Bubbles: Async video and AI meeting notes with action items Shadow: A bot-free, Mac-based AI meeting assistant that transcribes and summarizes calls locally without joining as a participant. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Bubbles when teams replacing status meetings with async video updates matters most, and Shadow when privacy-conscious teams that prefer on-device transcription matters most. Trial each on a few real meetings before you commit — the better fit usually shows fast.
Async video and AI meeting notes with action items
A bot-free, Mac-based AI meeting assistant that transcribes and summarizes calls locally without joining as a participant.
Bubbles is an AI meeting notetaker combined with an asynchronous screen and video recorder. For live meetings, it can automatically join and record calls on Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Zoom, then produce AI-generated summaries and extract action items so participants do not have to take notes manually. Recordings, transcripts and notes are organized in a centralized workspace and tied to calendar events, making it easy to find and share what was discussed. Beyond live meetings, Bubbles is built around reducing the number of meetings teams hold: users can record short async videos with screen capture and voice, then collect threaded video and text replies, which lets routine updates, design feedback and quick questions happen without scheduling a call. It connects with calendars such as Google Calendar and Outlook and integrates with a wide range of other tools including Slack, Notion and Asana for routing notes and recordings into existing workflows. Bubbles is aimed at marketers, designers, product managers and other collaborative teams that want to cut meeting time while keeping a clear record of decisions and next steps. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Shadow is a bot-free AI meeting assistant for macOS that captures meetings by listening to your computer's audio in the background rather than joining the call as a visible participant. Because transcription runs locally on the Mac, the audio does not need to leave the device for that core processing step, which the company positions as a privacy advantage. Shadow can automatically detect when a meeting starts, transcribe the conversation with speaker identification, and turn the discussion into structured notes, summaries, and follow-up items. It also captures on-screen content alongside the spoken audio, so material shared during a call (slides, dashboards, or shared windows) can be reflected in the output. The tool works across common conferencing platforms including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, Slack, and Discord. Users can configure customizable prompts (described as Skills) to generate notes, summaries, or drafted emails, and connect outputs to other tools via webhooks. It is aimed at professionals and teams who want meeting capture without adding another bot to the call. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Bubbles is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Shadow is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Bubbles | Shadow |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Automatic meeting recording across Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Zoom | Bot-free capture that records system audio without joining the meeting as a participant |
| Standout feature | AI-generated summaries and action item extraction | On-device (local) transcription on macOS |
| Team usage | Async screen and video recording for replacing live meetings | Speaker identification during transcription |
| Integrations | Threaded video and text replies on recordings | Captures on-screen content in addition to spoken audio |
| Languages & capture | Calendar integration with note and recording organization | Customizable prompts/Skills to generate notes, summaries, and emails |
| Best-fit workflow | Integrations with Slack, Notion, Asana and many other tools | Webhook integration to connect outputs to other tools |
Bubbles
Choose Bubbles if you need teams replacing status meetings with async video updates — strengths include combines live meeting notes with async video collaboration in one tool.
Shadow
Choose Shadow if you need capturing notes and summaries across multiple conferencing platforms without a bot joining — strengths include does not add a visible bot to meetings.
Bubbles
Shadow
It depends on your workflow. Bubbles is strong for teams replacing status meetings with async video updates, while Shadow is strong for capturing notes and summaries across multiple conferencing platforms without a bot joining. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Bubbles is a free tier with paid upgrades and Shadow 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.
More head-to-head comparisons involving Bubbles and Shadow.
Bubbles: Async video and AI meeting notes with action items BuildBetter: A no-bot meeting recorder (BB Recorder) that captures and processes calls locally on Mac, with optional cloud upload for team collaboration. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.
Bubbles: Async video and AI meeting notes with action items Buzz: Popular open-source desktop app that transcribes and translates audio offline on your own computer using OpenAI's Whisper. Here's where each one pulls ahead on pricing, features, and the meetings it suits best.
Bubbles: Async video and AI meeting notes with action items CLOVA Note: South Korean AI meeting-minutes service by Naver that records meetings, transcribes speech, separates speakers, and generates summaries and action items. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.
Bubbles: Async video and AI meeting notes with action items Calendly Notetaker: An AI meeting notetaker built into the Calendly scheduling platform that records meetings and generates summaries, transcripts, and action items. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
Bubbles: Async video and AI meeting notes with action items CallBro: Bot-free AI meeting assistant that transcribes calls from system audio and produces structured notes without joining the call. This comparison weighs them on pricing, features, and everyday workflow fit.
Bubbles: Async video and AI meeting notes with action items Callabo: Korean AI meeting-notes service from Return Zero that records, transcribes, summarizes, and analyzes meetings for individuals and teams. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
Bubbles: Async video and AI meeting notes with action items Canopy Notetaker: AI meeting assistant built for accounting firms that records client calls and produces accounting-specific summaries and tasks. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
Bubbles: Async video and AI meeting notes with action items CaptureMyMeeting: AI meeting assistant that imports Zoom and Webex cloud recordings to generate notes, action items, and insights. This comparison weighs them on pricing, features, and everyday workflow fit.
Bubbles: Async video and AI meeting notes with action items Carv: AI assistant for recruiters that records, transcribes, and takes notes during interviews and intake calls, then drafts documents and updates the ATS. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.
Bubbles: Async video and AI meeting notes with action items Castmagic: AI content platform that transcribes podcasts, videos, and recorded meetings with speaker diarization and turns them into show notes, summaries, and other assets. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
Bubbles: Async video and AI meeting notes with action items Celeste AI: Brazilian Portuguese-focused AI voice and transcription platform offering on-demand transcription plus a meeting assistant and AI notes, with credit-based and subscription plans. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.
Bubbles: Async video and AI meeting notes with action items Choppity: AI video and audio platform that transcribes recordings, generates styled captions, and turns long-form content into short clips. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.