BuildBetter: A no-bot meeting recorder (BB Recorder) that captures and processes calls locally on Mac, with optional cloud upload for team collaboration. Riverside: Browser-based podcast and video recording studio with AI transcription, captions, and text-based editing that also handles interviews and remote meetings. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist BuildBetter when product teams aggregating customer-call insights into jira, linear, or notion matters most, and Riverside when running and documenting remote interviews or small group conversations matters most. Test each on your own meetings; the right choice tends to become obvious quickly.
A no-bot meeting recorder (BB Recorder) that captures and processes calls locally on Mac, with optional cloud upload for team collaboration.
Browser-based podcast and video recording studio with AI transcription, captions, and text-based editing that also handles interviews and remote meetings.
BuildBetter offers BB Recorder, a no-bot meeting recorder that captures meetings by recording system audio directly on the device rather than sending a bot into the call. On macOS it can run as a menu-bar (notch-style) recorder, a floating overlay, or a full-window app, and it includes smart auto-detection that begins recording when it detects a call. Recording, transcription, summarization, and even a live AI assistant for asking questions during a call can run locally using on-device models, so notes and transcripts can stay on the user's machine. Users can optionally upload recordings to BuildBetter's cloud for enhanced transcripts with speaker diarization, AI-powered summaries, and team collaboration. The broader BuildBetter platform is oriented toward product teams and customer-facing roles, helping aggregate insights across many calls and route them into tools such as Jira, Linear, and Notion. BB Recorder is available on macOS as well as iOS and Android. It is aimed at product, sales, customer success, and support teams that want privacy-conscious local capture with the option to escalate to cloud-based team features. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Riverside is a web-based recording and editing studio built primarily for podcasters and video creators, with capabilities that extend to remote interviews and meetings. Participants join through a browser link without signing up, and Riverside records each person's audio and video locally on their own device before uploading the high-quality files after the session, which avoids the compression and dropout problems of standard video-call recording. Once a session is recorded or an existing file is uploaded, Riverside automatically generates a transcript using AI speech recognition, detects and labels separate speakers, and supports transcription across more than 100 languages. The transcript can be downloaded as plain text or as SRT/VTT caption files, and it powers text-based editing, where users trim or rearrange the recording by editing the transcript rather than a waveform. Riverside also offers AI clip generation for short-form social video and a teleprompter. It is aimed at podcasters, content creators, marketing teams, and anyone running recorded interviews or small group conversations that need clean transcripts and captions. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
BuildBetter is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Riverside is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | BuildBetter | Riverside |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | No-bot recording that captures system audio locally | AI-generated transcripts with automatic speaker detection and labeling |
| Standout feature | macOS recorder with menu-bar, floating overlay, and full-window modes | Transcription support across more than 100 languages |
| Team usage | Smart auto-detection that starts recording when a call is detected | Caption and subtitle export in SRT and VTT formats |
| Integrations | Local transcription, summarization, and a live AI assistant | Text-based editing that lets users cut and rearrange recordings by editing the transcript |
| Languages & capture | Optional cloud upload for speaker diarization and team collaboration | Local high-quality recording of each participant's audio and video track |
| Best-fit workflow | Routes insights into tools like Jira, Linear, and Notion | AI clip generation for short-form social video |
BuildBetter
Choose BuildBetter if you need product teams aggregating customer-call insights into jira, linear, or notion — strengths include local processing keeps recordings and notes on the device by default.
Riverside
Choose Riverside if you need transcribing and captioning recorded podcast episodes and video interviews — strengths include records each participant locally, producing cleaner audio and video than typical call recording.
BuildBetter
Riverside
It depends on your workflow. BuildBetter is strong for product teams aggregating customer-call insights into jira, linear, or notion, while Riverside is strong for transcribing and captioning recorded podcast episodes and video interviews. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
BuildBetter is a free tier with paid upgrades and Riverside 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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