Terms of Use

1. Agreement to these Terms

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the Linger website, applications, and related services (collectively, the “Service”) operated by Linger (“Linger,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). By accessing or using the Service, creating an account, or clicking to accept these Terms, you agree to be bound by them and by our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Eligibility and age requirement

The Service is intended only for individuals who are at least 18 years of age. You must affirm that you are 18 or older before using Linger. We may request proof of age or suspend access if we have reason to believe you do not meet this requirement.

Until we release features designed for younger audiences with appropriate safeguards, minors are not permitted to use the Service under any circumstances. We do not knowingly offer the Service to anyone under 18.

3. Changes to the Service

The Service is continuously updated and improved. We may add, remove, modify, limit, or discontinue features or functionality at any time. You use the Service as it exists when you access it, and you acknowledge that the Service may change over time.

During Early Access, free accounts may receive temporary elevated usage limits (for example, daily message caps and persistent memory capacity). Those Early Access allowances are not permanent entitlements and may change when long-term free limits are announced. Paid plans may offer higher limits and additional features. Specific numbers shown in the product are descriptive of current Early Access configuration and may be updated without amending these Terms.

4. Description of the Service

Linger provides an AI character chat platform. Conversations, character responses, greetings, and other outputs are generated by third-party artificial intelligence models. Linger is a software platform that facilitates those interactions; it is not a human companion, therapist, counselor, lawyer, doctor, financial advisor, or emergency service.

5. AI-generated content — no reliance

AI characters on Linger are fictional, software-generated personas. Their dialogue and other outputs are created automatically by AI models and are machine-generated expressions of those personas—not factual statements, verified information, professional advice, or instructions you must follow. AI-generated responses do not represent the opinions, beliefs, or positions of Linger. Responses are probabilistic; they may be inaccurate, incomplete, fictional, fabricated, offensive, inconsistent, or otherwise unsuitable. Characters may express opinions, emotions, or claims that do not reflect Linger’s views, may not reflect reality, and are not endorsed, adopted, or verified by Linger.

You agree that you will not treat AI output as medical, mental health, legal, financial, safety, or other professional advice. You are responsible for exercising your own independent judgment before acting on any AI-generated content. Do not rely on the Service for urgent, dangerous, or high-stakes decisions. If you need emergency help, contact local emergency services or a qualified professional directly.

6. Separation of liability for AI output

Conversations on Linger are generated automatically by third-party artificial intelligence models. Because those outputs are probabilistic, they may be inaccurate, fictional, offensive, inconsistent, or otherwise inappropriate. Linger does not endorse, adopt, publish, or verify AI-generated statements, user-created character dialogue, or other users’ content as its own. AI-generated content does not represent Linger’s opinions or beliefs.

You remain solely responsible for how you interpret and act on AI-generated content and for any decisions you make based on the Service. You should not rely on AI output for urgent, dangerous, or high-stakes situations.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Linger disclaims liability for AI-generated content and third-party model outputs, and any claim arising from your use of such content is subject to the limitations, disclaimers, and dispute-resolution provisions in these Terms. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

Linger does not control third-party model providers, their training data, or the specific outputs they produce, and makes no guarantee regarding their behavior or availability.

7. Safety and moderation

Linger may use automated systems, human review, or both to monitor, restrict, remove, or disable characters, conversations, User Content, or accounts that we believe present safety, legal, or platform risks, or that violate these Terms or applicable law.

These measures are intended to reduce harmful or prohibited content, but they are not perfect. We do not guarantee that every inappropriate, unsafe, or unlawful response will be detected, prevented, or removed. You should not assume that moderation will intercept all problematic content before you see it.

8. Mature themes

Because the Service is intended only for adults 18 years of age or older, some characters, conversations, or community content may include mature themes or other material not suitable for minors where permitted. You acknowledge that you may encounter such content and that you are legally permitted to access it in your jurisdiction. Mature themes are not required to use the Service and, where available, can be limited in Account settings.

9. Your responsibilities and compliance with law

You are solely responsible for your conduct, messages, account activity, and any decisions you make based on the Service. You agree to comply with all applicable local, state, national, and international laws, regulations, and restrictions when using Linger, including laws related to age, content, privacy, intellectual property, harassment, and export control.

You represent that your use of the Service is lawful where you access it and that you will not use Linger in any jurisdiction or manner where such use is prohibited.

10. User Content and characters

You may submit messages, persona details, character definitions, feedback, and other content (“User Content”). You retain ownership of your User Content, but you grant Linger a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, process, and display User Content as needed to operate, secure, and improve the Service.

You are solely responsible for User Content you create or submit. You must not submit content that infringes others’ rights, violates law, contains others’ personal data without authorization, or depicts minors in sexual or exploitative contexts.

