Carv: AI assistant for recruiters that records, transcribes, and takes notes during interviews and intake calls, then drafts documents and updates the ATS. Minutes: Open-source, local-first conversation memory layer that records and transcribes meetings, diarizes speakers, and stores searchable notes as markdown for AI agents. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Carv when transcribing and summarizing candidate interviews hands-free matters most, and Minutes when recording and transcribing calls locally for users who refuse cloud meeting tools matters most. Run both through a week of actual calls to see which suits your workflow.
AI assistant for recruiters that records, transcribes, and takes notes during interviews and intake calls, then drafts documents and updates the ATS.
Open-source, local-first conversation memory layer that records and transcribes meetings, diarizes speakers, and stores searchable notes as markdown for AI agents.
Carv is an AI platform for recruiters that records, transcribes, and takes notes during interviews, intake calls, and hiring meetings so recruiters can stay present in the conversation rather than typing notes. During candidate interviews it captures a full verbatim transcript, flags any planned questions that went unanswered at the end of the call, and uses the transcript to auto-generate a candidate profile. For intake calls with hiring managers, Carv captures the requirements discussed and can automatically draft a job description in the recruiter's own style and tone of voice. Beyond note-taking, Carv positions itself as an agentic recruiting assistant that takes over repetitive administrative work, from document creation to updating the applicant tracking system, and includes an AI companion that carries context about how the user works. The platform integrates with ATS and HR systems and offers analytics and insights across recruiting activity. By turning recruiting conversations into structured notes, profiles, and documents, Carv aims to cut down on coordination and admin time so recruiters can focus on connecting with candidates and hiring managers. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Minutes, built by Mat Silverstein, is an open-source, privacy-first conversation memory layer that captures meetings, calls, voice memos, and dictation and turns them into searchable, AI-accessible notes. It transcribes audio locally using whisper.cpp or Parakeet so audio never has to leave the machine, performs speaker diarization to separate voices, and extracts decisions and action items, writing everything to the user's own disk as plain markdown files with structured YAML frontmatter. Because the output lives in a local folder (for example ~/meetings/), the notes can sync across devices through iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive and can be read directly by AI tools. A central design goal is integration with AI assistants: Minutes runs an MCP server exposing a large set of tools so coding and chat agents such as Claude, Codex, Gemini CLI, and others can query past conversations, track relationships across meetings, and surface what was promised to whom. It ships as a macOS desktop app with a menu-bar recorder and AI assistant, plus a cross-platform command-line interface, and includes a dictation hotkey mode. The project is MIT licensed, installable via Homebrew, and actively maintained with frequent releases, making it a fully self-hostable option for people who want durable, private, searchable meeting memory rather than a cloud subscription. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Carv is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Minutes is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Carv | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Records, transcribes, and takes notes during interviews, intakes, and meetings | Local transcription with whisper.cpp or Parakeet, no cloud audio upload |
| Standout feature | Full verbatim interview transcription with unanswered-question flagging | Speaker diarization to attribute who said what |
| Team usage | Auto-generated candidate profiles from interview transcripts | Plain-markdown output with YAML frontmatter stored on your own disk |
| Integrations | Automatic job description drafting from intake calls | MCP server exposing tools so AI agents can query meeting history |
| Languages & capture | ATS and HR system integrations with automated updates | Cross-meeting search, relationship tracking, and action-item extraction |
| Best-fit workflow | AI companion that retains context on the recruiter's workflow | macOS desktop app plus cross-platform CLI and dictation hotkey mode |
Carv
Choose Carv if you need transcribing and summarizing candidate interviews hands-free — strengths include captures both candidate interviews and hiring-manager intake calls.
Minutes
Choose Minutes if you need building a private, searchable memory of meetings and voice notes that ai agents can query — strengths include fully local-first and mit licensed, keeping conversation data private and portable.
Carv
Minutes
It depends on your workflow. Carv is strong for transcribing and summarizing candidate interviews hands-free, while Minutes is strong for building a private, searchable memory of meetings and voice notes that ai agents can query. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Carv is a free tier with paid upgrades and Minutes is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
You can — some teams pair them when each covers a different part of the meeting workflow.
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