Hosting Service Level Agreement (SLA)

QUICK SUMMARY

(Not legally binding; see full SLA below)

We guarantee your site stays up 99.99% of the time (GROWTH/PERFORMANCE tiers) or 99.9% (LAUNCH tier). That means max 43 minutes down/month or 7 hours/month. If we miss this, we credit your next month's bill automatically. We back up your site daily and keep backups for 30 days. If your site breaks due to our error, we restore it free. If you want your data back after cancellation, we provide it. Support responds to critical issues within 1 hour (GROWTH/PERFORMANCE) or 1 business day (LAUNCH).

Questions? Email [email protected]

Last Updated: November 12, 2025

This Hosting Service Level Agreement (“SLA”) forms part of the Starter WP Service Terms between Starter WP, Inc. (“Starter WP,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) and each customer (“Client,” “you,” or “your”) who purchases managed WordPress hosting from Starter WP.

By subscribing to Hosting Services, you agree to the following additional terms.

1. Scope of Services

Starter WP provides managed WordPress hosting for websites built or migrated by Starter WP.
The Hosting Service includes:

Server provisioning and configuration on Digital Ocean infrastructure.
WordPress core, theme, and plugin updates.
Daily backups retained for 30 days.
Security patches and malware removal.
24/7 server monitoring and uptime tracking.
Technical support for hosting-related issues via email or the Customer Portal.

1.1 SLA Applicability by Tier

This SLA applies to all Starter WP Hosting Service tiers:
- LAUNCH Tier ($99/month): 99.9% uptime guarantee, 1-business-day support response
- GROWTH Tier ($199/month): 99.99% uptime guarantee, 4-hour support response for high-priority issues
- PERFORMANCE Tier ($399/month): 99.99% uptime guarantee, 1-hour support response for critical issues

All tiers receive the same hosting infrastructure, backups, and maintenance. The difference is in support response speed and SLA credit eligibility. Customers can upgrade/downgrade tiers at any renewal date (downgrades take effect on the next billing cycle, while upgrades take effect immediately).

2. Service Availability Commitment

2.1 Uptime Guarantee

Starter WP guarantees 99.99% uptime for hosted websites (GROWTH and PERFORMANCE tiers)
and 99.9% uptime for LAUNCH tier, measured on a calendar month basis (1st to 28th/29th/30th/31st).

Translation to Minutes:
- 99.99% uptime = maximum 43 minutes of downtime per month
- 99.9% uptime = maximum 436 minutes (~7 hours 16 minutes) of downtime per month

2.2 Downtime Definition & Measurement

Downtime = any continuous period of ≥10 minutes where the website returns HTTP 503
or is unreachable from our global monitoring nodes (measured from 3 independent
geographic locations).

Downtime periods are measured in continuous 10-minute blocks. For example:
- 1 outage of 45 minutes = 1 downtime incident (4.5 blocks)
- Multiple 5-minute outages in a day = 0 downtime (below 10-minute threshold)
- Two 25-minute outages = 2 downtime incidents (5 blocks total)

All downtime blocks within a calendar month are summed to calculate monthly uptime %.

Monthly Uptime % = (Total Minutes - Downtime Minutes) / Total Minutes in Month × 100%

Uptime is calculated using Starter WP's internal monitoring dashboard. Customers can request verification via uptime report accessible in the Customer Portal.

2.3 Downtime Exclusions (Not Counted Toward SLA)

The 99.99%/99.9% uptime guarantee does NOT include downtime caused by:

a) SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE
- Provided with ≥24 hours advance notice via email and Customer Portal
- Limited to 4 hours per month (12 hours per year)
- Scheduled between 12:00 AM - 4:00 AM CST whenever possible
- Emergency maintenance (security patches, critical updates) exempt from advance notice
- Emergency maintenance counted as excluded if resolved within 2 hours

b) CLIENT ACTIONS
- Incorrect DNS configuration or pointing domain to wrong nameservers
- Client-initiated changes to WordPress settings that break the site
- Installation of incompatible third-party plugins/themes without testing
- Exceeding resource limits (CPU, RAM, database queries) due to site traffic
- Malware infection introduced by Client content (not Starter WP infrastructure)
- Expired domain registration or lapsed SSL certificate (Client responsibility)

c) THIRD-PARTY SERVICES (Outside Starter WP Control)
- DigitalOcean infrastructure outages (Starter WP will notify you and provide status)
- DNS provider failures (GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.)
- Domain registrar issues (expiration, WHOIS locks, transfer blocks)
- Third-party plugin/theme provider issues (e.g., Yoast plugin vulnerability)
- DDoS attacks exceeding DigitalOcean's mitigation capacity
- Email delivery failures (email not hosted by Starter WP)

d) FORCE MAJEURE
- Natural disasters (earthquake, flood, hurricane, tornado, wildfire)
- War, terrorism, civil unrest, government action
- Widespread internet backbone outages (not localized to one provider)
- Epidemics or pandemics affecting infrastructure operations

e) CUSTOMER ACCOUNT SUSPENSION
- Suspension due to Terms of Service violations (malware, spam, illegal content)
- Suspension due to non-payment (service resumes upon payment)
- Suspension pending security investigation

