General Terms and Conditions (GTC) of gh0stservice GmbH

As of: 14 September 2026

This English version is provided for convenience. Only the German version is legally binding.

These General Terms and Conditions apply to all contracts between gh0stservice GmbH, Else-Lang-Str. 10, 50858 Köln, Germany, registered in the commercial register of the Amtsgericht Köln (Local Court of Cologne) under HRB 122084, represented by its Managing Director Falk Hähner (hereinafter "we" or "Provider"), and its customers (hereinafter "you" or "Customer") concerning the services gh0stcloud Self-Service, Managed Packages and Consulting.

Certain provisions apply only to consumers or only to businesses. Where this is the case, they are expressly marked. A consumer is any natural person who enters into a contract for purposes that are predominantly outside their trade, business or profession (§ 13 BGB (German Civil Code)). A business is any natural or legal person or partnership with legal capacity that, when entering into the contract, acts in the exercise of its trade, business or profession (§ 14 BGB). Legal entities under public law and special funds under public law are treated as businesses.

1. Scope and order of precedence

1. These GTC apply in the version valid at the time the contract is concluded.
2. The following contractual components apply in this order of precedence: (a) individually agreed provisions, (b) the service description for Managed Packages, where a Managed Package has been booked, (c) the Data Processing Agreement (DPA), where we process personal data on your behalf, (d) these GTC including the Acceptable Use Policy, (e) the price list valid at the time the contract is concluded.
3. Businesses only: Deviating or supplementary terms and conditions of the Customer become part of the contract only if we expressly agree to their application in text form.
4. These GTC do not restrict the statutory rights of consumers.

2. Services and customer groups

1. gh0stcloud Self-Service is a platform for running container applications. We operate the platform (including compute, storage, networking, certificates, security rules, monitoring and billing); you operate your applications on it yourself. Self-Service is available to consumers and businesses.
2. Managed Packages are operational services in which we operate applications for you. They are offered exclusively to businesses. Scope and response times are set out in the service description.
3. Consulting comprises analysis, planning, implementation and training services. It is offered exclusively to businesses and provided on the basis of a quotation. We owe the professional performance of the agreed activity; we owe a specific result only if this is expressly agreed.
4. Registration and conclusion of a contract in Self-Service are currently possible only for customers whose residence or registered office is in Germany. We conclude contracts with customers outside Germany only by individual agreement.
5. We may use carefully selected subcontractors to provide the services. The processing of personal data is additionally governed by the provisions of the Data Processing Agreement (DPA).

3. Conclusion of contract in Self-Service

1. The presentation of our services on the website does not constitute a binding offer but an invitation to register.
2. Technical steps: Registration takes place in three steps: account type and organisation, contact details, review and consent. In the last step, your entries are displayed once more in summary form. Using "Bearbeiten" and "Zurück" ("Edit" and "Back" in the English interface), you can identify and correct input errors at any time before submitting.
3. By clicking "Konto erstellen" ("Create account" in the English interface), you submit a binding offer to conclude the Self-Service contract. We then send you, without undue delay, an email containing a confirmation link. The contract is concluded when you confirm your email address via this link and we activate your account.
4. Registration without obligation to pay: Registration is free of charge. You receive a starting credit (clause 8). As long as you have neither topped up credit nor stored a payment method, charges are offset exclusively against the starting credit. We do not invoice you for any amounts beyond that; once the starting credit is used up, your applications are paused (clause 11). An obligation to pay arises only when you top up credit using the "Zahlungspflichtig aufladen" (top up with obligation to pay) button or store a payment method using the correspondingly labelled button.
5. Contract text: We store your registration details as well as the version and time of your consent to these GTC. You can access, print and save the current GTC at any time at gh0stservice.com/en/agb. On request, we will send you the version valid at the time the contract was concluded in text form.
6. The contract languages are German and English. In the event of discrepancies between the language versions, the German version prevails.

