Terms of Use
The short version: you buy Ascolta as it exists today, plus a year of updates — yours forever on up to 3 of your Macs, and we will never take that away or make it worse. Updates only ever add value. What a one-time price does not buy is a separate, more powerful future product (an "Ascolta Pro" with automation, sync, an API, and the like): that would be its own product at its own price. You keep everything you bought; new tiers are optional.
1. Acceptance
Ascolta (the "App") is provided by Sergii Bilyi, a sole trader based in Romania ("we", "us", "our"). By downloading, installing, or using the App, or by purchasing a license, you agree to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree, do not use the App.
2. The license
We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to install and use the App on up to 3 Macs that you own or control. The license is per-person, not per-company: it is meant for you, on your machines. You can add and remove devices yourself at any time.
3. Free trial
The free trial includes 120 minutes of transcription (roughly 18,000 words at an average speaking pace — about a full day of dictation), started with a one-time email link — no credit card required. During the trial, the App reports only the minutes used (never any content) so the limit can be enforced. When the trial is exhausted, transcription pauses until you purchase a license; your local data is never touched.
4. Lifetime purchase: what is included
The one-time lifetime price includes:
- The version of Ascolta as it exists on the day you buy it, licensed to you perpetually. It keeps working with no further payment, ever.
- All updates to that app released within 12 months of your purchase — fixes, improvements, and new on-device transcription models that we ship as part of this edition (models offered only in a separate or Pro edition are governed by section 5). Updates only ever add to or maintain what you have; we will never use an update to remove or degrade a feature you paid for.
- License verification goes fully offline 60 days after purchase — after that, the App no longer needs to contact our servers at all.
After your first year, the App and every update you received keep working indefinitely. Updates released later may require a paid upgrade. "Lifetime" means a one-time purchase of a perpetual license to this edition of Ascolta — it is not a subscription, and not a license to separate products we may release in the future (see section 5).
5. What is not included: future editions and the Pro tier
Your purchase is for Ascolta as it works today: a local-first, on-device voice-to-text app. We may build a separate, more powerful edition — an Ascolta Pro — with capabilities well beyond today's dictation: for example automated folder watching and batch transcription, sync between your devices, an API, web access, or companion-device integrations. Those capabilities may run on your Mac, on servers we operate, or both.
Any such edition or add-on is a separate product with its own price (which may be a one-time purchase or a recurring subscription) and is not included in, and not an entitlement of, your one-time purchase — regardless of whether it is released during your 12-month update window, and regardless of whether its features run on your device or on ours. A new edition is an upgrade to a different product, not an update to the app you bought.
This protection runs one way only: nothing you have already bought is ever taken away, downgraded, or moved behind the new price. Everything that works for you today keeps working. New tiers only ever add optional, separately-priced capability on top — your value never decreases.
6. Payments and refunds
Purchases are processed by Paddle (Paddle.com Market Ltd), which acts as our merchant of record — your contract of sale is with Paddle, and Paddle is responsible for billing and any applicable taxes. Your payment details go directly to Paddle and never reach us. We offer a 3-day money-back guarantee; for refund requests see our Refund Policy or contact support@ascolta.app. A refunded purchase deactivates the associated license. Nothing in these terms limits any statutory rights you have as a consumer.
Immediate delivery (EU/EEA consumers). Ascolta is digital content supplied electronically, and your access is enabled immediately after purchase. At checkout you may be asked to expressly consent to that immediate supply and to acknowledge that you thereby lose the 14-day right of withdrawal that would otherwise apply to EU/EEA consumers. Where that consent is given, the statutory withdrawal right ceases to apply once delivery has begun; where it is not given, your withdrawal right is unaffected. This does not affect our voluntary 3-day money-back guarantee, nor your rights regarding faulty or not-as-described software.
7. Fair use
You agree not to:
- share, sell, or publish your license key, or use it beyond the 3-device limit;
- circumvent the licensing or trial mechanisms;
- redistribute the App itself, with or without modification, except as permitted by the licenses of its open-source components;
- use the App in violation of applicable law, including recording people without any legally required consent.
We may deactivate licenses involved in fraud or key-sharing. If we do and we got it wrong, email us — a human will look at it.
8. Beta software notice
Current builds are pre-1.0 beta software. We are improving Ascolta toward version 1.0 by fixing bugs, polishing the experience, and responding to user needs. Keep backups of anything important; the App stores your data locally.
9. Warranty disclaimer and liability
The App is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose. To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability arising out of or relating to the App is limited to the amount you paid for your license. Nothing in this section excludes liability that cannot be excluded by law.
10. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms; the effective date above will change when we do. Material changes will be announced in release notes. Changes never apply retroactively to reduce what an existing purchase includes (see sections 4 and 5).
11. Contact
Questions about these terms: support@ascolta.app