Terms of Use

Effective date: June 14, 2026

Last updated: June 14, 2026

Welcome to HelpWithCert. These Terms of Use (the “Terms”) are the agreement between you and Hak Tang, doing business as HelpWithCert (“HelpWithCert,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). They cover your use of helpwithcert.com, our study tools and practice exams, and Cert City, our free browser-based 3D learning game (together, the “Service”).

We’ve tried to write these Terms in plain English. Where a term has a specific legal meaning, we explain it the first time we use it. Please read them carefully — by using the Service, you’re agreeing to them.

1. Acceptance of these Terms

By creating an account, subscribing, or otherwise using any part of the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy, which is part of this agreement by reference. If you don’t agree, please don’t use the Service.

If you’re using the Service on behalf of a school, employer, or other organization, you’re confirming that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms, and “you” includes that organization.

2. Who can use the Service (eligibility and age)

Accounts (the study platform): You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. When you sign up, we ask for your date of birth to check your age. If you’re under 18, you can’t register for an account, and you shouldn’t try to create one.

Cert City (the game): Cert City’s single-player mode doesn’t require an account — anyone can play it, and it runs entirely in your browser. Cert City’s social features (multiplayer presence and chat) require a logged-in account, so they are available only to registered users 18 and older. (See Section 9 for how names and chat work.)

We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 except as described in our Privacy Policy, which explains our approach under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal information in a way our Privacy Policy doesn’t allow, please contact us at [email protected] so we can address it.

By using the Service, you also confirm that you’re able to form a binding contract with us and that you’re not barred from doing so under applicable law.

3. Your account and your responsibilities

When you create an account, you agree to give accurate, current information and keep it up to date; keep your login credentials private (you’re responsible for what happens under your account); and tell us promptly at [email protected] if you think someone has used your account without permission. You may not share, sell, or transfer your account, or use someone else’s without permission. We’re not liable for losses caused by someone using your account because you didn’t keep your credentials secure, to the extent the law allows.

4. Subscriptions, billing, and auto-renewal

Some parts of the Service require a paid subscription. We’ve made the auto-renewal terms clear and conspicuous on purpose, because we don’t believe in surprises.

Plans and price. Subscriptions are offered at approximately $19.99 per month or $89.99 per year, plus any applicable taxes. Current pricing is always shown at checkout, which controls. We may change prices going forward; the new price applies to your next renewal after we give you notice, and you can cancel before it takes effect.

Payment. We use Stripe to process payments. You authorize us (through Stripe) to charge your chosen payment method. We don’t store your full card number — Stripe handles that.

You’re charged at signup. Your first charge happens when you subscribe. There’s no free trial.

Easy cancellation. You can cancel anytime from the account menu — the same kind of action you used to subscribe, online, without having to call us or talk to anyone. When you cancel, your subscription stays active until the end of the period you’ve already paid for, and it won’t renew after that.

Discount codes. We sometimes offer discount codes (for example, through teacher or affiliate programs). Discounts apply as described when the code is issued, can’t be combined unless we say so, and may change or end at any time.

5. Refunds

Subscriptions are non-refundable, including for partial billing periods. If you cancel mid-period, you keep access until the end of the period you’ve already paid for, but we don’t refund the unused portion. This no-refund policy does not limit any rights you have under applicable law.

6. Educational nature of the Service — and what we don’t promise

HelpWithCert is a study and practice platform. Our content, practice exams, and AI study tools are provided for educational purposes to help you prepare.

No guarantee of certification success. Passing depends on many things outside our control — your preparation, the official exam, exam-day conditions, and the certification provider’s policies. We don’t guarantee that you’ll pass any exam, earn any certification, or achieve any particular result.

No professional advice. Our content is general educational information, not individualized professional, career, legal, or financial advice.

“As is.” To the extent the law allows, the Service and all content are provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind. (See Section 14.)

7. Cert City: the game and virtual items

Cert City is a free 3D learning game. Its single-player mode is open to everyone; multiplayer presence and chat require a logged-in account (18+). Here’s how the in-game economy works, so there’s no confusion.

