Pluely and Simon Says are both AI meeting assistants for recording, transcription, and summaries, compared here on pricing, features, and workflow fit. Pluely: A lightweight open-source desktop AI meeting assistant that captures system audio for live transcription and on-call answers without joining as a visible bot. Simon Says: AI transcription, captioning, and translation built for professional video and audio workflows. They overlap on ai-meeting-assistants, so the right pick depends on team size, budget, and which meeting workflows you automate.
For ai-meeting-assistants workflows, shortlist Pluely when getting live transcription and ai assistance during meetings without a visible bot in the call 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.
A lightweight open-source desktop AI meeting assistant that captures system audio for live transcription and on-call answers without joining as a visible bot.
Always-on-top overlay app for macOS, Windows, and LinuxBot-free capture of system audio and microphone for live transcriptionBring-your-own-key support for many LLMs (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Mistral, Cohere, Ollama, custom)
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
Pluely 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.
Bot-free capture of system audio and microphone for live transcription
AI transcription with speaker identification
Standout feature
Always-on-top overlay app for macOS, Windows, and Linux
Subtitle and caption generation with visual editing
Team usage
Bring-your-own-key support for many LLMs (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Mistral, Cohere, Ollama, custom)
Translation across many languages
Integrations
Multiple speech-to-text providers (Whisper, Deepgram, ElevenLabs, Groq, Azure, and others)
Integrations with Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Avid
Languages & capture
Lightweight (~10MB) and fast to launch
Support for professional audio and video formats
Best-fit workflow
Open source under GPL with optional local processing via Ollama
AI transcription with speaker identification
Best for
Pluely
Choose Pluely if you need getting live transcription and ai assistance during meetings without a visible bot in the call — strengths include free and open source with fully inspectable code.
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
Pluely
+ Free and open source with fully inspectable code
+ Bot-free and can run locally for privacy when paired with local models
- Requires bringing your own API keys, adding setup effort and external usage costs
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 Pluely or Simon Says better for AI meeting notes?
It depends on your workflow. Pluely is strong for getting live transcription and ai assistance during meetings without a visible bot in the call, while Simon Says is strong for transcribing and captioning footage for video editing projects. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
How do Pluely and Simon Says compare on price?
Pluely 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 Pluely and Simon Says?
Yes. Many teams run more than one meeting assistant when the workflows are complementary and the budget is justified.