SortedResearch

Terms of Service

Last updated: 5 July 2026.

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a legal agreement between you (the "Customer", "you") and The Future Mill LLC ("SortedResearch", "we", "us", "our"), a US limited liability company, governing your use of the SortedResearch card-sorting research platform at sortedresearch.com (the "Service").

1. Acceptance

By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you are using the Service on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization, and "you" includes that organization.

2. Accounts and eligibility

  • You must be at least 18 years old to create an account.
  • You must not be located in, or a resident of, any jurisdiction subject to OFAC sanctions or a comprehensive US embargo, and you must not be on any government denied-party or sanctions list.
  • You are responsible for your account credentials and for all activity under your account. Keep your password confidential and notify us promptly of any unauthorized use.
  • Your login is for one person. Each login is for a single named individual. Everyone who uses the Service needs their own login, and your plan sets how many people that covers (see Plans and billing). Please don't share your login or let anyone else use it.
  • If more people are using an account than the plan covers, we may ask you to move to a plan that fits, and we may add the seats you're using and bill for them.
  • Provide accurate account information and keep it up to date.

3. Description of the Service

SortedResearch lets researchers create card-sorting studies and lets participants sort cards into groups. The Service includes an in-app AI assistant named Graham. We may update, add, or remove features over time.

4. Plans and billing

We offer Free, Individual, Team, and Enterprise plans. Paid plans are sold as subscriptions.

  • Seats: Each plan covers a set number of named individuals, shown on our pricing page. Individual covers one person. If more than one person needs a login, move to Team, or talk to us about Enterprise.
  • Auto-renewal: Paid subscriptions automatically renew at the end of each billing period (monthly or annual) at the then-current price, until cancelled.
  • Annual discount: Annual plans are billed up front and include the equivalent of 2 months free compared to paying monthly.
  • Currency: All prices are in US Dollars (USD).
  • Taxes: Any taxes that apply to your subscription may be added to your charges where required by law.
  • Payment: Billing is handled by Stripe. You authorize us (via Stripe) to charge your payment method for all fees due.

5. Cancellation and refunds

  • Monthly plans: You may cancel at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. No prorated refunds are given for partial periods.
  • Annual plans: Annual billing becomes available as an upgrade after you complete your first study on a monthly plan. Annual plans are billed up front and renew automatically. You may cancel at any time to stop the next renewal. No mid-term refunds are given for the remainder of a paid annual term.
  • Failed payments: If a payment fails, we will retry the charge over a short dunning period. If payment continues to fail, your account will be downgraded to the Free plan, and your data will be kept in read-only form subject to the Free plan's limits.

6. Acceptable use

You must not:

  • Use the Service for any unlawful, harmful, deceptive, or infringing purpose.
  • Attempt to access data you are not authorized to access, or breach the Service's security or row-level isolation.
  • Reverse engineer, scrape, overload, or interfere with the Service.
  • Resell or provide the Service to third parties except as expressly permitted by your plan.
  • Upload malware or unlawful, harmful, or infringing content.

7. Customer responsibilities (as data controller)

When you collect participant data through the Service, you are the data controller and you are responsible for:

  • Lawful recruiting of participants.
  • Obtaining valid consent and providing any required privacy notices to participants.
  • Establishing a lawful basis for your processing under applicable law (GDPR, UK GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, etc.).
  • Not collecting personal data from children (under the applicable minimum age) without proper, verifiable consent and full compliance with the law.
  • Complying with all of your own legal obligations as controller.

Our processing of participant data on your behalf is governed by our Data Processing Agreement, available to paid customers on request.

8. Intellectual property

We and our licensors own all rights in the Service, including its software, design, and trademarks (including "SortedResearch" and "Graham"). We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable right to use the Service in accordance with these Terms and your plan. You may not use our marks without permission.

9. Customer data ownership

  • You own your study data (the cards, study configuration, participant responses, and results you collect).
  • You grant us a limited, worldwide, non-exclusive license to host, process, transmit, display, and otherwise use your data solely to provide and support the Service, including sending data to sub-processors (e.g. Anthropic for AI features) as needed.
  • We may use aggregated and de-identified data to operate and improve the Service, provided it does not identify you, your participants, or your studies.

10. AI features and Graham (disclaimer)

The Service includes AI features, including the Graham assistant, powered by Anthropic. AI outputs are assistive only, may be inaccurate, incomplete, or imperfect, and do not constitute professional, legal, research-methodology, or other advice. You are responsible for reviewing and validating any AI output before relying on it.

11. Warranties disclaimer

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including 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. Service levels, where applicable, are described in our SLA, available to Team and Enterprise customers.

12. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

  • Neither party will be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data, or goodwill.
  • Our total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the Service will not exceed the amount you paid us for the subscription term in effect at the time the event giving rise to the claim occurred. If you are on a monthly plan, this means the fee you paid for the then-current one-month term; if you are on an annual plan, it means the fee you paid for the then-current one-year term. Under no circumstances will our liability exceed that single term's fee. Where no paid subscription term was in effect, our total aggregate liability will not exceed $100.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of the above may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

13. Indemnity

You will indemnify and hold harmless SortedResearch and its affiliates, officers, and employees from any claims, damages, and reasonable costs arising out of (a) your use of the Service, (b) your study data or recruiting practices, (c) your breach of these Terms, or (d) your violation of any law or third-party rights, including your obligations as data controller.

14. Termination

You may stop using the Service and cancel at any time (see Section 5). We may suspend or terminate your access if you materially breach these Terms, fail to pay, or use the Service unlawfully, or if required by law. On termination, your right to use the Service ends. We will handle your data on termination as described in the Privacy Policy.

15. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, USA, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. The parties submit to the state and federal courts located in Orange County, California for any disputes, except where mandatory local law provides otherwise.

16. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will post the updated version with a new "Last updated" date and, where required, notify you. Continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.

17. Contact