Ava: AI live captioning and transcription app for accessibility, providing real-time captions for conversations and video meetings. StenoAI: Open-source desktop app that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings entirely on-device with no bots, subscriptions, or cloud processing. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Ava when real-time captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing participants matters most, and StenoAI when generating diarized live transcripts during zoom, teams, or meet calls on a mac 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 desktop app that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings entirely on-device with no bots, subscriptions, or cloud processing.
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
StenoAI (Steno) is an open-source desktop application that records meetings, transcribes them in real time, and generates AI-powered summaries while keeping all data local on the user's device. It positions itself as a privacy-first meeting notes tool with no cloud processing, no subscriptions, and no bots joining calls, and it is distributed under the MIT license with an actively maintained release history (v0.5.4 in June 2026). On Apple Silicon it can use the Parakeet TDT v3 model for live transcription, and it also supports Whisper models, capturing both system audio and microphone input via a native Core Audio Tap on recent macOS versions so it works across platforms like Zoom, Teams, Meet, Discord, and phone calls without OAuth integrations. During recording it shows live speaker labels distinguishing the user from others, and it supports 25 European languages for live transcription with up to 99 languages available via Whisper after recording. Summaries are produced with local LLMs through Ollama (for example Llama 3.2, Gemma, or Qwen), with optional remote Ollama server support to run larger models on a separate machine, and both transcripts and summaries can be exported as editable Markdown. A Windows build is in alpha alongside the primary macOS app. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Ava is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); StenoAI is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Ava | StenoAI |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Integration with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams | On-device transcription with Parakeet TDT v3 (Apple Silicon) or Whisper models |
| Standout feature | Real-time live captions for in-person and online conversations | System audio and microphone capture via native Core Audio Tap (no bots) |
| Team usage | Color-coded speaker identification | Real-time on-screen speaker labels distinguishing you from others |
| Integrations | Optional professional scribe service for higher accuracy | Local LLM summaries through Ollama, with remote Ollama server support |
| Languages & capture | Mobile, web, and desktop apps | 25 European languages live, up to 99 languages via Whisper after recording |
| Best-fit workflow | Saved transcripts and conversation summaries | Markdown export of transcripts and summaries |
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.
StenoAI
Choose StenoAI if you need capturing and summarizing confidential meetings without sending audio to the cloud — strengths include fully local, bot-free capture with no cloud processing or subscriptions for core use.
Ava
StenoAI
It depends on your workflow. Ava is strong for real-time captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing participants, while StenoAI is strong for capturing and summarizing confidential meetings without sending audio to the cloud. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Ava is a free tier with paid upgrades and StenoAI 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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