Shadow and Speechmatics are both AI meeting assistants for recording, transcription, and summaries, compared here on pricing, features, and workflow fit. Shadow: A bot-free, Mac-based AI meeting assistant that transcribes and summarizes calls locally without joining as a participant. Speechmatics: Speech-to-text and voice AI provider offering real-time transcription and live captioning APIs. 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 Shadow when capturing notes and summaries across multiple conferencing platforms without a bot joining matters most, and Speechmatics when adding live captions to broadcasts, sports, and events matters most. Both record across Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams; trial each on real meetings before committing.
A bot-free, Mac-based AI meeting assistant that transcribes and summarizes calls locally without joining as a participant.
Speech-to-text and voice AI provider offering real-time transcription and live captioning APIs.
Shadow is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Speechmatics is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Shadow | Speechmatics |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Bot-free capture that records system audio without joining the meeting as a participant | Speech-to-text transcription for recorded and real-time audio |
| Standout feature | On-device (local) transcription on macOS | Low-latency real-time processing for live use |
| Team usage | Speaker identification during transcription | Live captioning for events, broadcasts, and streams |
| Integrations | Captures on-screen content in addition to spoken audio | Multi-speaker and multilingual support across many languages |
| Languages & capture | Customizable prompts/Skills to generate notes, summaries, and emails | APIs for embedding transcription into other applications |
| Best-fit workflow | Webhook integration to connect outputs to other tools | Speech-to-text transcription for recorded and real-time audio |
Shadow
Choose Shadow if you need capturing notes and summaries across multiple conferencing platforms without a bot joining — strengths include does not add a visible bot to meetings.
Speechmatics
Choose Speechmatics if you need adding live captions to broadcasts, sports, and events — strengths include real-time, low-latency transcription suitable for live captioning.
Shadow
Speechmatics
It depends on your workflow. Shadow is strong for capturing notes and summaries across multiple conferencing platforms without a bot joining, while Speechmatics is strong for adding live captions to broadcasts, sports, and events. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Shadow is a free tier with paid upgrades and Speechmatics 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.