Terms of Service

1. Introduction

By using ChalPals, you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

2. Account Registration

• Users must provide accurate and complete information.
• You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account.

3. Challenges & Penalties

• Challenges are created and managed by users, not ChalPals. We do not endorse or take responsibility for challenge content.
• By joining a challenge, you agree to abide by the challenge rules, including any penalty amounts set by the creator.
• Missed check-ins result in automatic penalties. Penalty amounts are set by the challenge creator and are capped at $10 per missed check-in.
• Check-ins may include up to 3 photos or 1 video as proof of participation, and an optional short caption on that media. Media is optional but must be related to the challenge activity if provided, and the same standard applies to captions. Vulgar, inappropriate, or unrelated media may result in disqualification from the challenge and potential removal from ChalPals. You may report another participant's check-in photo or video for review; those reports go to ChalPals administrators only, not to the challenge creator. ChalPals administrators may permanently delete reported check-in media at their discretion; a caption is deleted together with the media it describes. Removing media and its caption does not remove the check-in itself, which continues to count toward the challenge and any payout.
• Each challenge includes a chat for its participants, and participants may post comments on one another's check-ins. You are responsible for the messages and comments you post and must keep them respectful and on-topic; vulgar, harassing, or inappropriate content may result in removal from ChalPals. You can edit or delete your own messages and comments for a short window after posting. You may also report another participant's message or comment for review — reports are shared with the challenge creator and ChalPals administrators. The challenge creator and ChalPals administrators may remove any message or comment at their discretion to moderate the challenge.
• If you give up on an active challenge, your penalty is calculated as all missed check-ins to date plus all remaining future check-ins, with a 25% surcharge applied to the total. Giving up on a challenge with payments enabled will result in a charge for this amount.
• If you have an outstanding unpaid balance from a previous challenge, you will not be able to join new challenges with payments enabled until the balance is resolved.

4. Payments & Refunds

• Payment processing is handled by Stripe. By joining a challenge with payments enabled, you authorize ChalPals to charge your saved payment method for any penalties incurred at the end of the challenge.
• Payments are enabled on a per-challenge basis by the challenge creator. Challenges without payments enabled track penalties for accountability purposes only — no money is collected or distributed.
• Penalty charges are non-refundable once processed.
• ChalPals retains a platform fee of 15% of the total penalty pot for each challenge with payments enabled. This fee helps operate the service and cover payment-processing costs. The fee is deducted from the pot before any winnings are calculated, and the fee amount and resulting payout are shown on the challenge results.
• After the 15% platform fee is deducted, the remaining pot is split evenly among participants who successfully complete the challenge without any missed check-ins.
• Winnings are paid out manually by ChalPals to each winner through a third-party payment app (such as Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, or Zelle). The challenge creator can view the payment status for their own challenge but does not distribute winnings. To send your payout, ChalPals admins — and the creator of a challenge you win, for transparency — can view the payout handle you provide. You are responsible for providing an accurate payout handle in Settings. ChalPals is not liable for funds sent to an incorrect or outdated handle that you provided, and payments made through third-party apps are also subject to those apps' own terms.
• Penalty amounts are capped at $10 per missed check-in.
• ChalPals is not responsible for disputes between participants regarding challenge fairness or outcomes.

5. Termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account if you violate these terms.

6. Limitation of Liability

ChalPals is not responsible for any losses incurred from the use of the service.

7. Changes to Terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Continued use of ChalPals after changes means you accept them.

8. Public Challenges

• Creators may make challenges publicly visible on the Discover page.
• Public challenges can be joined by any registered user up to the max participant limit.
• ChalPals does not vet or endorse public challenge content.

9. Invitations

• Challenge creators may invite past co-participants or any person by email address before the challenge starts.
• Invitees who have a ChalPals account will see the invitation on their dashboard and can accept or decline. Accepting an invitation is subject to the same join rules as joining directly, including the 6 PM ET join window, participant limits, and payment method requirements for paid challenges.
• If you are invited by email before you have a ChalPals account, the invitation will appear on your dashboard automatically once you sign up, provided the join window has not yet closed.
• Declining an invitation does not prevent you from joining the challenge via another method (such as a share link) before the join window closes.
• ChalPals may send one automated reminder email and push notification approximately 24 hours before a challenge you were invited to is scheduled to start.
• Email addresses entered by creators for invite purposes are stored only to prevent duplicate invitations and are not used for any other purpose.

10. Referrals & Trophies

• When you invite someone who is new to ChalPals — by email or by sharing a challenge link — and that person signs up and joins their first challenge, it is counted as a referral credited to you.
• Trophies, referral counts, and other achievements are recognition features only. They have no monetary or cash value, cannot be redeemed, transferred, or sold, and are not winnings or a payout.
• You may not create fake accounts, use disposable or others' email addresses, or otherwise attempt to inflate referrals or unlock trophies through fraudulent or automated means. ChalPals may void referrals, revoke trophies, or suspend accounts that violate this provision.