Hosting & Maintenance, Handled For You

We target 99.8% monthly uptime for Client's website, excluding scheduled maintenance, upstream provider or datacenter outages, force majeure events, DNS or domain issues outside our control, and downtime caused by Client or Client's third parties. Client's sole and exclusive remedy for any failure to meet this target is a pro-rated credit of hosting fees for the affected period, applied to the following billing cycle. Credits may not be exchanged for cash and do not accrue if the account is past due. Under no circumstances does downtime entitle Client to damages of any kind.

Credit requests must be submitted in writing within thirty (30) days after the end of the month in which the downtime occurred; untimely requests are waived.

Hosting covers a single website and is subject to fair use of shared server resources. A site with sustained excessive storage, bandwidth, or processing consumption may require a plan adjustment, which we will propose in writing before any change takes effect.

All support requests — routine and critical — must be submitted by email to support@sacredcowstudios.com, which generates a support ticket. Requests made by phone, text message, or any other channel are not considered formally submitted, and response commitments do not apply to them.

Support is provided during business hours, Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM–6:00 PM Pacific Time, excluding federal holidays. We will acknowledge and begin investigating ticketed issues within one (1) to two (2) business days and will use commercially reasonable efforts to resolve issues promptly. Suspected security compromises are triaged on a priority basis. Resolution timelines are not guaranteed, as complexity varies by issue.

Support covers the hosted website and the included services described in Schedule A or B, as applicable to Client's Plan. General WordPress training and how-to questions exceeding thirty (30) minutes per month are billed at the standard hourly rate.

Automated backups are performed on the schedule for Client's Plan — daily on the Premium Plan and weekly on the Basic Plan — and retained for seven (7) days on a rolling basis. Backups are provided as a courtesy to support service continuity; restoration from backup is performed on a commercially reasonable basis and is not guaranteed. Client is solely responsible for maintaining independent copies of any critical content, data, or files. We are not liable for data loss of any kind.

On the Premium Plan, up to two (2) backup restorations per year are included. Additional restorations, and restorations on the Basic Plan (other than as part of restoring service after downtime), are billed at the standard hourly rate.

On the Premium Plan, included maintenance covers fixes or updates to existing images, functionality, and content only, up to one (1) hour per month. Each month's time must be submitted as a single consolidated revision request (one ticket listing all changes for the month). We do not track or split time across multiple requests within a month. Unused time does not roll over to subsequent months and has no cash value.

If a month's consolidated request is estimated to exceed the included hour, we will notify Client and quote the overage before proceeding; overage work begins only with Client's approval.

Also included on the Premium Plan: two (2) scheduled WordPress core and plugin update-and-test cycles per year. If a scheduled update causes a site malfunction, we will use reasonable efforts to restore functionality, up to one (1) hour of remediation per cycle; additional time is billed at $85/hour.

On the Basic Plan, we do not monitor Client's website in any form — including uptime, security alerts, traffic, logs, or content issues. Client is solely responsible for identifying and reporting any issue via support ticket; we act only on issues Client reports. On the Premium Plan, uptime monitoring is included and we will investigate downtime we detect; the security tooling operates automatically and its automated alerts are reviewed during business hours, but monitoring does not constitute real-time human surveillance, and Client should still report any issue it notices via support ticket.

Maintenance does not include: new pages, new features, new functionality, new integrations, redesigns, staging or development environments, content creation, copywriting, graphic design, SEO work, or email hosting/support. All net-new work is quoted separately or billed at our standard hourly rate of $85/hour (1-hour minimum, billed in 30-minute increments thereafter).

Third-party licenses, premium plugins, paid APIs, stock media, fonts, and other paid services required for the website are Client's sole expense, even if we recommend, procure, or install them at Client's request.

Client shall provide timely cooperation, including administrative access, credentials, content, and approvals we reasonably request. Delays caused by Client's failure to cooperate do not extend the term, excuse payment, or create liability on our part.

We make no representation or warranty regarding search-engine rankings, website traffic, leads, or conversions.

The Premium Plan includes the security tooling described in Schedule B (web application firewall, malware scanning, login hardening, file-change monitoring, and related measures). These are protective measures, not guarantees; no security system can prevent all intrusions, and we do not warrant that the website will be free from unauthorized access, malware, or exploits.

On the Premium Plan, up to two (2) malware remediation incidents per year are included, up to three (3) hours of work each. Additional incidents, or time beyond the included hours, are billed at $85/hour. Blacklist removal is included up to one (1) time per year; additional removals are billed at $85/hour.

If Client's website becomes infected or compromised, we may immediately isolate or take the website offline as needed to protect shared infrastructure and other clients, with notice to Client. Client is solely responsible for any personal data its website collects from its own users; we are not the operator of Client's website for data-protection purposes and are not liable for breaches of data collected by Client's website.

