Terms of Service

By creating an Actuallize account or using Actuallize ("the platform", "we", "us"), you agree to these Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not create an account or use the platform.

You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of legal majority where you live, if higher) and able to form a binding contract to use Actuallize. If you use Actuallize on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent that you have authority to bind that entity, and "you" refers to that entity.

Every Actuallize account can both hire people to do work ("client" on a given project) and offer to do work for others ("professional" on a given project) — there is no separate account type for each. Whichever role you're in on a specific project determines which responsibilities in these Terms apply to you for that project. You're responsible for keeping your login credentials confidential and for all activity under your account.

Work happens inside a project conversation. A project is broken into one or more deliveries (sometimes called milestones) — either agreed directly between a client and professional, or purchased as a fixed-price "gig" package with the terms fixed in advance by the professional.

A client pays for a delivery before it begins or before it's reviewed; that money is then "Protected" — held by our payment processor, not by Actuallize, and not paid out to the professional — until the client approves the delivered work, the review window in the next section lapses without action, or a dispute is resolved.

The professional delivers the work in the project conversation. The client reviews it against whatever acceptance criteria were agreed, and either approves it (which pays the Protected money to the professional), requests changes, or reports a problem (see "Disputes" below).

Actuallize's fee is charged to the professional, never to the client — the client always pays exactly the number they agreed to, with no separate platform fee added on top. On a client–professional pair's first paid project, Actuallize's fee is 1% of the amount paid; once that same pair has completed at least one paid project together (or the professional introduced the client to Actuallize themselves), every subsequent project between them is charged at 0.5%. Reimbursed expenses carry no Actuallize fee.

Payment costs (card, bank and payout charges, set by the payment processor — not by Actuallize) are a separate line, shown at cost, and are never absorbed into or blended with Actuallize's fee. Until Actuallize has real per-transaction processor data to report, this line is an ESTIMATE, clearly labeled as such, computed from published default rates (illustratively: around 2.9% + $0.30 of the charge for a card payment, plus around 0.25% + $0.25 for the payout to the professional's bank). Actual processor charges may vary and Actuallize does not mark them up.

Before any money moves, the professional is shown the full breakdown: the gross amount the client is paying, the estimated payment costs, Actuallize's fee (and what the next project with that same client would cost), and the amount they'll actually receive. The current, live fee schedule and a calculator are published on the Fees page, which these Terms incorporate by reference.

If a payment is reversed or charged back through the payment processor, the affected delivery is treated as disputed: the money is frozen and a person reviews it under "Disputes" below. Prices are shown in the currency of the brief. Each party is responsible for its own taxes on money it receives; Actuallize does not withhold tax and will state here if and when that changes.

Every submitted delivery carries a visible review window (14 days from submission). If the client neither approves the delivery nor requests changes within that window, the delivery automatically approves and the Protected payment is paid to the professional — silence is never allowed to strand a professional indefinitely. Requesting changes, or reporting a problem, pauses this window until it's resolved.

Approval is a per-delivery act, evaluated against whatever acceptance criteria were recorded for that delivery when the project was scoped. Once every delivery in a project has been approved and paid, the project is complete and becomes a read-only record; either party may then propose a new project (a "rehire").

If review and revision don't resolve a disagreement about a delivery, either party may "report a problem." Doing so immediately freezes that delivery's auto-approve window and its Protected payment — no money moves while a problem is open.

Reporting a problem opens a structured resolution flow inside the same project conversation: each side may record their position, and the acceptance criteria that were agreed at the start serve as the neutral reference point. Where an automated summary is added, it is advisory only and never rules on the outcome.

A human Actuallize operator reviews both positions and the record, and rules on one of: paying the full Protected amount to the professional, paying part of it and returning the rest to the client, sending the delivery back for revision, or ending the project (refunding whatever is still Protected-but-unpaid to the client, while anything already approved and paid stays paid). Operator rulings are final as between the parties for purposes of using the platform, without prejudice to any other legal rights either party may have.

Either party may also propose ending a project outright (outside of a dispute). Protected-but-unpaid money follows the same rule: it returns to the client; anything already approved and paid is not reversed; the project record stays intact for both parties.

A professional may publish one or more fixed-price "gig" packages describing a specific delivery, its price, and its delivery time. A client who purchases a gig package enters a project on those pre-set terms — the purchase price is Protected immediately, and the same delivery/approval/dispute rules above apply from that point on. A professional publishing a gig is responsible for the accuracy of what they describe and for including real, checkable acceptance criteria for it.

After a project reaches its first paid delivery, both parties may leave a rating and review of each other. Reviews are double-blind: neither party's review is visible to anyone (including the other party) until both have submitted one, or 14 days have passed, at which point any submitted review(s) become visible together. This is meant to encourage honest, independent feedback rather than tit-for-tat responses.

Moving payment for an Actuallize-originated project off the platform (for example, asking to be paid directly outside Actuallize to avoid Actuallize's fee) removes the payment protections these Terms describe and is not permitted for work that began on Actuallize. Actuallize may show automated warnings and may review messages for signals of this and other prohibited conduct.

• Attempting to circumvent Protected payments for an Actuallize-originated project.
• Harassment, discrimination, threats, or abusive behavior toward another user or an Actuallize operator.
• Fraud, misrepresentation of your identity, skills, work, or a project's scope, or submitting work you don't have the rights to deliver.
• Uploading malicious files, or attempting to access another user's account, data, or protected payments without authorization.
• Any use of the platform that violates applicable law.

Actuallize may suspend or ban an account for violating these Terms, and will always state the reason in writing; a person reviews an appeal within 3 working days (see the Trust page). A suspended account is temporarily blocked from taking new actions; a banned account is blocked from signing in. Money already Protected in an open project a banned user is party to is handled the same way as an ended project (see "Disputes" above) unless an operator rules otherwise based on the circumstances.

You may stop using Actuallize, and request deletion of your account, at any time (see the Privacy Policy for what deletion does and doesn't remove). Actuallize may also terminate or suspend access to the platform generally, or to a specific account, for conduct that violates these Terms, for extended inactivity, or as required by law.

Actuallize provides the platform, the payment-protection mechanism, and the dispute-resolution process described above — it is an intermediary and record-keeper for the project between a client and a professional, not a party to the underlying work itself, and does not guarantee the quality, legality, or outcome of any delivered work.

The platform is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind except where such warranties cannot be excluded by law. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Actuallize's total liability arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the platform is limited to the fees you paid to Actuallize in the 12 months before the claim.

Nothing in these Terms limits a right that the consumer-protection law where you live does not allow to be limited. Actuallize is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, such as lost profit, except where the law where you live says otherwise.

These terms are governed by the law of the country where Actuallize's operating company is registered. We will name the country and venue here before the first live payment is taken.

If Actuallize makes a material change to these Terms, we'll take reasonable steps to notify active users (for example, an in-app notice) before the change takes effect, and will version the change (these Terms are versioned "2026-09-05" — see your account's terms-acceptance record). Continuing to use the platform after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Terms.