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. Polar Notes: AI note taker for students that turns lectures, audio, slides, PDFs, and videos into notes and study packs. 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 Polar Notes when converting youtube videos, slides, and pdfs into a study pack 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.
AI note taker for students that turns lectures, audio, slides, PDFs, and videos into notes and study packs.
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
Polar Notes (PolarNotes AI) is an AI note-taking tool built for students and teachers that converts lectures and course materials into organized study resources. Users can record or upload a lecture, paste a YouTube link, or import slides and PDFs, and the app automatically transcribes audio when needed and analyzes the content to produce summarized notes, key concepts, section headings, and short overviews. From the same source material it can generate a study pack that includes study guides, flashcards, and assessment questions, and results can be exported to Google Docs or PDF with study sets organized in one place. Polar Notes emphasizes privacy and offline access on iOS, keeping notes stored locally on the device unless the user chooses to back them up or share them, which lets students review notes without an internet connection. It also supports multilingual transcription, making it usable for international students and teachers recording in different languages. The tool is delivered as an iOS app with an accompanying web experience and free online tools, and is aimed at learners who want lecture and document content distilled into exam-ready study material rather than verbatim meeting records. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Daisy is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Polar Notes is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Daisy | Polar Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Local recording of mic and system audio from any source via ScreenCaptureKit | Record or upload lectures, paste YouTube links, and import slides or PDFs |
| Standout feature | On-device transcription with WhisperKit and speaker diarization via Pyannote | Automatic audio transcription and AI-generated summarized notes with headings |
| Team usage | Structured AI notes with action items and follow-ups | Study pack generation including study guides, flashcards, and quiz questions |
| Integrations | Multiple summarization backends: Apple Intelligence, Anthropic, OpenAI, and MCP | Export to Google Docs and PDF with organized study sets |
| Languages & capture | Local MCP server so Claude Desktop, Cursor, and similar tools can read meetings | Offline access on iOS with notes stored locally by default |
| Best-fit workflow | Exports to Notion, Linear, Attio, Slack, or custom webhooks | Multilingual transcription for international students and teachers |
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.
Polar Notes
Choose Polar Notes if you need turning recorded lectures into summarized notes and flashcards — strengths include turns multiple source types into exam-ready study material.
Daisy
Polar Notes
It depends on your workflow. Daisy is strong for recording and transcribing meetings privately on a mac without cloud upload, while Polar Notes is strong for turning recorded lectures into summarized notes and flashcards. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Daisy is a free tier with paid upgrades and Polar Notes 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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