The best AI note takers for Mac, no bot required
The best AI note takers for Mac with no bot in the call: Koi, Fathom, Granola AI, Otter, Fireflies AI, Jamie, MacWhisper and Talat, checked October 16, 2026.
Start here
What is the best local AI meeting notes app for Mac?
Talat, if you want the transcript and the summary both made on your Mac with nothing to set up. MacWhisper, Meetily, Anarlog and QuickQuill also keep everything on your computer. Koi, Shadow and Quill keep the transcript local but write their AI notes elsewhere, or don't say where. Granola AI, Otter and Fathom do both in the cloud.
We make Koi, and it isn't first here, because this list is sorted by how much stays on your Mac and Koi's notes are written online. Everything about the other apps comes from their own sites, checked October 16, 2026. We didn't test any of them for accuracy or speed.
The ladder
What local actually means for meeting notes
Meeting notes take two jobs, and an app can do each in a different place:
- Turning speech into text. A local app runs the speech model on your Mac, so the audio is never uploaded.
- Writing the notes: the summary, the decisions, the to-dos. That needs a language model, which is bigger, and most apps send the transcript to one in the cloud.
So there are three rungs. Fully on device, where both jobs happen on your Mac. A local transcript with cloud notes. And cloud for both, even when no bot joins the call. Bot-free and local are different promises: our bot-free note takers list is mostly the third rung.
Rung one
Fully on device: transcript and notes on your Mac
1. Talat
Best for: Local notes with no setup
Talat transcribes on your computer and writes summaries with a model built into the app, so the audio and the notes never leave. You can plug in your own cloud key instead if you want a bigger model. It starts recording by itself when a Zoom, Teams or Meet call begins, or from your calendar.
It's $89 a year or $189 once, after 10 free hours with no account and no card, and a 30-day money-back promise. It needs macOS 15 on Apple silicon, and has a Windows app. Its maker's own Product Hunt page lists rough speaker splitting and weaker non-English as known gaps.
2. MacWhisper
Best for: Local transcripts, named speakers and files
MacWhisper is a transcription app first. Pro records meetings with local models, splits up to 8 speakers since version 15.2, and transcribes audio and video files with subtitles. For notes, point it at a model you run yourself with Ollama or LM Studio, and nothing leaves the Mac.
Pro is €64 once and needs macOS 15, per TidBITS. Meeting recording is in beta, and FaceTime isn't supported, per its docs. See MacWhisper vs Granola AI.
3. Meetily
Best for: Open source and free
Meetily's free Community edition is open source on GitHub and does local transcription and local AI notes. Pro, $120 a user a year, adds speaker names, templates, automatic meeting detection and PDF or Word exports.
The Mac download is for Apple silicon. Like any young open source app it has rough edges: its issue tracker is busy, including a recent report of the microphone and system tracks drifting apart.
4. Anarlog
Best for: A free, open Granola-style notepad
Anarlog was called Hyprnote, then Char, and is built like Granola: you jot notes and it fills them in from the transcript. The free plan has unlimited on-device transcription, local recordings, templates and chat, with on-device models or your own keys for the AI. Pro, $14 a month or $140 a year, adds cloud processing, sync and sharing.
Its own blog admits that running speech and a language model together on a laptop is heavy, which is true of every app on this rung. The source is on GitHub.
5. QuickQuill
Best for: Pay once, offline, with live translated captions
QuickQuill lives in the menu bar, records your microphone and what your Mac plays, and transcribes and summarizes on the Mac with no account. Its page says it works in airplane mode, checking only for updates. It shows live captions, translated on the device in the paid version, and imports audio or video files.
It's $49 once at launch, rising to $79, after a 14-day trial; dictation stays free. It needs macOS 26 or later.
Rung two
Local transcript, AI notes in the cloud
6. Koi
Best for: A local transcript and screen video, with notes only on a yes
Koi turns the call into text on your Mac with Whisper, and it's the only one of these nine that films the screen too, with both sides' sound. Tap Fn + ⌃ and pick Online call: your microphone is You and what the Mac plays is Them. Or pick In person for a meeting or a class in the room, and Koi keeps the sound to play back. The transcript, the sound and the video stay on your Mac.
The notes are where Koi leaves the first rung. After each recording it asks “Summarize this call?” Say yes, and the transcript's words, never the audio or video, go to Koi's AI online for a title, a summary, your to-dos and a follow-up email draft. Nothing of it is kept on Koi's server. Turn the question off in Settings and nothing from a recording leaves your Mac. Koi also needs a connection to start a recording, to check your plan.
The rest of the tradeoff: You and Them only, no file transcription, Mac only, and no free plan. Pro is $20 a month after a 3-day trial with a card, and Lifetime starts at $59 once.
7. Shadow
Best for: Free local transcripts, with screenshots
Shadow is a Mac-only note taker that transcribes on your Mac and takes screenshots of the meeting as it goes. Free has unlimited transcription, recording and screenshots. Plus, $8 a month after two free weeks with no card, adds AI notes and chat. Its pricing page doesn't say where those AI notes are written, so ask before you count it as fully local.