4. Services in Self-Service

1. The functional scope of the platform is determined by the description of services on the website and the public documentation at the time the contract is concluded.
2. Availability: We operate the platform on a best-efforts basis with the aim of achieving the highest possible availability. We do not commit to any specific availability in Self-Service. We publish the measured availability on our status page.
3. Support: We respond to support requests within 24 hours. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays in North Rhine-Westphalia are not counted. This period refers to the first response from a human, not to the resolution.
4. Maintenance: We carry out maintenance work with as little interruption as possible. We announce plannable maintenance with noticeable effects in advance on the status page.
5. Data backup in Self-Service: You are responsible for backing up your application data yourself, unless you have booked data backup as a service. Platform-side backups serve our operations and do not replace your own data backup.
6. Changes to the platform: We continue to develop the platform. We may at any time make changes that are necessary to maintain conformity with the contract, for security reasons or due to changed legal requirements. For consumers, further changes are governed by § 327r BGB: we make them only for a valid reason, at no additional cost to you and with clear information. If a change impairs your access or usability more than insignificantly, we will inform you in good time in advance on a durable medium; you may then terminate the contract free of charge within 30 days.

5. Managed Packages (businesses only)

1. Managed Packages are provided on the basis of the service description. It governs in particular the scope of services, response times, data backup, availability target and obligations to cooperate.
2. Managed Packages have a minimum term of three months. Thereafter they run for an indefinite period and may be terminated with one month's notice to the end of a month.
3. An agreed setup fee becomes due when setup begins.
4. We provide services outside the booked package after prior agreement at the rates set out in the service description.

6. Customer obligations

1. You use our services only within the scope of applicable law and the Acceptable Use Policy.
2. You keep access credentials, tokens and keys secret and inform us without undue delay if you suspect misuse.
3. You are responsible for the content, data and applications that you store, process or make available via our services, including the actions of persons to whom you grant access.
4. You keep your contact and billing details up to date.
5. Businesses only: You indemnify us against third-party claims based on unlawful use of our services by you, to the extent you are responsible for such use. The indemnity includes reasonable costs of legal defence.

7. Prices, VAT and invoices

1. The prices in the price list at the time the respective service is provided, or the individual quotation, apply.
2. Self-Service: The base fee is stated for all customers as a gross price including statutory VAT. Usage-based charges are measured hourly and billed monthly; the price list states unit prices both including and excluding VAT.
3. Managed Packages and Consulting: All prices are net plus statutory VAT.
4. Price changes: We may change prices for future service periods if the costs relevant to pricing change (in particular infrastructure and energy costs). We announce price changes in text form at least six weeks before they take effect. A price increase takes effect only if you expressly consent to it, for example via the portal. If you do not consent, the previous prices continue to apply; both parties may then terminate the contract with ordinary notice. We pass on price reductions without requiring consent.
5. Electronic invoices: You receive invoices electronically by email and in the portal. We issue invoices to businesses as e-invoices in a structured format (ZUGFeRD). By concluding the contract, you consent to the electronic transmission of invoices.
6. Invoices are due for payment without deduction within 14 days of receipt, unless they are offset against credit.
7. Businesses only: In the event of late payment, you owe default interest of nine percentage points above the base interest rate (§ 288(2) BGB) and a flat fee of EUR 40 (§ 288(5) BGB). For consumers, the statutory provisions apply (§ 288(1) BGB).
8. Businesses only: You may set off or exercise a right of retention only with claims that are undisputed or have been finally established by a court. For consumers, the statutory provisions apply.

