Cogram: AI platform for the architecture, engineering and construction industry that automates meeting minutes and action items with strong privacy controls. Handy: Handy is a free, open-source, cross-platform push-to-talk app that transcribes your speech to text completely offline and pastes it into any text field. 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 Cogram when construction and engineering firms automating project meeting minutes matters most, and Handy when privacy-sensitive voice-to-text where audio must stay on-device matters most. Try them side by side on real calls before deciding — needs vary by team.
AI platform for the architecture, engineering and construction industry that automates meeting minutes and action items with strong privacy controls.
Handy is a free, open-source, cross-platform push-to-talk app that transcribes your speech to text completely offline and pastes it into any text field.
Cogram is an AI platform built for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, with automated meeting minutes as one of its core capabilities. Its notetaker captures both virtual and in-person meetings and generates minutes, decisions and action items using the firm's own templates, so output matches the documentation formats AEC teams already use. For virtual meetings it works with Zoom and Google Meet, and it integrates with Microsoft Teams, Outlook and calendars, as well as industry tools such as Procore and Autodesk, so meeting outputs can flow into project workflows. Beyond minutes, Cogram offers an assistant, email management, and support for RFIs, submittals and field reports, positioning meeting documentation as part of a wider project-administration suite. Privacy and security are emphasized: the company states it does not train AI models on customer data, holds SOC 2 Type II certification, supports SSO, MFA and role-based access controls, uses strong encryption in transit and at rest, and offers private-cloud or on-premises deployment options. Cogram is aimed at architects, engineers, consultants and contractors who need accurate, template-driven meeting records within a security-conscious, industry-specific platform. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Handy is a free, open-source desktop application that turns your voice into text completely offline, with no audio ever leaving your computer. You press a configurable keyboard shortcut, speak, and release (push-to-talk), or use a toggle mode to start and stop; Handy transcribes what you said and automatically pastes the result into whatever text field is active. Because it runs entirely on-device, it is built for privacy-conscious users who want dictation without cloud uploads or subscriptions. Under the hood it is built with Tauri (a Rust backend with a React/TypeScript frontend) and supports multiple local speech-recognition models, including OpenAI's Whisper variants with GPU acceleration and the CPU-friendly Parakeet V3 model with automatic language detection. Silero Voice Activity Detection filters out silence so only speech is processed. Handy runs on macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows, and Linux, and is released under the MIT license. It positions itself as an accessible, extensible alternative to paid dictation tools, and is best suited for hands-free typing rather than recording multi-party meetings.
Best suited for
Cogram is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Handy is open source (open source). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Cogram | Handy |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Automated meeting minutes for virtual and in-person meetings | Push-to-talk and toggle dictation modes with a configurable global keyboard shortcut |
| Standout feature | Template-driven notes, decisions and action item capture | Fully offline, on-device transcription with no cloud uploads |
| Team usage | Integrations with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Procore and Autodesk | Multiple local speech models including Whisper (GPU-accelerated) and Parakeet V3 (CPU, auto language detection) |
| Integrations | Additional tools for RFIs, submittals, field reports and email management | Silero Voice Activity Detection to filter silence and process only speech |
| Languages & capture | SOC 2 Type II certification with SSO, MFA and role-based access controls | Automatically pastes transcribed text into any active application text field |
| Best-fit workflow | Private-cloud or on-premises deployment options | Cross-platform desktop app (macOS, Windows, Linux) built with Tauri |
Cogram
Choose Cogram if you need construction and engineering firms automating project meeting minutes — strengths include tailored to aec documentation needs with customizable templates.
Handy
Choose Handy if you need hands-free dictation into emails, documents, chat apps, and code editors — strengths include completely free, open-source (mit) with no subscription or paywall.
Cogram
Handy
It depends on your workflow. Cogram is strong for construction and engineering firms automating project meeting minutes, while Handy is strong for hands-free dictation into emails, documents, chat apps, and code editors. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Cogram is a free tier with paid upgrades and Handy is open source. 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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