Terms of service

What OtterDNS does

OtterDNS is a secondary DNS service. You keep running your own primary nameserver; we take a read-only copy of your zone and answer public DNS queries for it from ns1.otterdns.net and ns2.otterdns.net. We never edit your records, sign your zone, or act as your primary.

Who we are

OtterDNS is run by BastNET, PO Box 123, Quebec, Canada. Email contact@otterdns.net for anything about your account, a zone, or a payment.

Your account

• Give us a working email address — it's how we reach you if a zone needs attention.
• An account belongs to one person or organisation. Anything done through it counts as done by you, so only give access to people you trust.
• Keep your password safe. Two-factor authentication is available and recommended, especially where more than one person has access.

Your zones

• Only add domains you control. If someone else proves control of a domain you've added, we'll move it to them and let you know.
• We strongly recommend keeping at least one nameserver that isn't ours in your delegation, so your zone survives an OtterDNS outage. We don't enforce it — it's your domain and your call — but if we're your only nameserver, an outage here takes your zone down with it.
• A zone we can't serve, or that no longer delegates to us, gets a warning email and a grace period before we stop serving it. Fix the problem and it comes back automatically.
• A new zone that never starts working is removed 14 days after it was added. A zone we've stopped serving is removed 30 days after that.

Fair use

There's no published query limit and we don't meter your traffic. We do ask that you use the service reasonably. If one account's traffic starts affecting everyone else, we may rate-limit or suspend it to keep the service working for everyone.

Acceptable use

Don't use OtterDNS for anything illegal, for domains used to distribute malware or run phishing, or to attack or overload other systems. We may suspend or remove zones or accounts that do.

Plans and payment

• Paid plans are billed annually through Stripe. We never see or store your card details.
• Payments are processed by Stripe. You can pay by card, or any other method shown at checkout.
• Paid plans renew automatically every year until you cancel. We charge the price shown at checkout, plus any tax.
• Changing plans mid-term is prorated against your existing subscription.
• Cancel any time from the billing portal — your plan stays active until the end of the period you've paid for, then drops to Free.
• If a paid plan lapses and you're over the Free zone limit, nothing is deleted and your zones keep being served; you just can't add new ones until you're back under the limit.

Refunds

• Changed your mind? Ask for a full refund within 14 days of any payment — your first one or a renewal. Email contact@otterdns.net. The money goes back to how you paid.
• After 14 days, you can still cancel any time and keep your plan until the end of the period you've paid for. We don't refund part of a period.
• A refunded plan ends straight away and your account drops to Free. Your zones aren't deleted.
• Nothing here affects any refund rights you have by law.

Availability

OtterDNS runs two independent nameservers on separate infrastructure, each holding its own full copy of your zone, with every zone's health checked continuously. We don't offer a formal service-level agreement. As with any DNS provider, keeping a nameserver of your own in the delegation means your zone keeps resolving even if we're ever unreachable.

Our nameservers run in several countries, and where they run can change as we add or move capacity. The hostnames stay the same; the transfer addresses behind them may change. The current ones are always listed in the setup manual and on each zone's page — check there if transfers stop working.

Liability

The service is provided as-is. To the extent the law allows, BastNET isn't liable for losses arising from use of the service, including downtime, lost data, or lost business. Nothing here limits liability that can't be limited by law.

Ending things

You can delete your account at any time from your account page. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms.

Changes

We may update these terms. If a change materially affects you, we'll email the address on your account before it takes effect.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Quebec, Canada.

Contact

Questions about these terms: contact@otterdns.net. See also our privacy statement.