Local AI meeting note takers for Mac, compared
A local note taker records the meeting, writes the transcript and the summary on your own Mac, and keeps the files there. Plenty of apps say private. Fewer do all three. Here are four that run on the Mac itself, what each one costs, and where the popular cloud app fits.
Last updated: September 2026
Full disclosure: this page is published by the makers of Minutes, one of the four. Everything about the others was read off their own websites and Apple's own guide on 14 September 2026. Where another app does something better, the page says so.
What local actually means
Three questions, and an app can pass one and fail the next.
Where is the transcript written? On your Mac, or by a transcription service the audio is sent to.
Where is the summary written? Some apps transcribe on your Mac and then send the text to a cloud model for the summary. That is still a copy of the meeting on somebody else's server.
Where do the notes live? In a folder on your disk, or in a workspace you reach through an account.
The test that needs no trust: turn the Wi-Fi off, record a conversation in the room, and see what still works.
Can Apple Intelligence take meeting notes?
Partly, and it is already on your Mac. On macOS Tahoe 26, the Notes app records audio into a note, shows a live transcript on Macs with M1 or later, and summarizes the recording when Apple Intelligence is turned on. For a conversation in the room, that may be all you need.
Apple's guide says nothing about capturing the sound a call app plays, and on a call with headphones that sound is the other half of the meeting. Minutes is built for calls. It records your microphone and your Mac's own audio as two channels, then uses Apple's speech model for the transcript and the on-device Apple Intelligence model for the summary, the decisions and the action items.
| Price | Transcript | Summary | Runs on | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minutes | $15 once | On your Mac | On your Mac | macOS 26, Apple Silicon |
| MacWhisper | Free, Pro €64 once | On your Mac | Your API key, or a local model | Mac |
| Meetily | Free, Pro $120/yr | On your Mac | Your API key, or a local model | Mac, Windows |
| Apple Notes | Built in | On Macs with M1 or later | With Apple Intelligence on | macOS Tahoe 26 |
| Granola | Free, or $14/user/mo | A transcription provider | AI providers such as OpenAI | Mac, Windows, phones |
Minutes Our pick$15 one-time
Minutes does all three on your Mac. It records your microphone and the audio your Mac plays as two separate channels, so the other side of a Zoom, Teams or Meet call is in the recording even on headphones, and nobody's words land under the wrong name. Apple's speech model writes the transcript. The on-device Apple Intelligence model writes the summary, the decisions and the action items. No bot joins the call and nothing is uploaded.
Each meeting becomes one Markdown file in ~/Documents/Minutes, with the audio beside it. A promise like "I'll send it Monday" comes out as a reminder that waits for you to press Add. It transcribes English out of the box, and an optional multilingual engine, a one-time download of about 600 MB, adds Arabic, French and calls that switch language. That engine runs on your Mac too.
Strengths: the other side of the call on its own channel, summaries with no model to install, notes you own, $15 once on 2 Macs with tax included. The download needs no account; you sign in inside the app to start the 7-day trial.
Watch-outs: it needs macOS 26 on Apple Silicon, and summaries need Apple Intelligence turned on. It is one person's tool with no shared workspace, and it does not transcribe audio files you already have.
Best for: calls you want written down without anything leaving the Mac. More on why: private, on-device meeting notes
MacWhisper Free · Pro €64 once
MacWhisper is the long-standing local transcriber on the Mac, made by Jordi Bruin. It runs Whisper models on your Mac, handles files, YouTube links and podcasts in about 100 languages, exports subtitles and documents, and does dictation in any app. It also records meetings in Zoom, Teams, Webex, Discord and more, with no bot, and can tell when a meeting starts and ends.
Summaries go through AI services you connect with your own API keys, or through a local model you run in Ollama or LM Studio. So the transcript is local, and the summary is as local as the model you pick. There is a free version, and Pro is €64 once with lifetime updates on its site; its feature table shows what each includes.
Best for: transcribing everything, meetings included, with the most languages and export formats. macwhisper.com
Meetily Free · Pro $120 a year
Meetily is the open source pick. The Community edition is free under the MIT licence, runs on Mac and Windows, and transcribes on your computer. For summaries you choose a local model or your own API key. It works with Google Meet, Zoom, Teams and other call apps.
Meetily Pro is $120 a year after a 14-day trial. It adds speaker diarization, summary templates, meeting detection and PDF, DOCX and Markdown exports. When the trial ends, the Pro features switch off and your data stays on your computer.
Best for: free and open source, or a team that also uses Windows, if you are happy to set up a local model. meetily.ai
Apple Notes Built into macOS
Notes records audio right inside a note, and you can keep typing while it records. The transcript can be searched and copied. Transcription needs a Mac with M1 or later and the device language set to one Apple supports, including English, Spanish, French, German and Japanese. With Apple Intelligence on, it summarizes the recording.
It costs nothing and there is nothing to install. The recording lives in the note, and you can save the audio out to a folder. Apple's guide does not say it captures the sound a call app plays, so test it on a real call before you rely on it with headphones.
Best for: a conversation in the room, with nothing to install.
Granola Free, or $14 per user per month
Granola is here because people often assume it is local. It sends no bot and it listens on your computer, but its own security page says it uses transcription providers such as Deepgram and Assembly, and AI providers such as OpenAI and Anthropic for the summary. It does not store the audio. It keeps the transcript and your notes in its cloud, encrypted.
It is a well made app that turns your own rough notes into clean ones. Basic is free with limited meeting history and Business is $14 per user per month. If the meeting may leave your Mac, it is a good choice.
Best for: polished notes, when a cloud service is fine.
FAQ
Is there an AI note taker that runs locally on a Mac?
Yes. Minutes writes the transcript and the summary on your Mac with Apple's built-in models. MacWhisper and Meetily transcribe on your Mac and can summarize with a local model you run. Apple Notes transcribes recordings on Macs with M1 or later.
Is there a free local AI meeting note taker?
Meetily's Community edition is free and open source, MacWhisper has a free version, and Apple Notes is built in. Minutes is $15 once, after a 7-day trial.
Can Apple Intelligence take meeting notes?
Notes on macOS Tahoe 26 records audio, transcribes it on Macs with M1 or later and summarizes it when Apple Intelligence is on. Apple's guide does not describe recording the sound a call app plays. Minutes records both sides of a call and writes the notes with Apple's on-device models.
Does Granola work offline?
No. Granola's security page says it uses transcription providers such as Deepgram and Assembly and AI providers such as OpenAI and Anthropic. It does not store the audio, but it keeps transcripts and notes in its cloud.
Which Mac do I need for Minutes?
macOS 26 on Apple Silicon. Recording and transcripts work as they are; summaries need Apple Intelligence turned on in System Settings.
Keep the meeting on your Mac
Both sides of the call transcribed, the summary written on device, and the promises pulled out with an Add button. Plain Markdown in a folder you own. $15 once.
Get Minutes, $15 Try free for 7 daysmacOS 26 on Apple Silicon · nothing uploaded, ever · 7-day trial, no card up front
Keep reading: Best Mac meeting notes apps in 2026 · vs Otter.ai · vs Fathom · vs Fireflies.ai · vs tl;dv · vs Notion AI · Private, on-device notes · Notes without a bot · Record a call on a Mac · Minutes overview