If you believe downtime was excluded in error, submit an appeal to [email protected] with detailed evidence within 30 days of the incident.

2.4 Performance Targets (Best-Effort, Not Guaranteed)

While not formally guaranteed, Starter WP commits to monitoring and maintaining:

- Page Load Time: Target <3 seconds for WordPress homepage (measured from US East)
- TTFB (Time to First Byte): Target <600ms from US East (DigitalOcean NYC region)
- Core Web Vitals: Target "Good" status on Google PageSpeed Insights
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): <2.5 seconds
- FID (First Input Delay): <100 milliseconds
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): <0.1

If performance metrics fall below targets due to Starter WP infrastructure issues
(not Client content quality), we will:
1. Investigate within 2 hours of notification
2. Provide root cause analysis within 24 hours
3. Implement remediation plan within 5 business days
4. If unresolved after 30 days, offer hosting credit (10% of monthly fee)

Performance is measured using third-party tools (GTmetrix, Google PageSpeed Insights) and Starter WP's internal monitoring. Client site content, traffic volume, and custom code affect performance and are not Starter WP's responsibility.

3. Service Credits for SLA Breaches

If Starter WP fails to meet the applicable uptime guarantee (Section 2.1) in any calendar month, you are eligible for service credits according to this table:

FOR GROWTH & PERFORMANCE TIERS (99.99% guarantee):
Monthly Uptime % | Credit (% of Monthly Fee)
99.90% - 99.98% | 10%
99.0% - 99.89% | 25%
98.0% - 98.99% | 50%
< 98.0% | 100% (full month refund)

FOR LAUNCH TIER (99.9% guarantee):
Monthly Uptime % | Credit (% of Monthly Fee)
99.0% - 99.89% | 10%
98.0% - 98.99% | 25%
< 98.0% | 50%

Example: If GROWTH tier had 99.5% uptime (missed by 0.49%), the credit = 10% of monthly fee.
If that month's fee was $199, the credit would be $19.90 applied to next billing cycle.

3.1 Credit Application Process (REVISED - AUTO-APPLY)

Starter WP will automatically calculate monthly SLA compliance and apply credits
to eligible accounts:

- Calculation occurs within 5 business days of month-end
- Eligible customers receive email notification of credit amount
- Credit is automatically applied to Customer Portal account (visible in billing)
- Credit applies to next billing cycle as a line item reduction
- Customers can request early application or confirm/dispute within 10 days

Manual Credit Claims:
If you believe Starter WP failed to apply a deserved credit, submit a claim to [email protected] within 30 days of month-end with:
- Calendar month of incident
- Description of downtime
- Screenshots or logs (if available)
- Reference to your service tier

Starter WP will review and respond within 5 business days.

3.2 Maximum Liability

Service credits are the exclusive remedy for uptime failures. Total credits cannot exceed your hosting fees paid in the affected 12-month period (per Section 11 of the Starter WP Service Terms).

3.3 No Stacking

You cannot claim the same downtime incident under multiple credit tiers. Each calendar month has one SLA credit calculation based on total uptime that month.

4. Scheduled Maintenance

Starter WP may perform scheduled maintenance between 12:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. CST.
Clients will be notified at least 24 hours in advance by email or portal announcement.
Emergency maintenance may be conducted without notice when necessary to maintain security or stability.

