Kai for Chrome and ownscribe are both AI meeting assistants for recording, transcription, and summaries, compared here on pricing, features, and workflow fit. Kai for Chrome: A Chrome extension that transcribes and summarizes meetings entirely on-device in the browser, with no bot, no account, and no upload. ownscribe: Local-first command-line tool that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings on macOS entirely on-device, with natural-language search across notes. They overlap on ai-meeting-assistants, so the right pick depends on team size, budget, and which meeting workflows you automate.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
For ai-meeting-assistants workflows, shortlist Kai for Chrome when privately transcribing google meet, zoom web, or teams calls inside chrome matters most, and ownscribe when developers capturing and summarizing meetings from the terminal on a mac matters most. Both record across Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams; trial each on real meetings before committing.
A Chrome extension that transcribes and summarizes meetings entirely on-device in the browser, with no bot, no account, and no upload.
Local-first command-line tool that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings on macOS entirely on-device, with natural-language search across notes.
Kai for Chrome is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); ownscribe is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Kai for Chrome | ownscribe |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Fully on-device transcription in the browser via Whisper on WebGPU or WebAssembly | Local-first recording, transcription, and summarization via CLI |
| Standout feature | Bot-free capture from Google Meet, Zoom web, Teams, and any Chrome audio tab | System audio capture on macOS 14.2+ through Core Audio |
| Team usage | No account or sign-up required to start transcribing | WhisperX transcription with word-level timestamps |
| Integrations | Keyboard-shortcut recording with a live transcript side panel | Optional speaker diarization via PyAnnote |
| Languages & capture | Local summaries with decisions, topics, and assigned action items | Local summarization with a built-in Phi-4-mini model, plus Ollama and OpenAI-compatible backends |
| Best-fit workflow | One-click optional email sharing of finished notes | Natural-language search across meeting notes with the ask command |
Kai for Chrome
Choose Kai for Chrome if you need privately transcribing google meet, zoom web, or teams calls inside chrome — strengths include audio and transcription stay on-device for strong privacy.
ownscribe
Choose ownscribe if you need developers capturing and summarizing meetings from the terminal on a mac — strengths include runs entirely on-device with no data sent to external servers.
Kai for Chrome
ownscribe
It depends on your workflow. Kai for Chrome is strong for privately transcribing google meet, zoom web, or teams calls inside chrome, while ownscribe is strong for developers capturing and summarizing meetings from the terminal on a mac. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Kai for Chrome is a free tier with paid upgrades and ownscribe is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Yes. Many teams run more than one meeting assistant when the workflows are complementary and the budget is justified.