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. Spokenly: Spokenly is a system-wide AI dictation app for Mac and iPhone that converts speech to text using offline Whisper and Parakeet models or bring-your-own-key cloud engines. This comparison weighs them on pricing, features, and everyday workflow fit.
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 Spokenly when privacy-conscious offline speech-to-text for sensitive or confidential work 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.
Spokenly is a system-wide AI dictation app for Mac and iPhone that converts speech to text using offline Whisper and Parakeet models or bring-your-own-key cloud engines.
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
Spokenly is an AI dictation and speech-to-text app for Mac and iPhone (with Windows listed by the developer). You press a shortcut, speak, and your words are inserted at the cursor in any application — browsers, email, chat, notes, or IDEs. It can run entirely offline on Apple Silicon using local models such as OpenAI's Whisper and NVIDIA's Parakeet, or connect to cloud engines including OpenAI, Deepgram, Groq, Anthropic, and Google through a bring-your-own-key model. Transcription supports 100+ languages with automatic language detection and automatic punctuation, and every transcription is saved to a history. The app also offers AI text processing with custom prompts, a Local Only Mode that blocks network requests for privacy, and an MCP server so AI coding agents like Claude Code and Cursor can trigger voice input. It is built primarily for professionals and developers who want fast, private, accurate dictation rather than a passive meeting recorder. The app is developed by an independent developer, Vadim Akhmerov, and is in active development.
Best suited for
BB Recorder is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Spokenly is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | BB Recorder | Spokenly |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | No-bot capture of system audio directly on the device | Offline local transcription on Apple Silicon using Whisper and NVIDIA Parakeet models |
| Standout feature | Fully on-device recording, transcription, and summarization | Bring-your-own-key cloud engines (OpenAI, Deepgram, Groq, Anthropic, Google) |
| Team usage | Local AI chat to ask questions about a captured meeting | System-wide dictation that inserts text at the cursor in any app |
| Integrations | Calendar linking to associate recordings with scheduled meetings | Speech-to-text in 100+ languages with automatic detection and punctuation |
| Languages & capture | Available for macOS and iOS | Local Only Mode that blocks network requests for full privacy |
| Best-fit workflow | Built by the BuildBetter team with an AI transparency policy | MCP server integration for AI coding agents like Claude Code and Cursor |
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.
Spokenly
Choose Spokenly if you need dictating emails, messages, and notes by speaking instead of typing — strengths include genuinely free unlimited on-device transcription on apple silicon, with voice staying local.
BB Recorder
Spokenly
It depends on your workflow. BB Recorder is strong for regulated or privacy-sensitive teams that cannot send audio to the cloud, while Spokenly is strong for dictating emails, messages, and notes by speaking instead of typing. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
BB Recorder is a free tier with paid upgrades and Spokenly 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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