All security tooling operates automatically. On the Premium Plan, automated alerts are reviewed during business hours; this is not real-time human surveillance of alerts, logs, scan results, or traffic data. Client must report any suspected security issue via support ticket; we respond to reported issues during business hours per Section 2.

Vulnerability scan reports are delivered with each of the two annual update-and-test cycles.

DDoS mitigation is provided through our included tooling. Volumetric or sustained attacks that exceed those protections may require upgraded mitigation or a plan adjustment at Client's expense, which we will propose in writing before any change takes effect.

Issues caused by Client, Client's staff, or third parties engaged by Client — including but not limited to changes made with admin access, plugins or code installed at Client's request or insistence, or credentials shared by Client — are outside the scope of included services. Diagnosis and remediation of such issues is billed at $85/hour.

Client is solely responsible for the legal compliance of its website, including content, privacy policies, cookie and tracking-consent practices, accessibility, and any applicable regulations (including but not limited to CCPA/CPRA, CIPA, GDPR, and ADA). We do not provide legal or compliance advice.

Client represents and warrants that (i) it owns or has all necessary rights to the content, trademarks, and materials it provides or publishes through the website; (ii) such materials do not infringe any third-party intellectual property or other rights; and (iii) it has the authority to enter into this agreement.

Client agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold us harmless from and against any claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of Client's website content or compliance practices, Client's breach of these Terms (including the Acceptable Use policy), or Client's violation of third-party rights.

Domain registration, renewal, and DNS management are not included in the Plan. Client owns its domain and is solely responsible for keeping it registered, renewed, and pointed to our servers. Downtime caused by a lapsed, transferred, or misconfigured domain or DNS is a Client-caused issue under Section 6.

Hosting fees are due in advance. The Monthly Fee is $50 per month for the Basic Plan and $200 per month for the Premium Plan. A one-time migration and setup fee of $250 applies to new accounts. The migration fee is waived for Clients who elect a twelve (12) month initial term at signup; Clients who do not elect the 12-month term are charged the $250 fee at signup. If a Client who received the waiver terminates during the initial 12-month term, the waived $250 becomes immediately due (see Section 11). Payment by ACH, Zelle, or check incurs no fee; payments by credit/debit card or PayPal incur a processing surcharge equal to our actual processing cost, not to exceed 3%, disclosed on the invoice. Invoices are payable Net 5 business days. All fees paid are non-refundable, including fees for partial months. Fees are exclusive of applicable taxes, which Client shall pay. If payment is not received:

• (a) a written past-due notice will be sent to Client's email of record;
• (b) if payment is not received within five (5) business days of the past-due notice, hosting services may be suspended and the website taken offline until the account is brought current;
• (c) a $75 reinstatement fee applies to restore suspended services;
• (d) suspension does not pause the term or relieve Client of payment obligations for the remainder of the term; and
• (e) past-due amounts accrue interest at 1.5% per month or the maximum rate permitted by law, whichever is less.

AFTER THE INITIAL TERM, THE PLAN CONTINUES AUTOMATICALLY ON A MONTH-TO-MONTH BASIS at the then-current monthly rate until canceled. Client may cancel at any time by emailing support@sacredcowstudios.com at least thirty (30) days before the next billing date; cancellation takes effect at the end of the then-current paid period. We may change the monthly rate after the initial term by giving thirty (30) days' written notice; Client may cancel without penalty instead of accepting the new rate.

The initial term is as elected by Client at signup: twelve (12) months (with the migration fee waived) or month-to-month (with the $250 migration fee charged at signup). Either party may decline renewal by providing thirty (30) days' written notice before the renewal date. Early termination of a twelve (12) month initial term requires payment of (a) fifty percent (50%) of the fees remaining in the term, plus (b) the $250 migration and setup fee waived at signup, both due prior to handoff. Month-to-month Clients may cancel at any time in accordance with Section 10, and no early-termination amounts apply.

Sacred Cow Studios may terminate this agreement at any time, for any reason, by providing thirty (30) days' written notice to Client. Upon such termination: (a) no early-termination fee or waived setup fee is owed by Client; (b) we will provide the complete backup described in Section 13 at no charge; and (c) any prepaid hosting fees covering periods after the termination effective date will be refunded on a pro-rata basis.

Either party may terminate this agreement for material breach by the other party if the breach is not cured within fifteen (15) days after written notice describing the breach. We may terminate immediately upon written notice if (a) Client's account remains suspended for non-payment for more than thirty (30) days, or (b) Client materially violates the Acceptable Use policy. If we terminate for Client's uncured material breach during the initial term, the early-termination amounts in Section 11 (including the $250 waived migration and setup fee) apply. Termination for cause does not relieve Client of accrued payment obligations.

Upon termination in good standing, we will provide Client with one (1) complete backup of the website files and database at no charge, delivered via secure download link. This constitutes the entirety of included migration assistance. Migration to a new host, DNS changes, re-installation, or configuration support are available at $85/hour.

The backup and migration assistance in this section are provided only if Client's account is paid in full through the termination date. If any amounts are past due, the backup will be released upon payment in full.

Client must download and confirm receipt of the backup within fourteen (14) days of delivery. Fourteen (14) days after delivery of the backup link — whether or not Client has downloaded it — the website, all files, all databases, and all backups will be permanently and irreversibly deleted from our systems. We retain no copies after this date and have no obligation or ability to restore the website thereafter.

The website may not be used for unlawful content or activity, spam, malware distribution, or activity that abuses server resources or harms other users of shared infrastructure. We may suspend services immediately for violations, with notice to Client.

Content changes, fixes, and other maintenance work product created for Client's website under the Plan are Client's property upon full payment of all amounts due. We retain all rights in our pre-existing tools, processes, scripts, and know-how used to provide the services.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability for any and all claims arising out of or relating to these services shall not exceed the total fees paid by Client in the three (3) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim. In no event shall we be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost revenue, lost data, or business interruption, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS, ALL SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WE DISCLAIM ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Any claim arising out of or relating to these services must be brought within one (1) year after the cause of action accrues.

The parties will first attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute through direct negotiation, and if unresolved within thirty (30) days, through mediation in Los Angeles County, California. Any dispute not resolved by mediation shall be settled by binding arbitration in Los Angeles County administered by JAMS (or another mutually agreed provider) before a single arbitrator, and judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. Either party may instead bring an individual claim in small claims court if it qualifies. The prevailing party in any arbitration or litigation shall be entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. Each party waives any right to a jury trial and to participate in any class or representative action.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California. The parties are independent contractors. Neither party is liable for delays caused by events beyond its reasonable control (force majeure). Notices are valid if sent by email to each party's email of record. Electronic signatures and click/email acceptance are binding. Client may not assign this agreement without our written consent. We may assign this agreement in connection with a sale or transfer of our business. These Terms may be amended only in a writing agreed to by both parties; failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it. Sections 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, and 17 survive termination. If any provision is found unenforceable, the remainder remains in effect. These Terms, together with the accompanying proposal (and, if applicable, the Website Design & Development Terms of Service), constitute the entire agreement regarding hosting and maintenance services and supersede prior discussions on the subject.

Questions about these Terms: support@sacredcowstudios.com

The following services are included in the Basic Hosting Plan:

1. Managed hosting for a single website (subject to fair use of shared server resources).
2. SSL certificate — installed and kept renewed.
3. Weekly automated backups with seven (7) day rolling retention.
4. Downtime troubleshooting for issues Client reports via support ticket (the Basic Plan does not include proactive monitoring).
5. Standard support by email during business hours (see Section 2).

The following services are included in the Premium Hosting & Maintenance Plan:

1. Speed-optimized hosting for a single website (subject to fair use of shared server resources).
2. Daily automated backups with seven (7) day rolling retention (up to two (2) restorations per year included).
3. Two (2) scheduled WordPress core and plugin update-and-test cycles per year (up to one (1) hour of breakage remediation per cycle included).
4. Up to two (2) malware remediation incidents per year (up to three (3) hours of work each).
5. Web application firewall (WAF) blocking malicious traffic.
6. Regular scans for malware, backdoors, and known security threats.
7. Login security and brute-force attack protection.
8. Real-time firewall-rule and malware-signature updates.
9. Automated traffic scanning for hack attempts, with automated alerts reviewed during business hours.
10. Automatic repair of changed core files by restoring original versions.
11. Vulnerability scanning with detailed reports (delivered with each update cycle).
12. Login-attempt limits and strong-password enforcement.
13. Automated file-change detection with detailed logs (logs available on request; alerts reviewed during business hours).
14. Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack mitigation via included tooling (larger attacks may require upgraded protection at Client's expense).
15. Blacklist removal — up to one (1) time per year.
16. Content delivery network (CDN) for speed and an added layer of security.
17. Uptime monitoring, with downtime investigation when an outage is detected.
18. WordPress hardening, including hiding the admin login path and version numbers.
19. One (1) hour of maintenance updates per month — submitted as a single consolidated revision; hours do not roll over and have no cash value.

Not included: new pages, features, functionality, or integrations; redesigns; staging/development environments; content creation, copywriting, or graphic design; SEO; email hosting/support; domain registration or DNS management.