Terms of Service
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These terms apply to every order for SparkHost dedicated hosted machines. They are written for business customers and are governed by Dutch law.
1. Definitions
Customer or you: the business that places an order. Hardware: the physical machine(s) (unit(s)) assigned to you. Service: providing, hosting and powering the Hardware, network connectivity and remote access. Plan: Own it in 24 months, Own it in 12 months (together: rent-to-own), Flex rental, or the hosting-only subscription after ownership. Portal: the customer portal at sparkhost.ai.
2. Business customers only
SparkHost sells only to businesses. By ordering you confirm that you act for a company or as a self-employed professional in the course of your business, not as a consumer, and that the person ordering is authorised to bind the business. We ask for your company name, KvK number (Chamber of Commerce) and, where it applies, your VAT ID. EU reverse-charge VAT applies where valid. Consumer protection rules for distance sales (such as the 14-day withdrawal right) do not apply. Your own general terms and conditions do not apply and are expressly rejected.
3. Ordering and the contract
You order on our website and pay the first invoice through Stripe Checkout. The contract starts when that payment has been received. We may refuse an order, for example if the details provided are incomplete or no Hardware is available; in that case any amount paid for that order is refunded.
4. The Service
We provide dedicated physical Hardware for your exclusive use — never shared with other customers — with remote root access over SSH and, optionally, your own Tailscale network. Our machines are hosted in the Iron Mountain data centre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (EU). We take care of power, cooling, network connectivity, monitoring of power, health and reachability, and hardware repair or replacement. What we commit to in operating the Service is set out in our Service Level Agreement. You are responsible for everything you run on the Hardware: operating system configuration, software, models, data and security.
5. Plans, prices and payment
Prices are in euros, excluding VAT, as shown on our pricing page at the time of your order, and are billed monthly in advance through Stripe. There are three kinds of plan: Own it in 24 months, Own it in 12 months (together: rent-to-own) and Flex rental (monthly, cancel at the end of any month, no ownership). The monthly price of a rent-to-own plan is fixed for its whole term. We may change the price of Flex rentals and hosting-only subscriptions with at least 30 days' notice by email; you may cancel before the change takes effect. Invoices are payable on receipt; payment is collected by Stripe using the payment method you provide.
6. Setup deposit
Every plan has a one-time setup deposit of €500 per unit (excl. VAT), charged with the first invoice. The deposit is non-refundable, also if you cancel, if the contract ends early or if it is terminated for non-payment. It is not credited against later invoices and does not count towards the payments of a rent-to-own plan.
7. Rent-to-own and transfer of ownership
On a rent-to-own plan you pay the monthly price for the agreed number of months (24 or 12). Until the final payment has been received, the Hardware remains our property and you rent it (retention of title). When the final payment has been received, ownership of the unit(s) passes to you automatically; your portal then shows “Owned — paid off” with the date. Ownership covers the Hardware assigned to your order at that moment (which may be equivalent replacement Hardware under sections 10 and 11). Within the first 3 months a Flex rental can be switched to Own it in 24 months for the same platform and number of units; the Flex months already paid are then credited to your account balance and the 24 payments start from the switch.
8. After the term: hosting-only or shipment
Once you own the hardware, we keep hosting it for you on a hosting-only subscription unless you tell us otherwise: €149 per month per GB10 unit and €99 per month per AMD unit (excl. VAT), billed monthly and cancellable at the end of any month. You can instead ask us to ship the hardware to you (“Request shipment” in the portal); we confirm the shipping details and costs with you before shipping, shipping costs are for your account, and hosting ends when the hardware has shipped. If hosting ends for another reason, we hold your hardware for shipment or collection for a reasonable period.
9. Delivery
Our target is to have your machine(s) ready within 2 business days after payment. This is a target, not a guarantee and not a strict deadline. If we can't meet it, we will tell you and give you a new date. If we cannot deliver at all within a reasonable period, either party may cancel the order and we refund the amounts paid for it, including the deposit.
