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. Simon Says: AI transcription, captioning, and translation built for professional video and audio workflows. We compare them on cost, capture approach, and day-to-day fit so you can choose faster.
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 Simon Says when translating subtitles for international distribution matters most. Trial each on a few real meetings before you commit — the better fit usually shows fast.
A 100% local, no-bot meeting recorder for Mac and iOS that records, transcribes, and summarizes entirely on-device, built by the BuildBetter team.
AI transcription, captioning, and translation built for professional video and audio workflows.
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
Simon Says is an AI transcription, captioning, and translation platform built for professional audio and video production workflows. Users upload audio or video and Simon Says transcribes the speech into text, with speaker identification to separate dialogue, and can generate subtitles and captions using built-in visual editing tools. The platform supports transcription and translation across roughly a hundred languages, making it useful for international distribution and localization. A defining characteristic is its focus on production environments: Simon Says integrates with industry-standard editing software such as Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Avid, so transcripts and captions can move directly into editing timelines. This positions it as a transcription and captioning layer for video editors, producers, post-production teams, and content creators rather than a meeting note-taker. It is aimed at professionals who need accurate, editable transcripts and subtitles that fit into established editing pipelines, as well as researchers and creators who need reliable speech-to-text and multilingual captioning. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
BB Recorder is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Simon Says is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | BB Recorder | Simon Says |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | No-bot capture of system audio directly on the device | AI transcription with speaker identification |
| Standout feature | Fully on-device recording, transcription, and summarization | Subtitle and caption generation with visual editing |
| Team usage | Local AI chat to ask questions about a captured meeting | Translation across many languages |
| Integrations | Calendar linking to associate recordings with scheduled meetings | Integrations with Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Avid |
| Languages & capture | Available for macOS and iOS | Support for professional audio and video formats |
| Best-fit workflow | Built by the BuildBetter team with an AI transparency policy | AI transcription with speaker identification |
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.
Simon Says
Choose Simon Says if you need transcribing and captioning footage for video editing projects — strengths include integrates directly with professional video editing software.
BB Recorder
Simon Says
It depends on your workflow. BB Recorder is strong for regulated or privacy-sensitive teams that cannot send audio to the cloud, while Simon Says is strong for transcribing and captioning footage for video editing projects. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
BB Recorder is a free tier with paid upgrades and Simon Says is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Often yes: teams combine tools when one handles capture and another handles analysis.
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