Pluely and Tana 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. Tana: AI workspace with a bot-less meeting notetaker that transcribes and summarizes meetings directly into a connected knowledge base. 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 Tana when transcribing and summarizing meetings without a bot in the call 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)
Pluely is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Tana 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
Bot-less meeting capture using computer system audio
Standout feature
Always-on-top overlay app for macOS, Windows, and Linux
Transcription and AI summaries for online and in-person meetings
Team usage
Bring-your-own-key support for many LLMs (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Mistral, Cohere, Ollama, custom)
Action items pushed directly to task boards in the workspace
Integrations
Multiple speech-to-text providers (Whisper, Deepgram, ElevenLabs, Groq, Azure, and others)
Links meeting notes to relevant people and projects
Languages & capture
Lightweight (~10MB) and fast to launch
Automatic meeting detection on Mac
Best-fit workflow
Open source under GPL with optional local processing via Ollama
60+ language support with automatic detection
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.
Tana
Choose Tana if you need transcribing and summarizing meetings without a bot in the call — strengths include captures meetings without adding a bot to the call.
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
Tana
+ Captures meetings without adding a bot to the call
+ Meeting notes flow into a connected, structured knowledge base
- Requires the Tana desktop app and adopting its outliner workflow
FAQ
Is Pluely or Tana 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 Tana is strong for transcribing and summarizing meetings without a bot in the call. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
How do Pluely and Tana compare on price?
Pluely is a free tier with paid upgrades and Tana 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 Tana?
Yes. Many teams run more than one meeting assistant when the workflows are complementary and the budget is justified.