Terms of service
The rules for using HostForge webhosting.
1. Introduction
These Terms of Service explain the rules for using our webhosting. By creating a hosting plan or using our platform, you agree to follow the terms written here. We have tried to keep everything simple and understandable.
These terms cover our webhosting service only.
2. Services provided
We offer webhosting on several plans, suitable for static websites, WordPress and other PHP applications. Depending on the plan you choose, your service may include:
- SSD storage
- Databases and email accounts
- Unlimited bandwidth on paid plans, and a monthly allowance on Free
- Use of a custom domain (paid plans)
- An uptime commitment (paid plans)
- Backups, keeping the number of copies listed for your plan
- SSH access (Business plan)
- Control panel access
- Support when you need help
The exact features depend on the plan you pick. They are listed on our webhosting page, which forms part of these terms.
3. Your responsibilities
When you use our service, you agree to:
- Not host illegal content
- Not upload malware, viruses, or harmful scripts, themes or plugins
- Not attack other servers or networks from your site
- Keep your login details safe
- Keep your site software, including WordPress and its plugins, reasonably up to date
- Use the service normally, without extreme resource abuse unless your plan allows it
If you break these rules, we may suspend or terminate your hosting.
4. What you may and may not host
You may host:
- Personal, portfolio and business websites
- Blogs and other WordPress sites
- Documentation and landing pages
- Your own projects
You may not host:
- Sites used for illegal activity
- Phishing pages, malware downloads, or command-and-control infrastructure
- Sites advertised through unsolicited bulk email
- File dumps, media libraries or backup archives unrelated to a website
- Anything prohibited by our acceptable use policy
5. Payments and billing
- Payment must be made before a paid plan becomes active
- Free plans require no payment and can be used indefinitely, subject to these terms
- Subscriptions renew automatically each month unless cancelled
- Refunds are only possible if requested within 14 days of your first payment
- Chargebacks are not permitted and may result in permanent termination of service
Prices are in Swiss francs and exclude VAT. If a payment fails, your hosting may be suspended until the payment is resolved.
6. Suspension and termination
We may suspend or delete a hosting plan if:
- You breach these terms or our acceptable use policy
- Payment is not made on time
- Your site creates a security problem for our platform or other customers
- Your site is used for illegal or harmful activity
We will try to warn you before suspending your service, unless the situation is urgent enough that we have to act immediately.
After termination, your data is kept for 30 days before deletion, so you can still request a copy.
7. Backups
Backups are created automatically on every plan. Each plan keeps the number of copies listed on our webhosting page: one on Free, two on Starter, three on Plus, five on Pro and ten on Business. When a new backup is made, the oldest copy is replaced.
- We do our best to keep backups safe
- We cannot guarantee that a backup will always be complete or restorable
- You remain responsible for keeping your own copies of anything you cannot afford to lose
8. Support
We try to answer support requests quickly. Support covers problems with our hosting platform. It does not include:
- Writing custom code, themes or plugins for you
- Fixing problems you introduced in your own site
- Teaching you how to use WordPress or other third-party software
- Recovering content lost through your own mistakes
We may still help with something outside this list if we can, but we are not obliged to.
9. Performance
Site performance depends on the plan you chose, how your site is built, and which themes and plugins you run. All webhosting plans run on shared hardware.
If your site overloads its allocated resources, performance may drop. We cannot guarantee full performance where the cause is your own configuration.
10. Acceptable use
You must not:
- Run scripts or bots that overload our systems
- Take part in DDoS attacks, whether as a source or by hosting tooling for them
- Use bandwidth in a way that degrades the service for other customers
- Use webhosting to run services that belong on a virtual server, such as game servers, proxies or persistent background processes
Our full acceptable use policy applies in addition to this section. Abuse may result in suspension.
All paid plans include unlimited bandwidth. The Free plan includes 100 GB a month. If a Free plan reaches its allowance, the site may be paused until the start of the next month.
11. Liability
Subject to clause 12, we are not responsible for:
- Loss of website content or data
- Downtime caused by problems outside our control
- Loss of profits, sales or other business losses
- Problems caused by third-party themes, plugins or integrations
Our responsibility is limited to providing the hosting service as described.
12. Governing law
These terms are governed by Swiss law. The place of jurisdiction is Bern, Switzerland.
13. Changes to these terms
We may update these Terms of Service. We will inform users by email at least 30 days before changes take effect.
14. Agreement
By using our webhosting service, you agree to follow the rules written in these Terms of Service.