Meeting Transcriber and Simon Says are both AI meeting assistants for recording, transcription, and summaries, compared here on pricing, features, and workflow fit. Meeting Transcriber: Open-source, local-first macOS app that auto-records Teams, Zoom, and Webex calls and transcribes, diarizes, and summarizes them entirely on-device. Simon Says: AI transcription, captioning, and translation built for professional video and audio workflows. They overlap on ai-meeting-assistants, ai-transcription, so the right pick depends on team size, budget, and which meeting workflows you automate.
For ai-meeting-assistants, ai-transcription workflows, shortlist Meeting Transcriber when privacy-conscious professionals who want meeting transcripts and notes kept on their own mac matters most, and Simon Says when transcribing and captioning footage for video editing projects matters most. Both record across Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams; trial each on real meetings before committing.
Open-source, local-first macOS app that auto-records Teams, Zoom, and Webex calls and transcribes, diarizes, and summarizes them entirely on-device.
Automatic recording of Teams, Zoom, and Webex meetings via a macOS menu bar appDual-track diarization with separate app and microphone tracks for clean speaker separationManual recording of any application plus import of WAV, MP3, M4A, and MP4 files
AI transcription, captioning, and translation built for professional video and audio workflows.
AI transcription with speaker identificationIntegrations with Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and AvidSubtitle and caption generation with visual editing
Meeting Transcriber is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Simon Says is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
Pluggable summarization backends: Claude Code CLI, OpenAI-compatible APIs (Ollama, LM Studio), or transcript-only
AI transcription with speaker identification
Best for
Meeting Transcriber
Choose Meeting Transcriber if you need privacy-conscious professionals who want meeting transcripts and notes kept on their own mac — strengths include fully open source under the mit license with development in the open on github.
Simon Says
Choose Simon Says if you need transcribing and captioning footage for video editing projects — strengths include integrates directly with professional video editing software.
Pros & cons
Meeting Transcriber
+ Fully open source under the MIT license with development in the open on GitHub
+ Runs entirely on-device, so audio, transcripts, and summaries can stay local for privacy
- macOS-only and requires macOS 14.2 or later (no Windows or Linux support)
Simon Says
+ Integrates directly with professional video editing software
+ Strong multilingual transcription and translation coverage
- Built for video production rather than meeting note-taking
FAQ
Is Meeting Transcriber or Simon Says better for AI meeting notes?
It depends on your workflow. Meeting Transcriber is strong for privacy-conscious professionals who want meeting transcripts and notes kept on their own mac, while Simon Says is strong for transcribing and captioning footage for video editing projects. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
How do Meeting Transcriber and Simon Says compare on price?
Meeting Transcriber is a free tier with paid upgrades and Simon Says is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Can I use both Meeting Transcriber and Simon Says?
Yes. Many teams run more than one meeting assistant when the workflows are complementary and the budget is justified.
Meeting Transcriber vs Simon Says: Pricing, Features & Recommendation | Hosiqo