Guide · updated November 4, 2026
Commercial use of AI output: what each tool’s terms allow
Generating something does not automatically mean you can sell it. Free plans may restrict commercial use, add watermarks or require attribution, and some licences end when you stop paying.
We read each tool’s terms for ownership of output, commercial rights by plan, and watermarking, and graded how much freedom a paying customer gets.
A3 toolsB11 toolsC4 toolsD2 toolsE0 tools
| Tool | Grade | What the documents say |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT $8/month (Go, US price) | A | The US Terms of Use say you keep ownership of your input and own the output, and OpenAI assigns to you any rights it has in that output. That applies on every plan, free included, with no watermark or commercial-use carve-out in the terms. The one caveat is that output may not be unique, and the assignment does not cover similar output other users receive. Source |
| Claude $17/month (Pro, billed yearly at $200) | A | The Consumer Terms say you keep your rights in your inputs and that Anthropic assigns to you all of its right, title and interest, if any, in the outputs, as long as you comply with the terms. The terms set no paid-plan condition for commercial use and impose no watermark. Anthropic does warn that outputs can be inaccurate and should be checked before you rely on them. Source |
| Cursor $8/month (Plus; $80 billed yearly) | A | Section 5.3 of the terms is as buyer-friendly as it gets: 'Anysphere hereby assigns to you all of our right, title, and interest if any in and to any Suggestions', and you keep your rights in your inputs. The terms note that suggestions may resemble output given to other users, and you get no rights in theirs. No branding or watermark applies to code. Source |
| Descript $16/person/month billed yearly (Hobbyist; $24 month to month) | B | Descript claims no ownership of your content, and you own AI output to the extent the law protects it, with a warning that generated output may not be unique. Free exports carry a watermark at 720p. Stock libraries other than Storyblocks may need a separate license for commercial use, and voice clones require the speaker's explicit consent. Source |
| ElevenLabs $5/month billed yearly (Starter; $6 month to month) | B | Paid users retain all rights in their output and may use it commercially, subject to the Prohibited Use Policy. Free users may only use the services for non-commercial purposes, which in practice means the $6 Starter plan is the real entry ticket for monetized content. The Terms add that other users may receive the same or similar output. Source |
| Google Gemini $4.99/month (Google AI Plus, US price) | B | Gemini Apps are governed by the Google Terms of Service and the Generative AI Prohibited Use Policy. The US terms say that when a service lets you generate original content, Google won't claim ownership over it. That is a promise not to claim ownership rather than an explicit assignment of rights, and the terms add no paid-plan condition for commercial use. Source |
| GPTZero $12.99/month billed $155.88 yearly (Premium) | B | The terms say GPTZero does not claim ownership of what you submit: 'You retain full ownership of all of your Contributions.' The help center adds that GPTZero keeps a copy of submitted text but does not reproduce it or disclose it to third parties. The output here is a score and report rather than new content, and the terms disclaim any warranty on accuracy. Users must be at least 18. Source |
| Grammarly $12/month billed yearly ($144/year) | B | The terms say you own your User Content, and that AI inputs and the outputs generated from them count as your User Content; similar outputs given to other users are not yours. Grammarly takes a royalty-free license to use that content to run and improve the services and develop new features. Organizations may use the service only for internal business purposes. Source |
| HeadshotPro $29 one-time | B | HeadshotPro assigns you its rights in the AI headshots and licenses them for personal and commercial use. You grant it a broad, irrevocable license to host and display your content, but the terms say uploaded photos will not be used for marketing without your prior written consent. Similar outputs may be generated for other users. Source |
| HeyGen $24/month billed yearly (Creator; $29 month to month) | B | On paid plans you own your input and output, HeyGen assigns any rights it acquires in the output to you, and commercial use is allowed. Free plan output is only licensed to you, revocably, for personal, non-commercial and internal evaluation purposes, so no ads, client work or monetized posts. You also need permission from anyone whose face or voice you upload. Source |
