Local AI meeting note takers for Mac, compared
Plenty of meeting apps call themselves private, and then you find the summary was written on someone else's server. A real local note taker records the meeting, writes the transcript and the summary on your own Mac, and keeps the files there, and far fewer apps do all three. We built Minutes to be one of them. Here are four that run on the Mac itself, what each one costs, and the cloud app people mistake for a local one.
Minutes needs macOS 26 on a Mac with Apple silicon. 7-day trial, no card.
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.
What local actually means
It comes down to three questions, and an app can pass one and fail the next.
Where is the transcript written? It is either 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? They end up either in a folder on your disk, or in a workspace you reach through an account.
The test that needs no trust is simple: turn the Wi-Fi off, record a conversation in the room, and see what still works.
Can Apple Intelligence take meeting notes?
Only partly. 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.
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.
| Transcript | Summary | |
|---|---|---|
| Minutes | On your Mac | On your Mac |
| MacWhisper | On your Mac | Your API key, or a local model |
| Meetily | On your Mac | Your API key, or a local model |
| Apple Notes | On Macs with M1 or later | With Apple Intelligence on |
| Granola | A transcription provider | AI providers such as OpenAI |
or buy Minutes, $9.99 once · Minutes needs macOS 26 on a Mac with Apple silicon
Minutes Our pick$9.99 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, and 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 gets its own channel, summaries need no model to install, the notes are yours, and it is $9.99 once, yours for good on 2 Macs. Prices include tax, except Cloud in the US and Canada, where tax is added at checkout. The download needs no account, and you sign in inside the app to start the 7-day trial.
Requirements: it needs macOS 26 or later on Apple Silicon, and summaries need Apple Intelligence turned on.
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, made by Jordi Bruin, is a transcriber first. It runs Whisper models on your Mac and can record meetings in Zoom, Teams, Webex, Discord and more, with no bot.
The summary is not built in. It goes through AI services you connect with your own API keys, or through a local model you install and run yourself in Ollama or LM Studio, so the summary is only as local as the model you set up. There is a free version, and Pro is €64 once on its site.
Meetily Free · Pro $120 a year
Meetily is an open source transcriber. The Community edition is free under the MIT licence and transcribes on your computer, and for summaries you have to set up a local model or bring your own API key.
Speaker diarization, meeting detection and Markdown export sit behind Meetily Pro, which is $120 a year after a 14-day trial. When the trial ends, the Pro features switch off.
Apple Notes Built into macOS
Notes records audio into a note. 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.
The recording lives in the note. Apple's guide does not say it captures the sound a call app plays, and on a call with headphones that sound is the other half of the meeting.
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.
Basic is free with limited meeting history and Business is $14 per user per month. Just know that the meeting leaves your Mac, which is the one thing a local note taker exists to avoid.
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, with nothing to install or configure. MacWhisper and Meetily transcribe on your Mac but leave the summary to a model or API key you set up yourself.
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 or later 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
Most meeting notetakers either send a bot into your call or send your audio to a server. Minutes does neither: it transcribes both sides of the call on your Mac, writes the summary on device, and pulls out the promises people made with an Add button beside each one, all in plain Markdown in a folder you own. It is $9.99 once.
Buy Minutes, $9.99 Try free for 7 daysMinutes needs macOS 26 on a Mac with Apple silicon. Nothing is uploaded, ever, and the 7-day trial needs 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 · vs Apple's built-in recording · Private, on-device notes · Notes without a bot · Record a call on a Mac · For lawyers · For therapists · For sales calls · Minutes overview