Spot the bad clauses in any contract before you sign
A contract lands in your inbox. Twelve pages of dense legal text. Crade reads the whole thing on your screen and flags the clauses that actually matter, so you know what to negotiate before you sign.
Spot the bad clauses before you sign.
Review this employment contract — what should I watch for?
5 things to flag before you sign: • Probation: 6 months (standard is 3) • Notice: 3 mo from you / 1 mo from them — lopsided • Non-compete: 12 mo, no geography limit • IP clause covers your evenings + weekends • Bonus is "at company discretion" — not guaranteed Push back on notice + IP scope.
Contracts are designed so that 90% of the text is boilerplate and 10% is the part that will actually affect you. The trick is finding that 10% without spending an hour reading every clause. Lawyers do this for a living. For everyone else (freelancers, founders, employees taking a new job), the path of least resistance is usually to skim and sign. Crade gives you a third option: read the contract on your screen and flag the clauses that need attention.
What you put on your screen
Whatever contract you need to review:
- An employment agreement attached to a job offer
- A client services contract or master services agreement
- A SaaS subscription's terms of service before you upgrade
- A vendor agreement someone wants you to sign by Friday
- A lease, NDA, or partnership agreement
Open the contract in Preview, Adobe Acrobat, your browser's PDF viewer, or as a Word doc. Crade reads what is visible, so for long contracts scroll through one section at a time.
What you say to Crade
One sentence, focused on what you want flagged:
Or specific: "What is the cancellation policy?", "Is the non-compete enforceable?", "What happens if I miss a payment?". Crade reads the visible pages and answers in context.
Step-by-step: how to do this in Crade
Open the contract
Preview, Acrobat, your browser, Word. Open it to the first substantive page (skip the cover sheet).
Click the Crade icon
Expand Crade from the ∞ icon. It floats above your PDF viewer so you can scroll without losing the chat.
Ask for the flag list
"Flag unusual clauses", "What should I push back on?", "What is the risk for me personally?". Crade prioritises the clauses where the standard would be different.
Scroll and ask about specifics
Scroll to the section Crade flagged. Ask follow-ups: "Is this normal?", "What is a typical version of this clause?", "How would I negotiate this?".
Cross-check against your situation
Tell Crade about your situation: "I am a freelancer in Estonia", "This is my first job offer", "I am the smaller party here". The risk profile changes with context.
Bring the list to your lawyer
Crade is not a lawyer. For contracts above a few thousand dollars in stakes, use Crade to prepare your questions, then talk to a qualified lawyer before you sign. The flag list saves you billable hours.
What you get back
A prioritised list of clauses that deviate from market standard or carry asymmetric risk: non-competes that are too broad, liability caps that are too low, auto-renewal terms hidden in section 8, exclusivity language, IP assignment that goes further than necessary.
Crade is careful to explain WHY a clause is flagged, not just that it is. "Section 8 is unusually broad because the geographic scope is global and the duration is 24 months" beats "Section 8 looks bad". You can act on the first; the second just makes you nervous.
Tips for better contract reviews
- Tell Crade your role. "I am the contractor signing this" vs "I am the company offering this" flips which clauses matter.
- Mention your jurisdiction. Contract norms differ a lot between US, EU, UK, and elsewhere. "This is for Estonia" or "This is a Delaware C-corp" changes the answer.
- Ask for negotiable vs non-negotiable. Some clauses are standard and not worth fighting. Crade can tell you which ones are worth pushing back on.
- Use Crade to draft pushback language. "Suggest a softer version of section 8" gives you a concrete counter-proposal for the conversation.
- Treat Crade as preparation, not the final review. For anything important, the flag list goes to a lawyer, not directly to the counter-party.
Free vs Pro vs Premium
- Free ($0): reads the contract, flags clauses, explains them. Right tier for occasional contract review.
- Pro ($7.99/mo or $49.99/yr): higher daily usage, Agent mode (Crade can save your annotated notes to a file). Right tier for freelancers and founders signing several contracts a month.
- Premium ($19.99/mo or $149.99/yr): 10x more daily usage. Right tier for legal ops, procurement, anyone who reviews contracts as part of their job.
Frequently asked questions
Is Crade a substitute for a lawyer?
No. For anything material (six-figure deals, employment contracts you will rely on, anything in court-bound jurisdictions), use a qualified lawyer. Crade prepares you so the lawyer time is faster and cheaper, but the legal advice itself comes from the lawyer.
Does Crade keep my contract?
Crade reads the contract from your screen and sends the relevant text to the AI provider for the reply. The screenshot is not stored beyond what the privacy policy describes. The contract file itself stays on your machine. Crade does not upload or save it separately.
Can Crade compare two contracts side by side?
Yes, if you have both visible (split-screen or two windows on one monitor). Ask: "Compare these two contracts and tell me where they differ". Crade reads both and gives you a diff.
What if the contract is in a language I do not speak?
Crade reads contracts in most major languages and can flag clauses in whatever language you prefer. "Read this Estonian contract and explain it in English" works. For high-stakes foreign-language contracts, get a sworn translation too.
Can Crade redline the contract for me?
Crade can draft replacement language for a flagged clause: "Rewrite section 8 to be reasonable". You paste the rewrite into a Word redline yourself. Crade does not edit the original file directly.
The whole loop in one sentence
Contract on screen, one prompt, a prioritised flag list back. From twelve pages of legal jargon to three things worth talking to your lawyer about, in under a minute.