Terms of Service

1. Description of Service

Cost Share is a personal finance utility application that helps users split shared expenses with friends and groups. The Service allows you to log expenses, export data, scan receipts using AI (itemization — you assign who owes what), send optional settlement reminders, and record when users settle up outside the app. Premium subscribers may use recurring expenses, automated group reminders, spending insights, and PDF export. Reminder features are convenience tools only — they are not debt collection, legal demands, or credit reporting. Cost Share is not a bank, financial institution, payment processor, debt collector, or money transmitter. The app displays informational balance calculations only — no actual money is transferred through the Service.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years of age to use Cost Share. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you meet this requirement. Users between 13 and 18 must have parental or guardian consent. We reserve the right to terminate accounts where we have reason to believe the age requirement has not been met.

3. Account Registration

To use Cost Share, you must create an account via Apple Sign-In or Google Sign-In. We receive your name, email address, and profile photo from the provider you choose. We do not offer a separate email-and-password login. You are responsible for:

• Keeping access to your Apple ID or Google account secure
• All activity that occurs under your account
• Notifying us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account at support@cost-share.app
• Providing accurate and truthful account information

We reserve the right to terminate accounts that contain false information, are used fraudulently, or otherwise violate these Terms.

4. Subscriptions & In-App Purchases

Cost Share offers optional premium features ("Cost Share Pro") available through a paid subscription. By purchasing a subscription, you agree to the following:

• Billing: Subscriptions are billed through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Your payment method will be charged at the start of each billing period.
• Auto-Renewal: Subscriptions automatically renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store or Google Play account settings.
• Free Trials: If a free trial is offered, unused trial time is forfeited when a subscription is purchased. Only one free trial is permitted per Apple ID or Google account.
• Refunds: Refund requests are handled by Apple or Google in accordance with their respective refund policies. We do not process refunds directly.
• Price Changes: We reserve the right to change subscription prices. You will be notified before any price change takes effect.
• Feature Changes: Premium features may be updated, added, or removed over time. We will not remove core functionality without reasonable notice.

Cost Share Pro may include: unlimited receipt scans subject to fair-use limits, recurring expenses, scheduled group reminders, spending insights and charts, and PDF export. The free tier includes group and friend expense tracking, settlements, CSV export, and a limited number of receipt scans per month.

5. AI Receipt Scanning

Cost Share uses Google Gemini AI to parse receipt images and extract expense data. By using this feature, you acknowledge and agree that:

• AI-extracted data may contain errors, omissions, or inaccuracies. You are responsible for reviewing and correcting all extracted data before saving an expense.
• Receipt images are transmitted to Google's Gemini API for processing and are subject to Google's privacy policy and data handling practices.
• If you save a receipt with an expense, we may store the image and parsed line items on our servers so you can view or edit them later (see our Privacy Policy).
• We are not liable for any financial discrepancies resulting from incorrect AI parsing.
• Scan limits: free accounts receive a limited number of scans per calendar month; Pro accounts receive substantially more scans subject to reasonable daily fair-use limits to prevent abuse. Scans are consumed per successful processing attempt; limits do not roll over.

6. Shared Expenses, Content & Referrals

Shared visibility: expenses you add to a group or share with friends are visible to those members, including amounts, descriptions, splits, comments, and attached receipt images. Members who participate in an expense may be able to edit or delete it according to app permissions — not only the person who paid. Edit history may be retained for expenses you change.

Your content: you are responsible for expense descriptions, group names, profile photos, receipt images, and reminder messages you send. You may not post content that is illegal, harassing, hateful, sexually explicit, fraudulent, spammy, or that violates another person's privacy or intellectual property rights. We may remove content or suspend accounts that violate these standards.

Referrals & invites: you may invite others via share links or QR codes on our website or app. If someone joins using your invite, referral benefits may apply as described in the app. You must not spam invitations or misrepresent the Service.

7. User Responsibilities

You agree to use Cost Share only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You agree not to:

• Use the Service to harass, threaten, intimidate, shame, or abuse other users — including through reminders or repeated messages about money owed
• Send reminders that are false, misleading, threatening, or sent to users who do not owe you money according to data in the Service
• Circumvent reminder frequency limits or other technical restrictions designed to prevent misuse
• Enter false expense data to deceive or defraud others
• Attempt to access another user's account without authorization
• Use automated tools, bots, or scrapers to access the Service
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract source code from the app
• Circumvent, disable, or interfere with any security features of the Service
• Upload or transmit malicious code, viruses, or any harmful content
• Violate any applicable local, state, national, or international law

Violation of these responsibilities may result in immediate account termination without notice.

