shardio

Shardio Terms of Service

Last updated: 2026-10-26

These Terms ("Terms") are an agreement between you and Shardio, LLC ("Shardio", "we", "us") governing your access to the Shardio websites, console, APIs, node software, and related services (the "Services"). By creating an account, generating an API key, running node software, or otherwise using the Services, you agree to these Terms. If you use the Services on behalf of an entity, you represent you have authority to bind it, and "you" includes that entity.

These Terms require disputes to be resolved by binding individual arbitration, not in court and not as a class action, except as Section 17 allows. Please read Section 17.

1. Eligibility

You may use the Services only if you are at least 18 years old, legally able to enter a binding contract, not located in or ordinarily resident in a jurisdiction subject to applicable trade restrictions or sanctions, and your use complies with applicable law.

2. The Services

Shardio is an inference network: open AI models served on GPUs that independent hosts own and operate, reached through an OpenAI-compatible API and metered per token. The Services include API endpoints compatible with the OpenAI interface, a web console, documentation, and node software hosts run to contribute capacity. Interface compatibility with OpenAI describes request/response shape only; we are not affiliated with or endorsed by OpenAI.

3. Accounts, Authentication, and API Keys

Authentication uses a third-party identity provider; we receive your name, email, and a subject identifier, never your password. You agree to provide accurate information, keep keys and credentials confidential, use reasonable security, and notify us promptly of suspected compromise. You are responsible for all activity under your credentials unless caused by our breach. We may require identity or compliance verification before enabling billing or payouts. One account can both use models and host them. Credits you buy and earnings from hosting are recorded separately, and earnings become credits only when you transfer them (§6). Every member, including a business that resells or integrates the Services, uses them under these Terms.

4. Consumers

If you submit requests: you are responsible for your Inputs, your use of Outputs, your model selections, and anything built on the Services, and you must have all rights needed for both. Our gateway's metering is the billing record for every request, and your console is the authoritative statement of your account's activity.

5. Hosts

If you run node software to contribute hardware:

  1. Authorization. Operate only hardware, networks, and accounts you are authorized to use, and comply with third-party licenses applying to your hardware and software.
  2. Node software and member data. Requests run on your hardware in an isolated execution process inside the container image Shardio publishes, whose signature our installer and CLI check before it starts. You operate that hardware, and you will not bypass, disable, spoof, or tamper with image verification, platform checks, calibration, metering, routing, payout, or security controls, nor attempt to inspect, exfiltrate, intercept, retain, or misuse content processed through your hardware. By running node software you also agree to our Host Data Processing Addendum, which governs the personal data in the requests your node serves. Attempting to defeat these controls is a material breach.
  3. Checks. Before a node gets paid traffic, and for as long as it serves, Shardio sends it platform checks: Shardio's own requests, sent through the same gateway and the same path as member requests, which the node must answer as the model it claims to run. Platform checks keep the mesh honest. A node that fails them can stop receiving traffic for that model. You will not try to identify platform checks in order to treat them differently from member requests, and you will not serve them differently.
  4. Calibration. Shardio schedules calibration when a node starts serving a model, when its setup changes, when its measured capacity changes, periodically, and when you ask for one. Calibration requests are generated by Shardio, carry no member content, and, like platform checks, must be answered as the model the node claims to run. Their results set the node's capacity, the number of member requests it is given at a time. While a node is being calibrated, Shardio pauses member requests to it until the measurement is done.
  5. Earnings. If you host, you earn a published share, currently 80%, of the gross amount billed for each member request your node serves: input, cached input, and output tokens (reasoning tokens count as output) at the model's published rates, as metered by our gateway, with no deduction for payment or processing fees. Requests paid for with promotional or goodwill credits earn the same. If a response is cut off before it finishes, the request is billed, and you earn, for the tokens delivered. Platform checks and calibration requests are not paid, and no member is charged for them. The share and rates are published in the console and change prospectively only. Earnings settle before they can be transferred or withdrawn (§6). Earnings depend on demand, routing, and whether your node passes platform checks, and are not guaranteed. Earnings and payouts may be delayed, held, adjusted, or reversed for fraud, abuse, disputes, chargebacks, sanctions screening, compliance review, accounting corrections, or system error.
  6. Taxes and costs. You are solely responsible for taxes, reporting, electricity, internet, hardware, wear, and all operating costs. Hosting does not create an employment, agency, partnership, franchise, fiduciary, or joint venture relationship. Before a first payout you will provide the tax information our payment processor requires. Earnings may be reported to tax authorities as required by law.

6. Fees, Credits, Postpaid Billing, and Payouts

Payments and payouts are processed by our payment processor.

