AudioPen: AudioPen records spoken voice notes, transcribes them, and rewrites the rambling speech into clear, structured text in a style you choose. Minutes: Open-source, local-first conversation memory layer that records and transcribes meetings, diarizes speakers, and stores searchable notes as markdown for AI agents. Here's where each one pulls ahead on pricing, features, and the meetings it suits best.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist AudioPen when capturing and refining personal ideas, journal entries, or brainstorms by voice matters most, and Minutes when recording and transcribing calls locally for users who refuse cloud meeting tools matters most. Test each on your own meetings; the right choice tends to become obvious quickly.
AudioPen records spoken voice notes, transcribes them, and rewrites the rambling speech into clear, structured text in a style you choose.
Open-source, local-first conversation memory layer that records and transcribes meetings, diarizes speakers, and stores searchable notes as markdown for AI agents.
AudioPen is a voice-to-text tool that captures spoken thoughts and turns them into polished written notes. You record your voice (or upload an audio file), and AudioPen transcribes the speech, then rewrites it into clear, structured text by fixing grammar, cutting filler words, and organizing rambling input into coherent prose. Rather than producing a verbatim transcript, it reshapes what you said into finished writing in a style you select or train over time, with preset and custom styles available. It supports multiple languages and can transcribe speech in one language while writing the output in another. A SuperSummaries feature combines several notes into a single cohesive summary, and existing notes can be reformatted for different purposes such as emails or to-do lists. Built by independent developer Louis Pereira, it runs across iOS, iPad, Apple Watch, Android, Mac, and a Chrome extension, with Zapier and webhook integrations for sending notes elsewhere. It is aimed at people who think out loud and want to convert informal speech into professional written content.
Best suited for
Minutes, built by Mat Silverstein, is an open-source, privacy-first conversation memory layer that captures meetings, calls, voice memos, and dictation and turns them into searchable, AI-accessible notes. It transcribes audio locally using whisper.cpp or Parakeet so audio never has to leave the machine, performs speaker diarization to separate voices, and extracts decisions and action items, writing everything to the user's own disk as plain markdown files with structured YAML frontmatter. Because the output lives in a local folder (for example ~/meetings/), the notes can sync across devices through iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive and can be read directly by AI tools. A central design goal is integration with AI assistants: Minutes runs an MCP server exposing a large set of tools so coding and chat agents such as Claude, Codex, Gemini CLI, and others can query past conversations, track relationships across meetings, and surface what was promised to whom. It ships as a macOS desktop app with a menu-bar recorder and AI assistant, plus a cross-platform command-line interface, and includes a dictation hotkey mode. The project is MIT licensed, installable via Homebrew, and actively maintained with frequent releases, making it a fully self-hostable option for people who want durable, private, searchable meeting memory rather than a cloud subscription. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
AudioPen is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Minutes is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | AudioPen | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Records voice notes and transcribes speech to text | Local transcription with whisper.cpp or Parakeet, no cloud audio upload |
| Standout feature | Rewrites rambling speech into clear, structured prose with grammar fixes and filler removal | Speaker diarization to attribute who said what |
| Team usage | Audio file upload for transcribing and rewriting existing recordings | Plain-markdown output with YAML frontmatter stored on your own disk |
| Integrations | Preset and custom writing styles that adapt to your voice over time | MCP server exposing tools so AI agents can query meeting history |
| Languages & capture | Multi-language support, including speaking in one language and writing output in another | Cross-meeting search, relationship tracking, and action-item extraction |
| Best-fit workflow | SuperSummaries to combine multiple notes, plus Zapier and webhook integrations | macOS desktop app plus cross-platform CLI and dictation hotkey mode |
AudioPen
Choose AudioPen if you need capturing and refining personal ideas, journal entries, or brainstorms by voice — strengths include fast, low-friction way to turn spoken thoughts into clean, usable writing.
Minutes
Choose Minutes if you need building a private, searchable memory of meetings and voice notes that ai agents can query — strengths include fully local-first and mit licensed, keeping conversation data private and portable.
AudioPen
Minutes
It depends on your workflow. AudioPen is strong for capturing and refining personal ideas, journal entries, or brainstorms by voice, while Minutes is strong for building a private, searchable memory of meetings and voice notes that ai agents can query. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
AudioPen is a free tier with paid upgrades and Minutes 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.
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