Otter is the best-known AI notetaker, and the reasons people look for something else are consistent: the Otter bot joins calls as a visible participant, every recording is uploaded to Otter's servers, the free plan stops a conversation at 30 minutes, and its privacy policy allows training its AI on de-identified recordings and transcripts.
We compared the alternatives people ask about most on exactly those points, plus what you get out of a meeting.
We make ThinkScribe, so it is in this list, and it is first. The other apps are described from their own websites, help pages and App Store listings, checked on September 30, 2026.
The short answer
- Best overall: ThinkScribe. Everything people use Otter for, transcribed on your own device, with no bot and no account.
- A bot-free cloud notepad: Granola.
- For sales teams and CRMs: Fireflies.
- For the most languages: Notta.
- Cloud hosted in the EU: Jamie.
- For tinkerers on one Mac: MacWhisper.
How we compared them
| App | Uploads your meetings | Bot in the call | Account | Speaker names remembered | Live transcript | Works offline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otter (for reference) | yes | optional | yes | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| ThinkScribe | no | never | no | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Granola | yes | never | yes | not documented | ✓ | ✕ |
| Fireflies | yes | optional | yes | not documented | ✓ | ✕ |
| Notta | yes (a local beta mode exists) | optional | yes | not documented | ✓ | ✕ |
| Jamie | yes, EU servers | never | yes | ✓ | not documented | ✕ |
| MacWhisper | no | never | no | not documented | ✓ | ✓ |
1. ThinkScribe: best overall
ThinkScribe does the jobs people hire Otter for, a live transcript, names on every line, summaries and answers about the meeting, but the speech model runs on your iPhone, iPad or Mac. There is no ThinkScribe account, no bot, and your recordings and transcripts are never sent to us.
- Online and in person. On a Mac it records your microphone and the call audio of Zoom, Teams, Meet or FaceTime together. On iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch it records the room.
- Speaker names that stick. Name a voice once and it is recognized in later meetings, like Otter's speaker learning, but on your device.
- Live text, and a finished transcript moments after you stop.
- Notes you can question. Summary, action items, minutes and an executive brief, plus a Chat tab that answers questions about a recording and cites the exact lines; collections let you ask across several meetings.
- Your file formats. Export TXT, SRT, VTT, JSON, Markdown and PDF, and on the Mac Word and Apple Notes.
- Pay once if you like. A monthly or yearly plan, or a one-time lifetime purchase for all your Apple devices, which Otter does not offer.
What Otter has that ThinkScribe does not: a shared web workspace for teams, Windows and Android apps, and a bot for people who want one.
Choose it if you want Otter's results without handing your meetings to a cloud service.
2. Granola: the bot-free cloud notepad
Granola never sends a bot: it captures your computer's audio while you type rough notes, then its AI writes full notes from them. It runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and Apple Watch and does not keep the audio.
It is still a cloud service with an account (its security page names Deepgram, AssemblyAI, OpenAI and Anthropic), it trains on anonymized data unless you opt out, the desktop transcript shows "Me" and "Them" rather than names, and the free plan keeps 30 days of history.
Choose it if you like writing your own notes and only want to be rid of the bot.
3. Fireflies: for sales teams
Fireflies connects meetings to more than 100 tools, including CRMs, and has a strong search across all your calls. It can send a bot or record from its desktop app, and says it does not train on your data by default.
It is cloud-only with an account, and without the bot its transcripts show "Speaker 1" and "Speaker 2" rather than names.
Choose it if your notes need to flow into a CRM.
4. Notta: the most languages
Notta transcribes 58 languages with speaker identification, exports to Word, PDF, Excel and subtitles, and runs on the web, iPhone, Android and Apple Watch. A beta privacy mode in its desktop app transcribes locally.
It needs an account, works in the cloud by default, and its free plan stops each recording at 3 minutes.
Choose it if you work in a language the others do not cover.
5. Jamie: cloud in the EU
Jamie records without a bot on Mac, Windows and iPhone, remembers labeled voices, hosts in Germany, deletes the audio after transcription and says it does not train on meeting content.
It is a cloud service with an account, without an iPad app, and the free plan allows 10 notes a month.
Choose it if you need a cloud service and EU hosting is the requirement.
6. MacWhisper: for tinkerers on one Mac
MacWhisper transcribes on the Mac and, with Pro, records meetings and recognizes speakers. Summaries and questions need your own API key for a cloud AI or a local model runner you install, and the full feature set is Mac only.
Choose it if you want to build your own private setup on a single Mac.
Which one should you pick?
- You want Otter's features without uploading your meetings: ThinkScribe.
- Clients or legal rules say no bots and no cloud: ThinkScribe.
- You only want to be rid of the bot and the cloud is fine: Granola.
- Notes into your CRM: Fireflies.
- A language outside the usual set: Notta.
- EU-hosted cloud: Jamie.
There is a feature-by-feature table in ThinkScribe vs Otter.
More comparisons: the best offline transcription apps for Mac, the best dictation apps and voice keyboards for iPhone, the best AI meeting notes apps for Mac without a bot and the best voice recorder apps with transcription for iPhone.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to Otter.ai?
For most people who leave Otter over privacy or the bot, ThinkScribe: it gives you a live transcript, remembered speaker names, summaries and a chat that cites the meeting, with everything transcribed on your device, no account and no bot.
Is there an Otter alternative that works offline?
Yes. ThinkScribe transcribes on your iPhone, iPad or Mac and works without a connection. MacWhisper also transcribes offline on the Mac.
Is there an Otter alternative without a bot?
ThinkScribe, Granola and Jamie never join the call. Fireflies and Otter itself can also record through their desktop apps without a bot. Of these, only ThinkScribe keeps the transcription on your device; MacWhisper Pro does too, on the Mac only.
Which Otter alternative has a one-time price?
ThinkScribe offers a one-time lifetime purchase covering Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, and MacWhisper Pro is a one-time license for the Mac. Otter, Granola, Fireflies, Notta and Jamie are subscriptions.
Sources
Checked on September 30, 2026.