  1. Credits. Unless we agree to postpaid billing with you (paragraph 2), use of the Services is paid for in advance with prepaid credits. Credits are non-interest-bearing, are not bank accounts or stored value, are not transferable between accounts, and are usable only for eligible Services. Credits do not expire. We charge no purchase fee on top-ups. Credits are not refundable while your account is open, except as required by law; when an account closes, unused credits are refunded as Section 12 describes. Promotional or goodwill credits we grant have no cash value and are never refunded.
  2. Postpaid billing. We may agree with you to bill your account after use instead. Postpaid billing is offered at our discretion and applies only to an account we have switched to it. On a postpaid account:
    1. Usage is charged at the published rates, as metered by our gateway and shown in your console. You may spend on credit once your billing setup is complete; until then, usage remains prepaid.
    2. We may set a credit limit. A request that could take your unpaid usage past the limit is refused. We may set, change, or remove the limit at any time; a change applies to requests made after it.
    3. When each monthly statement closes, we invoice any amount not already invoiced, after applying available credit, through our payment processor. Small balances and fractions of a cent may carry forward to a later invoice. If you choose automatic collection, you authorize us to charge your saved card or US bank account when the invoice is issued. If you choose pay by invoice, payment is due within the terms we agree with you, or 30 days after issue if we have agreed none.
    4. If an invoice is not paid when due, we may suspend or restrict the account (Section 12), lower its credit limit, or return it to prepaid billing, and we may pursue collection of the amount owed.
    5. We may return a postpaid account to prepaid billing at any time. That applies to use after the change; usage before it remains payable on its invoice.
  3. Automatic top-ups. On a prepaid account, if you turn them on, you authorize our payment processor to charge your saved payment method the amount you choose, at least USD 10, when your available credit falls below the threshold you set. Credits are added when the payment succeeds. Automatic top-ups turn off after three consecutive declined charges, and you can turn them off at any time in the console. They do not run on a postpaid account.
  4. Earnings. Earnings settle after the day they were earned and a settlement period shown in the console. Settled earnings can be transferred to your credits, by you or, on a prepaid account, automatically when your credit runs low if you choose, or withdrawn to a payout account through our payment processor, subject to the minimum withdrawal shown in the console. A suspended account cannot transfer or withdraw earnings until the suspension is resolved.
  5. Payment rails. Third parties (our payment processor, card networks, banks) process payments under their own terms; we are not responsible for their delays, reversals, outages, fees, or errors.
  6. Taxes. Yours, other than taxes on our net income.

7. Models and Model Licenses

Models available through the Services are open-weight models, each subject to its own license and any associated use restrictions. Each model's page in the console names its license and links to the license text. Hosts must have the rights required to obtain and run model weights, and members must comply with the license terms that apply to their use. Availability through Shardio does not expand the rights granted by a model's licensor, and we make no representation that any model is licensed for any particular use case.

8. Acceptable Use

No illegal, fraudulent, harmful, infringing, or deceptive activity; no exploitation of minors; no malware, phishing, credential theft, or unauthorized surveillance; no interference with the Services, hosts, or security controls; no circumventing rate limits, budgets, access controls, or safety mechanisms; no scraping except via authorized APIs; no building a competing service from unauthorized extraction of outputs, metadata, or system behavior; no deceptive representation of Outputs as solely human-generated; and no high-risk uses (medical diagnosis or treatment, legal or financial advice, emergency response, critical infrastructure) where failure could cause death, personal injury, or significant harm, unless we agree in writing. We may investigate suspected violations and cooperate with law enforcement where permitted or required.

9. Content and Outputs

You retain your rights in Inputs; you own Outputs to the extent ownership arises in them, excluding our Services, software, models, documentation, and trademarks. You grant us and our service providers a non-exclusive, worldwide, limited license to host, copy, transmit, process, and display Inputs and Outputs solely as necessary to provide, secure, maintain, support, and bill for the Services, prevent fraud and abuse, enforce these Terms, and comply with law, as described in our Privacy Policy. This license does not permit us to train models on your Inputs or Outputs. Outputs may not be unique and are not guaranteed accurate, complete, available, non-infringing, or fit for your purpose.

10. Privacy and Data Processing

Our Privacy Policy governs how we collect, use, disclose, and protect personal information and is incorporated into these Terms. If you use the Services for a business and your Inputs contain personal data you control, our Data Processing Addendum applies to that data and is incorporated into these Terms. Requests are processed on hardware that independent hosts operate, and the Privacy Policy describes how content is handled there. We use reasonable safeguards, but none are perfect.

11. Third-Party Services

We interoperate with third-party services (identity, payments, email, hosting, storage) whose terms govern your use of them. We are not responsible for third-party outages, policy changes, fees, transaction failures, delays, or data practices.

