The terms behind every project

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a binding agreement between you (“you,” “Client,” or “Customer”) and StephensCode LLC (“StephensCode,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), a veteran-owned, Texas-based web development and managed IT company. By purchasing a website package, subscribing to a managed IT plan, requesting a custom quote, creating an account at customer.stephenscode.dev, or otherwise engaging us for services, you agree to be bound by these Terms.

If you are entering into these Terms on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind that entity, in which case “you” refers to that entity.

By using our Services, you represent that you are at least 18 years old and have the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract, whether on your own behalf or on behalf of an entity you represent. You consent to receive notices, invoices, proposals, and agreements from us electronically, by email or through the Customer Portal, and agree that your electronic acceptance of these Terms or of a quote or proposal — including by clicking to accept, replying by email, or submitting a deposit payment — has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature.

These Terms work alongside our Privacy Policy, which explains how we collect and use Personal Information, and, where applicable, a signed proposal, invoice, or statement of work for your specific project. If a signed proposal or statement of work conflicts with these Terms on a particular point, the signed document controls for that project.

We offer several flat-rate website and platform tiers, each with its own included features, page counts, and typical timeline, as detailed on the relevant service page. As of the effective date of these Terms, representative tiers include:

• Core packages ranging from Plug and Play ($250) and Website Rebuild ($350) to Standard Website ($950) and E-Commerce Website ($1,100);
• Premium builds ranging from the Premium Build ($2,000) and Custom Business Platform ($5,000) to the Enterprise Platform ($7,500); and
• Enterprise Custom projects (mobile apps, 40+ pages, complex integrations), which are quoted individually rather than flat-rated.

Flat-rate pricing is based on the scope, page count, and features described for that tier on the relevant service page at the time you order. Work that falls outside that published scope — additional pages, custom functionality not listed, third-party accounts or subscriptions you choose to add, or a rush timeline (see Section 8) — is billed separately, either at a quoted flat amount or, where noted, at our standard hourly rate for revisions and change requests.

Services such as API integration, web scraping, business automation, Enterprise Custom builds, security assessments, compliance services, and cloud migrations are priced individually based on your specific requirements rather than a published flat rate. For these engagements, we will provide a written quote or proposal describing the scope, price, payment schedule, and estimated timeline. That quote, once you accept it (in writing, by email, or by paying the deposit invoice), becomes part of your agreement with us alongside these Terms.

7.1 Website and platform projects

Because work begins as soon as your deposit is received — including design time, planning, and development — deposits are generally non-refundable once work has started. If you cancel a project before we have begun any work on it, we will refund your deposit in full. If you cancel after work has begun but before completion, we will invoice you for the value of work completed to date (at our standard hourly rate where no milestone amount applies) and refund any remaining deposit balance.

7.2 Managed IT (MSP) subscriptions

Managed IT plans are month-to-month with no long-term contract. You may cancel future billing at any time by notifying us or through your customer portal account settings. Cancellation stops future charges but does not refund the current billing period already paid for, except where required by law. Charges already processed for the current period are non-refundable.

7.3 Hourly and one-time services

Hourly work already performed is billable and non-refundable. For one-time flat-fee services (such as Cloud Migration or Network Installation) cancelled before work begins, we will refund any deposit paid; once work has begun, Section 7.1's work-completed-to-date approach applies.

7.4 Our right to cancel

We may decline or discontinue a project or subscription at our discretion — for example, for non-payment, abusive conduct, or a request to build something unlawful or that violates Section 11's acceptable use terms. In that case, we will refund any amount paid for work not yet performed.

Refunds are issued to the original payment method through Stripe and may take several business days to appear on your statement.

Once a project is completed and paid in full, you own 100% of the resulting website, platform, content, and custom code we wrote for you, free of any further license fee to us. We will provide you with access to the relevant code repository, hosting account, and domain (which you register and own directly, as described in Section 10), and you are free to maintain the Deliverables yourself or engage any other developer in the future.

