This policy covers refunds and cancellations for ChessHost Pro, our subscription, billed through Paddle. Pro is a recurring subscription rather than a one-time purchase, so the section that matters most to most people is section 2: how to cancel.
1. What ChessHost Pro is
ChessHost Pro is a recurring subscription to digital services. It removes the free plan's two limits, giving you unlimited tournaments each month and no player limit per event. Every other feature, including the player roster, the TV display and certificates, is free for everyone and is not part of what you pay for.
It is $7 billed every month, or $18 billed every 3 months. It renews automatically at the end of each period until you cancel. There is deliberately no yearly plan: three months is the longest commitment we ask for.
You do not need Pro to use ChessHost. The free plan includes one tournament every month, up to 12 players, for as long as you want it, with no card required.
2. Cancelling
You can cancel at any time, without contacting us and without giving a reason. Open Billing in the app and choose Cancel plan. This takes you to Paddle's secure customer portal, where you can also update your card or download invoices.
When you cancel, Pro keeps running until the end of the period you have already paid for. Nothing is cut off early and nothing is deleted. After that date your account returns to the free plan, with your history, results and certificates intact.
Cancelling stops future charges. It does not by itself refund the period you are currently in, which is what section 3 covers.
3. Refunds
We would rather you had your money back than felt stuck with something you are not using. Email admin@chesshost.app within 14 days of a charge and we will refund it in full, whether that is your first payment or a renewal you did not expect.
Outside that window, get in touch anyway and tell us what happened. If a renewal caught you by surprise, or ChessHost was not working properly when you needed it, we will do the right thing. Refunds are issued to the original payment method by Paddle and usually appear within 5 to 10 business days depending on your bank.
We do not claw anything back when we refund. A tournament you have already run stays in your account, and any event that has already started keeps running to the end.
4. Failed payments
If a renewal payment fails, Paddle retries it over a few days and we will show a notice on your Billing page. Pro keeps working during that window. If the payment never succeeds, the subscription lapses and your account moves back to the free plan on its own. Nothing is deleted and you are never billed for a period you did not get.
5. Chargebacks and payment disputes
If something has gone wrong, please email us first at admin@chesshost.app. We will almost always resolve it faster than a bank dispute, and a chargeback costs us a fee on top of the refunded amount.
Where a chargeback is raised, Paddle handles the dispute process as merchant of record. The associated subscription may be cancelled while the dispute is open.
6. If ChessHost shuts down
This is part of why there is no yearly plan. If we ever discontinue the service, we will give notice, stop taking new payments, and refund the unused portion of any period you have paid for. Because the longest plan is 3 months, that exposure is small by design.
7. Your statutory rights
Nothing in this policy limits your statutory rights under applicable consumer law.
If you are in the European Union or the United Kingdom, you may have a right of withdrawal from digital content purchases within 14 days. Our 14 day refund offer in section 3 is written to meet or exceed that, and we apply it worldwide rather than only where it is legally required.
8. Contact
Questions about this policy, a charge, or a cancellation? Reach us at admin@chesshost.app or through our Contact page. For plan details, see our Pricing page.