Alter: macOS-native AI meeting assistant that records and transcribes calls locally with built-in Whisper and Parakeet models, no bots required. Scriberr: Open-source, self-hosted AI audio transcription app that runs Whisper models locally with speaker diarization, summaries, and chat-with-transcript. We compare them on cost, capture approach, and day-to-day fit so you can choose faster.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Alter when freelancers and consultants privately capturing client calls without a visible bot matters most, and Scriberr when researchers and journalists generating diarized transcripts of recorded conversations matters most. Trial each on a few real meetings before you commit — the better fit usually shows fast.
macOS-native AI meeting assistant that records and transcribes calls locally with built-in Whisper and Parakeet models, no bots required.
Open-source, self-hosted AI audio transcription app that runs Whisper models locally with speaker diarization, summaries, and chat-with-transcript.
Alter is a native macOS application that records, transcribes, and analyzes meetings directly on the user's Mac without sending a bot into the call. Instead of joining a meeting as a visible participant, Alter captures audio from the system output and microphone, so it works across Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, WhatsApp, FaceTime, Skype, Discord, and in-person conversations. Transcription runs through on-device models, with a choice of an optimized Parakeet model for major languages or Whisper for broader language coverage, and speaker identification is performed locally. Because processing happens on the device, recordings and transcripts stay on the Mac and the app can operate without an internet connection. Beyond raw transcripts, Alter generates summaries and action items, lets users chat with their meetings, and connects to tools such as Notion, Slack, Linear, Asana, and Jira. It targets solopreneurs, freelancers, consultants, and other professionals who want private, bot-free meeting capture on macOS. The product is actively developed and operating in 2025 and 2026. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Scriberr is an open-source, self-hosted audio transcription application aimed at people who want to keep recordings and transcripts on their own hardware. It uses the open-source Whisper family of models (via the WhisperX engine) to transcribe audio and video files entirely offline, with no requirement to send data to a cloud provider. The project is distributed under the MIT license and is packaged as a single binary, with a Go backend and a Svelte frontend compiled into the binary, while Python handles the underlying AI transcription. Beyond raw transcription, Scriberr can automatically detect and label different speakers (diarization), generate summaries using custom prompts, and let users chat with a transcript by connecting to Ollama or OpenAI-compatible providers. It includes a transcript reader with playback follow-along and seek-from-text, a built-in audio recorder, note-taking, and a folder watcher plus API endpoints for automation and integration with tools like n8n. The maintainer publicly noted development is paused but not abandoned, and community contributions are welcome; the most recent release at the time of review was v1.2.0 in December 2025. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Alter is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Scriberr is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Alter | Scriberr |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | On-device transcription using built-in Whisper and Parakeet models | Local, offline transcription using Whisper models via the WhisperX engine |
| Standout feature | Bot-free capture of system audio and microphone across any meeting or call app | Automatic speaker diarization (who said what) |
| Team usage | Automatic speaker identification performed locally | AI summaries with custom prompts via Ollama or OpenAI-compatible providers |
| Integrations | AI summaries, action items, and chat-with-your-meeting Q&A | Chat with your transcripts to ask questions and pull insights |
| Languages & capture | Integrations with Notion, Slack, Linear, Asana, Jira and other tools | Built-in audio recorder and note-taking on transcripts |
| Best-fit workflow | Offline operation with recordings and transcripts stored locally | Folder watcher and API endpoints for automation workflows |
Alter
Choose Alter if you need freelancers and consultants privately capturing client calls without a visible bot — strengths include local processing keeps recordings and transcripts on the user's own mac.
Scriberr
Choose Scriberr if you need privacy-conscious teams transcribing meeting and interview recordings on their own infrastructure — strengths include fully self-hosted and offline, keeping audio and transcripts on your own hardware.
Alter
Scriberr
It depends on your workflow. Alter is strong for freelancers and consultants privately capturing client calls without a visible bot, while Scriberr is strong for privacy-conscious teams transcribing meeting and interview recordings on their own infrastructure. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Alter is a free tier with paid upgrades and Scriberr is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Sure. Running both makes sense when their strengths don't overlap and the budget allows.
More head-to-head comparisons involving Alter and Scriberr.
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