What is a Service Level Agreement (SLA)?

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a contract between a service provider and customer that defines the level of service expected. It specifies metrics like uptime guarantees, response times, and remedies (like service credits) if commitments are not met.

What uptime percentage should I offer in my SLA?

Common uptime commitments range from 99% to 99.99%. 99.9% (43 minutes downtime/month) is standard for most SaaS products. 99.99% (4 minutes/month) is typical for enterprise or mission-critical services. Choose a level you can realistically maintain.

What are service credits and how do they work?

Service credits are account credits issued when a provider fails to meet SLA commitments. They typically range from 10-100% of the monthly fee depending on severity. Credits are applied to future invoices and are usually the sole remedy for SLA breaches.

What should be excluded from an SLA?

Common SLA exclusions include: scheduled maintenance, force majeure events, customer-caused issues, third-party service failures, beta features, and usage limit overages. These exclusions protect the provider from liability for issues outside their control.

What are typical support response times in an SLA?

Response times vary by priority: Critical (P1) issues typically require 15-60 minute response, High (P2) 2-4 hours, Medium (P3) 8-24 hours, and Low (P4) 1-3 business days. Response time is the initial acknowledgment, not resolution time.

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9 Agreement Templates Included

Master Service Agreement

SaaS Agreement

Data Processing Agreement

Acceptable Use Policy

API License Agreement

Service Level Agreement ←

End User License Agreement

Enterprise SLA Features Included

Error budgets & burn rate policies

Escalating penalty tiers & termination rights

RPO/RTO guarantees & multi-region failover

Security incident response SLAs

Third-party audit & monitoring rights

Regulatory compliance guarantees

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