--- title: "Terms in plain English | Shared MFA Inbox" description: "A plain-English summary of the arrangement: what $15.99 a month gets you, what the number is and is not for, what we cannot promise, and how to end it." canonical: "https://sharedmfainbox.com/terms" --- # Terms, in plain English > A plain-English summary of the arrangement: what $15.99 a month gets you, what the number is and is not for, what we cannot promise, and how to end it. What you get, what it costs, and what happens when you stop. - [Create free account](https://app.sharedmfainbox.com) _No credit card required. Your first authenticator account is free._ [See pricing](https://sharedmfainbox.com/pricing) > **This is a summary, not the contract** Binding terms still need to be written and reviewed by a lawyer before launch. Those terms will take precedence over this summary. ## The terms, topic by topic ### What does the service include? Shared authenticator codes, optional SMS numbers, and a separate login for each teammate. ### When am I charged? The timing depends on whether you add a number or an authenticator account, and how you pay. ### What can the service be used for? Use it for company accounts your team is allowed to share. The limits are set out below. ### What are the limits and unsettled terms? Number acceptance depends on the service sending the text. Other limits and open terms are listed below. ### How do I cancel? Release a number or turn off authenticator renewal in the app. Move any accounts using a number before you release it. - **One dedicated phone number for each number you buy.** It belongs to your company account rather than to a person or a handset. - **Incoming text messages, in a shared inbox.** They are shown to the teammates you have given access to, each signing in with their own account. - **$12.99/week, $15.99/month, $29.99/quarter, $99.99/year per phone number.** Annual billing is Save 48% compared with monthly billing. Unlimited teammates, no per-user fee, no setup fee. A second number costs the same again. - **No contract.** Choose weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly billing for each SMS number; monthly or yearly for MFA. You cancel in the app, by releasing a number or turning off MFA renewal. - **Shared authenticator accounts.** The first account per team is free. Additional accounts cost $8/month each for accounts 2–10, then $4/month each from the 11th. On annual billing they cost $80/year each for accounts 2–10, then $40/year each from the 11th. Turn off MFA renewal separately from phone numbers. - **Creating an account is free.** Payment is required when you activate a phone number or add authenticator accounts beyond the first free account. Administrators can see every number on the team. Everyone else sees only the numbers they have been given access to. **You are responsible for who you give access to, and for removing it when somebody leaves** — an administrator can do that at any time, and it takes effect immediately. > The text of a message, and any code inside it, is permanently erased a set time after it arrives — 72 hours by default, and an administrator can change that. The record that the message arrived stays. [Security and access](https://sharedmfainbox.com/security) covers this in full. - **Invoices.** Each billing profile gets one invoice per billing period, including weekly and quarterly SMS subscriptions. Its monthly numbers and MFA accounts share one monthly invoice, and its annual ones share one annual invoice. There is no separate charge per number. - **Numbers.** A number is charged before it goes live, whether you buy it, bring one your SMS provider account already owns, or restore one you released. - **Starting paid MFA.** Starting paid MFA (your first account beyond the free one) is charged when you add it. - **More monthly MFA accounts.** Monthly MFA additions are prorated and added to your next invoice, not charged straight away. - **More annual MFA accounts.** Annual MFA additions are prorated and charged when you add them. - **Fewer monthly MFA accounts.** Removing a monthly MFA account credits the unused time on your next invoice. - **Stopping MFA.** Turning off MFA renewal keeps paid accounts working until the end of the paid period. - **Refunds.** Releasing an annual number stops its billing straight away, but the rest of the year is not refunded. The product supports shared authenticator codes as well as SMS. Authenticator accounts are available to their creator, team admins and people given access directly or through a group. SMS messages are available to admins and people given access to the number. Only add accounts your team is allowed to share. **It is for messages that arrive first.** The number takes company-account messages in, and a person allowed to manage the number can send a one-off reply from a message detail. It is not for messaging customers, running campaigns or bulk sending. There are four things it is not for, and they matter: - **Not for receiving messages on behalf of people who have not agreed to it.** The number goes on accounts your company owns, read by colleagues who know the messages arrive here. - **Not for getting around a service’s own identity rules.** If a service asks for a personal number, or for one number per person, it means it. Work with that rule rather than around it. - **Not for bulk or automated sign-ups.** This is one number for a company’s shared accounts, not a supply of numbers for creating accounts at scale. - **Not for anything unlawful.** Including anything intended to impersonate somebody or to take over an account that is not yours. **We cannot promise that any particular service will accept the number.** That decision belongs to the service sending the text, not to us. Some accept only certain kinds of number, many accept only numbers from their own country, and any of them can change the rule without telling anyone. Add the number to the account and send yourself a test message before you rely on it. **We do not claim this makes text messages more secure.** It makes shared access manageable. Where a service can give each of your employees their own login, that is usually better. Where it supports an authenticator app, that is generally stronger than a code sent by text. **We do not claim your messages are private from us.** The service has to be able to show you a message, so it can read a message. Anyone weighing this up for genuinely sensitive material should factor that in. **And some terms are not settled yet, so this page does not state them.** Putting a number here that the binding terms later contradict would be worse than an admitted gap. These are the gaps: - Refunds in any case not covered under how billing works, above. - Notice periods. - Whether there is a grace period on the number after cancellation. - Whether a number can be moved to another provider. - Any service level or uptime commitment. - Limitation of liability. - Governing law. - The process for suspending an account that is being misused. - What happens to your data after cancellation. > If one of these matters to your decision, email support@sharedsmsinbox.com before you activate a number rather than assuming. The [help page](https://sharedmfainbox.com/help) is the place to start. The part worth slowing down for is the number itself. **Treat giving up a number as permanent.** Once it is released it can be given to somebody else, and we cannot promise you would get it back. An account still pointing at a number you no longer hold is an account you may not be able to get into. So do it in this order: 1. List every company account that has this number on it. 2. Change the number on each of those accounts, and check that a code actually arrives at the new one. 3. Only then release the number in the app. Releasing a monthly number stops its billing. Releasing an annual number stops its billing straight away, but the rest of the year is not refunded. Turning off MFA renewal keeps paid accounts working until the end of the paid period. Whether there is any grace period on the number after cancellation is on the list above of things still being confirmed. ## Need more? - [Security](https://sharedmfainbox.com/security) — Access and data storage. - [Pricing](https://sharedmfainbox.com/pricing) — Prices and billing details. - [Help](https://sharedmfainbox.com/help) — Setup and account support. --- Canonical: https://sharedmfainbox.com/terms Every page of this site is also available as Markdown. Site map: https://sharedmfainbox.com/llms.txt