• Virtual items are earned, not bought. Tokens, items, and other virtual goods are earned through play. You can’t buy them with real money.
• No real-world value. Virtual items and tokens have no cash value and no real-world value. They aren’t your property or currency and can’t be redeemed for money or anything outside the game. We grant you a limited, personal, revocable, non-transferable license to use them inside Cert City while we offer it.
• Non-transferable. You may not sell, trade, gift, or transfer virtual items or tokens to anyone, inside or outside the game.
• We may change the game. Because Cert City is free and tied to learning, we may modify, reset, suspend, or discontinue the game, any virtual items, or the in-game economy at any time, without owing you anything.

8. Acceptable use (what you can’t do)

To keep the Service safe, fair, and useful for everyone, you agree not to:

• break the law, or use the Service for anything illegal;
• harass, bully, threaten, or abuse anyone;
• post or share hateful content, or content that attacks people based on who they are;
• post or share sexual or explicit content, or anything harmful to minors;
• share your own or anyone else’s personal or contact information, or solicit it from others — especially from children;
• impersonate any person, HelpWithCert, or anyone else;
• use display names, profiles, or content that are offensive, deceptive, or that infringe someone’s trademark or other rights;
• cheat, exploit bugs, or use bots/automation to gain an unfair advantage in Cert City;
• copy, scrape, crawl, harvest, or bulk-download our content, questions, or data, or use the Service to build a competing product;
• share, resell, or redistribute our practice questions, exams, or other content outside your own permitted use;
• reverse-engineer or try to extract our source code, except where the law specifically allows it;
• interfere with, overload, or try to break the security of the Service;
• circumvent any access controls, paywalls, age gates, or usage limits.

This is the core of our Code of Conduct / Acceptable Use Policy. Breaking it can lead to content removal, suspension, or a permanent ban (see Sections 9, 10, and 17).

9. User content, chat, and moderation

Some Cert City features let you submit content — mainly chat messages (“User Content”). These features require a logged-in account (18+).

• Display names are auto-generated, not chosen by you — every player gets a random handle (for example, “SwiftFox”) that changes each session, so there is no custom-name feature to misuse.
• Chat is limited to a fixed list of preset, pre-approved phrases (no free typing) and is available only to signed-in accounts. Chat is currently turned off. If we later enable free-text chat, it will be limited to signed-in (18+) accounts and moderated using automated AI tools to filter harmful content.

You’re responsible for your User Content, and confirm it’s yours to share and doesn’t break these Terms or anyone’s rights.

The license you give us. You keep ownership of your User Content. You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to host, store, display, and transmit the messages you submit, solely to operate, moderate, and provide the Service. This lasts only as long as needed for that purpose and ends when your User Content is removed, except for routine backups and what the law requires us to keep.

Moderation. We are not obligated to pre-screen or monitor all User Content, but we may review, moderate, filter, refuse, edit, remove, or restrict any User Content, and suspend or ban accounts, at our discretion — with or without notice. We’re not responsible for User Content created by others.

Child-safety reporting. If we become aware of apparent child sexual abuse material or the sexual exploitation of a child, we will report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) as required by law (18 U.S.C. § 2258A) and may provide information to law enforcement. This isn’t a promise to actively monitor all content — the law doesn’t require that — but we will act on what we become aware of. See our Privacy Policy.

Reporting problems. If you see User Content or behavior that breaks these Terms, please report it to [email protected].

10. Intellectual property

Our content. The Service — including the website, the Cert City game and its art, code, characters, and design, our original practice questions and study content, and our HelpWithCert name, logo, and branding — is owned by us or our licensors and protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws. We grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service for your own learning, subject to these Terms. We keep all rights we don’t expressly give you.

Originality of practice content. HelpWithCert represents that its practice questions and study content are original works created by or for HelpWithCert.

