Effective date: March 15, 2026
By accessing or using LobsterBooks (“the Service”), operated by LobsterBooks LLC (“we,” “us,” or “our”), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and LobsterBooks LLC regarding the Service.
LobsterBooks is an AI-powered bookkeeping platform for small businesses. The Service includes transaction categorization, invoice and bill management, receipt scanning, financial reporting, and related features accessible via our web dashboard and messaging integrations.
The Service is not a substitute for professional accounting or tax advice. You are responsible for the accuracy of your financial records and should consult a qualified professional for specific accounting, tax, or legal guidance.
You must be at least 18 years old and have the legal authority to enter into a binding agreement. If you are using the Service on behalf of a business, you represent that you have authority to bind that business to these Terms.
You must provide accurate and complete information when creating an account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity under your account. Notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access.
LobsterBooks offers a 14-day free trial with full access to all features. No credit card is required to start your trial. Your free trial does not automatically convert to a paid subscription — you must actively choose a plan and subscribe to continue using the Service after the trial period ends.
Subscription plans, pricing, and features are described on our pricing page and may change with prior notice.
Payments are processed by Stripe. By subscribing, you authorize us to charge your payment method on a recurring basis. You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.
If your payment method fails and your account becomes past due, your account will be placed in read-only mode. In read-only mode, you may view and export your data, but you cannot create or edit transactions, invoices, bills, or payments. Full access will be restored once your payment is successfully processed.
If you cancel your subscription, your account will remain in read-only mode for 30 days following the end of your current billing period. During this period, you may view and export your data, but you cannot create or edit transactions, invoices, bills, or payments. After 30 days, your account will be deactivated.
Your plan includes a monthly AI token allocation. Usage exceeding your allocation is billed at the overage rate ($0.50 per 10,000 tokens) via your payment method on file. By subscribing, you authorize these overage charges.
Refunds are handled on a case-by-case basis.
You agree not to:
You are solely responsible for all actions performed by the AI assistant on your behalf, including any transactions, invoices, or journal entries it creates at your request.
To protect the integrity of our AI systems and all users' data, we employ automated security scanning on content processed by the Service, including uploaded documents, receipt images, transaction descriptions, and chat messages. This scanning detects patterns associated with prompt injection, AI manipulation, and other abuse vectors.
When potentially malicious content is detected, we reserve the right to:
Flagged content is stored securely and accessible only to our security team. Throttling and suspensions are applied automatically based on severity and frequency. Low-severity events (which may be accidental) are logged but do not affect your account. If you believe your account has been incorrectly restricted, contact support for a manual review.
The Service sends emails on your behalf, including invoice delivery, payment reminders, and team invitations, using either our platform email infrastructure or your own SMTP credentials if configured. You are responsible for:
We are not liable for emails sent to incorrect addresses, delivery failures caused by recipient mail servers, or legal consequences arising from emails you initiate through the Service.
You retain ownership of all financial data, receipts, invoices, and other content you upload to the Service (“Your Data”). You grant us a limited license to process Your Data solely to provide and improve the Service.
You may export Your Data at any time through the export feature in your account settings. Upon account deletion, we will delete Your Data within 30 days, except as required by law.
Exception: Security event data collected pursuant to Section 6a (Security Monitoring) may be retained for up to 12 months after account deletion regardless of account status, as required for platform security.
If you invite team members to your account, you are the data controller for all financial data they access. You are responsible for ensuring your team members' use of the Service complies with these Terms.
For details on how we collect, use, and protect your information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
The Service, including its design, software, logos, and content (excluding Your Data), is owned by LobsterBooks and protected by intellectual property laws. These Terms do not grant you any rights to our trademarks, branding, or proprietary technology.
The Service uses artificial intelligence (including Anthropic's Claude) to categorize transactions, extract data from receipts, parse natural language, calculate tax estimates, perform revenue recognition calculations, and provide a conversational AI assistant.
WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL LIABILITY FOR: INCORRECT TRANSACTION CATEGORIZATIONS, ERRONEOUS TAX CALCULATIONS, INACCURATE RECEIPT DATA EXTRACTION, INAPPROPRIATE REVENUE RECOGNITION TIMING, OR ANY OTHER AI-GENERATED OUTPUT THAT RESULTS IN FINANCIAL LOSS, TAX PENALTIES, AUDIT CONSEQUENCES, OR REGULATORY NON-COMPLIANCE.
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless LobsterBooks LLC, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from or related to:
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, LOBSTERBOOKS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS OR REVENUES, WHETHER INCURRED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM.
You may terminate your account at any time through your account settings. We may suspend or terminate your access if you violate these Terms, if required by law, or if we discontinue the Service with reasonable notice.
Upon termination, your right to use the Service ceases immediately. Your data will be retained in read-only mode for 30 days to allow export. After 30 days, your data will be permanently deleted except as required by law or as described in Section 6a.
Sections that by their nature should survive termination (including Disclaimers, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, and Governing Law) will continue to apply.
We shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performing our obligations under these Terms due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to: natural disasters, acts of government, internet or telecommunications failures, third-party service outages (including but not limited to Supabase, Anthropic, Stripe, Plaid, and Telegram), power failures, cyberattacks, or pandemics.
You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets, with notice to you. Any attempted assignment in violation of this section is void.
We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes via email or through the Service. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of revised Terms constitutes acceptance of the changes.
PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY — IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.
Before filing any formal proceeding, you agree to contact us at legal@lobsterbooks.com and attempt to resolve the dispute informally for at least 30 days.
If the dispute is not resolved informally, you and LobsterBooks LLC agree to resolve it through binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules. The arbitration shall take place in Texas. The arbitrator's decision shall be final and binding.
YOU AND LOBSTERBOOKS LLC AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.
Either party may bring qualifying claims in small claims court.
You may opt out of this arbitration provision by sending written notice to legal@lobsterbooks.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. If you opt out, disputes will be resolved in the courts of Texas.
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas, United States, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any disputes not subject to arbitration under Section 17 shall be resolved in the courts located in Texas.
If any provision of these Terms is held to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or if modification is not possible, severed from these Terms. The remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
If you have questions about these Terms, contact us at legal@lobsterbooks.com.