Updated September 2026
The private MacWhisper alternative
MacWhisper is a strong local transcription app, and it is Mac only. It records calls without a bot and runs Whisper on your Mac. Structured meeting notes are a separate step: a local model you set up, or a cloud provider with your own API key. Private Notetaker is the meeting-notes pipeline, transcript plus summary and action items, on a Mac or Windows PC, with no API key.
macOS (Apple Silicon) & Windows (64-bit) · Free 7-day trial · No card required.
| Private Notetaker | MacWhisper | |
|---|---|---|
| Where meetings are processed | 100% on your device | Local transcription on your Mac; summaries are optional and often use a cloud API |
| Bots in your meetings | Never | No bot; records calls in the background |
| Works offline | Yes | Transcription yes; summaries only with a local model |
| How privacy is enforced | Architecture: audio never leaves your device | Transcription is on-device; optional summaries use a local model or your own API key |
| Where your meetings live | Only on your own disk | Transcripts stay on your Mac; text sent to a configured cloud AI provider leaves the machine |
| Price | $15/mo or $149 once, yours forever | Free version; Pro is a one-time purchase (EUR 64) |
MacWhisper facts and pricing as published 16 September 2026. Free version with the smaller models.
I built this for myself. I live in back-to-back client calls, and I was never comfortable piping confidential conversations about clients' revenue, ad accounts, and contracts through someone else's cloud just to get a summary. So I made a note taker where everything stays on my machine. I have used it every working day since. Now I am opening it up.
Simple pricing. Either way, it is all yours.
Available for Mac & Windows. Pay once or monthly, whichever suits you.
Monthly
Cancel anytime. The notes you took stay yours.
- ✓Unlimited meetings and recording time
- ✓Local transcription and AI summaries
- ✓Full-history search on your device
- ✓Light and dark mode, Mac + Windows
- ✓No account required to take notes
Lifetime
Pay once, yours forever. Includes updates.
- ✓Unlimited meetings and recording time
- ✓Local transcription and AI summaries
- ✓Full-history search on your device
- ✓Light and dark mode, Mac + Windows
- ✓No account required to take notes
- ✓Never a subscription
Prefer to try first? Download the app and use it free for 7 days, no card needed. Buying charges right away and is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
MacWhisper questions, answered
Is MacWhisper private? +
The transcription is. MacWhisper runs Whisper locally on your Mac, so that step does not upload audio. Optional AI summaries are a separate claim: a local model through Ollama or LM Studio, or a cloud provider such as OpenAI or Anthropic with your own API key. Private Notetaker runs both the speech-to-text model and the summary model on the device, with no API key and no cloud mode.
Does MacWhisper join meetings with a bot? +
No. It records Zoom, Teams, Webex, and other calls in the background on your Mac, so nothing appears in the participant list. Private Notetaker also never joins a call. The difference is the output: MacWhisper is built around the transcript; Private Notetaker also writes the summary, decisions, and action items.
What is the difference between Private Notetaker and MacWhisper? +
MacWhisper is a Mac transcription app. It is a good fit for audio files, interviews, and a local transcript, and Pro is EUR 64 once. Private Notetaker is a meeting assistant for Mac and Windows: it records, transcribes, and writes structured notes with models that both run on the computer. $15/mo or a $149 lifetime license, with a 7-day free trial and no card required. If you only need a text record of files on a Mac, MacWhisper is the better tool.
Does MacWhisper work offline? +
Transcription does, because Whisper runs on the Mac. Summaries work offline only when a local model is set up. If summaries use a cloud API key, that step needs the network and sends the transcript to that provider. Private Notetaker transcribes and summarizes offline without that setup.
Does MacWhisper work on Windows? +
No. MacWhisper is Mac only. Private Notetaker runs on Mac (Apple Silicon) and Windows (64-bit). Meetily is an open-source option with Windows installers if you want to self-host and are willing to install Node.js, Python, and FFmpeg.
Does Private Notetaker replace MacWhisper for file transcription? +
No. For bulk transcription of files, the larger Whisper models, and more languages, MacWhisper is the stronger tool. Private Notetaker is English only today, and it is built to turn a meeting into a summary and action items rather than to be a file-transcription workbench. Use each for the job it is built for.
Further reading
- MacWhisper review (2026): excellent local transcripts, and a separate step for notes
- MacWhisper alternatives: when you need meeting notes, not a transcript
- Local AI transcription on a Mac: what actually runs on your machine
- AI note takers without a subscription
- Open source, self-hosted, or local-only: three things people mean by private
Your meetings are nobody else's business.
Download the AI note taker that keeps everything on your device. Free for 7 days, no account, no card.
Mac & Windows.