Cleft Notes: AI voice-note app that turns spoken thoughts and meeting audio into structured, organized notes. Sotto: Sotto is a native macOS voice-to-text dictation app that turns speech into text system-wide using local AI transcription models. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Cleft Notes when capturing post-meeting recaps and action items by voice matters most, and Sotto when privacy-first transcription of imported audio recordings on-device matters most. Try them side by side on real calls before deciding — needs vary by team.
AI voice-note app that turns spoken thoughts and meeting audio into structured, organized notes.
Sotto is a native macOS voice-to-text dictation app that turns speech into text system-wide using local AI transcription models.
Cleft Notes is an AI-powered voice-note app that captures spoken thoughts, meeting recaps, and other audio and converts them into structured, readable notes. Users record by speaking, and the app transcribes the audio and reshapes it into organized output, offering formats such as bulleted and headed notes, flowing paragraphs without bullets, or a cleaned-up verbatim transcript. It performs transcription on-device, which allows it to work offline and supports a privacy-focused approach, with encrypted cloud sync and local file storage that users control. Cleft integrates with a range of productivity tools, including Notion, Apple Notes, Obsidian, Todoist, and automation via Zapier, so notes can flow into existing workflows. The app is available across the Apple ecosystem, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and CarPlay, making it convenient to capture thoughts hands-free. While it is broadly a voice-to-notes tool, it is commonly used to capture meeting summaries and post-meeting recaps, and it is aimed at professionals and individuals who think out loud and want spoken input turned into well-formatted notes rather than raw recordings. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Sotto is a native Swift dictation app for macOS 13 and later that converts speech to text in real time. It works as a system-wide push-to-talk layer: the user holds a hotkey, speaks, and Sotto inserts clean text into whatever app is in focus, from Slack and Notion to Xcode and email fields. Audio is transcribed by local engines, including OpenAI Whisper models (Tiny through Large V3 Turbo and Distil Large V3) and NVIDIA Parakeet v2/v3, so by default recordings never leave the Mac; users can optionally connect cloud providers such as OpenAI or Groq with their own API keys for added accuracy. Beyond live dictation, it can import and re-transcribe audio files, supports 90+ languages, keeps a searchable history of recordings with timestamps, and offers a custom vocabulary dictionary. One-click AI processing can rewrite, summarize, translate, or reformat dictated text. It is aimed at developers, writers, and privacy-conscious professionals who want fast, local voice input rather than a cloud meeting-bot service.
Best suited for
Cleft Notes is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Sotto is a free tier with paid upgrades (paid). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Cleft Notes | Sotto |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | On-device transcription that works offline | System-wide push-to-talk dictation that inserts text into any app |
| Standout feature | Multiple output formats: organized, no-bullets, or verbatim | Local on-device transcription via Whisper and NVIDIA Parakeet models |
| Team usage | Encrypted cloud sync with user-controlled local storage | Audio file import and re-transcription with searchable, timestamped history |
| Integrations | Integrations with Notion, Apple Notes, Obsidian, Todoist, and Zapier | Support for 90+ languages with per-language hotkeys |
| Languages & capture | Available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and CarPlay | One-click AI processing to summarize, translate, or rewrite dictated text |
| Best-fit workflow | Hands-free voice capture of thoughts and meeting recaps | Optional cloud transcription via user-supplied OpenAI or Groq API keys |
Cleft Notes
Choose Cleft Notes if you need capturing post-meeting recaps and action items by voice — strengths include on-device transcription enables offline use and privacy.
Sotto
Choose Sotto if you need hands-free dictation of emails, messages, and documents across mac apps — strengths include local processing keeps audio on-device for strong privacy.
Cleft Notes
Sotto
It depends on your workflow. Cleft Notes is strong for capturing post-meeting recaps and action items by voice, while Sotto is strong for hands-free dictation of emails, messages, and documents across mac apps. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Cleft Notes is a free tier with paid upgrades and Sotto is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Sure. Running both makes sense when their strengths don't overlap and the budget allows.
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