You looked up Clerica vs ToS;DR because you want to know if you need another tool—or if the free option is enough. Fair question. Both care about unfair terms. They solve different jobs.
What ToS;DR does well
ToS;DR (Terms of Service; Didn't Read) is a community project that grades companies on how consumer-friendly their policies look. You can browse services, read summaries, and see crowd-sourced "good" or "bad" points.
Best for:
- Quick research before you sign up for something new
- Learning which clauses activists and volunteers flagged years ago
- A free, open reference when you have time to pull it up manually
Not built for:
- Watching your Netflix, bank, and workplace chat policies every week
- Telling you the moment a clause changes
- Explaining what changed this month in plain language tied to what you care about
What Clerica does differently
Clerica monitors publicly available Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and related policy pages for services you choose. When text changes, you get diffs, plain-language summaries weighted by your Care Priorities (privacy, hidden costs, data security, and more), and alerts by email or in the app.
Best for:
- People who already use dozens of services and cannot re-read every policy
- Anyone who wants proactive notice instead of discovering a bad clause in the news
- Users who want personalized framing—not a one-size grade from last year
Clerica is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Summaries can be incomplete; always check the original document for anything that affects you.
Side-by-side comparison
| Question | ToS;DR | Clerica |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Free tier (8 services, weekly digest); paid plans from $5/mo |
| Coverage | Popular services in the directory | 1,000+ tracked companies; your watchlist |
| Updates | Manual visits; grades can lag | Continuous monitoring; alerts when policies change |
| Personalization | Community consensus | Your services + Care Priorities |
| Change history | Limited for ongoing drift | Version history and diffs |
| Account access on third parties | N/A | Not required—public policy URLs only |
"Why would I pay if ToS;DR is free?"
Let's be honest about the number eight.
Clerica's free plan monitors up to eight services. On paper, that sounds like plenty. In practice, try counting what you used before lunch:
- Gmail or Outlook
- iCloud or Google Photos
- Your bank's app
- Visa, Amex, or whatever card actually gets charged
- Netflix
- Spotify
- Amazon
Congratulations—you are already at eight, and you have not opened Slack, Uber, DoorDash, WhatsApp, Disney+, the work VPN, Apple ID, or the fitness app that auto-renewed in January and you swore you would cancel.
Most people are not "power users." They are just people with a phone. The free tier is a real starting point, not a comment on how normal your life is.
Pay when your actual stack does not fit in eight slots and when timing matters—before the next login wall, not after:
- You want daily checks and room for more than eight services (paid plans add capacity and faster cadence).
- A quiet privacy edit or new arbitration clause already cost you once.
- You want a digest that says what moved, not a bookmark you will never open again.
If you only sign up for one new app a year and like reading community notes first, ToS;DR may be all you need. If you live inside an ecosystem of subscriptions, payments, and cloud accounts, static grades do not keep up.
How to use both without overlap
- Before signup — skim ToS;DR for a gut check on a new vendor.
- After signup — add that service (and everything else you rely on) to Clerica.
- When you get an alert — read Clerica's diff and summary, then open the official policy if it affects money, data, or legal rights.
Start with your actual stack
You do not need to pick a winner in the abstract. List the ten services that would hurt most if their terms changed tomorrow—email, payments, streaming, work tools—and ask whether a free directory would have warned you last time policies shifted.
If the honest answer is no, start monitoring those services on Clerica. The free plan covers up to eight. Upgrade when your watchlist outgrows it.
Companies change your rights quietly. Community grades help once. Continuous monitoring helps every time the text moves.
Related: How many services to monitor · AI summary limits