Alter: macOS-native AI meeting assistant that records and transcribes calls locally with built-in Whisper and Parakeet models, no bots required. Scribewave: Scribewave is a European AI transcription platform that converts audio and video into editable text across dozens of languages and dialects, with speaker diarization and an AI assistant for summaries and notes. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Alter when freelancers and consultants privately capturing client calls without a visible bot matters most, and Scribewave when universities and qualitative researchers transcribing recorded sessions with speaker labels 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.
Scribewave is a European AI transcription platform that converts audio and video into editable text across dozens of languages and dialects, with speaker diarization and an AI assistant for summaries and notes.
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
Scribewave is an AI transcription platform from Belgian company Quantum Noodle BV (Leuven/Beerzel) that automatically converts audio and video files into editable text. Users upload recordings, the AI transcribes them, and an integrated editor lets people review and correct the text while audio plays, with click-to-audio sync so clicking a word jumps to that moment in the recording. The platform supports a wide range of languages and dialects, positioning itself around linguistic diversity and regional and mixed-language speech rather than English alone. It includes speaker diarization, custom vocabularies to preserve names and jargon, batch uploads, and exports to formats such as Word, Google Docs, and subtitle files (SRT/VTT), plus the ability to render captioned videos. An AI assistant can answer questions about a transcript and generate summaries, chapters, and meeting notes with timecode references. Scribewave emphasizes data ownership, European servers, and GDPR compliance, and states it does not use customer content to train its models. It targets journalists, researchers, universities, and content creators.
Best suited for
Alter is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Scribewave is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Alter | Scribewave |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | On-device transcription using built-in Whisper and Parakeet models | AI transcription of audio and video files into editable text across many languages and dialects |
| Standout feature | Bot-free capture of system audio and microphone across any meeting or call app | Speaker diarization and speaker identification, including handling overlapping speech |
| Team usage | Automatic speaker identification performed locally | Synchronized editor with click-to-audio word sync for review and correction |
| Integrations | AI summaries, action items, and chat-with-your-meeting Q&A | AI assistant that answers questions and generates summaries, chapters, and meeting notes with timecodes |
| Languages & capture | Integrations with Notion, Slack, Linear, Asana, Jira and other tools | Custom vocabularies to preserve names, jargon, and domain terms |
| Best-fit workflow | Offline operation with recordings and transcripts stored locally | Exports to Word, Google Docs, PDF, and subtitle formats (SRT/VTT), plus captioned video output |
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.
Scribewave
Choose Scribewave if you need journalists and researchers transcribing and reviewing interviews across multiple languages — strengths include strong multilingual and dialect coverage with a focus on smaller and regional languages.
Alter
Scribewave
It depends on your workflow. Alter is strong for freelancers and consultants privately capturing client calls without a visible bot, while Scribewave is strong for journalists and researchers transcribing and reviewing interviews across multiple languages. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Alter is a free tier with paid upgrades and Scribewave is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Often yes: teams combine tools when one handles capture and another handles analysis.
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