12. Suspension, Termination, and Account Closure

You may close your account at any time by writing to support@shardio.ai. We may suspend, restrict, or terminate access immediately, with or without notice, for breach of these Terms or law, risk to security/legal/reputational/operational standing, overdue or reversed payment, suspected fraud or unauthorized access, or unavailability of a required third-party service. We may also close any account, or discontinue the Services, at any time.

When an account closes, whether you close it, we close it, or we discontinue the Services, any unused purchased credits are refunded to the original payment method within 30 days, and settled earnings are paid out. If we terminate your account for breach of these Terms, unused credits are forfeited and your earnings are held for review; earnings we find were legitimately earned are paid out. You remain responsible for any amounts owed for use before closure; on a postpaid account, usage up to closure is invoiced and remains payable on that invoice. Sections that by nature survive termination do so, including fees owed, IP, disclaimers, liability limits, indemnity, and dispute resolution.

13. Disclaimers

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OPERATION. Unless agreed separately in writing, no service levels apply. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES, SO SOME OF THESE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

14. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, GOODWILL, DATA, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION. OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY RELATING TO THE SERVICES WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF USD $100 OR THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM. This limit does not apply to amounts we owe you under these Terms, such as earnings and refunds.

15. Indemnity

You are responsible for your use of the Services. You will defend and indemnify Shardio, LLC and its officers, directors, employees, contractors, affiliates, licensors, and agents against every third-party claim, and the resulting liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees), arising from: (a) your access to or use of the Services, including the Inputs you submit, the Outputs you use, and, if you host, the operation of your hardware; (b) your breach of these Terms or of applicable law; (c) your violation of any third-party right, including intellectual property, privacy, or publicity rights, or of a model's license; or (d) any dispute between you and a third party. We will notify you of a claim we ask you to defend. We may take over the defense and control of any such claim at our own expense, and you will cooperate with that defense. You may not settle a claim in a way that imposes an obligation on us without our written consent.

16. Governing Law and Courts

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules, and, for the agreement to arbitrate, the Federal Arbitration Act. Where a claim may be brought in court under these Terms, it will be brought only in the state or federal courts located in Delaware, and you and Shardio consent to their personal jurisdiction.

17. Dispute Resolution and Arbitration

  1. Agreement to arbitrate. You and Shardio agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services, whatever the legal theory, will be resolved by binding arbitration rather than in court, except as listed below. An arbitrator, not a judge or jury, decides the dispute, and can award the same individual relief a court could.
  2. Exceptions. Either party may bring an individual claim in small claims court, and either party may bring a matter to a government agency that can act on it. Either party may also ask a court for an injunction to stop infringement or misuse of its intellectual property or of the Services while an arbitration is pending.
  3. Notice and informal resolution first. Before starting an arbitration, the party with the claim sends the other a written notice describing the claim and the relief sought. Notices to Shardio go to support@shardio.ai; notices to you go to the email address on your account. We will both try in good faith to resolve the claim. If it is not resolved within 30 days after the notice is received, either party may start an arbitration.
  4. Rules and place. The arbitration is administered by JAMS under its applicable rules, including its consumer minimum standards where they apply, as modified by these Terms. It is held in Delaware or by video conference. For claims of USD 10,000 or less, you may choose to have it decided on written submissions alone or at a hearing by video conference.
  5. Fees. If you start an arbitration for a claim of USD 10,000 or less, we will reimburse your filing fee. For larger claims, the JAMS rules decide who pays the fees. Each party otherwise bears its own costs unless the arbitrator or applicable law decides otherwise.
  6. No class actions. You and Shardio may bring claims against each other only individually, not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, or representative proceeding. Unless both parties agree, an arbitrator may not join more than one person's claims and may not preside over any form of class or representative proceeding.
  7. Changes to this section. If we change this Section 17 after you agreed to it, other than to change the notice address, you may reject the change by writing to support@shardio.ai within 30 days after the change takes effect. Your account will then be closed under Section 12, and this Section 17 as it stood before the change continues to apply to disputes between us.
  8. If this section cannot be enforced. If the class action waiver in paragraph 6 or this whole Section 17 is found unenforceable, this Section 17 will not apply, and the dispute will be decided by the courts named in Section 16.

18. Changes and Acceptance

We may change these Terms. Each version has a version number and an effective date. When you first sign in, we ask you to agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy, and we record which version you agreed to and when. For a change that materially affects your rights or obligations, we will email you at least 30 days before it takes effect, except that a change required for legal or security reasons may take effect sooner. Other changes take effect when we publish them. Continuing to use the Services after a change takes effect means you accept it; if you do not accept a change, stop using the Services and close your account. A dispute is decided under the version of these Terms in effect when the dispute arose.

19. Contact

Shardio, LLC. Notices and questions: support@shardio.ai.