CallBro: Bot-free AI meeting assistant that transcribes calls from system audio and produces structured notes without joining the call. OpenOats: Open-source macOS meeting note-taker that transcribes calls locally and surfaces relevant talking points from your own notes in real time. 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 CallBro when transcribing legal client meetings, consultations, and intake calls without a visible recorder matters most, and OpenOats when privately transcribing meetings on a mac without sending audio to the cloud matters most. Trial each on a few real meetings before you commit — the better fit usually shows fast.
Bot-free AI meeting assistant that transcribes calls from system audio and produces structured notes without joining the call.
Open-source macOS meeting note-taker that transcribes calls locally and surfaces relevant talking points from your own notes in real time.
CallBro is a desktop AI meeting assistant that records and transcribes meetings in real time directly from your device's system audio and microphone, without sending a separate bot to join the call. Because capture happens locally at the system level, it works with any meeting platform, including Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, as well as in-person conversations, and it remains invisible to other participants. CallBro combines the live transcript with the user's own typed notes to generate structured summaries that highlight key decisions, action items, and next steps, and it includes an AI chat that can answer questions about the meeting or draft follow-ups using the full context of the transcript and notes. The product is offered as a downloadable application for macOS and Windows, with Linux noted as upcoming, and the website lists dedicated use cases for lawyers and students alongside general business meetings. Its bot-free, device-only approach makes it relevant for professionals handling sensitive conversations, such as legal client meetings and consultations, where a visible third-party recorder may be undesirable. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
OpenOats is an open-source macOS meeting note-taker, created by Yazin Akkawi (the project was previously named OpenGranola before being renamed), that sits alongside your calls and both transcribes the conversation and helps you contribute to it. It captures both sides of a meeting and transcribes audio locally on Apple Silicon so audio never leaves the device, while in real time it searches your own markdown or plain-text knowledge base to surface relevant talking points and things worth saying during the discussion. The application window is hidden from screen sharing by default, which lets it stay private during video calls, and transcripts and session logs are auto-saved locally. OpenOats supports both fully local operation through Ollama and cloud providers such as OpenRouter and Voyage AI, so users can choose between complete offline privacy and hosted models. It is written primarily in Swift, distributed under the MIT license, and actively maintained with very frequent releases. The project documents itself at openoats.com and targets users who want a privacy-respecting, self-hostable alternative to cloud meeting copilots, combining live transcription with a retrieval layer over personal notes rather than only producing an after-the-fact summary. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
CallBro is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); OpenOats is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | CallBro | OpenOats |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Bot-free capture from system audio and microphone, no participant bot | Real-time local transcription of both sides of a conversation on Apple Silicon |
| Standout feature | Real-time transcription with speaker-aware formatting | Live retrieval of relevant talking points from your own notes during meetings |
| Team usage | Structured notes combining the transcript with the user's own notes | Window hidden from screen sharing by default for privacy on calls |
| Integrations | In-meeting and post-meeting AI chat for recall and follow-up drafting | Auto-saved transcripts and session logs to local files |
| Languages & capture | Works with Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, or in-person meetings | Works fully local via Ollama or with cloud models (OpenRouter, Voyage AI) |
| Best-fit workflow | Downloadable apps for macOS and Windows | MIT-licensed, self-hostable Swift application |
CallBro
Choose CallBro if you need transcribing legal client meetings, consultations, and intake calls without a visible recorder — strengths include no bot joins the call, which suits sensitive or private meetings.
OpenOats
Choose OpenOats if you need getting live, context-aware prompts from your own notes during sales or customer calls — strengths include local on-device transcription keeps meeting audio private.
CallBro
OpenOats
It depends on your workflow. CallBro is strong for transcribing legal client meetings, consultations, and intake calls without a visible recorder, while OpenOats is strong for getting live, context-aware prompts from your own notes during sales or customer calls. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
CallBro is a free tier with paid upgrades and OpenOats 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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