8. Reminders & Notifications

Cost Share may allow you to send manual reminders to friends or group members, and (with a premium subscription) to schedule automated group reminders. By using reminder features, you agree that:

• Sender responsibility: You are solely responsible for reminders you initiate or schedule. You will use them only for legitimate shared expenses recorded in the Service, in a respectful and non-threatening manner, and only where the recipient appears to owe you money based on in-app balances.
• Not collection or legal advice: Reminders are informal nudges. They do not create a legal obligation to pay, do not constitute a demand for payment, and do not make Kotipalli a party to any dispute between users.
• Recipient experience: Recipients receive push notifications (and, where applicable, in-app activity entries) about shared expenses and reminders. Recipients can turn off push notifications in their device settings at any time. Disabling notifications does not remove expense data already visible in the app.
• Frequency limits: We may limit how often reminders can be sent (for example, cooldown periods between manual reminders). We may change these limits to protect users and the Service.
• Automated reminders: If you enable scheduled group reminders, you authorize us to send notifications on your behalf to members who owe you money in that group, according to your schedule, until you disable the feature or your subscription ends.
• Email outside the app: you may choose to open your device's mail app to email a friend; that communication is between you and your mail provider, not sent by us.
• No guarantee of delivery: We do not guarantee that any reminder will be delivered, read, or acted upon. Delivery depends on device settings, network conditions, and third-party push services.
• Abuse: We may suspend or terminate accounts that misuse reminders, and we may disable reminder features for any user or group without notice where we believe misuse has occurred.

Interpersonal matters: Shared expenses can be sensitive. Cost Share is a tracking tool, not a mediator, therapist, or crisis service. We are not responsible for emotional distress, relationship conflict, or harm arising from how users communicate about money through or outside the Service, except where liability cannot be excluded under applicable law.

9. Expense Data & Financial Disclaimer

Cost Share helps you track who owes what among friends. The balance figures shown in the app are for informational purposes only and are based solely on the data you and your group members enter. We make no guarantee that the balances are accurate, complete, or legally binding.

We are not responsible for: disputes between users over expenses, incorrect data entry, AI parsing errors, currency conversion inaccuracies, or any financial loss arising from use of the Service. Any actual payment settlement between users is entirely between those users. Cost Share is not a party to any financial transaction between users.

10. Intellectual Property

The Cost Share name, logo, design, and all associated intellectual property are owned by Kotipalli. You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service for personal, non-commercial purposes only.

You retain ownership of the content you create (expense data, group names, etc.) but grant us a limited, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, process, and display it solely to provide the Service to you. This license terminates when you delete your account.

11. Termination & Account Deletion

You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time through the app settings (account deletion may require Face ID or Touch ID confirmation on supported devices) or by contacting us at support@cost-share.app.

When you delete your account, we remove your profile and authentication record. Shared group expenses you participated in may remain visible to other members so their balances stay accurate; your name will no longer appear on your profile, and your splits on those expenses are removed. Some files (such as uploaded receipts or avatars) may take additional time to purge from storage.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Service at our sole discretion, with or without notice, if we believe you have violated these Terms, engaged in fraudulent or abusive behavior, or for any other reason necessary to protect other users or the integrity of the Service. Upon termination, your right to use the Service immediately ceases.

12. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, SECURE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS. WE DO NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY OF ANY AI-GENERATED CONTENT OR EXPENSE CALCULATIONS, OR THE TIMELY DELIVERY OF PUSH NOTIFICATIONS OR REMINDERS.

13. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, KOTIPALLI AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING FROM OR IN CONNECTION WITH: (A) YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE; (B) ANY CONTENT OBTAINED FROM THE SERVICE; (C) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR DATA; (D) AI PARSING ERRORS OR INACCURATE BALANCE CALCULATIONS; (E) REMINDERS OR NOTIFICATIONS YOU SEND OR RECEIVE, INCLUDING MISSED, DELAYED, OR UNDELIVERED NOTIFICATIONS; (F) CONTENT OR CONDUCT OF OTHER USERS, INCLUDING REMINDER MESSAGES; (G) EMOTIONAL DISTRESS OR INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT RELATED TO SHARED EXPENSES OR REMINDERS; OR (H) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE SERVICE.

OUR TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING FROM THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (B) USD $10. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY; IN THOSE JURISDICTIONS, OUR LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

14. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Kotipalli and its affiliates, officers, agents, and employees from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in any way connected with: (a) your access to or use of the Service; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any third-party rights, including any intellectual property or privacy rights; or (d) any disputes between you and other users of the Service; or (e) your misuse of reminder or notification features.

15. Privacy

Your use of the Service is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. By using the Service, you consent to the data practices described in that policy.

16. Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. We will notify you of material changes by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, via push notification or email. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you must stop using the Service.

17. Governing Law, Severability & Entire Agreement

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with applicable law, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any disputes arising from these Terms or your use of the Service shall be resolved through good-faith negotiation first. If a dispute cannot be resolved informally, it shall be submitted to binding arbitration where permitted by law. You waive any right to participate in a class-action lawsuit or class-wide arbitration against us to the extent such waiver is enforceable. Nothing in these Terms limits rights or remedies you cannot waive or contract away under mandatory consumer protection or data protection law in your country of residence.

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid, the remaining provisions remain in effect. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Kotipalli regarding the Service. If we are acquired or merge with another company, customer information may transfer as part of that transaction subject to our Privacy Policy.

18. Contact Us

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