OpenCongress — Terms of Service

Effective Date: February 20, 2026 · Last Updated: March 16, 2026

1. Agreement to Terms

By accessing or using OpenCongress (the “Service”), available at opencongress.app, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service (“Terms”). If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use the Service.

The Service is operated by OpenCongress (“we,” “us,” or “our”). These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and OpenCongress.

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email or through a notice on the Service at least 30 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

2. Description of Service

OpenCongress is a web-based platform that provides access to congressional legislative data including but not limited to: roll-call votes, bills and resolutions, committee hearings, member profiles, campaign finance data, amendments, and floor schedules.

The Service includes AI-generated summaries of legislative data and an AI assistant feature that allows users to query congressional data in natural language.

Congressional data displayed on the Service is sourced from publicly available official sources including Congress.gov, the House and Senate clerks, and committee feeds. While we strive for accuracy and timeliness, we do not guarantee that all data is complete, current, or error-free at all times.

3. Accounts

3.1 Registration

To access certain features of the Service, you must create an account. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and to keep your account information updated.

3.2 Account Security

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account.

3.3 Account Restrictions

You must be at least 13 years of age to create an account. If you are under 18, you must have parental or guardian consent. Each account is for a single individual unless you have a multi-seat subscription.

4. Subscription Plans and Billing

4.1 Free Tier

The Service offers a free tier with limited features as described on our pricing page. The free tier may be modified, reduced, or discontinued at our discretion with reasonable notice.

4.2 Paid Subscriptions

Paid subscription plans (“Intro,” “Pro,” “Intelligence,” “Institutional”) provide access to additional features as described on our pricing page. By subscribing to a paid plan, you agree to pay the applicable fees.

4.3 Billing

Paid subscriptions are billed monthly or annually in advance through our payment processor, Stripe. By providing payment information, you authorize us to charge the applicable fees to your payment method on a recurring basis.

4.4 Price Changes

We may change subscription prices with at least 30 days' notice. Price changes will take effect at the start of your next billing cycle following the notice. If you do not agree to the new pricing, you may cancel your subscription before the new price takes effect.

4.5 Cancellation

You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings or the Stripe Customer Portal. Upon cancellation, you will retain access to paid features until the end of your current billing period. No refunds are provided for partial billing periods.

4.6 Failed Payments

If a payment fails, we will attempt to charge your payment method again and notify you of the failure. If payment is not resolved within 7 days, your account may be downgraded to the free tier.

5. AI Assistant

5.1 AI-Generated Content

The Service includes AI features that generate summaries, answer questions, and provide analysis based on congressional data. AI-generated content is provided for informational purposes only. While the AI is designed to ground its responses in verified data from our database, AI outputs may occasionally contain errors or inaccuracies.

You should independently verify any AI-generated information before relying on it for professional, legal, advocacy, or journalistic purposes.

5.2 AI Usage Limits

Each subscription tier includes a monthly AI usage allocation as described on our pricing page. Usage is measured in tokens (a unit of text processing). When your allocation is exhausted, AI features will be unavailable until your next billing cycle.

Pre-generated summaries displayed on bill and vote pages are static content and do not count toward your AI usage allocation.

5.3 Prohibited AI Use

You agree not to use the AI assistant to:

• Generate content that is misleading, defamatory, or intended to deceive the public
• Attempt to extract, reconstruct, or reverse-engineer the underlying database structure
• Submit adversarial prompts designed to manipulate the AI into bypassing usage limits or accessing data outside your subscription tier
• Use automated scripts or bots to submit AI queries at scale without prior written permission

6. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Service, its servers, or connected systems
• Scrape, crawl, or use automated means to access the Service or extract data at scale without prior written permission
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service or its infrastructure
• Impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity
• Use the Service to send unsolicited communications (spam)
• Resell, sublicense, or redistribute access to the Service without prior written permission

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

7. Intellectual Property

7.1 Our Content

The Service's design, code, graphics, user interface, and AI-generated summaries are owned by or licensed to OpenCongress and are protected by intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works based on our proprietary content without prior written permission.

7.2 Congressional Data

Congressional data displayed on the Service is derived from publicly available government sources and is in the public domain. We do not claim ownership of underlying congressional data. Our presentation, organization, and AI-generated analysis of this data are proprietary.

7.3 Your Content

If you create content within the Service (such as topic lists, notes, or other user-generated content), you retain ownership of that content. You grant us a limited license to store, process, and display your content solely to provide the Service to you.

8. Data Accuracy and Disclaimer

The Service provides access to congressional data sourced from official government feeds. While we make commercially reasonable efforts to ensure data accuracy and timeliness:

• We do not guarantee that all data is complete, accurate, or current at all times.
• Data synchronization schedules range from minutes to hours depending on the data type. Real-time accuracy is not guaranteed.
• AI-generated summaries and analysis are provided for informational purposes and may contain errors.
• The Service is not a substitute for official government sources, legal advice, or professional policy analysis.

9. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, OpenCongress and its officers, directors, employees, and agents shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, data, use, or goodwill, arising out of or in connection with your use of the Service.

Our total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim, or (b) $100.

10. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory. We disclaim all warranties, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, or that defects will be corrected.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless OpenCongress and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or in connection with: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your violation of these Terms; or (c) your violation of any rights of a third party.

12. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice. Upon termination, your right to use the Service ceases immediately. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination (including Limitation of Liability, Disclaimer of Warranties, and Indemnification) shall survive.

13. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall first be attempted to be resolved through good-faith negotiation. If negotiation fails, the dispute shall be resolved through binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its rules for consumer disputes. The arbitration shall take place in New York, New York, or remotely at your election.

You agree to resolve disputes with us on an individual basis and waive any right to participate in a class action lawsuit or class-wide arbitration.

You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by sending written notice to legal@opencongress.app within 30 days of creating your account.

14. Miscellaneous

Entire Agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and OpenCongress regarding the Service.

Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

Waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.

Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms without restriction.

15. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms, contact us at:
Email: legal@opencongress.app
Website: opencongress.app