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. Parabol: Free, open-source agile meeting tool for retrospectives, sprint poker, and standups with automated meeting summaries and AI topic grouping. 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 CFAI when capturing private meeting notes and summaries without a recording bot joining the call matters most, and Parabol when facilitating sprint poker estimation sessions matters most. Try them side by side on real calls before deciding — needs vary by team.
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.
Free, open-source agile meeting tool for retrospectives, sprint poker, and standups with automated meeting summaries and AI topic grouping.
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
Parabol is a free, open-source platform built for facilitating agile meetings, with a particular focus on sprint retrospectives alongside estimation (sprint poker) and team check-ins. Its retrospective experience follows a structured reflect, group, vote, discuss, and action workflow compatible with popular formats like Start/Stop/Continue, 4Ls, and Mad/Sad/Glad, plus custom templates. Facilitators get multiplayer drag-and-drop cards, live task editing, timers, dynamic agenda items, discussion threads, emoji reactions, and a large library of retrospective formats and icebreaker questions. At the end of each retro, Parabol automatically generates a meeting summary that rolls up notes and tasks, posts them to a team timeline, and delivers them to attendees via email or Slack so next steps are clear. Its AI capabilities include automatic naming of grouped card clusters and AI topic summaries to speed up synthesis during retros. Parabol integrates with Jira, GitHub, GitLab, Slack, and Mattermost, and because the codebase is publicly available on GitHub, teams can self-host or review how it works. It is used by hundreds of thousands of people across distributed and remote teams. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
CFAI is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Parabol is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | CFAI | Parabol |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Local on-device transcription using Faster Whisper, so audio never leaves the computer | Structured retrospective workflow (reflect, group, vote, discuss, action) |
| Standout feature | Bot-free capture of microphone and system audio at the OS level (no 'recording started' notice) | Automated meeting summaries delivered via email and Slack |
| Team usage | Speaker diarization with automatic speaker labels in transcripts | AI auto-naming of grouped cards and AI topic summaries |
| Integrations | AI summaries and action items, generated by Claude or a local LLM | Sprint poker estimation and team standup/check-in templates |
| Languages & capture | Real-time 'Cognitive Map' that visualizes conversation topics and flow | Large library of retrospective formats and icebreaker questions |
| Best-fit workflow | Works across any call platform including Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, and Discord | Integrations with Jira, GitHub, GitLab, Slack, and Mattermost |
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.
Parabol
Choose Parabol if you need running sprint retrospectives for remote and distributed agile teams — strengths include free and open-source with the option to self-host.
CFAI
Parabol
It depends on your workflow. CFAI is strong for capturing private meeting notes and summaries without a recording bot joining the call, while Parabol is strong for running sprint retrospectives for remote and distributed agile teams. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
CFAI is a free tier with paid upgrades and Parabol 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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