Terms of Use

The short version: what you see is what you get. Your one-time purchase buys the app as it exists today, forever, on up to 5 of your Macs, with free updates for one year. The app never stops working. If we ever launch services that cost us money to run for you — sync, hosted transcription, anything cloud-backed — those would be optional, separately priced, and never silently bundled into or removed from what you already bought.

1. Acceptance

By downloading, installing, or using Ascolta (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 5 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 App as it exists on the day you buy it, licensed to you perpetually. It keeps working with no further payment, ever.
• All App updates released within 12 months of your purchase — features, fixes, and new on-device models alike.
• 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.

5. What is not included: future cloud-backed services

Ascolta is a local-first app, and the price reflects exactly that: software that runs on your Mac at no ongoing cost to us. If we ever introduce features that require us to run continuous infrastructure for you — for example sync between devices, hosted transcription on servers we pay for, storage, or any similar always-on service — those features are not part of any existing purchase. They would be offered as separate, clearly labeled, optional plans with their own pricing. Nothing you have already bought will be taken away or degraded: everything that works on-device when you buy it keeps working on-device.

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 [email protected]. 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 5-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 and not yet notarized by Apple; macOS will warn you on first launch. We label such builds clearly. Beta builds may contain bugs — keep backups of anything important (the App stores everything locally, where you and your backups can reach it).

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 in the 12 months before the claim. 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: [email protected]