Braina: Braina is a Windows AI assistant and speech-to-text software that handles voice dictation, voice commands, and transcription of recorded audio and video files including meetings and interviews. 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. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Braina when transcribing recorded meetings and interviews into text or subtitles matters most, and MacParakeet when system-wide dictation across applications for privacy-conscious users matters most. Test each on your own meetings; the right choice tends to become obvious quickly.
Braina is a Windows AI assistant and speech-to-text software that handles voice dictation, voice commands, and transcription of recorded audio and video files including meetings and interviews.
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.
Braina (short for "Brain Artificial") is a Windows desktop AI assistant and speech-to-text application developed by Brainasoft. For meeting-related work, it transcribes pre-recorded audio and video files (WAV, MP3, M4A, MP4) into text, handling content such as meetings, interviews, lectures, and broadcasts. Transcription runs locally on the user's computer, supports multiple speakers without voice training, and can output plain text, text with timestamps, and subtitle formats (SRT and WebVTT). It also offers live voice dictation into any application across many languages, plus voice commands for controlling the PC. Beyond transcription, Braina provides an interface to local and cloud large language models, note-taking with persistent memory, reminders, and document chat. It runs primarily on Windows, with companion iOS and Android apps that can remotely control a connected PC over Wi-Fi. It is aimed at professionals, students, and researchers who want desktop dictation and offline file transcription rather than an automated bot that joins live meetings.
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
Braina 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 | Braina | MacParakeet |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Transcribe recorded audio and video files (WAV, MP3, M4A, MP4) to text | On-device meeting recording with live transcript preview and note-taking |
| Standout feature | Offline multi-speaker transcription with no voice training required | Meeting calendar integration via macOS EventKit with optional auto-start |
| Team usage | Output to plain text, timestamped text, SRT and WebVTT subtitles | System-wide dictation with hotkey and push-to-talk modes |
| Integrations | Live voice dictation into any application across many languages | File and URL transcription on the device |
| Languages & capture | Voice commands for PC control plus note-taking and reminders | Local NVIDIA Parakeet TDT speech recognition with no cloud STT |
| Best-fit workflow | Interface to local and cloud large language models | Text cleanup pipeline including filler removal and custom replacements |
Braina
Choose Braina if you need transcribing recorded meetings and interviews into text or subtitles — strengths include transcription runs locally on your own computer for privacy.
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.
Braina
MacParakeet
It depends on your workflow. Braina is strong for transcribing recorded meetings and interviews into text or subtitles, while MacParakeet is strong for capturing and transcribing meetings locally on a mac without a bot. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Braina 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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