Who we are and what this is.
By using Lantern, you're entering into an agreement with us. If you don't agree with these terms, please don't use the service.
Welcome to Lantern. These Terms of Service (the "Terms") are a binding contract between you and Lantern Family, Inc., a Delaware corporation headquartered in Costa Mesa, California ("Lantern," "we," "us"). They govern your access to and use of the Lantern website at hellolantern.co, the Lantern mobile applications, and any related services we offer (together, the "Service").
By creating an account, joining the waitlist, booking a class, or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference. If you're using Lantern on behalf of a family or organization, you represent that you have authority to bind them to these Terms.
Who can use Lantern
You must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract under applicable law. Lantern accounts are for parents, legal guardians, and authorized caregivers — children do not create or hold accounts. You must add children to your family profile yourself and confirm you have authority to do so.
Eligibility
You may not use Lantern if you've been previously suspended or removed from the Service, or if doing so would violate any law where you live. Lantern is currently available in select markets in Southern California, and not all features are available everywhere.
Your account.
Keep your information accurate, your password safe, and your account to yourself. You're responsible for what happens under your account.
To use most of Lantern, you'll create an account. When you do, you agree to:
- Provide accurate information — your real name, a working email, and other details we ask for — and keep it current.
- Keep your credentials secure. Use a strong password, don't share it, and notify us immediately at security@hellolantern.co if you suspect unauthorized access.
- Be responsible for activity on your account — including bookings, messages, and payments made through it.
- Use only one account, unless we've agreed otherwise in writing.
Family profiles
Within your account, you can add children, co-parents, and other authorized caregivers to your family profile. By adding a person, you represent that you have authority to share their information for the purpose of booking and managing children's activities, and you agree to provide the notices and obtain the consents required by law.
How Lantern works.
Lantern is the marketplace, not the teacher. We connect you with independent activity providers — local studios, coaches, instructors, and programs — who run their own classes. We don't employ them, supervise them in person, or guarantee what happens in their room. That said: we vet who's on the platform and remove anyone who violates our standards.
Lantern operates a marketplace that helps families discover, book, and manage children's activities. The activities themselves — classes, lessons, camps, programs, and similar offerings (each, an "Activity") — are provided by independent third parties ("Providers") who are not employees, agents, or partners of Lantern.
You acknowledge and agree that:
- Providers are independent. They set their own prices, schedules, policies, and methods of instruction. Lantern is not a party to the agreement between you and a Provider for an Activity.
- Lantern is not the Provider. We do not deliver Activities, do not supervise children during them, and do not control the conduct of Providers or their staff.
- We curate, we don't certify. We verify business registration, insurance, and (where applicable) background checks for Providers — but our verification is not a guarantee of quality, safety, or fitness for any particular child.
- You make the judgment call. You're responsible for evaluating any Activity before enrolling your child, and for monitoring the experience.
Our role
Lantern's role is to operate the platform: surface Activities relevant to you, facilitate bookings, collect and remit payment, host messaging between you and Providers, and maintain reasonable standards. We act as a limited payment-collection agent for Providers when we process your payment; receipt of payment by Lantern satisfies your payment obligation to the Provider.
Bookings and payments.
When you book, you agree to pay. Prices, fees, and what's included are shown before you confirm. We charge your card through Stripe and pay the provider on a regular schedule.
When you book an Activity, the price, the schedule, any platform fee, applicable taxes, and the Provider's cancellation policy are shown to you before you confirm. By tapping Confirm Booking, you authorize Lantern to charge the payment method on file for the full amount.
Pricing and fees
Activity prices are set by Providers. Lantern may charge a service fee in addition to the Activity price; the fee is always disclosed before you confirm. We may change our fees from time to time, but changes don't apply to bookings you've already confirmed.
Payment processing
Payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. By providing a payment method, you authorize Lantern (or Stripe on our behalf) to charge that method for amounts you owe and to update card information through Stripe's account-updater services. You're responsible for any bank or card fees your issuer charges.
Memberships and prepaid credits
If we offer a membership or prepaid credit product (for example, a "Lantern Pass"), the specific terms — pricing, renewal, expiration, and refund eligibility — are presented when you purchase. Memberships renew automatically until you cancel through Settings, and credits expire as disclosed at purchase. We'll send a reminder before any auto-renewal of $20 or more, as required by California law.
Taxes
Prices may not include sales tax, which we'll calculate and collect where required. You're responsible for any other taxes that arise from your use of the Service.
Cancellations and refunds.
Each provider sets their own cancellation policy — it's shown clearly before you book. If a provider cancels on you, you get a full refund. If we cancel something, same.
Cancellation and refund rules depend on who's cancelling:
If you cancel
The Provider's cancellation policy for that Activity governs. We show it on the booking screen, in your booking confirmation, and in your booking details — including the deadline for a full refund, the deadline for a partial refund, and any non-refundable amounts. Service fees may be non-refundable; this is disclosed before you confirm.