8. Quill Meetings
Best for: Free local recordings, with phone apps
Quill's free plan keeps unlimited recordings and transcripts on your device, and it has iPhone and Android apps for recording on the go. AI notes come with Lite, $6.99 a month for 16 hours, or Unlimited at $16.99. The pricing page doesn't say where the AI runs, except that Enterprise can bring its own model.
9. Notta Privacy Mode
Best for: A cloud app with a local switch
Notta is a cloud transcription service, but Notta Desktop's Privacy Mode transcribes on your computer and works offline once it's set up. The desktop downloads are labeled beta, and the local model covers fewer languages: Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and Cantonese, plus six more through Apple's speech engine on macOS 26. Notta's free plan stops at 3 minutes per conversation.
Rung three
Cloud for both, even without a bot
Granola AI, Otter's desktop app, Fathom's bot-free mode and Jamie all record from your computer, so no bot joins. The audio still goes to their servers or providers to become text. Granola keeps no audio but stores transcripts and notes on AWS in the US, per its security page. Jamie processes in the EU and deletes the audio after transcription. If either is fine for you, see our Granola AI and Otter AI alternatives.
Comparison
Local meeting notes apps for Mac compared
From each company's own site, checked October 16, 2026.
| Transcript | AI notes | Free | Paid | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talat | On your Mac | On your Mac, or your own key | 10 hours | $89 a year, or $189 once | Local notes, no setup |
| MacWhisper | On your Mac | Your own local model, or your own key | Files, meetings need Pro | €64 once | Speakers and files |
| Meetily | On your Mac | On your Mac | Open source edition | $120 a user a year | Free and open |
| Anarlog | On your Mac | On-device models, or your own key | Yes | $14 a month | A Granola-style notepad |
| QuickQuill | On your Mac | On your Mac | Dictation only | $49 once at launch | Offline, paid once |
| Koi | On your Mac | Online, only with a yes | None. Pro has a 3-day trial | $20 a month, or $59 once | Screen video and transcript |
| Shadow | On your Mac | Not stated | Transcripts and screenshots | $8 a month | Free local transcripts |
| Quill Meetings | On your device | Not stated | Recordings and transcripts | $6.99 a month | Phone apps too |
| Notta Privacy Mode | On your computer, in beta | Not stated | 3 minutes per conversation | $8.17 a month, yearly | Cloud and local in one |
The catch
What you give up with local meeting notes
Local is a real tradeoff, not just a privacy win:
- No link to send. Sharing means exporting a file, like Koi's Word or PDF export, or copying the notes as Markdown.
- No team search across everyone's calls.
- Your phone won't have the notes unless the app syncs, and most here don't by default.
- Your Mac does the work. A long call with a local language model can make a laptop warm and slow.
Ask any app four things: where the speech becomes text, where the notes are written, whether the audio or video is kept and where, and whether anyone can train on your calls.
Consent
Do local note takers need consent?
Yes, the same as any recorder. Local changes where your files sit, not whether the other people know. None of these apps sends a bot, so nothing tells the call. Koi doesn't announce itself either, and some places require everyone on a call to agree. This isn't legal advice; check the rules where you and the others are.
It's a live legal question. Chamberlain v. Granola, a proposed class action, alleges a bot-free note taker captured conversations without the other participants' knowledge, per RuntimeWire. Nothing has been decided. Say you're recording at the start, and our Zoom recording guide covers the rest.
Choosing
Which local meeting notes app should you pick?
- Everything on your Mac, no setup? Talat.
- Named speakers and file transcription, paid once? MacWhisper.
- Free and open source? Meetily or Anarlog.
- Offline with live translated captions, paid once? QuickQuill.
- A video of the call and the transcript on your Mac, notes only when you ask? Koi.
- Free local transcripts and you'll add AI later? Shadow or Quill Meetings.
More on how Koi handles a call on its recording page, and what it costs on the plans page.
Keep exploring
MacWhisper vs Granola AI: local or cloud meeting notes?
MacWhisper vs Granola AI, checked October 16, 2026: where speech becomes text, speaker names, files, platforms and 3 year cost, with Koi as a third option.
The best MacWhisper alternatives for Mac in 2026
Looking for a MacWhisper alternative? 8 Mac apps compared for transcribing files, live dictation and meetings, from Superwhisper and Aiko to Buzz and Koi.
Record and transcribe calls on your Mac, with no bot
An AI note taker for Mac with no bot. Tap Fn + ⌃ on Zoom, Meet or Teams, or pick In person, and Koi writes down who said what on your Mac, with the video.
Support
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Anarlog is built like Granola and runs on-device models for free, and Talat, MacWhisper, Meetily and QuickQuill also transcribe and summarize on your Mac. Koi transcribes locally but writes its notes online.
Yes, with apps that run both models on the Mac. QuickQuill says it works in airplane mode, and Talat writes summaries with a built-in model. Koi needs a connection to start a recording and to write notes.
No. Koi transcribes on your Mac, but its notes are written online, from the transcript's words only, and only when you say yes for that recording. Turn the question off and nothing from a recording leaves your Mac.
Meetily's open source Community edition and Anarlog's free plan both transcribe and summarize on your Mac. Shadow and Quill Meetings have free local transcripts, with AI notes on paid plans.