Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a nonprofit with relatively user-friendly terms, though it still collects learner data including from children. It grants itself a license to content you post and can change services.

🚨 Key things to watch out for

The clauses that could affect you the most. Read these even if you skip everything else.

Khan Academy can terminate your access or remove content at any time for any reason without notice or refund.

3-B13-A

Disputes must go through mandatory arbitration in San Francisco under California law rather than the courts.

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📋 Every clause, explained

Browse what the terms actually say — filter by severity or by topic.

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Showing 15 clauses

1Your Account1 clause

⚠️

You bear all account liability

🛡️Limits their liability

1-A

💬 You are fully responsible for everything that happens on your account, including unauthorized access, and Khan Academy accepts no liability for resulting damages.

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“Khan Academy will not be liable for any acts or omissions by you, including any damages of any kind incurred as a result of such acts or omissions.”

2Responsibility of Contributors1 clause

⚠️

You are fully responsible for your content

🛡️Limits their liability

2-A

💬 Anything you post is entirely your responsibility, including any legal harm it causes, and you make broad warranties that your content is legal and non-infringing.

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“You are entirely responsible for the content of, and any harm resulting from, that Content.”

3User Content License2 clauses

⚠️

Content licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

📄Claims your content

3-A

💬 Whatever you contribute can be reused and shared by others (with attribution, non-commercially) under an open license you cannot revoke.

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“User contributions are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.”

🔴

Removal/termination at sole discretion, no refund

⛔Account termination

3-B

💬 Khan Academy can remove your content or ban you for any reason at its sole discretion, and will not refund money you have already paid.

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“terminate or deny access to and use of the Website to any individual or entity for any reason, in Khan Academy's sole discretion. Khan Academy will have no obligation to provide a refund of any amounts previously paid.”

4Payment and Renewal2 clauses

⚠️

Non-refundable fees

🗄️Data retention

4-A

💬 Any subscription fees you pay cannot be refunded, even if you stop using the service.

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“These fees are not refundable.”

⚠️

Automatic renewal

🔄Auto-renews

4-B

💬 Your subscription renews automatically and charges your saved payment method unless you actively cancel before the period ends.

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“Unless you notify Khan Academy before the end of the applicable subscription period that you want to cancel a service or upgrade, your subscription will automatically renew and you authorize us to collect the then-applicable annual or monthly subscription fee (as well as any taxes) using any credit card or other payment mechanism we have on record for you.”

10Advertisements1 clause

ℹ️

Ads displayed on your content

📌Other

10-A

💬 Khan Academy may place ads on content you post unless you pay for an ad-free upgrade.

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“Khan Academy reserves the right to display advertisements on your content unless you have purchased an Ad-free Upgrade or a Services account.”

12Changes1 clause

🔴

Unilateral changes, continued use = acceptance

📝Can change terms anytime

12-A

💬 Khan Academy can change these terms at any time without notifying you; it's on you to check, and continuing to use the site means you accept the new terms.

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“Khan Academy reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify or replace any part of this Agreement. It is your responsibility to check this Agreement periodically for changes. Your continued use of or access to the Website following the posting of any changes to this Agreement constitutes acceptance of those changes.”

13Termination1 clause

🔴

Termination at any time without notice

⛔Account termination

13-A

💬 Khan Academy can cut off your access at any time, for any or no reason, without warning.

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“Khan Academy may terminate your access to all or any part of the Website at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately.”

14Disclaimer of Warranties1 clause

⚠️

Service provided 'as is'

🛡️Limits their liability

14-A

💬 The service comes with no guarantees; if it breaks or is unavailable, that's your risk to bear.

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“The Website is provided "as is". Khan Academy and its suppliers and licensors hereby disclaim all warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.”

15Limitation of Liability1 clause

🔴

Liability capped at 12 months of fees

🛡️Limits their liability

15-A

💬 Even if Khan Academy is at fault, the most you can recover is what you paid in the prior 12 months (which is $0 for free users), and they exclude most damage types.

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“for any amounts that exceed the fees paid by you to Khan Academy under this agreement during the twelve (12) month period prior to the cause of action.”

17Indemnification1 clause

⚠️

You indemnify Khan Academy

🛡️Limits their liability

17-A

💬 If your use of the site leads to legal claims, you must cover Khan Academy's legal costs and losses.

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“You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Khan Academy, its contractors, and its licensors, and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims and expenses, including attorneys' fees, arising out of your use of the Website, including but not limited to your violation of this Agreement.”

18Miscellaneous3 clauses

🔴

Mandatory arbitration

⚖️Forced arbitration

18-A

💬 Most disputes must go to private arbitration in San Francisco before a panel of three arbitrators, rather than to court, which can be costly and limits your options.

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“any dispute arising under this Agreement shall be finally settled in accordance with the Comprehensive Arbitration Rules of the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Service, Inc. ("JAMS") by three arbitrators appointed in accordance with such Rules. The arbitration shall take place in San Francisco, California”

⚠️

California law and venue

📍Jurisdiction

18-B

💬 Any legal disputes are governed by California law and must be handled in San Francisco, which may be inconvenient and costly if you live elsewhere.

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“this Agreement, any access to or use of the Website will be governed by the laws of the state of California, U.S.A., excluding its conflict of law provisions, and the proper venue for any disputes arising out of or relating to any of the same will be the state and federal courts located in San Francisco County, California.”

⚠️

One-sided assignment rights

📌Other

18-C

💬 Khan Academy can transfer your agreement to another company freely, while your ability to transfer is restricted.

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“You may assign your rights under this Agreement to any party that consents to, and agrees to be bound by, its terms and conditions; Khan Academy may assign its rights under this Agreement without condition.”

Khan Academy terms of service, explained in plain English — TOSTLDR