If the Provider cancels
If a Provider cancels a class, session, or program, you'll receive a full refund of all amounts paid, including any service fees, to the original payment method within 5–10 business days. You may also be offered a credit or reschedule, which you can accept or decline.
If Lantern cancels
If we remove an Activity from the platform for any reason (including a Provider's loss of standing) and you're left without service you've already paid for, you'll receive a full refund.
Disputes
If you have a dispute about a booking — a class that didn't happen as described, a refund that didn't process, a billing error — please contact support@hellolantern.co within 30 days and we'll work to resolve it. We may issue a goodwill credit or refund at our discretion when fairness calls for it.
Your conduct on Lantern.
Be a decent person. Don't lie, don't harass, don't try to break the platform, don't try to dodge fees by booking off-platform after meeting a provider here.
You agree not to use Lantern to:
- Impersonate any person, misrepresent your identity, or provide false information about yourself or a child;
- Harass, threaten, abuse, or discriminate against Providers, other parents, or Lantern staff;
- Post or send content that's unlawful, defamatory, obscene, harmful to minors, or that infringes intellectual property rights;
- Solicit Providers off-platform to circumvent Lantern's fees after a connection was made through the Service;
- Use bots, scrapers, or other automated means to access the Service, or attempt to reverse engineer, decompile, or interfere with it;
- Use the Service for any purpose other than booking and managing children's activities for a family;
- Violate any law, regulation, or third-party right in your use of the Service.
We may investigate and take action against accounts that appear to violate these rules, including suspending or terminating access, removing content, and reporting unlawful conduct to authorities.
If you're a Provider.
If you list Activities on Lantern, additional rules apply on top of everything above. The short version: keep your listings accurate, deliver what you promised, maintain insurance, follow the law, and treat families well.
This section applies in addition to all other terms, only to users who operate as Providers on Lantern. Sections 01–06 and 08–14 apply to you, too — these are the additional Provider-specific rules.
Eligibility & verification
To list Activities on Lantern, you must: (a) be a legally formed business or licensed individual in good standing in the jurisdictions where you operate; (b) maintain general liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence, with Lantern listed as an additional insured upon request; (c) ensure all staff who work directly with children have completed appropriate background checks; and (d) comply with all applicable laws, including health, safety, child-protection, and licensing requirements.
Listings & pricing
You're responsible for the accuracy of your listings — descriptions, schedules, prices, age ranges, qualifications, photos, and policies. You may set your own prices and cancellation policy, within the guidelines we publish in the Provider Portal. You may not list the same Activity at a lower price elsewhere as a means of circumventing Lantern's fees.
Fees & payouts
Lantern charges a commission on each completed booking. The current commission rate is shown in your Provider Portal and may change with 30 days' notice for new bookings. We remit your share to your connected payout account on a weekly basis (or other cadence as offered), net of refunds, chargebacks, and fees. You're responsible for all taxes on your earnings.
Service standards
You agree to deliver Activities as listed, communicate promptly with families, honor your published policies, maintain safe and welcoming environments, and report incidents involving safety, injury, or child welfare immediately to Lantern and (where required by law) to authorities.
Independent relationship
You are an independent business, not an employee or agent of Lantern. Nothing in these Terms creates an employment, partnership, joint venture, or franchise relationship. You bear sole responsibility for your operations, your staff, your tax obligations, and the conduct of Activities.
Content and intellectual property.
You own what you post. We need a license to display it on Lantern. Our brand and software stay ours.
Your content
You retain ownership of the content you submit to Lantern — reviews, messages, photos, listing details, and so on ("User Content"). By submitting User Content, you grant Lantern a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, display, reproduce, adapt, and distribute that content as needed to operate, improve, and promote the Service. This license ends when you delete the content or your account, except where the content has been shared with others or where retention is required by law.
You represent that you have the right to grant this license and that your User Content doesn't infringe anyone else's rights.
Our content
Lantern's name, logo, mark, software, designs, copy, and other materials are owned by Lantern or its licensors and are protected by intellectual property laws. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Service for its intended purpose. We grant no other rights. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or create derivative works of any part of the Service without our written permission.
Feedback
If you send us feedback, suggestions, or ideas, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use them for any purpose, without obligation to you.
Copyright complaints
If you believe content on Lantern infringes your copyright, send a notice that complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to dmca@hellolantern.co, including: identification of the work; the URL of the allegedly infringing material; your contact information; a statement of good-faith belief; a statement under penalty of perjury that the information is accurate; and your signature.
Disclaimers.
We work hard to make Lantern great, but we can't promise it's perfect or that every provider will be. You use the service at your own risk, with the protections of consumer law.
We do our best to operate Lantern carefully and curate Providers thoughtfully. But you should understand the limits of what we can promise.
