Alter: macOS-native AI meeting assistant that records and transcribes calls locally with built-in Whisper and Parakeet models, no bots required. Spinach: AI meeting assistant that joins Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, and Webex calls to record, transcribe, summarize, capture action items, and push updates to tools like Slack and Jira. This comparison weighs them on pricing, features, and everyday workflow fit.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Alter when freelancers and consultants privately capturing client calls without a visible bot matters most, and Spinach when generating engineering standup and sprint updates and syncing tasks to jira or linear matters most. Test each on your own meetings; the right choice tends to become obvious quickly.
macOS-native AI meeting assistant that records and transcribes calls locally with built-in Whisper and Parakeet models, no bots required.
AI meeting assistant that joins Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, and Webex calls to record, transcribe, summarize, capture action items, and push updates to tools like Slack and Jira.
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
Spinach (Spinach AI, by StayIn, Inc.) is an AI meeting assistant that joins video calls on Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and Slack Huddles to record, transcribe, and summarize discussions, with transcription support across roughly 100 languages. It captures meeting notes, decisions, and action items, then automates follow-up by drafting recaps and pushing updates into connected tools. Integrations include Slack, Jira, Asana, Linear, Notion, Trello, ClickUp, Monday.com, and Confluence, plus CRMs such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Attio, and Zoho. It offers role-specific outputs (for example PRD drafts for product managers and sprint planning support for engineering teams) and an "Ask Spinach" AI assistant for querying meeting content. The free Starter plan offers unlimited meeting recording and transcription with basic AI summaries and calendar/Slack integration (7-day recording retention), while advanced AI, Ask Spinach, and project-management/CRM integrations require a paid plan. Spinach maintains SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance.
Best suited for
Alter is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Spinach is from $0/mo (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Alter | Spinach |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | On-device transcription using built-in Whisper and Parakeet models | Meeting recording & transcription |
| Standout feature | Bot-free capture of system audio and microphone across any meeting or call app | AI summaries & action items |
| Team usage | Automatic speaker identification performed locally | Project tool & CRM integrations |
| Integrations | AI summaries, action items, and chat-with-your-meeting Q&A | Ask Spinach assistant |
| Languages & capture | Integrations with Notion, Slack, Linear, Asana, Jira and other tools | 100-language support |
| Best-fit workflow | Offline operation with recordings and transcripts stored locally | Meeting recording & transcription |
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.
Spinach
Choose Spinach if you need automatically taking and sharing notes, summaries, and action items from team meetings — strengths include free starter plan offers unlimited meeting recording, transcription, and basic ai summaries.
Alter
Spinach
It depends on your workflow. Alter is strong for freelancers and consultants privately capturing client calls without a visible bot, while Spinach is strong for automatically taking and sharing notes, summaries, and action items from team meetings. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Alter is a free tier with paid upgrades and Spinach is from $0/mo. 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 Spinach.
Alter: macOS-native AI meeting assistant that records and transcribes calls locally with built-in Whisper and Parakeet models, no bots required. Amber Notes: EU-focused AI meeting notetaker by Dutch company Amberscript, with EU-only data hosting, multilingual transcription and an Ask Amber chat. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
Alter: macOS-native AI meeting assistant that records and transcribes calls locally with built-in Whisper and Parakeet models, no bots required. Amberscript: Audio and video to text service offering automatic and human-verified transcripts and subtitles. We compare them on cost, capture approach, and day-to-day fit so you can choose faster.
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