Circleback: AI meeting assistant that automatically takes notes, transcribes in 100+ languages, assigns action items, and runs automations across Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Webex, and in-person calls. Shadow: A bot-free, Mac-based AI meeting assistant that transcribes and summarizes calls locally without joining as a participant. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Circleback when automatically capturing notes and action items so attendees can stay focused in meetings matters most, and Shadow when privacy-conscious teams that prefer on-device transcription matters most. Try them side by side on real calls before deciding — needs vary by team.
AI meeting assistant that automatically takes notes, transcribes in 100+ languages, assigns action items, and runs automations across Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Webex, and in-person calls.
A bot-free, Mac-based AI meeting assistant that transcribes and summarizes calls locally without joining as a participant.
Circleback is a Y Combinator-backed AI meeting assistant that captures, transcribes, and organizes conversations automatically. It works with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, GoTo, Slack huddles, and in-person meetings, and offers a botless option via its desktop app for those who prefer not to send a bot into calls. After each meeting it produces structured notes, identifies and auto-assigns action items, and provides searchable transcripts with speaker identification across 100+ languages. AI-driven automations and "Insights" can push data into connected tools and answer questions across past meetings. Integrations include Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Google Calendar, HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio, Zoho, Linear, Notion, Monday, Zapier, and Make, plus developer access through MCP, a CLI, and webhooks. Circleback states SOC 2, GDPR, EU-US DPF, and HIPAA compliance, and offers mobile and desktop apps. New users can try it free before subscribing.
Best suited for
Shadow is a bot-free AI meeting assistant for macOS that captures meetings by listening to your computer's audio in the background rather than joining the call as a visible participant. Because transcription runs locally on the Mac, the audio does not need to leave the device for that core processing step, which the company positions as a privacy advantage. Shadow can automatically detect when a meeting starts, transcribe the conversation with speaker identification, and turn the discussion into structured notes, summaries, and follow-up items. It also captures on-screen content alongside the spoken audio, so material shared during a call (slides, dashboards, or shared windows) can be reflected in the output. The tool works across common conferencing platforms including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, Slack, and Discord. Users can configure customizable prompts (described as Skills) to generate notes, summaries, or drafted emails, and connect outputs to other tools via webhooks. It is aimed at professionals and teams who want meeting capture without adding another bot to the call. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Circleback is from $20.83/mo (paid); Shadow is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Circleback | Shadow |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | AI meeting notes | Bot-free capture that records system audio without joining the meeting as a participant |
| Standout feature | Action item tracking | On-device (local) transcription on macOS |
| Team usage | Multi-language transcription | Speaker identification during transcription |
| Integrations | AI search across meetings | Captures on-screen content in addition to spoken audio |
| Languages & capture | Workflow automations | Customizable prompts/Skills to generate notes, summaries, and emails |
| Best-fit workflow | AI meeting notes | Webhook integration to connect outputs to other tools |
Circleback
Choose Circleback if you need automatically capturing notes and action items so attendees can stay focused in meetings — strengths include works across zoom, google meet, microsoft teams, webex, goto, slack huddles, and in-person meetings.
Shadow
Choose Shadow if you need capturing notes and summaries across multiple conferencing platforms without a bot joining — strengths include does not add a visible bot to meetings.
Circleback
Shadow
It depends on your workflow. Circleback is strong for automatically capturing notes and action items so attendees can stay focused in meetings, while Shadow is strong for capturing notes and summaries across multiple conferencing platforms without a bot joining. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Circleback is from $20.83/mo and Shadow 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.
More head-to-head comparisons involving Circleback and Shadow.
Circleback is automation-first (it triggers CRM, Linear and Slack actions); Granola is a bot-free personal notepad. Automation versus privacy.
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