8. Credit

1. Legal nature. You can top up your account with credit in euros. Paid credit is an advance payment towards future services of the Provider. It is not e-money, not a payment instrument within the meaning of the Zahlungsdiensteaufsichtsgesetz (ZAG, German Payment Services Supervision Act) and not a deposit. It is offset exclusively against charges for our own services, is not transferable to third parties and does not bear interest.
2. Advance payment invoice. For each top-up, you receive, without undue delay, an advance payment invoice showing VAT. Invoices for services provided later show the advance payment offset and the VAT attributable to it, so that VAT is not charged twice.
3. Automatic offsetting. Due invoices are offset against available credit. If, for an account with a payment method or with credit already topped up, the paid credit is insufficient, the remaining amount is shown as an outstanding claim and becomes due in accordance with clause 7. We inform you of every offsetting in the portal.
4. Starting credit. Starting credit granted free of charge is a price reduction on future services. It is not paid out, not refunded and expires at the end of the validity period stated when it was granted. We display the validity period in the portal; we remind you before it expires.
5. No expiry of paid credit. Paid credit is not subject to any expiry period. The statutory limitation periods apply.
6. Order. Credit that expires earlier is offset first, then starting credit, then paid credit.
7. Limits. We may set minimum and maximum amounts per top-up and a maximum amount for the total credit. We display the applicable amounts in the portal.
8. Refund. At your request, we refund unused paid credit when the contract ends. The refund is made to the payment method used for the top-up. Credit already used is not refunded. For the refunded amount, you receive a document correcting the original advance payment invoice.
9. Security. Credit is a claim against gh0stservice GmbH. It is not held separately and is not separately secured.

9. Content, notices and measures

1. We do not generally monitor the content of your applications. We review notices of illegal content or of violations of the Acceptable Use Policy in accordance with the procedure described there. The notice procedure is open to everyone.
2. In the event of actual or sufficiently probable violations, we may take appropriate measures, in particular block individual content or services, restrict resources or temporarily suspend the account. We choose the least restrictive effective means.
3. We inform you of any measure with a statement of reasons in accordance with Art. 17 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act), unless a legal obligation or an official order precludes this. The statement of reasons specifies the measure, the underlying facts, the legal or contractual basis and your options for challenging it.
4. You may object to a measure by email to abuse@gh0stservice.com; we have the objection reviewed by a person who was not solely involved in the original decision, to the extent this is possible in terms of staffing. Recourse to the courts and the right to lodge a complaint with the Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency) as Digital Services Coordinator remain unaffected.

10. Term and termination

1. Self-Service: The contract runs for an indefinite period. Either party may terminate it at any time with one month's notice. This applies equally to consumers and businesses.
2. Managed Packages: see clause 5.2.
3. Consulting: The contract ends when the agreed services have been provided, unless otherwise agreed.
4. Termination must be declared in text form. Consumers may additionally terminate contracts at any time using the "Verträge hier kündigen" (Terminate contracts here) button (§ 312k BGB); no sign-in is required for this.
5. The right to extraordinary termination for good cause remains unaffected. Good cause exists for us in particular if you repeatedly or seriously violate the Acceptable Use Policy despite a warning.
6. When the contract ends, the provisions on switching providers and data transfer in clause 12 apply.

11. Account status, pausing and suspension

1. If, for an account without a payment method and without paid credit, the starting credit has been used up, we pause your applications. Your data is retained. If you top up credit within the period shown in the portal, your applications continue to run. Otherwise, we delete the account and its data after this period expires; we announce the deletion in advance.
2. For an account with a payment method or paid credit, we may suspend use if a due invoice remains unpaid for more than 14 days despite a reminder. The data is retained during the suspension. Once all outstanding amounts have been settled, we lift the suspension.
3. Suspensions due to violations are governed by clause 9.

12. Switching providers, data transfer and deletion

This clause implements the requirements of Art. 23 to 31 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (Data Act). Details are described on the page Switching providers and data portability, which forms part of this contract.

1. Request. You may at any time request in text form that your exportable data and digital assets be transferred to another provider or to your own infrastructure, or be deleted. The request may be combined with the termination. The applicable notice period is no more than two months.
2. Transition period. After the notice period expires, a transition period of 30 calendar days begins. During this time, we continue to provide the contractual services, support you with the switch to a reasonable extent and inform you of known risks to continuity. You may extend the transition period once by a reasonable period of your choice.
3. Data categories. The exhaustive list of transferable data categories and of excluded internal data, as well as the available formats and interfaces, can be found on the data portability page.
4. Data retrieval and deletion. After the transition period ends, you can retrieve your data for at least a further 30 calendar days. Thereafter, we completely delete all your data and digital assets, unless a statutory retention obligation precludes this. Backup copies are overwritten in the regular rotation cycle.
5. End of contract. The contract ends upon successful completion of the switch or, where deletion is requested, upon expiry of the notice period.
6. Costs. We charge no fees for the switch or for the data transfer required for it. Ongoing charges until the end of the contract and, for Managed Packages, remuneration until the end of the minimum term remain unaffected.