| InVideo AI $4/seat/month billed yearly (Basic; $9 month to month) | B | You keep ownership of your uploads, and InVideo grants a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license to use and commercialize your outputs. That license survives cancellation for outputs you already created and exported. Stock footage stays under its own license with no exclusivity, and the monthly iStock allowance does not roll over. Source |
| Magica $12.50/month billed yearly ($14.99 month to month) | B | The terms say Magica claims no ownership of your output, assigns you its rights in it, and does not restrict commercial use. You grant Magica a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, parse and display your content, which the terms say does not include a right to sell it. Outputs may not be unique to you. Source |
| Midjourney $8/month (Basic, billed yearly at $96) | B | The Terms of Service say you own the assets you create 'to the fullest extent possible under applicable law', and that ownership persists if you later downgrade or cancel. There are two exceptions. A company, or an employee of a company, with more than $1,000,000 in yearly revenue must be on Pro or Mega to own its assets. And images you upscale from another user stay theirs. The terms make no mention of a watermark. Source |
| Otter.ai $8.33/user/month (Pro, billed annually) | B | The terms say 'Customer retains all ownership rights to the User Content processed using the service', though content in a company workspace belongs to that workspace or organization. You grant Otter a worldwide, royalty-free license with the right to sublicense, and Otter may use aggregated or de-identified data for machine learning. The terms make you 'solely responsible' for giving notice to and getting consent from the people you record. Source |
| Aragon AI $35 one-time (headshots); app plans from $15/month | C | Aragon assigns you its rights in the output and allows personal or commercial use. In return you grant an irrevocable, royalty-free license over your content, and the terms let Aragon display output on its website, galleries 'or any other promotional medium'. Similar outputs may also be produced for other users. Source |
| Gamma €8/seat/month billed annually (Plus; the pricing page lists euros, no USD list published) | C | The terms say 'Gamma does not claim ownership of Your Content', and the license you grant is for operating the service, subject to your account settings. They do not say in so many words who owns AI-generated 'Results', which are provided 'as is' and described as initial drafts. Free-plan output carries Gamma branding; removing it is a Plus feature. Source |
| Jasper $59/month per seat, billed yearly | C | The terms say your inputs and outputs remain yours. But the service license is limited to your internal business operations, and the license you grant Jasper is perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable and transferable, extends to your name, voice or likeness as contained in your content, and covers promoting the services. Source |
| Synthesia $14/month billed yearly (Starter; $19 month to month) | C | You own your output, excluding Synthesia's own components. Stock avatars, voices and templates are only licensed during your subscription; after it ends you may keep using videos already generated but nothing new. The Acceptable Use Policy requires Synthesia's written consent before using a stock avatar in promoted or paid social ads, news, fundraising or political content. Source |
| Perplexity $17/month (Pro, billed yearly) | D | The terms say Perplexity claims no ownership of 'Your Content' but keeps ownership of the technology that generates output. They do not clearly assign the output to you. Consumer use is limited to personal, non-commercial purposes, and you may not publish output without clearly citing Perplexity. The terms also give Perplexity a broad, irrevocable license to use your content to operate, improve and promote the service. Source |
| Undetectable AI $5/month (10K words, billed $60 yearly) | D | The terms never state who owns humanized output. Content you post into interactive features is a 'Contribution', for which you grant a perpetual, irrevocable, transferable worldwide license. The terms also forbid using any output to train or evaluate AI models, and a broadly worded prohibited-activities clause bars using the services or content for 'any revenue-generating endeavor', which sits oddly with a product sold to marketers. Users must be at least 18. Source |
Before you pay
- A vendor assigning you its rights does not settle copyright: in the US, purely AI-generated material may not be protected.
- Voice and likeness tools have separate rules about whose voice or face you may use.
- Keep a copy of the terms in force when you created the asset, in case they change.
Each finding comes from the vendor's own page, read on the date shown in the full review. Terms change: re-read them before you buy. How we grade.