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. Pluely: A lightweight open-source desktop AI meeting assistant that captures system audio for live transcription and on-call answers without joining as a visible bot. Here's where each one pulls ahead on pricing, features, and the meetings it suits best.
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 Pluely when running a privacy-conscious, locally processed meeting helper via ollama 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.
A lightweight open-source desktop AI meeting assistant that captures system audio for live transcription and on-call answers without joining as a visible bot.
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
Pluely is an open-source AI meeting assistant created by independent developer Srikanthnani and released in 2025 as a privacy-first, bot-free alternative to commercial in-meeting copilots. Built with Tauri, the app is roughly 10MB and launches quickly, running as an always-on-top overlay on macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows, and Linux. Rather than sending a participant into your call, Pluely captures system audio and microphone input directly on your device, converts speech to text, and can surface AI responses and notes during a meeting, interview, or presentation. It is bring-your-own-key, so users connect their own provider credentials; it supports a wide range of large language models, including OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Grok, Mistral, Cohere, Ollama, and custom endpoints, alongside multiple speech-to-text engines such as Whisper, Deepgram, ElevenLabs, Groq, and Azure. Because it is GPL-licensed and fully inspectable, teams can audit or modify the code, and local model options via Ollama allow processing to stay on the machine. As an indie project it depends on external API keys for most capabilities and is still maturing. Confirm features and any usage policies on the official site. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
BB Recorder is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Pluely is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | BB Recorder | Pluely |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | No-bot capture of system audio directly on the device | Bot-free capture of system audio and microphone for live transcription |
| Standout feature | Fully on-device recording, transcription, and summarization | Always-on-top overlay app for macOS, Windows, and Linux |
| Team usage | Local AI chat to ask questions about a captured meeting | Bring-your-own-key support for many LLMs (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Mistral, Cohere, Ollama, custom) |
| Integrations | Calendar linking to associate recordings with scheduled meetings | Multiple speech-to-text providers (Whisper, Deepgram, ElevenLabs, Groq, Azure, and others) |
| Languages & capture | Available for macOS and iOS | Lightweight (~10MB) and fast to launch |
| Best-fit workflow | Built by the BuildBetter team with an AI transparency policy | Open source under GPL with optional local processing via Ollama |
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.
Pluely
Choose Pluely if you need getting live transcription and ai assistance during meetings without a visible bot in the call — strengths include free and open source with fully inspectable code.
BB Recorder
Pluely
It depends on your workflow. BB Recorder is strong for regulated or privacy-sensitive teams that cannot send audio to the cloud, while Pluely is strong for getting live transcription and ai assistance during meetings without a visible bot in the call. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
BB Recorder is a free tier with paid upgrades and Pluely is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Yes. Many teams run more than one meeting assistant when the workflows are complementary.
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