CFAI: CFAI is a Windows desktop AI note taker that transcribes meetings and calls locally on-device with Faster Whisper, so audio never leaves the user's computer. oTranscribe: A free, open-source web app that eases manual transcription of recorded interviews by integrating media playback controls beside a text editor. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist CFAI when capturing private meeting notes and summaries without a recording bot joining the call matters most, and oTranscribe when academic and qualitative researchers transcribing fieldwork or oral-history recordings matters most. Run both through a week of actual calls to see which suits your workflow.
CFAI is a Windows desktop AI note taker that transcribes meetings and calls locally on-device with Faster Whisper, so audio never leaves the user's computer.
A free, open-source web app that eases manual transcription of recorded interviews by integrating media playback controls beside a text editor.
CFAI (Cognitive Flow AI) is a Windows desktop application that acts as a privacy-focused AI meeting and call note taker. Instead of sending a bot into the call, it captures both microphone and system audio at the operating-system level, so no "recording started" notification appears and the tool works across Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, Discord, and any other call. Transcription runs locally on the device using Faster Whisper, with support for many languages, and CFAI states that the audio never leaves the user's computer. From the live transcript it produces speaker-labeled notes, AI summaries, and action items, and it can build a real-time "Cognitive Map" that visualizes the conversation's topics. Summaries can be generated by Claude in the cloud, or users can keep everything offline by connecting a local LLM through Ollama, LM Studio, or Jan.ai. It is aimed at professionals, educators, recruiters, and others who want meeting notes without bots or cloud audio uploads. CFAI is distributed via the Microsoft Store with a free trial and credit-based subscription tiers.
Best suited for
oTranscribe is a free, open-source (MIT license) web app, created by Elliot Bentley and maintained by the MuckRock Foundation, that takes the pain out of transcribing recorded interviews. It runs in the browser on desktop computers and places an integrated audio or video player alongside a text editor, so you can pause, rewind, and fast-forward your recording using keyboard shortcuts without taking your hands off the keys or switching between apps. It is built for journalists, researchers, oral historians, and students who type up interviews and recordings themselves. Rather than using automatic speech recognition, oTranscribe assists manual transcription: you listen and type, inserting interactive timestamps (Ctrl+J) that you can click to jump back to that moment in the media. Your transcript autosaves to the browser's local storage, and audio files never leave your computer, keeping work private. Finished transcripts can be exported to Markdown, plain text, or oTranscribe's own .otr format, or sent to Google Drive. Rich-text formatting and adjustable playback speed are supported.
Best suited for
CFAI is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); oTranscribe is open source (open source). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | CFAI | oTranscribe |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Local on-device transcription using Faster Whisper, so audio never leaves the computer | Integrated audio/video player next to the transcript editor |
| Standout feature | Bot-free capture of microphone and system audio at the OS level (no 'recording started' notice) | Keyboard shortcuts to pause, rewind, fast-forward, and adjust playback speed without leaving the keyboard |
| Team usage | Speaker diarization with automatic speaker labels in transcripts | Clickable interactive timestamps that jump to the matching point in the media |
| Integrations | AI summaries and action items, generated by Claude or a local LLM | Automatic saving to browser local storage with transcript history backups |
| Languages & capture | Real-time 'Cognitive Map' that visualizes conversation topics and flow | Export to Markdown, plain text, .otr format, or send to Google Drive |
| Best-fit workflow | Works across any call platform including Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, and Discord | Local, private processing - audio and transcript never leave the user's computer |
CFAI
Choose CFAI if you need capturing private meeting notes and summaries without a recording bot joining the call — strengths include local faster whisper transcription keeps meeting audio on-device for strong privacy.
oTranscribe
Choose oTranscribe if you need journalists typing up recorded interviews for articles — strengths include completely free and open source under the mit license.
CFAI
oTranscribe
It depends on your workflow. CFAI is strong for capturing private meeting notes and summaries without a recording bot joining the call, while oTranscribe is strong for journalists typing up recorded interviews for articles. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
CFAI is a free tier with paid upgrades and oTranscribe is open source. 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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