The private Otter alternative
Otter pioneered AI meeting notes, and everything you say goes through their cloud. If your meetings involve clients, patients, or deals, that is a lot of trust to hand over for a transcript.
Early access. Mac + Windows. Lock launch pricing.
| Private Notetaker | Otter | |
|---|---|---|
| Where meetings are processed | 100% on your device | Processes and stores your meetings on Otter's servers |
| Bots in your meetings | Never | OtterPilot bot joins your calls |
| Works offline | Yes | No, it needs their cloud |
| How privacy is enforced | Architecture: audio never leaves your device | Policy: SOC 2 program, encryption, deletion controls |
| Where your meetings live | Only on your own disk | Recordings and transcripts live on Otter's servers until you delete them |
| Price | $15/mo or $249 once, yours forever | $16.99/mo (or $8.33/mo billed annually) |
Otter facts and pricing as published July 2026. Free tier capped at 300 min/mo.
Their privacy is a policy.
Ours is architecture.
Privacy by policy
Every cloud note taker
- Hosted in a chosen region, so you trust where the servers are
- Encrypted in transit and at rest, so you trust the keys are handled well
- Deleted on request, so you trust the deletion actually happens
- “We don’t train on your data”, so you trust the pledge outlives the roadmap
Privacy by architecture
Private Notetaker
- ✓Audio is captured, transcribed, and summarized on your hardware
- ✓There is no server holding your meetings to breach or subpoena
- ✓Nothing to delete, because nothing was ever collected
- ✓No pledge required. The data simply is not there
Don't take our word for it. Turn WiFi off and watch it keep working.
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.
Founder pricing: the $149 lifetime license, one payment, through August 15, 2026.
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
Founder price · ends August 15, 2026
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.
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.