13. Warranty

1. For consumers, the statutory warranty rights apply, for digital products in particular §§ 327 et seq. BGB, including the obligation to provide updates.
2. For businesses, in Self-Service and Managed Packages we owe the provision of the agreed services in a condition that conforms to the contract. We remedy defects within a reasonable period after you report them. Commitments regarding availability and response times exist only to the extent that they are expressly made in the service description or in an individual agreement.

14. Liability

1. We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for damage resulting from injury to life, body or health, under the Produkthaftungsgesetz (German Product Liability Act) and to the extent of any guarantee assumed.
2. In the case of slight negligence, we are liable only for breach of material contractual obligations, i.e. obligations whose fulfilment makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on whose observance you may regularly rely. In this case, liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical for this type of contract.
3. Businesses only: In the case of slight negligence, liability for data loss is limited to the effort that would have been required for restoration had the Customer carried out proper and regular data backups; this does not apply to the extent that data backup is part of a booked Managed Package.
4. Any further liability is excluded. The above limitations also apply in favour of our legal representatives, employees and vicarious agents.
5. Liability for breaches of data protection law is additionally governed by Art. 82 GDPR.

15. Data protection and processing on behalf

1. Information on the processing of personal data by us as controller can be found in the privacy policy.
2. Where we process personal data on your behalf, in particular data in your applications, databases and storage, the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) applies. It is agreed upon conclusion of this contract (Art. 28(9) GDPR) and also applies to consumers who process personal data of third parties via our services.
3. Where data is subject to statutory retention obligations, we restrict its processing until the retention period expires instead of deleting it (Art. 17(3)(b) GDPR).

16. Confidentiality

1. Both parties treat confidential information of the other party that becomes known to them in the course of the contract as confidential and use it only to perform the contract.
2. Confidential information may be disclosed only to persons who need it to perform the contract and who are bound to confidentiality accordingly. Statutory disclosure obligations remain unaffected.

17. Changes to these GTC

1. We may amend these GTC with effect for the future if there is a valid reason for doing so, in particular a change in the law or case law, new technical or security-related requirements or the addition of new functions that are not disadvantageous to you. Main performance obligations and prices are not changed in this way; clause 7.4 applies to prices.
2. We notify you of changes in text form at least six weeks before they take effect and clearly highlight the changes.
3. Changes affecting the balance between performance and consideration or material rights and obligations take effect only if you expressly consent to them. If you do not consent, the contract continues on the previous terms; both parties may then terminate it with ordinary notice.
4. For consumers, clause 4.6 in conjunction with § 327r BGB remains unaffected.

18. Right of withdrawal for consumers

1. Consumers have a statutory right of withdrawal in accordance with the withdrawal instructions. You can also declare withdrawal online using the "Vertrag widerrufen" (Withdraw from contract) button.
2. When registering, you expressly request that we begin performance before the withdrawal period expires, and you confirm that in the event of withdrawal you will pay a reasonable amount for the services provided up to that point (§ 357a(2) BGB) and that your right of withdrawal expires upon complete performance of the contract (§ 356(5) BGB).
3. If you withdraw from a credit top-up, we refund the part not used at the time of withdrawal. The used part corresponds to compensation for the value of the services provided up to that point.

19. Consumer dispute resolution

We are neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.

20. Final provisions

1. The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. For consumers, this choice of law applies only to the extent that it does not deprive you of the protection afforded by mandatory provisions of the law of the state in which you have your habitual residence.
2. Only for businesses, legal entities under public law and special funds under public law: The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from this contract is Cologne. We are also entitled to bring an action at the Customer's registered office.
3. Should individual provisions be invalid, the remainder of the contract remains valid. The statutory provision takes the place of the invalid provision.