Terms & Conditions

1. Who we are

CloudScale Consulting ("we", "us", "our") is a technology consultancy and software product business. We provide specialist consulting services in AWS architecture, cybersecurity, and platform engineering, and we develop and sell WordPress plugins for small and medium-sized businesses.

2. Acceptance of terms

By accessing this website, downloading any plugin, or purchasing a subscription, you agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions, our Privacy Policy, and our Refund Policy.

If you do not agree to these terms, do not use this website or purchase any products.

3. Products and services

CloudScale Consulting offers:

• → Premium WordPress plugins: SEO AI Optimizer and Cyber & Devtools, available by monthly subscription at $10/month per site.
• → Free WordPress plugins: Backup & Restore, Database Cleanup, and Site Analytics, provided at no charge under open-source licences.
• → Consulting services: specialist technology consulting engagements governed by separate written agreements.

Product descriptions, pricing, and features are published on this website and may change at any time. We will notify existing subscribers of material changes with at least 30 days' notice.

4. Subscriptions and billing

Premium plugin subscriptions are billed monthly. Billing is handled by Paddle.com, our authorised merchant of record and reseller. By purchasing a subscription:

• → You authorise Paddle to charge your payment method on a recurring monthly basis.
• → Your subscription renews automatically until cancelled.
• → You may cancel at any time via the billing portal link in your confirmation email. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.
• → Paddle acts as the seller of record. Your payment data is held by Paddle, not by CloudScale Consulting.
• → Applicable taxes (VAT, GST, etc.) will be applied by Paddle based on your billing address.

Prices are listed in USD and are exclusive of any applicable taxes unless otherwise stated.

5. Plugin licence

Upon payment of the applicable subscription fee, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to:

• → Install and use the licensed plugin on one (1) WordPress site per active subscription.
• → Receive plugin updates for the duration of your active subscription.
• → Access priority email support from CloudScale Consulting.

This licence does not permit you to sublicense, resell, redistribute, or transfer the plugin to third parties. Use on staging or development environments that mirror a licenced production site is permitted.

Free plugins (Backup & Restore, Database Cleanup, Site Analytics) are licenced under the GNU General Public Licence v2 (GPL-2.0) as required by WordPress.org. You may use, modify, and redistribute them in accordance with that licence.

6. AI API usage

The premium plugins use artificial intelligence features powered by Anthropic Claude and/or Google Gemini. These AI features require you to supply your own API key from the respective provider.

AI API costs are not included in the plugin subscription fee. You are solely responsible for all charges incurred on your Anthropic or Google API account. CloudScale Consulting does not access, process, or store your API keys beyond your own WordPress installation.

Use of third-party AI APIs is subject to the respective providers' terms of service and acceptable use policies.

7. Acceptable use

You agree not to use any CloudScale Consulting product or service to:

• → Violate any applicable law or regulation.
• → Infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party.
• → Attempt to gain unauthorised access to systems or networks.
• → Distribute malware, spam, or other harmful content.
• → Reverse engineer, decompile, or create derivative works for commercial redistribution without permission.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate access to any product without notice if we determine that a user is in material breach of these terms.

8. Intellectual property

All content on this website: including text, graphics, logos, and software: is the property of CloudScale Consulting or its licensors and is protected by applicable intellectual property laws.

Premium plugin source code is proprietary. Free plugin source code is available under GPL-2.0 on GitHub. The CloudScale Consulting name, logo, and brand are not licenced for third-party use without prior written consent.

9. Disclaimer of warranties

All products and services are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

We do not warrant that the plugins will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of viruses or other harmful components. You are responsible for testing plugins in your environment before deploying to production.

10. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, CloudScale Consulting shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of any product or service, including but not limited to:

• → Loss of data, revenue, or profits.
• → Website downtime or security incidents.
• → Costs incurred via third-party AI API usage.

Our total liability to you for any claims arising under these terms shall not exceed the total subscription fees paid by you in the 12 months preceding the claim.

11. Governing law

These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Any disputes arising under or in connection with these terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of South Africa.

For customers in other jurisdictions, nothing in these terms limits your statutory consumer rights under your local law.

12. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms and Conditions from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For material changes, we will notify active subscribers by email at least 30 days before the change takes effect.

Continued use of any product or service after the effective date of changes constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.

13. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms and Conditions, please contact us: