Daisy: Local-first, open-source macOS meeting recorder and AI notes app that transcribes on-device and exposes meetings to AI tools through a local MCP server. 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 Daisy when recording and transcribing meetings privately on a mac without cloud upload matters most, and Handy when privacy-sensitive voice-to-text where audio must stay on-device matters most. Run both through a week of actual calls to see which suits your workflow.
Local-first, open-source macOS meeting recorder and AI notes app that transcribes on-device and exposes meetings to AI tools through a local MCP server.
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.
Daisy, from Addicted Studio, is a local-first meeting recorder and AI notes application for macOS that records meetings on the Mac, transcribes them on the device, and then exposes the captured conversations as a local MCP server for AI tools. It captures both microphone and system audio from any source, including Zoom, Google Meet, Telegram, and other apps, using ScreenCaptureKit, and performs on-device transcription with WhisperKit plus speaker identification via Pyannote diarization, so audio never leaves the Mac unless the user explicitly enables a cloud LLM provider. Beyond raw transcription, Daisy generates structured notes with action items and follow-ups and supports multiple summarization backends including Apple Intelligence, Anthropic, and OpenAI, as well as MCP. Because it runs a local MCP server, tools such as Claude Desktop and Cursor can read recorded meetings directly, and Daisy can export results to Notion, Linear, Attio, Slack, or arbitrary webhooks. It offers several capture modes covering meeting recording, voice dictation, and quick voice notes. Daisy is a native Mac application (not Electron) for Apple Silicon, is fully open source on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license, and emphasizes privacy with no telemetry, tracking, or required account. The project maintains a product site at mydaisy.io with installation, FAQ, and support documentation. 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
Daisy 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 | Daisy | Handy |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Local recording of mic and system audio from any source via ScreenCaptureKit | Push-to-talk and toggle dictation modes with a configurable global keyboard shortcut |
| Standout feature | On-device transcription with WhisperKit and speaker diarization via Pyannote | Fully offline, on-device transcription with no cloud uploads |
| Team usage | Structured AI notes with action items and follow-ups | Multiple local speech models including Whisper (GPU-accelerated) and Parakeet V3 (CPU, auto language detection) |
| Integrations | Multiple summarization backends: Apple Intelligence, Anthropic, OpenAI, and MCP | Silero Voice Activity Detection to filter silence and process only speech |
| Languages & capture | Local MCP server so Claude Desktop, Cursor, and similar tools can read meetings | Automatically pastes transcribed text into any active application text field |
| Best-fit workflow | Exports to Notion, Linear, Attio, Slack, or custom webhooks | Cross-platform desktop app (macOS, Windows, Linux) built with Tauri |
Daisy
Choose Daisy if you need recording and transcribing meetings privately on a mac without cloud upload — strengths include fully local-first with audio kept on-device unless a cloud llm is explicitly enabled.
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.
Daisy
Handy
It depends on your workflow. Daisy is strong for recording and transcribing meetings privately on a mac without cloud upload, while Handy is strong for hands-free dictation into emails, documents, chat apps, and code editors. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Daisy 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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