Writing on private meetings.
Comparisons, privacy explainers, and practical guides to capturing what was said — without handing your conversations to a cloud.
Otter Alternative Without the Bot: Private Meeting Notes on Mac
Tired of '[Your Name]'s Notetaker (Otter.ai)' appearing in your meetings? An honest look at Otter's bot, its own bot-free modes, and truly local alternatives that keep audio on your Mac.
Does Granola Save Your Recordings? What Happens to Your Meeting Audio
No — Granola deletes meeting audio once transcription is done, while your transcript and notes sync to its cloud. What that means for replay, disputes, and privacy, cited to Granola's own docs.
Best Granola Alternatives in 2026 (Tested for Privacy)
An honest roundup of Granola alternatives — Speechmark, BB Recorder, OpenWhispr, Fathom, Fireflies, and Otter — graded on where your audio goes, who trains on it, and what you pay. Every claim cited to the vendors' own pages.
Getting started with Speechmark: your first meeting in a few minutes
A short setup guide for Speechmark on macOS — grant permissions, record your first meeting, watch live transcription, and get a summary with the key points, decisions, and action items. Includes a full video walkthrough.
Set up free AI meeting notes with a Google Gemini API key
Google's Gemini API has a genuinely useful free tier — no credit card required. Here's how to get a key in two minutes, connect it to Speechmark, and the one privacy trade-off to know before you do.
Speechmark vs Otter.ai: a private, on-device alternative for Mac
A practical comparison of Speechmark and Otter.ai for meeting notes on macOS — where your audio goes, who can read it, what you pay, and which one fits a privacy-first workflow.
A Private Granola Alternative That Keeps Everything on Your Mac (Speechmark vs Granola)
Looking for a Granola alternative that keeps meetings private? Speechmark stores the audio, transcript, and notes on your Mac — no account, no AI training, one-time price. An honest comparison, cited to Granola's own pages.