Clipto: Mac-based AI transcription and knowledge assistant that indexes and searches meetings, interviews, podcasts, lectures, and other audio/video locally on-device. Minutes: Open-source, local-first conversation memory layer that records and transcribes meetings, diarizes speakers, and stores searchable notes as markdown for AI agents. 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 Clipto when creators and editors transcribing and searching large libraries of footage, podcasts, and interviews matters most, and Minutes when recording and transcribing calls locally for users who refuse cloud meeting tools matters most. Trial each on a few real meetings before you commit — the better fit usually shows fast.
Mac-based AI transcription and knowledge assistant that indexes and searches meetings, interviews, podcasts, lectures, and other audio/video locally on-device.
Open-source, local-first conversation memory layer that records and transcribes meetings, diarizes speakers, and stores searchable notes as markdown for AI agents.
Clipto is an AI-powered transcription and knowledge assistant built exclusively for Mac that functions as a fully local, searchable media library for audio and video. It transcribes and indexes a range of content including videos, audio files, podcasts, meetings, interviews, and lectures, with automatic transcription, speaker labeling, and AI summaries that condense long recordings. Its standout capability is search: users can run natural-language queries across large volumes of media, jump to exact timecodes for spoken dialogue, and surface people, scenes, and objects across their library. Processing is fully local and works offline with no cloud uploads, which the product positions as a privacy-focused architecture for creators and professionals who manage large media collections. Clipto integrates with creative and storage tools, including Adobe Premiere Pro, Dropbox, Google Drive, NAS, and local folders, and offers auto-tagging to keep footage organized. It targets content creators such as photographers, video editors, filmmakers, agencies, and marketers, but its transcription of meetings and interviews makes it relevant for capturing and revisiting conversations as well. The app is actively operating, requires Apple Silicon Macs with sufficient memory and a recent macOS version, and also offers an iOS app. Free and paid plans are referenced. 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
Clipto 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 | Clipto | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | On-device AI transcription with no cloud uploads, works offline | Local transcription with whisper.cpp or Parakeet, no cloud audio upload |
| Standout feature | Automatic speaker labeling in transcripts | Speaker diarization to attribute who said what |
| Team usage | One-click AI summaries of long recordings | Plain-markdown output with YAML frontmatter stored on your own disk |
| Integrations | Natural-language search across large media libraries with timecode jumping | MCP server exposing tools so AI agents can query meeting history |
| Languages & capture | Scene, object, and person recognition across content | Cross-meeting search, relationship tracking, and action-item extraction |
| Best-fit workflow | Integrations with Adobe Premiere Pro, Dropbox, Google Drive, NAS, and local folders | macOS desktop app plus cross-platform CLI and dictation hotkey mode |
Clipto
Choose Clipto if you need creators and editors transcribing and searching large libraries of footage, podcasts, and interviews — strengths include fully local, offline processing for privacy-conscious users.
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.
Clipto
Minutes
It depends on your workflow. Clipto is strong for creators and editors transcribing and searching large libraries of footage, podcasts, and interviews, 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.
Clipto 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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