Before a project is paid in full, Deliverables and any in-progress work remain our property. We retain ownership of our own pre-existing tools, frameworks, boilerplate, and general-purpose code libraries that are not unique to your project, and we may reuse that general-purpose code and our accumulated know-how in work we perform for other clients. We do not reuse content, branding, or business-specific logic created specifically for you in another client's project.

Managed IT services do not involve a transfer of ownership of any software, hardware, or licenses that remain owned by their respective vendors (such as Microsoft, antivirus vendors, or backup providers); those are licensed to you directly or through us as your reseller/administrator, subject to the applicable vendor's own terms.

If you create an account at customer.stephenscode.dev, you agree to:

• provide accurate account information and keep your login credentials confidential;
• notify us promptly if you believe your account has been compromised;
• use the portal, including update requests, module requests, plan upgrades, and feedback tools, only for legitimate business purposes related to your own account and services;
• not attempt to access another customer's account, data, or orders, or to probe, scan, or test the portal's security without our written permission;
• not upload malicious files, or content that is unlawful, infringing, or that you do not have the right to share; and
• not use the portal to interfere with, disrupt, or place an unreasonable load on our systems.

We may suspend or terminate a customer portal account for violation of these terms, for suspected fraud or security abuse, or for non-payment as described in Section 6.5. Plan upgrades initiated in the portal are processed through Stripe as described in Section 10 of our Privacy Policy; the portal itself does not store your card details.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, StephensCode LLC and its owner, contractors, and personnel will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits, revenue, data, or business opportunity, arising out of or related to the Services or Deliverables, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, our total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to a given engagement will not exceed the total amount you actually paid us for that specific project or, for subscription services, the fees you paid us for that service in the three (3) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages, so some of the limitations in this Section may not apply to you. In that case, our liability will be limited to the greatest extent permitted by applicable law.

Each party may share non-public business, technical, or project information with the other in the course of the engagement. Each party agrees to use the other's confidential information only to perform under, or receive the benefit of, the engagement, and not to disclose it to third parties except as needed to perform the Services (for example, sharing project details with subprocessors listed in our Privacy Policy), as required by law, or with the disclosing party's consent. This does not apply to information that is or becomes public through no fault of the receiving party, or that the receiving party already lawfully knew or independently develops.

We may ask for your feedback, a testimonial, or permission to feature your project as a case study (including your business name, logo, a description of the work, and, where applicable, publicly-visible results) on our website or in other marketing materials. We will only do so with your consent, and you may withdraw that consent for future use at any time by contacting us using the information in Section 21; withdrawal does not require us to remove materials already distributed before your request where that is not reasonably practical (for example, printed materials), but we will remove or update our own website within a reasonable time.

These Terms, and any dispute arising from them, from the Services, or from the Deliverables, are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. You agree that any legal action or proceeding relating to these Terms will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Montgomery County, Texas, and you consent to personal jurisdiction there.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, you and StephensCode each waive any right to a jury trial, and to bring or participate in a class, collective, or representative action against the other, arising out of or relating to these Terms, the Services, or the Deliverables. Each of us may only bring claims in an individual capacity.

Before filing a formal legal claim, we encourage you to contact us using the information in Section 21 so we can try to resolve the issue directly — we are a small, local company and would rather fix a problem than litigate it.

Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any signed proposal, invoice, or statement of work for your engagement, are the entire agreement between you and StephensCode regarding the Services and supersede any prior discussions or agreements on the same subject.

Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.

No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms is not a waiver of our right to do so later.

Assignment. You may not assign or transfer your rights under these Terms without our written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, as described in our Privacy Policy.

Force majeure. Neither party is liable for a delay or failure to perform caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including natural disasters, power or internet outages, or third-party service outages (such as our hosting, payment, or infrastructure providers).

Independent contractor. StephensCode provides Services as an independent contractor. Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, employment, or agency relationship between you and StephensCode.

Attorneys' fees. In any action or proceeding to enforce these Terms, the prevailing party is entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, in addition to any other relief awarded.