11. Prohibited uses

You agree not to:

• Use the Service if you are under 18
• Impersonate others or misrepresent your identity or affiliation
• Harass, threaten, abuse, or exploit others through the Service
• Attempt to bypass usage limits, security controls, or access restrictions — including by clearing cookies or site data, rotating anonymous guest identities, using multiple browsers or private sessions, VPNs or alternate networks, or creating multiple free accounts to reset or stack free/guest allowances
• Scrape, reverse engineer, or misuse the Service except as allowed by law
• Upload malware, spam, or content intended to disrupt the Service
• Use the Service to generate or distribute illegal content
• Rely on the Service for emergency, medical, legal, or financial decisions

12. Subscriptions and payments

Linger may offer paid subscriptions or other paid features, including Premium access. Depending on how you purchase:

• Subscriptions purchased through the iOS app are processed by Apple. Those purchases are subject to Apple’s applicable terms, billing rules, and policies.
• Subscriptions purchased on the web are processed by Stripe and are subject to Stripe’s applicable terms and policies.

Payment information is handled by the applicable payment provider rather than by Linger. We may receive limited billing-related information (such as subscription status, renewal dates, and transaction identifiers) and synchronize that status with your account so we can provide the correct access tier.

Where supported by the platform (including on iOS), eligible purchases may be restored to your account. Refunds, cancellations, and billing disputes for a purchase are handled according to the policies of the payment provider that processed the purchase (for example, Apple for App Store subscriptions or Stripe for web subscriptions), except where applicable law requires otherwise.

13. Third-party services

The Service relies on third-party providers for authentication, hosting, database storage, analytics (with your consent), AI inference, and payment processing. Current providers include Supabase, Vercel, OpenRouter, Google (if you choose Google sign-in), Apple (for App Store purchases), and Stripe (for web billing). Your use of those providers may be subject to their own terms and privacy policies. Linger is not responsible for third-party services outside our reasonable control.

14. Accounts, access, and deletion

You are responsible for safeguarding your account credentials and for activity under your account. We may limit, suspend, or terminate access at any time, with or without notice, for abuse, security concerns, legal compliance, capacity limits, or any use that harms the Service or others. We may enforce usage limits using account identity, guest session cookies, IP address, and install or device identifiers, and we may associate guest usage with an account you later create on the same browser or device.

You may delete your account at any time from Account settings without contacting support. Deletion removes your profile, custom characters, conversations, persistent memories, and related account data from the live Service promptly. For legal, security, and dispute-resolution purposes, we may retain a secure backup archive of deleted account data for up to 30 days, after which it is permanently purged unless a longer period is required by law. Additional detail is in our Privacy Policy.

If anonymous usage analytics collection was enabled for your account or session, we may retain aggregated usage metrics derived from your activity (such as message counts and activity dates) without message content or identifying details after account deletion. When analytics collection is not enabled, we do not retain such metrics from your chats after deletion.

15. Availability

We do not guarantee uptime, availability, response quality, data retention, or uninterrupted access. The Service may be paused for maintenance, rate limits, provider outages, security incidents, or product changes.

16. Disclaimer of warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE ERROR-FREE, SECURE, UNINTERRUPTED, OR THAT AI OUTPUT WILL BE ACCURATE, APPROPRIATE, OR RELIABLE.

17. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, LINGER AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AND AFFILIATES WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE, INCLUDING DAMAGES ARISING FROM AI-GENERATED CONTENT, USER CONTENT, OR THIRD-PARTY SERVICES.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, LINGER’S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID LINGER FOR THE SERVICE IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (US $100).

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations or exclusions of liability. In those cases, our liability is limited to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law.

18. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Linger and its officers, directors, employees, contractors, and affiliates from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from your use of the Service, your User Content, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any law or third-party rights.

19. Binding arbitration and class action waiver

Please read this section carefully. It affects your legal rights.

Except where prohibited by applicable law, you and Linger agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service (each, a “Dispute”) will be resolved by binding individual arbitration, not in court, except that either party may bring an individual action in small claims court if the claim qualifies and remains in that court.

Arbitration will be conducted by a neutral arbitrator under the rules of a recognized arbitration provider (such as the American Arbitration Association or JAMS), as modified by these Terms. The arbitrator may award the same damages and relief that a court could award on an individual basis. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this section, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.

Class action waiver. You and Linger agree that each may bring claims against the other only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims or preside over any form of class or representative proceeding. If this class action waiver is found unenforceable for a particular claim, that claim must proceed in court and the remainder of this section will apply to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.

Opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement within thirty (30) days of first accepting these Terms by emailing support@lingerapp.io with the subject line “Arbitration Opt-Out” and your account email address. Opting out will not affect the other provisions of these Terms.

20. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except where mandatory consumer protection laws in your jurisdiction require otherwise.

Subject to Section 19, any Dispute that is not subject to binding arbitration (including where arbitration is prohibited by law or you validly opt out) will be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Delaware, and you consent to personal jurisdiction and venue in those courts, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.

21. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as the Service evolves. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date and may require you to review and accept the updated Terms before continuing to use the Service. Your continued use after changes become effective constitutes acceptance if re-acceptance is not required.

22. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent to support@lingerapp.io.