Looking for Apple Notes & Voice Memos alternatives? Compare all the best AI note takers for Mac including pricing, features, and use cases.
The best Apple Notes & Voice Memos alternatives are Retext (for bot-free notes that stay on your devices and become snippets), Granola, and Otter.ai. Your best choice depends on whether you need calendar-driven meeting capture with speaker labels and CRM sync, or private notes that stay on your devices.
Native Mac app that records a note, transcribes it on your Mac, writes a summary and action items, and turns the useful parts into snippets. No bot joins your call.
Recording, on-device transcription and summaries come with every plan. See the pricing page.
Notes on your Mac, plus 5 snippets
AI notepad for meetings that listens to your computer's audio, with no bot, and turns your rough notes into full meeting notes
AI meeting assistant whose notetaker joins Zoom, Teams and Google Meet calls to transcribe, summarize and share notes
AI notetaker that joins your calls as a bot, or records bot-free from its desktop app, then transcribes, summarizes and syncs notes to your tools
AI notetaker for Zoom, Google Meet and Teams with a free plan of unlimited recordings, and bot-free capture on Mac
Meeting recorder for Zoom, Google Meet and Teams that joins as a bot, or records bot-free from its desktop app, with AI notes and CRM sync
Bot-free AI notetaker for Mac, Windows and iPhone that captures online and in-person meetings, with EU data hosting
Voice and meeting notes in Every's Monologue app, recording your Mac's microphone and system audio without a bot
Meeting notes inside Wispr Flow on Mac and Windows, recording your microphone and system audio with speaker-attributed transcripts
| Feature | Retext | Apple Notes & Voice Memos | Granola | Otter.ai | Fireflies.ai |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transcripts & Summaries | |||||
| Bot-Free Recording | |||||
| Both Sides of a Call | |||||
| Calendar & Auto-Start | Not available | Not available | |||
| Speaker Labels | Not available | Not available | |||
| CRM & App Integrations | |||||
| Privacy & Local Storage | |||||
| Snippet Expansion | Not available | Not available | Not available | ||
| Cross-Platform |
| Product | Pricing Model | Price | Free Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retext | Freemium | Recording, on-device transcription and summaries come with every plan. See the pricing page. | Notes on your Mac, plus 5 snippets |
| Apple Notes & Voice Memos | Free | Free, built into macOS and iOS | Included with your Mac and iPhone; transcription needs Apple silicon on Mac |
| Granola | Freemium | Business $14/user/month; Enterprise $35/user/month | Basic plan with 30 days of meeting history, Slack integration and shared folders |
| Otter.ai | Freemium | Pro $16.99/user/month or $8.33 billed annually; Business $30/user/month (shown discounted to $24 on 2026-10-28) or $19.99 billed annually; Enterprise by quote | 300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 file imports, your 25 most recent conversations |
| Fireflies.ai | Freemium | Free, Pro, Business and Enterprise plans per seat; prices aren't shown on their pricing page | Free plan with fewer transcription credits than Pro; limits aren't shown on their pricing page |
| Fathom | Freemium | Premium $20/user/month or $16 billed annually; Team $19 or $15 (2 users minimum); Business $34 or $25; Enterprise by quote | Unlimited recordings and transcriptions with instant AI summaries; some features have limited use |
| tl;dv | Freemium | Pro €29/seat/month or €18 billed annually; Business €39/seat/month or €29 billed annually (listed in euros) | Unlimited recordings and transcriptions, AI notes for 10 meetings a month |
| Jamie | Freemium | Plus $24 (as listed); Pro $46/month billed annually; Team $37/seat/month billed annually; Enterprise custom | 10 AI notes a month, meetings up to 30 minutes, 1 custom template |
| Monologue Notes | Flat Rate | Monologue Pro $15/month or $144/year; included with Every | Trial with 10 recorded notes |
| Wispr Flow Notetaker | Per Seat | Pro $15/user/month or $12 billed annually; Growth $23 or $18 billed annually, $33 or $26 with unlimited Notetaker; Enterprise custom | Notetaker with weekly meeting limits, 50 recordings a week by default |
Retext, Granola, Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai and Fathom. The right one depends on whether you need calendar-driven meeting capture with speaker labels and CRM sync, or private notes that stay on your devices.
Retext, Granola, Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai, Fathom, tl;dv, Jamie, Monologue Notes and Wispr Flow Notetaker have a free plan or trial. Check each one's limits in the pricing table above.
Summaries aren't available in all languages or regions; Transcription needs an M1 Mac or later.
Yes. Apple Notes & Voice Memos's free option: included with your Mac and iPhone; transcription needs Apple silicon on Mac. Paid: Free, built into macOS and iOS.
Download Retext, turn on Notes in Settings, and click Record Note. Your transcript and summary are written on your Mac.
Sources
Apple Notes & Voice Memos, checked October 28, 2026: Record and transcribe audio in Notes on Mac · Voice Memos transcriptions on Mac · Record and transcribe a call on iPhone · Apple Intelligence
Granola, checked October 28, 2026: Granola pricing · Granola security · Granola: exporting notes · Granola: syncing your calendars
Otter.ai, checked October 28, 2026: Otter pricing · Otter privacy policy · Otter: connect your calendar · Otter: speaker identification
Fireflies.ai, checked October 28, 2026: Fireflies pricing · Fireflies pricing explained · Fireflies: record without a bot
Fathom, checked October 28, 2026: Fathom pricing · Fathom: compatible devices · Fathom quick start
tl;dv, checked October 28, 2026: tl;dv pricing · tl;dv home · tl;dv desktop app
Jamie, checked October 28, 2026: Jamie pricing · Jamie home · Jamie: identify speakers · Jamie: Outlook calendar
Monologue Notes, checked October 28, 2026: Monologue Notes · Monologue pricing · Monologue data privacy
Wispr Flow Notetaker, checked October 28, 2026: Wispr Flow Notetaker · Wispr Flow pricing · Getting started with Notetaker · Sharing meeting notes from Notetaker
Prices and features change. Check each vendor's site before you buy.