Terms
Last updated: 11 August 2026
The short version: publish real numbers, don't try to game the rankings, and we'll do our part. The long version is below.
What we offer
We count the users your product reports through our API, publish what you choose to publish, and rank participating startups by rules written on the rankings page itself. The service is provided “as is”: we work to keep it available and accurate, but we don't guarantee uptime, and we're not liable for lost profits, lost data or any indirect damage from using it or being unable to.
Who runs this
HowManyUsers is operated independently from Argentina by its founder — there's no separate registered company behind it today. That doesn't change your rights under these terms; it just means correspondence and decisions go through the contact below, not a support department.
What we ask of you
That the data you send is real. Sending fabricated users, backdated history or automated traffic to inflate a number is the one thing that breaks this product for everyone who plays it straight. We watch for exactly that (see how on the trust page) and can restrict ranking eligibility when the numbers don't add up — we keep evidence when we do, and being restricted isn't a public accusation.
Your API keys
Your secret key (hmu_sk_…) can create and delete users on your behalf — treat it like a password, never ship it inside code that runs in a browser, and rotate it if you think it leaked. We store a hash of it, never the key itself, so if it leaks, it leaked on your side, not ours. You can revoke a key at any time from your dashboard; anything signed with a revoked key stops working immediately.
Ranking eligibility
Rankings require a few days of continuous data, a minimum of users we've counted ourselves, and a sufficient trust score. Being left out of a ranking isn't an accusation — your profile and your metrics stay exactly as they are, visible to whoever you've chosen to show them to.
Paid placements and billing
Boosts, sponsorships and Pro are one-time payments in USD, processed by Stripe — we never see or store your card. Boosts and sponsorships run for the fixed number of days shown at checkout; Pro is a permanent unlock, not a subscription, so there's nothing to cancel. Stripe emails a receipt automatically. Refunds aren't offered for a change of mind, only if we failed to deliver what was paid for — write to us and we'll make it right. Advertising and sponsorships never alter an organic ranking position, and everything paid is labelled as paid; the day that stops being true, this product has no reason to exist.
Intellectual property
The HowManyUsers name, logo and the badges and counters we generate stay ours; you're free to embed them on your own site under the terms shown when you copy the code — an unmodified link back to your verified profile. Your project's name, description and the content you choose to publish stay yours: we display it, we don't own it.
Your account
You can delete your projects and your account at any time, and deleting removes what our privacy policy describes. We can suspend an account that abuses the API, tries to access another startup's data, or publishes content that's illegal or harmful — we'll tell you why when we can.
If something goes wrong between us
Write to us first — most things get resolved faster by an actual conversation than by anything formal. These terms don't name a specific court or a specific country's governing law: this project is small enough that pretending to have chosen one carefully, without a lawyer in your country ever having reviewed it, would be worse than just saying so.
Changes to these terms
If these terms change in a way that matters, we'll say so inside the product before it takes effect.
Contact
Questions about any of this: hi@howmanyusers.wtf, or @firbedatomas on X.