Ava: AI live captioning and transcription app for accessibility, providing real-time captions for conversations and video meetings. OpenWhispr: Open-source, privacy-first voice-to-text desktop app for Mac, Windows, and Linux that also transcribes meetings into AI-organized 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 Ava when real-time captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing participants matters most, and OpenWhispr when turning rough in-meeting notes into structured summaries and action items matters most. Test each on your own meetings; the right choice tends to become obvious quickly.
AI live captioning and transcription app for accessibility, providing real-time captions for conversations and video meetings.
Open-source, privacy-first voice-to-text desktop app for Mac, Windows, and Linux that also transcribes meetings into AI-organized notes.
Ava is a live captioning and transcription service built primarily for deaf and hard-of-hearing users, as well as for organizations that need accessible meetings and conversations. The app captures audio from in-person conversations and from video conferencing tools, then generates real-time captions on a phone, computer, or in the meeting interface. Ava combines automatic speech recognition with an optional professional scribe service for higher-accuracy, ADA-compliant captioning, giving users a choice between fast AI captions and human-assisted transcription. Features include color-coded speaker identification so users can follow who said what, support for many languages, and stored transcripts and summaries after a conversation ends. Through its Ava Connect integration, the service connects with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, and it is available across mobile (iOS and Android), web, and desktop (Windows and Mac). Ava is aimed at individuals who need accessibility support in daily conversations and meetings, as well as at educational institutions, healthcare providers, corporations, and event venues that must provide compliant real-time captioning without committing to a traditional CART contract. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
OpenWhispr is an open-source desktop application for macOS, Windows, and Linux that converts speech to text and includes a meeting notes capability built on the same engine. Its core function is global-hotkey dictation that inserts transcribed text at the cursor in any application, but it also ships an AI Notepad for meetings, an AI Chat that can reference past meetings, and an audio upload feature for transcribing recorded files. For meetings it captures the computer's audio directly rather than sending a bot into the call, transcribes the conversation in the background, and combines rough notes with the transcript to produce structured minutes that highlight decisions, action items, and next steps. Transcription can run locally using bundled Whisper and NVIDIA Parakeet models or connect to cloud models with a bring-your-own-key setup, and the project emphasizes that audio can be processed and discarded for privacy. The codebase is publicly available on GitHub and the app is actively maintained through 2026. It is aimed at developers, writers, and individuals or small teams who want a private, auditable, cross-platform transcription and meeting-notes tool. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Ava is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); OpenWhispr is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Ava | OpenWhispr |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Integration with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams | Open-source and auditable, with code published on GitHub |
| Standout feature | Real-time live captions for in-person and online conversations | Cross-platform desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux |
| Team usage | Color-coded speaker identification | Local transcription via bundled Whisper and NVIDIA Parakeet models |
| Integrations | Optional professional scribe service for higher accuracy | Bring-your-own-key cloud model option for flexibility |
| Languages & capture | Mobile, web, and desktop apps | AI Notepad that turns rough meeting notes plus transcript into structured minutes |
| Best-fit workflow | Saved transcripts and conversation summaries | Full-text search and AI Chat across captured meetings |
Ava
Choose Ava if you need real-time captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing participants — strengths include strong accessibility focus for deaf and hard-of-hearing users.
OpenWhispr
Choose OpenWhispr if you need privately transcribing computer-audio meetings without a bot joining the call — strengths include fully open source, so users can inspect and self-host the code.
Ava
OpenWhispr
It depends on your workflow. Ava is strong for real-time captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing participants, while OpenWhispr is strong for privately transcribing computer-audio meetings without a bot joining the call. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Ava is a free tier with paid upgrades and OpenWhispr 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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