Shadow and Whisper Notes 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. Whisper Notes: Offline, privacy-first Whisper transcription app for iPhone and Mac that records and, on Mac, summarizes meetings and recordings. 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 Whisper Notes when transcribing confidential meetings or interviews entirely offline 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.
Offline, privacy-first Whisper transcription app for iPhone and Mac that records and, on Mac, summarizes meetings and recordings.
Shadow is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Whisper Notes is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Shadow | Whisper Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Bot-free capture that records system audio without joining the meeting as a participant | 100% on-device, offline transcription with no cloud uploads |
| Standout feature | On-device (local) transcription on macOS | Whisper-based transcription across 100+ languages |
| Team usage | Speaker identification during transcription | Mac AI summaries, auto titles, and transcript chat (3+ minute recordings) |
| Integrations | Captures on-screen content in addition to spoken audio | Mac meeting recording for Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet |
| Languages & capture | Customizable prompts/Skills to generate notes, summaries, and emails | System-wide Fn-key dictation on Mac |
| Best-fit workflow | Webhook integration to connect outputs to other tools | Audio file import, timestamps, and export |
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.
Whisper Notes
Choose Whisper Notes if you need transcribing confidential meetings or interviews entirely offline — strengths include fully offline processing is strong for privacy and confidential recordings.
Shadow
Whisper Notes
It depends on your workflow. Shadow is strong for capturing notes and summaries across multiple conferencing platforms without a bot joining, while Whisper Notes is strong for transcribing confidential meetings or interviews entirely offline. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Shadow is a free tier with paid upgrades and Whisper Notes 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.