5. Backup, Recovery, and Data Redundancy

5.1 Backup Strategy

Daily automated backups include:
- Full WordPress database (MySQL/PostgreSQL)
- All website files (/wp-content, /wp-includes, custom code)
- Theme and plugin configurations
- Media library and uploaded files

Backup Schedule:
- Backups performed at 2:00 AM CST daily
- Current backup + 6 previous backups retained (7-day rolling window)
- Archived weekly backups retained for 30 days
- Older backups available upon request for additional fee ($50/backup restoration)

Backup Storage:
- Daily backups stored on separate DigitalOcean Spaces (object storage)
- Geo-redundancy: Backups stored in different geographic region from primary server
- Encryption: AES-256 encryption at rest; TLS 1.2+ in transit
- Access: Only Starter WP engineering team can access backups (no unauthorized access)

5.2 Backup Recovery Process

Client-Requested Restore (e.g., accidental deletion):
- Submit ticket with date/time of backup needed
- Restore completed within 4 hours (GROWTH/PERFORMANCE) or next business day (LAUNCH)
- Testing: Customers can request test restore to shadow environment first
- Cost: Included for first restore per month; additional restores $100 each

Emergency Disaster Recovery:
- If primary server catastrophically fails: Full restore to new infrastructure within 24 hours
- Data loss risk: ≤24 hours (restore from previous day's backup)
- Notification: You'll receive phone call + email within 2 hours
- Cost: No additional charge

5.3 Restore Verification

After any restore:
- You have 48-hour testing period before going live
- Starter WP verifies database integrity and media file completeness
- You confirm all content looks correct before restore is committed
- Rollback available within 7 days if issues found

5.4 Data Retention After Cancellation

Upon cancellation of hosting service:
- Your latest backup is provided as downloadable file within 5 business days
- Download link active for 60 days
- No backup retention after 60 days (your responsibility to store copies)
- Requesting older backups: $50 per backup (if available)

6. Security and Updates

Starter WP maintains:
- Enterprise-grade DDoS protection via DigitalOcean Firewalls (blocks >100 Gbps attacks)
- Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules updated daily for WordPress vulnerabilities
- SSL/TLS enforcement (minimum TLS 1.2, automatic renewal of certificates)
- Automated WordPress core updates (within 24 hours of release)
- Automated theme/plugin updates for security patches (within 48 hours of release)
- Automated malware scanning (daily via WPAI + Wordfence)
- Server-level hardening: SSH key-only access, fail2ban rate limiting, CSF firewall
- Regular security audits and penetration testing (quarterly, results shared with PERFORMANCE tier)

Client Responsibilities:
- Remove unused themes/plugins (Starter WP notifies if found >30 days old)
- Never use "admin" as WordPress username (change during onboarding)
- Use strong WordPress passwords (min 16 characters, recommend password manager)
- Keep third-party integrations (API keys, OAuth tokens) secure
- Report suspected compromises immediately to [email protected]
- Install additional security plugins only after consulting with Starter WP

Starter WP is NOT responsible for security of:
- Custom code vulnerabilities (your developer's responsibility)
- Third-party plugins/themes not in official WordPress.org repository
- Client content (your responsibility to not upload malware-infected files)
- Email security (email not hosted by Starter WP)

7. Support Response and Resolution Times

7.1 GROWTH & PERFORMANCE TIER SUPPORT (Priority)

CRITICAL (Site Down/Data Loss):
- First Response: Within 1 hour (24/7 monitoring)
- Target Resolution: Within 4 hours
- Escalation: If not resolved in 4 hours, automatically escalated to Engineering Lead
- Communication: Updates every 30 minutes

HIGH (Major Functionality Broken):
- First Response: Within 4 hours (business hours) / 8 hours (after hours)
- Target Resolution: Within 24 hours
- Escalation: If not resolved in 24 hours, customer notified with mitigation plan
- Communication: Daily updates

NORMAL (Routine Questions, Updates):
- First Response: Within 1 business day
- Target Resolution: Within 3 business days
- Escalation: None (standard handling)

7.2 LAUNCH TIER SUPPORT (Standard)

All severity levels:
- First Response: Within 1 business day
- Target Resolution: Within 3 business days
- Email only (no phone support)
- No guaranteed escalation

7.3 Support Hours & Channels

GROWTH & PERFORMANCE Tiers:
- Critical issues: 24/7 (monitored via automated alerts + manual escalation)
- High/Normal issues: Monday-Friday 9 AM - 6 PM CST (email/portal)
- Urgent off-hours critical issue: Call [email protected] and leave detailed voicemail

LAUNCH Tier:
- All issues: Monday-Friday 9 AM - 6 PM CST (email/portal only)
- After-hours: Submit ticket; will be addressed first thing next business day

7.4 Escalation Process

If you're unsatisfied with support resolution:
1. Reply to ticket requesting escalation
2. Escalation reviewed by Starter WP Operations Lead within 24 hours
3. If issue remains unresolved after escalation, customer can request formal review by Drate Berry (Founder) within 5 business days

7.5 Disclaimer

Response times are targets, not guarantees. Starter WP is not liable for delays in response if critical infrastructure events occur (e.g., widespread provider outage). Support response time SLA breaches do not generate credits; however, chronic issues (>3 missed response times in 30 days) qualify for 5% monthly fee credit as a gesture of goodwill.

