BB Recorder: A 100% local, no-bot meeting recorder for Mac and iOS that records, transcribes, and summarizes entirely on-device, built by the BuildBetter team. MacParakeet: Free, open-source local voice app for Apple Silicon Macs offering on-device meeting recording, live transcripts, dictation, and file transcription powered by NVIDIA Parakeet. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist BB Recorder when regulated or privacy-sensitive teams that cannot send audio to the cloud matters most, and MacParakeet when system-wide dictation across applications for privacy-conscious users matters most. Run both through a week of actual calls to see which suits your workflow.
A 100% local, no-bot meeting recorder for Mac and iOS that records, transcribes, and summarizes entirely on-device, built by the BuildBetter team.
Free, open-source local voice app for Apple Silicon Macs offering on-device meeting recording, live transcripts, dictation, and file transcription powered by NVIDIA Parakeet.
BB Recorder is a local-first meeting recorder built by the team behind BuildBetter, designed for people who want meeting capture without any data leaving their device. Rather than dropping a bot into a video call, BB Recorder captures the computer's system audio directly, links to the user's calendar, and turns rough conversation audio into clean transcripts and summaries. Its defining characteristic is that recording, transcription, summarization, and even live AI chat about the meeting can all run locally using on-device models, so there is no server holding the audio or transcripts. The company frames this as making a data breach architecturally impossible because there is no cloud store to compromise, and it points to SOC 2 and HIPAA considerations along with an AI transparency policy. BB Recorder is positioned as a genuinely free, unlimited option for Mac, with no trial tiers or required registration when using local models, and a companion iOS app extends capture to the iPhone. It is aimed at privacy-sensitive professionals, regulated teams, and anyone who wants automatic meeting notes without a visible bot or a cloud transcription pipeline. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
MacParakeet is a free, open-source voice application for Apple Silicon Macs that runs speech recognition entirely on-device using NVIDIA's Parakeet TDT model via FluidAudio CoreML. Beyond system-wide dictation and file or URL transcription, it includes a meeting recording mode with live transcript preview, in-app note-taking, and export, plus meeting calendar integration through macOS EventKit that can show reminders and optionally auto-start recording. Because all speech recognition runs locally, the project states that audio remains on the device, with no cloud speech-to-text, no required accounts, and opt-out telemetry. It supports around 25 European languages with automatic detection and includes a text cleanup pipeline for filler removal, custom word replacements, and snippet expansion. Optional AI features such as summaries, chat, and text formatting can be enabled through cloud or local providers when the user chooses. Built with Swift and SwiftUI and distributed under the GPL-3.0 license, MacParakeet is actively maintained on GitHub and can be installed via a notarized DMG, a Homebrew cask, or built from source. It is positioned as a privacy-respecting, bot-free option for capturing meetings directly from the Mac. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
BB Recorder is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); MacParakeet is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | BB Recorder | MacParakeet |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | No-bot capture of system audio directly on the device | On-device meeting recording with live transcript preview and note-taking |
| Standout feature | Fully on-device recording, transcription, and summarization | Meeting calendar integration via macOS EventKit with optional auto-start |
| Team usage | Local AI chat to ask questions about a captured meeting | System-wide dictation with hotkey and push-to-talk modes |
| Integrations | Calendar linking to associate recordings with scheduled meetings | File and URL transcription on the device |
| Languages & capture | Available for macOS and iOS | Local NVIDIA Parakeet TDT speech recognition with no cloud STT |
| Best-fit workflow | Built by the BuildBetter team with an AI transparency policy | Text cleanup pipeline including filler removal and custom replacements |
BB Recorder
Choose BB Recorder if you need regulated or privacy-sensitive teams that cannot send audio to the cloud — strengths include local-only processing keeps meeting audio and transcripts off external servers.
MacParakeet
Choose MacParakeet if you need capturing and transcribing meetings locally on a mac without a bot — strengths include free and open source with on-device speech recognition.
BB Recorder
MacParakeet
It depends on your workflow. BB Recorder is strong for regulated or privacy-sensitive teams that cannot send audio to the cloud, while MacParakeet is strong for capturing and transcribing meetings locally on a mac without a bot. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
BB Recorder is a free tier with paid upgrades and MacParakeet 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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