Terms of Service

Last modified: September 29, 2026

1. Who we are and what these terms cover

FDD AI (fddai.org) is a research service operated by R.E.A.L, LLC (“we”, “us” or “our”). These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the service, including questions asked against our library of Franchise Disclosure Documents (“FDDs”), documents you upload for analysis, and any reports, answers, citations, exports or share links the service produces.

By creating an account or using the service, you agree to these Terms, our Privacy Policy and our Data Handling Policy. We record the date and version of the Terms you accepted. If you use the service on behalf of a company, law firm or other organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms.

2. Eligibility and accounts

You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into a binding contract.  You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for activity occurring under your account. You must notify us promptly if you know or suspect that your account has been accessed or used without authorization.

Organization accounts are opened and managed by an administrator who is responsible for the members they invite and for charges those members incur. Users may not share account credentials with individuals who have not been authorized to use the account.  We may require reasonable information to establish or maintain an account and may take reasonable steps to protect accounts and the service from unauthorized access, fraud, abuse or security threats.

3. What the service is, and is not

The service uses artificial intelligence and other automated technologies to summarize, locate, extract, organize, compare and analyze information found in FDDs and in documents you provide.

FDD AI is a research tool. It is not a law firm, accounting firm, investment adviser, financial adviser or other professional adviser. The service and its output do not constitute legal, financial, tax, accounting or investment advice and do not create an attorney-client, fiduciary or other advisory relationship.

FDDs and other source documents may change, may contain errors or omissions, and may contain information supplied by franchisors or other third parties that we have not independently verified. AI systems can also misunderstand source material, omit relevant information, produce incorrect conclusions or citations, or generate information that is incomplete or inaccurate.  Accordingly, you are responsible for evaluating the accuracy, completeness and suitability of output before relying on it. Important information should always be verified against the original source document. You should consult an appropriately qualified professional before making legal, financial, investment, tax or other significant decisions.

You remain responsible for decisions, advice, recommendations, filings, communications and other actions you take based on information obtained through the service.

4. Fees, balance and payment

• The service is pre-paid. You add funds to a balance and each question, report or follow-up is charged against it at the price shown before you run it.
• Usage is billed based on the actual AI cost of each request, with a minimum charge per question that is shown on the site. Accounts also carry a monthly fee, charged to the balance on the first of each month; the remainder of the sign-up month is free. Prices and fees may change with notice on the site.
• Payments are processed by Stripe. Funds added to a balance, registration credits, discount codes and promotional credits are not cash and are not refundable, except where a refund is required by law.
• If a request fails before an answer is produced, you are not charged. Charges for completed answers and monthly account fees are final. An unused balance is not refunded on account closure.
• Auto-refill, if you enable it, charges your saved payment method when your balance falls below the threshold you set. You can turn it off at any time under Balance & billing.

You are responsible for charges incurred through your account, including charges incurred by users you authorize to use an organization account.

5. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• use the service for anything other than franchise and FDD research;
• attempt to extract, scrape, copy or bulk-download the library or substantial portions of it;
• use automated means to access the service except through functionality we expressly provide;
• upload material you do not have the right to provide or process;
• upload malicious code, files or content intended to interfere with, manipulate or compromise the service or its AI systems;
• attempt to bypass access controls, usage limits, security measures or billing mechanisms;
• reverse engineer or attempt to discover non-public components of the service except to the extent such restrictions are prohibited by applicable law;
• resell, sublicense or commercially redistribute access to the service;
• impersonate another person or misrepresent your authority to use an account; or
• interfere with the operation, security or availability of the service.

We may decline requests outside the service’s scope and may limit or suspend access when reasonably necessary to protect the service, our users or third parties, or when we reasonably believe these Terms have been violated.

6. Your content

You retain ownership of documents you upload and questions you ask.  You grant us the limited rights necessary to receive, store, transmit, process and analyze that content for the purpose of providing and operating the service, as further described in our Data Handling Policy. You represent that you have the rights and permissions necessary to upload and process the material you provide and that doing so does not violate applicable law or the rights of another person.

We do not add your uploaded documents to the FDD library and do not use your documents to train AI models. You are responsible for determining whether information you upload is appropriate for processing through the service, including information that may be confidential, privileged, proprietary or subject to contractual restrictions.

7. Our content and permitted use

The service, website, library, extracted and organized data, software, interfaces, and other proprietary elements of FDD AI are owned by us or our licensors and are protected by applicable intellectual-property laws.  You may use answers and reports generated for you for your own business and professional purposes, including sharing them with clients and colleagues.  You may not resell or sublicense the service or systematically reproduce, extract or commercially redistribute the library or substantial portions of its underlying data.

Generated answers and reports should not be represented as substitutes for the underlying FDD or other original source material. You may not intentionally remove notices identifying the source of reports or other materials where such notices are included.  Share links may be revoked by you at any time and may be disabled by us if they are misused or if necessary to protect the service or third parties.

Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of your uploaded documents to us.

8. Third-party services and AI providers

The service depends on third-party technology and service providers, which may include artificial-intelligence providers, payment processors, hosting providers, storage providers and other infrastructure services.

Those services may experience interruptions, errors, changes or outages outside our control. We are not responsible for the independent acts or omissions of third-party providers, although our handling of your information remains subject to our Privacy Policy and Data Handling Policy.  Third-party names, trademarks and services referenced through FDD AI belong to their respective owners. Their inclusion does not imply endorsement of FDD AI unless expressly stated.

9. Availability and changes

We aim for continuous availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free operation.  The service may occasionally be unavailable because of maintenance, updates, technical problems, third-party service failures, internet or infrastructure outages, security incidents or circumstances outside our reasonable control.

We may modify, add, remove, suspend or discontinue features, prices or portions of the service. Where practical, we will provide reasonable notice of material changes that significantly affect users.  Material changes to these Terms take effect when you accept the new version at sign-in. Where separate acceptance is not requested, continued use after notice of the revised Terms constitutes acceptance to the extent permitted by applicable law.

10. Disclaimer of warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.”

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we disclaim all warranties and representations, express, implied or statutory, including warranties of accuracy, completeness, reliability, availability, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement.

We do not warrant that the service will identify every relevant FDD, provision, fact, risk, discrepancy or issue; that source documents are accurate or complete; that citations or extracted information will always be correct; or that AI-generated output will be accurate, complete or suitable for any particular purpose.  No information or output obtained through the service creates a warranty not expressly stated in these Terms.

11. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, R.E.A.L, LLC AND ITS MEMBERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, SERVICE PROVIDERS AND CONTRACTORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE, THESE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF OR RELIANCE ON ANY OUTPUT.

This limitation applies regardless of the legal theory asserted and whether or not we were advised that such damages were possible.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, our aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the service or these Terms will not exceed the total amount you paid to us during the twelve months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim.  The limitations in this section apply to, among other things, claims arising from errors or omissions in AI-generated output, inaccuracies in source documents, interruptions or unavailability of the service, unauthorized access or loss of data, and acts or failures of third-party service providers, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

12. Indemnification

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless R.E.A.L, LLC and its members, officers, employees, agents and contractors from third-party claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, losses, costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees arising out of or relating to:

• content or documents you upload or provide through the service;
• your violation of these Terms or applicable law;
• your infringement or violation of another person’s intellectual-property, privacy, confidentiality or other rights; or
• your misuse of the service or its output.

We reserve the right to control the defense of a matter subject to indemnification, and you agree to reasonably cooperate in that defense. You may not settle a claim in a manner that imposes liability or obligations on us without our written consent.

13. Suspension and termination

You may close your account at any time by contacting [email protected].

We may suspend, restrict or terminate an account if we reasonably believe that:

• these Terms have been materially violated;
• the account or its activity presents a security, fraud or legal risk;
• continued access could harm the service, another user or a third party; or
• suspension or termination is required by law.

Where circumstances reasonably permit, we may provide notice and an opportunity to correct a violation before terminating an account.  Account closure does not entitle you to a refund of an unused balance except where required by law.  Provisions that by their nature should survive termination—including provisions concerning ownership, permitted use, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification and dispute resolution—will survive termination.

14. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules.

Except for the claims described below, any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, seated in Manatee County, Florida, with judgment on the award enforceable in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Either party may instead bring an individual claim that qualifies for small-claims court. Either party may also seek temporary, preliminary or other appropriate injunctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction when reasonably necessary to protect intellectual-property rights, confidential information or the security or integrity of the service.

You and we agree that claims will be brought only on an individual basis and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, consolidated or representative proceeding. Unless applicable law requires otherwise, the arbitrator may not consolidate the claims of multiple persons or preside over a class, collective or representative proceeding.

You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing [email protected] within 30 days after you first accept these Terms and stating that you wish to opt out of arbitration.  Any dispute that is not subject to arbitration will be brought in the state or federal courts having jurisdiction in Manatee County, Florida, and you consent to the jurisdiction and venue of those courts.

15. General terms

Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and Data Handling Policy and any additional terms expressly presented to and accepted by you, constitute the agreement between you and us concerning your use of the service.

Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in effect, and the unenforceable provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted by law.

No waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision of these Terms does not waive our right to enforce it later.

Assignment. You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, sale of assets or similar business transaction.

No third-party beneficiaries. Except as expressly provided in these Terms, these Terms do not create rights in any third party.

Headings. Section headings are provided for convenience and do not affect interpretation of these Terms.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms may be sent to:

R.E.A.L, LLC
2414 Avenue A
Bradenton Beach, FL 34217
[email protected]