Shadow and Vibe 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. Vibe: Open-source, cross-platform desktop app that transcribes meeting and interview recordings offline using Whisper, keeping all data on your device. 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 Vibe when transcribing recorded meetings or interviews privately on a laptop 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.
Open-source, cross-platform desktop app that transcribes meeting and interview recordings offline using Whisper, keeping all data on your device.
Shadow is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Vibe is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Shadow | Vibe |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Bot-free capture that records system audio without joining the meeting as a participant | Offline transcription powered by OpenAI Whisper (whisper.cpp) |
| Standout feature | On-device (local) transcription on macOS | Cross-platform: macOS, Windows, and Linux |
| Team usage | Speaker identification during transcription | Speaker diarization to separate participants |
| Integrations | Captures on-screen content in addition to spoken audio | Multiple export formats (SRT, VTT, TXT, HTML, PDF, JSON, DOCX) |
| Languages & capture | Customizable prompts/Skills to generate notes, summaries, and emails | Command-line interface and HTTP API for automation |
| Best-fit workflow | Webhook integration to connect outputs to other tools | GPU acceleration for NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel |
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.
Vibe
Choose Vibe if you need transcribing recorded meetings or interviews privately on a laptop — strengths include free and open source under the mit license.
Shadow
Vibe
It depends on your workflow. Shadow is strong for capturing notes and summaries across multiple conferencing platforms without a bot joining, while Vibe is strong for transcribing recorded meetings or interviews privately on a laptop. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Shadow is a free tier with paid upgrades and Vibe 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.