Pluely and StenoAI 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. StenoAI: Open-source desktop app that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings entirely on-device with no bots, subscriptions, or cloud processing. 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 Pluely when getting live transcription and ai assistance during meetings without a visible bot in the call matters most, and StenoAI when capturing and summarizing confidential meetings without sending audio to the cloud 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.
Open-source desktop app that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings entirely on-device with no bots, subscriptions, or cloud processing.
Pluely is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); StenoAI is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Pluely | StenoAI |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Bot-free capture of system audio and microphone for live transcription | On-device transcription with Parakeet TDT v3 (Apple Silicon) or Whisper models |
| Standout feature | Always-on-top overlay app for macOS, Windows, and Linux | System audio and microphone capture via native Core Audio Tap (no bots) |
| Team usage | Bring-your-own-key support for many LLMs (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Mistral, Cohere, Ollama, custom) | Real-time on-screen speaker labels distinguishing you from others |
| Integrations | Multiple speech-to-text providers (Whisper, Deepgram, ElevenLabs, Groq, Azure, and others) | Local LLM summaries through Ollama, with remote Ollama server support |
| Languages & capture | Lightweight (~10MB) and fast to launch | 25 European languages live, up to 99 languages via Whisper after recording |
| Best-fit workflow | Open source under GPL with optional local processing via Ollama | Markdown export of transcripts and summaries |
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.
StenoAI
Choose StenoAI if you need capturing and summarizing confidential meetings without sending audio to the cloud — strengths include fully local, bot-free capture with no cloud processing or subscriptions for core use.
Pluely
StenoAI
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 StenoAI is strong for capturing and summarizing confidential meetings without sending audio to the cloud. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Pluely is a free tier with paid upgrades and StenoAI 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.