Specifically, Lantern doesn't guarantee:
- That a particular Provider or Activity will meet your or your child's expectations;
- That any Provider's instruction, supervision, or facility will be free from risk of injury or harm;
- That information provided by Providers (qualifications, policies, descriptions) is accurate or current;
- That the Service will be available without interruption.
Some jurisdictions don't allow exclusion of implied warranties, so some of the above may not apply to you. You may have additional rights under consumer protection laws that these Terms don't override.
Limitation of liability.
If something goes wrong, our financial responsibility is limited. We're not on the hook for things outside our control — like an injury at a provider's class or weather cancellations.
Lantern's total aggregate liability for all claims arising out of or relating to the Service or these Terms will not exceed the greater of (a) the total amount you paid to Lantern in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) one hundred U.S. dollars ($100).
Some jurisdictions don't allow limits on certain damages (like personal injury caused by negligence, or gross negligence and intentional misconduct). In those jurisdictions, the limits in this section apply only to the maximum extent permitted by law, and nothing in these Terms is intended to limit liability that cannot lawfully be limited.
Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Lantern and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your breach of these Terms; (c) your violation of any law or third-party right; or (d) User Content you submit. We may assume the exclusive defense of any matter for which you owe indemnification, and you agree to cooperate.
Dispute resolution.
If we have a disagreement, let's try to work it out directly first. If that doesn't work, most disputes will go to arbitration in California rather than court — but you can still bring small-claims matters in court, and you can opt out of arbitration entirely within 30 days of accepting these terms.
Talk to us first
Before filing any formal dispute, please contact legal@hellolantern.co with a description of your concern. Most issues can be resolved this way, and we ask you to give us 60 days to try before initiating arbitration or other proceedings.
Binding arbitration
If we can't resolve a dispute informally, you and Lantern agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service ("Dispute") will be resolved through binding individual arbitration administered by JAMS in Orange County, California, under its applicable rules. The arbitrator has exclusive authority to resolve any Dispute, including the scope and enforceability of this agreement to arbitrate.
By agreeing to arbitration, you and Lantern are each waiving the right to a trial by jury and to participate in a class action. Disputes will be resolved on an individual basis only.
Exceptions
This arbitration agreement does not apply to: (a) claims that may be brought in small-claims court if they qualify; (b) claims to enforce or protect intellectual property rights; and (c) claims for injunctive or equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent actual or threatened harm.
Opt-out
You can opt out of this arbitration agreement within 30 days of first accepting these Terms by emailing legal@hellolantern.co with the subject line "Arbitration Opt-Out" and your full name and account email. Opting out doesn't affect any other part of these Terms.
Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. For matters not subject to arbitration, you and Lantern agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of state and federal courts in Orange County, California.
Termination.
You can stop using Lantern any time. We can suspend or close accounts that violate these terms or pose a safety risk. Confirmed bookings and money owed survive the close-out.
You may stop using Lantern and delete your account at any time, through Settings → Privacy → Delete Account, or by emailing support@hellolantern.co. Account deletion is effective immediately for ongoing use; we'll process any required data deletion as described in our Privacy Policy.
We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you've violated these Terms, created risk or legal exposure for Lantern or other users, or engaged in unlawful conduct. Where possible and lawful, we'll give you notice and an opportunity to address the issue first.
Sections that by their nature should survive termination — including ownership, content licenses you granted, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnification, and dispute resolution — will survive.
Changes and general terms.
We may update these terms occasionally. For meaningful changes, we'll give you a 30-day heads-up before they take effect.
Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For material changes — changes that meaningfully affect your rights or obligations — we'll give you at least 30 days' notice by email and through an in-app notice before they take effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance. If you don't agree to the changes, your remedy is to stop using the Service and delete your account.
Notices
We may send you notices about the Service by email to the address on file, by push or in-app notification, or by posting on the Service. You may send us notices at legal@hellolantern.co or by mail to the address in section 14.
Entire agreement & severability
These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any other terms presented in the Service (like Provider supplements), constitute the entire agreement between you and Lantern about the Service. If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest will remain in full effect, and the unenforceable provision will be limited to the minimum extent necessary.
Assignment
You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, sale of assets, or by operation of law.
No waiver
Our failure to enforce any right or provision is not a waiver of that right or provision.
Force majeure
Neither party is liable for failure to perform due to events beyond reasonable control, including natural disasters, internet outages, government actions, public health emergencies, or labor disputes.
Contact us.
Questions about these terms? Notices, complaints, opt-outs? Here's where to send them.
For matters under these Terms, please reach out — we aim to respond within five business days.
Email: legal@hellolantern.co
Support: support@hellolantern.co
DMCA: dmca@hellolantern.co
For arbitration opt-outs, include "Arbitration Opt-Out" in your subject line so we can process it correctly.
Lantern Family, Inc.
Attn: Legal
Costa Mesa, California
United States
California residents may obtain the same information by mail. Per Cal. Civ. Code § 1789.3, complaints may be directed to the California Department of Consumer Affairs.