment amendments referenced on the GTC page, translations of the GTC, and negotiated enterprise agreements that take precedence are not analysed.[1]