The change

SolarWinds sells IT monitoring and observability software, both as SaaS and for customers to run on their own servers. Its Software as a Service Agreement is the main contract for its SaaS products. The current version is dated 10 September 2026. The version before this year’s two revisions was dated 24 February 2023.

SolarWinds’ legal changelog lists two revisions this year. On 17 June 2026 it noted “General corrections and updates to ensure consistency in the terms and conditions.” On 10 September 2026 it said the agreement was “Revised to generally bring them up to date with respect to terms applicable to our SaaS products and features,” mentioning AI features and billing. Neither entry mentions renewals, service levels or liability.

The same day, SolarWinds also rewrote its SaaS Supplemental Terms, which cover cloud features used with its on-premises products. The previous version of that document was dated 23 September 2022.

What changed

• Longer notice to stop a renewal. Ninety days instead of thirty.

• No more promise on service levels. The clause that protected performance, functionality, security and availability during your term is gone from both documents.

• A smaller liability cap for many customers. The cap is now tied to a single order.

• New AI terms. SolarWinds can limit its AI tools without notice and charge extra for them.

• Usage data as SolarWinds’ own. Where usage data is personal data, SolarWinds is now its controller.

Ninety days to stop a renewal

SolarWinds subscriptions renew automatically, and both versions say the renewal term “will be the same length as the Initial Term unless otherwise specified by SolarWinds at the time of renewal.”

The old agreement let you end it “by providing SolarWinds with at least thirty (30) days’ prior written notice,” and said the notice “shall be effective on the last day of the then-current Term.”

The new one says: “Except as set forth in the Order, You may prevent the auto-renewal of Your license by providing SolarWinds with ninety (90) days prior written notice to terminate this Agreement prior to the end of the then-current License Term.”

Apart from stopping the renewal, you can end the agreement only “for cause if SolarWinds remains in material breach” for 30 days after you report it, as before. If you miss the 90-day window on an annual plan, you are likely committed for another year. The agreement adds that termination does not end your duty to pay fees “through the end of the current Term.”

The service-level promise is gone

The old agreement let SolarWinds update the service or provide “alternative Services or Software” during your term, and paired that right with a limit: those changes “will not materially reduce the level of performance, functionality, security, or availability of the Services or Software during the Term.” It also said any end of life would be “in accordance with its end-of-life policy.”

The new agreement drops that whole passage, including the limit and the end-of-life sentence. The SaaS Supplemental Terms lost the same promise, worded as “SolarWinds will not materially reduce the level of performance, functionality, security, or availability of the Software Services during the Term,” along with its link to the End of Life Policy for SaaS Products.

The supplement adds one protection for on-premises customers. If SolarWinds ends a cloud component bundled with your on-premises product, such as “telemetry, analytics, threat intelligence,” that does not end your on-premises license, and SolarWinds “will provide You with reasonable advance notice of any such discontinuation.”

A cap tied to one order

The old cap covered “the total amount payable or paid to SolarWinds under this Agreement during the twelve months prior to termination.” The new cap covers “the total amount of fees payable or paid to SolarWinds under the Order giving rise to the claim in the prior twelve months.”

If you buy several SolarWinds products on separate orders, a claim about one of them is now capped at what you paid for that order alone.

AI tools on SolarWinds’ terms

The 2023 agreement did not mention AI. The new one adds a section on “generative AI based features available within the SaaS.” Using them is optional, and “Your use of the AI Tools is at Your own risk.” You must confirm that “all output from AI Tools will be reviewed and vetted by You before being used in any way.”

SolarWinds may “throttle, rate-limit, or temporarily suspend access to the AI Tools without notice to You” when it “solely determines” this is needed. It also “reserves the right to invoice you for additional fees in connection with Your use of any AI Tools.” The overage clause now covers going over your “license or use capacity,” including AI tools, billed on “a subsequent invoice.”

Other changes in the update

• Usage data. SolarWinds still processes “configuration, performance, usage, and consumption data” to run and improve its products. New: “To the extent that this information constitutes Personal Data, SolarWinds shall be the controller of such Personal Data.”

• Partners. If you buy through a reseller, SolarWinds “may provide information regarding Your consumption of the Services” to that partner.

• Plan changes. The section that let you “at any time, upgrade Your SolarWinds account type” and downgrade on 30 days’ notice at renewal was removed.

• Support. The agreement no longer has its own support section. Support now runs through the separate Support and Maintenance Terms, which the entire agreement clause names as part of the contract.

• Data retrieval. Unchanged and worth knowing: you must retrieve your data “within five (5) business days of the termination of this Agreement.”

What improved

• Service-specific terms can no longer weaken your core protections: “no SaaS-Specific Terms shall modify the parties’ warranty, indemnification, or limitation of liability obligations.”

• You can now “subscribe to SolarWinds’ RSS feed” to get notice of changes to those terms.

• Your indemnity no longer covers any “breach of this Agreement.” It now covers misuse and use that violates third party rights or the law.

• The backup disclaimer lost two exclusions, including data that “had not yet been backed up based on the timing of what was deleted.”

• On-premises customers keep their license if a bundled cloud feature is retired, with “reasonable advance notice.”

Why this matters

A 90-day notice period moves the real renewal decision three months earlier. Teams that plan to review SolarWinds at renewal time may find the window already closed. Renewal terms are moving at other vendors too: Snyk dropped its 5% renewal cap, Mural’s renewals can now go up 5% a year, and GoDaddy’s refund policy now excludes most renewals.

Both versions also say that “Your continued use of the Services and Software following modification to the updated Agreement constitutes Your consent to be bound by the same.” A changelog entry that says “general corrections” is easy to skip. That is why it helps to monitor vendor terms of service against the text itself and to keep vendor contract monitoring tied to your renewal calendar.

Potential impact

If you use SolarWinds SaaS, check four things:

• When does your current term end, and is the date 90 days before it in your calendar?

• Does your order set a different notice period? The new clause applies “Except as set forth in the Order.”

• Do you rely on a feature or performance level that SolarWinds no longer promises to keep during the term?

• Are your SolarWinds products on one order or several, and what does that do to the liability cap?

How Venpo detected it

Venpo monitors SolarWinds’ legal pages and compared the 2023 agreement with the current one line by line. The redlines are on the SolarWinds SaaS Agreement change page and the SaaS Supplemental Terms change page. Every contract quote in this article was checked against them.

Business outcome

Teams that catch this before their notice window closes keep the choice to renegotiate or leave. Teams that find it later may have to wait another full term. That is the case for automated vendor monitoring over manual checks as part of continuous vendor risk monitoring.

Key takeaway

SolarWinds’ SaaS agreement, last updated 10 September 2026, requires 90 days’ written notice to stop an auto-renewal, no longer promises to keep service levels during your term, and caps its liability at the fees for a single order.