7.6 Incident Communication

During any incident affecting customer sites:

1. Automated Alert (within 15 minutes)
- Customers receive email notification that an outage has been detected
- Contains affected services, known cause (if identified), and status page link

2. Status Page Updates
- Starter WP maintains a public status page at starterwp.statuspage.io
- Updates posted every 30 minutes during active outage
- Shows: incident start time, affected sites, root cause, remediation ETA

3. Resolution Notification
- When resolved, customers receive email confirmation
- Email includes: duration of outage, root cause explanation, and credit info

4. Post-Incident Report (for GROWTH/PERFORMANCE tiers)
- Provided within 48 hours of resolution
- Includes: timeline, root cause analysis, preventative measures taken
- Available in Customer Portal

Customers can subscribe to status page updates.

8. Client Responsibilities

You agree to:

a) Keep WordPress login credentials secure
- Use strong, unique passwords (minimum 16 characters)
- Enable two-factor authentication (2FA)
- Never share login credentials via email/chat
- Change password immediately if suspected compromise

b) Avoid uploading malicious content
- No malware, viruses, phishing kits, or malicious code
- No unlicensed/pirated software or content
- No hacked/cracked plugins or themes from unauthorized sources
- Starter WP may scan and remove such content without notice

c) Comply with laws
- No spam (CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CASL compliance is your responsibility)
- No illegal services, gambling, prescription drugs, weapons
- No phishing, fraud, or deceptive practices
- No copyright/trademark infringement (your responsibility to license images)

d) Monitor and maintain your site
- Review logs for suspicious activity (available in admin dashboard)
- Remove unused plugins/themes (Starter WP will alert if found)
- Test functionality after updates (Starter WP provides 24-hour rollback window)
- Report security concerns immediately to [email protected]

e) Backup your own site
- While Starter WP provides daily backups, maintain your own copies
- Download monthly backups to your local storage
- Test restore process quarterly to ensure recoverability

VIOLATION: Starter WP may suspend service immediately if:
- Malware detected on your site
- Spam sent from your email or site
- Illegal content hosted
- DDoS attack launched from your server
- Terms of Service violation confirmed

Suspension: Service halts; you have 48 hours to remediate. Failure to remediate = permanent termination with no refund.

9. Limitations of Liability

Starter WP’s liability for any hosting-related claim is limited to the total monthly hosting fees paid for the affected period.
Starter WP is not liable for loss of data, revenue, or indirect damages arising from service interruptions or maintenance.

10. Service Continuity and Business Continuity

10.1 Planned Service Discontinuation

If Starter WP discontinues hosting services (as a business unit):
- Minimum 90 days' advance notice via email and portal announcement
- Customers can export site backup immediately (no charges)
- Migration assistance: 1 free 30-minute consultation call with engineering
- Data export format: Standard WordPress (SQL + files, compatible with all hosts)
- Full refund of any prepaid hosting fees for unused portion

10.2 Unplanned Discontinuation

If Starter WP ceases operations unexpectedly:
- Customers retain right to all backups (stored per Section 5)
- DigitalOcean (infrastructure provider) will provide standard disaster recovery
per their SLA (99.99% uptime for Virtual Machines)
- Backups transferable to new host following DigitalOcean's standard procedures
- Starter WP will attempt to notify customers of transition plan within 24 hours

10.3 Your Obligations Upon Discontinuation

Upon receiving discontinuation notice:
- Backup your site (download from Customer Portal)
- Plan migration to new host (90+ days to execute)
- Update domain DNS records to point to new host
- Verify site functionality before old hosting expires
- Starter WP cannot be held liable for delays in your migration process

10.4 Data Retention After Discontinuation

Backups retained per Section 5 schedule. After 60 days post-discontinuation,
Starter WP has no obligation to retain backups (purged per standard data retention policy).

11. Modifications to SLA

Starter WP may revise this SLA from time to time. Updated versions will be posted on starterwp.com with a revised “Last Updated” date. Material changes will be communicated by email or portal notice at least 30 days before taking effect.

12. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

This SLA is governed by the laws of the State of Delaware. Any dispute arising under this SLA shall be resolved through binding arbitration as outlined in the Starter WP Service Terms.

13. Contact

Starter WP, Inc.
3824 Cedar Springs Rd #510
Dallas, TX 75219
Email: [email protected]