10. Equivalent hardware
Plans on the NVIDIA GB10 platform are fulfilled with an NVIDIA DGX Spark where one is in stock. If it isn't, we may instead supply an equivalent NVIDIA GB10 Grace Blackwell system from Dell (Pro Max with GB10), Lenovo (ThinkStation PGX) or ASUS (Ascent GX10) with the same core specifications: the NVIDIA GB10 superchip, 128 GB of unified memory and the NVIDIA DGX OS software stack. Chassis and storage capacity can differ by model. The exact make and model assigned to you is always shown in your customer portal.
11. Hardware failure and maintenance
If Hardware fails, we repair it or replace it with equivalent Hardware (same platform and at least the same core specifications) as soon as reasonably possible. Data on failed or replaced storage may not be recoverable: you are responsible for backing up your data. We announce planned maintenance in advance by email where possible.
12. Your responsibilities and acceptable use
You must use the Service lawfully and in line with our Acceptable Use Policy, which forms part of these terms. You are responsible for the security of your machine (software updates, firewall, credentials and SSH keys), for everyone you give access to, and for complying with laws that apply to your use, including export-control and sanctions rules. Keep your account email and contact details up to date.
13. Your data
Data on the machine is yours. We do not access your workloads or data except when you ask us to, where strictly required to operate the Service (for example a hardware swap), or where the law requires it. To the extent we process personal data on your behalf by hosting your machine, our Data Processing Agreement applies. How we handle personal data about you as our customer is described in our Privacy Policy.
14. Non-payment, suspension and termination
If an invoice is still unpaid 14 days after it was due, we suspend access to your machine(s) until it is paid. If it is still unpaid 30 days after it was due, the contract ends: we cancel the subscription, remove your access, wipe the storage and take rented hardware back into our inventory. Payments already made are kept as rent for the period used and the deposit is not refunded. Hardware you already own is not taken back: we hold it for shipment or collection. We may charge statutory commercial interest (wettelijke handelsrente) on overdue amounts.
We may also suspend the Service immediately, without liability, if you seriously breach the Acceptable Use Policy, if your use endangers our infrastructure, other customers or third parties, or if a competent authority orders us to. Where reasonably possible we contact you first.
15. Term and cancellation
Flex rentals and hosting-only subscriptions run month to month and can be cancelled at the end of any billing month in the Stripe billing portal or by ticket. A rent-to-own plan runs for its term (24 or 12 monthly payments) and cannot be cancelled early by you; if you stop paying, section 14 applies. When rented hardware comes back to us, its storage is securely wiped before it is reassigned.
16. Liability
Our total liability arising out of or in connection with the contract, whatever the legal ground, is limited to the amounts (excl. VAT, excluding the deposit) you paid us under the order concerned in the 12 months before the event that caused the damage. We are not liable for indirect or consequential damage, including lost profit, lost revenue, lost or corrupted data, business interruption and damage resulting from your failure to keep backups. These limitations do not apply to damage caused by our intent or deliberate recklessness (opzet of bewuste roekeloosheid). You must notify us in writing of any claim within 12 months after you became aware of the damage, failing which the claim lapses.
17. Force majeure
We are not liable for failures caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including failures of the data centre, the power grid, upstream network or transit providers, suppliers or carriers, natural disasters, war, pandemics, cyber attacks on third-party infrastructure and government measures.
18. Changes to these terms
We may change these terms. We announce material changes at least 30 days before they take effect by email or in the portal. Changes never alter the monthly price or the number of payments of a running rent-to-own plan. If you don't accept a change, you may cancel a Flex rental or hosting-only subscription before it takes effect.
19. Governing law and disputes
These terms and every contract with SparkHost are governed by Dutch law. The Vienna Sales Convention (CISG) does not apply. Disputes are submitted exclusively to the competent court in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
20. Contact
Questions about these terms: support@sparkhost.ai or a ticket in the portal. Support is available 24/7 via portal tickets, the Telegram bot and support@sparkhost.ai.