Shadow and Tana 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. 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.
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 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 bot-free, Mac-based AI meeting assistant that transcribes and summarizes calls locally without joining as a participant.
AI workspace with a bot-less meeting notetaker that transcribes and summarizes meetings directly into a connected knowledge base.
Shadow 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.
| Feature | Shadow | Tana |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Bot-free capture that records system audio without joining the meeting as a participant | Bot-less meeting capture using computer system audio |
| Standout feature | On-device (local) transcription on macOS | Transcription and AI summaries for online and in-person meetings |
| Team usage | Speaker identification during transcription | Action items pushed directly to task boards in the workspace |
| Integrations | Captures on-screen content in addition to spoken audio | Links meeting notes to relevant people and projects |
| Languages & capture | Customizable prompts/Skills to generate notes, summaries, and emails | Automatic meeting detection on Mac |
| Best-fit workflow | Webhook integration to connect outputs to other tools | 60+ language support with automatic detection |
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.
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.
Shadow
Tana
It depends on your workflow. Shadow is strong for capturing notes and summaries across multiple conferencing platforms without a bot joining, while Tana is strong for transcribing and summarizing meetings without a bot in the call. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Shadow 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.
Yes. Many teams run more than one meeting assistant when the workflows are complementary and the budget is justified.