11. Third-party services

The Service relies on trusted third-party providers, including Stripe (payments), Supabase (data hosting), Anthropic (AI features, including chat moderation and study tools), Cloudflare (hosting and security), and Railway (the Cert City multiplayer server). Your use of those features may also be subject to those providers’ own terms and privacy policies. We don’t control these third parties and aren’t responsible for their services. See our Privacy Policy for what data is involved.

12. AI-generated and AI-assisted content

Some content and features use AI tools. AI study help, explanations, and chat moderation can make mistakes — they may be incomplete, out of date, or wrong. Use AI output as a study aid, not a final authority, and verify anything important against official certification-provider materials. Don’t rely on AI features for professional, legal, financial, or safety-critical decisions.

13. Copyright complaints

We respect intellectual property. If you believe material on the Service infringes your copyright, email a notice to [email protected] with: (1) your signature (electronic is fine); (2) identification of the copyrighted work; (3) identification of the allegedly infringing material and enough detail to find it; (4) your contact information; (5) a good-faith statement that the use isn’t authorized; and (6) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and you’re authorized to act for the owner. We review valid notices, remove or disable infringing material where appropriate, and may suspend or terminate repeat infringers.

Counter-notification. If your content was removed and you believe that was a mistake, you can email a counter-notice to the same address with your signature; identification of the removed material and where it appeared; a statement under penalty of perjury that it was removed by mistake or misidentification; and your name, address, phone, and consent to the jurisdiction of a U.S. federal court in Texas (or, if you are outside the U.S., to a U.S. federal court where we may be found). If we receive a valid counter-notice, we may restore the content unless the complainant pursues a court action.

14. Disclaimers

To the fullest extent the law allows: the Service and all content are provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. We don’t warrant the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, error-free, or that content (including practice questions and AI output) is accurate, current, or complete. We make no promise that you will pass any exam or earn any certification. You use the Service at your own risk. Some jurisdictions don’t allow certain disclaimers, so some of the above may not apply to you.

15. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows: we won’t be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data, or goodwill, arising out of or relating to the Service. Our total liability for all claims won’t exceed what you paid us in the 12 months before the claim. These limits apply regardless of the legal theory and even if a remedy fails its essential purpose. Nothing here limits liability that can’t be limited by law.

16. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify us — cover certain reasonable costs, losses, and legal fees — if a claim is brought against us because of (a) your use of the Service, (b) your User Content, (c) your violation of these Terms, or (d) your violation of someone else’s rights or the law. We may take over the defense of any such claim, and you agree to cooperate. This survives the end of your use of the Service.

17. Termination

You can stop using the Service anytime and cancel a subscription from your account menu (Section 4). We may suspend, restrict, or terminate your account or access — with or without notice — if you break these Terms, create risk for us or other users, are required by law, or for other reasonable operational reasons. If your account ends, your right to use the Service stops, your Cert City virtual items are forfeited (Section 7), and Sections that by their nature should survive (IP, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, dispute resolution) will survive.

18. Changes to the Service and to these Terms

We may add, change, or remove features at any time. We may also update these Terms; if we make material changes, we’ll update the “Last updated” date and give reasonable notice (for example, by posting on the site or emailing you). Changes apply going forward. If you keep using the Service after changes take effect, you’re accepting the updated Terms.

19. Governing law and venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas and applicable U.S. federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Except where prohibited, any dispute will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Texas, and you consent to their jurisdiction.

20. Dispute resolution

Let’s try to work it out first. If you have a problem, please contact us at [email protected] — most issues can be resolved quickly and informally. We ask that you give us a chance to address a concern before starting any formal proceeding.

21. General

Severability: if any part is unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. No waiver: not enforcing a part right away doesn’t waive it later. Assignment: you can’t transfer your rights without our consent; we may transfer ours (for example, in a sale of the business). Entire agreement: these Terms and the documents they reference (including the Privacy Policy and any program terms) are the entire agreement about the Service. Section titles are for convenience only.

22. Contact us

Questions about these Terms? Reach us at:

HelpWithCert
Hak Tang, doing business as HelpWithCert
[email protected]