NoteOwl vs Meetily

A Meetily alternative with speaker labels, chat and meeting memory

NoteOwl is a Meetily alternative for Mac. Like Meetily, the open-source meeting notetaker, it sends no bot to the call and keeps your recordings and transcripts on your computer. NoteOwl adds chat across every meeting and voices recognised from one meeting to the next, which Meetily doesn’t offer yet, plus a board of every promise.

Dictation into any app is free, and NoteOwl Pro is $79 lifetime, with no subscription. Meetily Pro, the plan with its speaker labels, is $120 a year.

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What did you promise in your last meeting? NoteOwl remembers (0:51).
Read the transcript

Quick question. What did you actually promise in your last meeting? …Yeah. Me neither.

This is NoteOwl. It’s a Mac app that takes notes on your calls. And no, there’s no bot joining your meeting.

The second the call ends, it’s written everything up. What got decided. Who’s doing what. And by when.

All those promises end up in one list. What you owe people… and what they owe you.

And here’s the part that got me. You can just ask it. “What changed on the Ferncastle pilot?” And it shows you exactly where that came from.

The whole thing runs on your Mac. Nothing gets uploaded. It even works with the Wi-Fi off.

NoteOwl. It’s free to download. Try it on your next call.

Why choose NoteOwl over Meetily?

Because NoteOwl remembers across meetings: it recognises voices you’ve named, tracks every promise and answers from all your meetings, on your Mac. Meetily’s speaker labels are part of Meetily Pro, and its chat is still coming soon.[1,3] NoteOwl’s dictation is free, and Pro is a lifetime licence.

  • Every promise, and everyone you meet

    A board of what you owe and what you’re owed, a profile for everyone you meet, and prep pages from your Mac’s Calendar, all written on your Mac from your own meetings. Meetily lists calendar integration as coming soon.[1]

  • Knows every voice

    With NoteOwl Pro, name a voice once and it’s recognised in every meeting after. Meetily’s speaker labels are part of Meetily Pro, and names are kept for each meeting only.[3,4]

  • Lifetime licence. No subscription.

    NoteOwl Pro is $79 lifetime for your Mac. Meetily Pro is $120 a year per person, for one device.[1]

  • Ask every meeting, cited

    Chat answers from all your meetings and cites the passage it used, or tells you when nothing matches — on your Mac, with Wi-Fi off. Meetily lists chat with your meetings as coming soon, on every plan.[1]

  • Summaries in 22 templates

    Written on your Mac when the call ends, then rewritten as a 1:1, a sales call or an interview with Summarize as. Meetily’s free edition has one default template.[2]

  • Offline, Chat included

    Every NoteOwl feature, from transcripts to Chat and People, works with Wi-Fi off after the one-time model download.

  • Free dictation in every app

    Tap fn and talk in any app: your words type at the cursor as you talk, and one tap polishes them in the right tone for that app — free and unlimited. No Meetily plan lists dictation into other apps.[1]

  • Private AI, nothing to choose

    Transcription, speakers, summaries and chat run on your Mac with on-device AI models that come with the app: no engine, provider or API key to pick. Meetily’s transcription and summaries run locally by default; pick a cloud provider or your own API key and the audio or transcript leaves the computer.[2,5]

A person’s profile in NoteOwl with their voice marked as recognised and a Forget button beside it, above their company, title and relationship summary
A voice named once, recognised from past meetings on the person’s profile. Forget removes it.
NoteOwl Chat answering “What changed on the Ferncastle pilot since the kickoff?”: budget cut from $120,000 to $90,000, personal accounts only, 12 weeks to 8, with the meeting it came from and the passages it cites
A real answer in NoteOwl’s Chat, with the meeting and passages it came from.

Meetily pricing

What does Meetily cost compared with NoteOwl?

NoteOwl Pro is $79 lifetime, with no subscription. Meetily’s Community edition is free, without speaker labels; Meetily Pro, which adds them, is $10 per person per month, billed yearly at $120 — $360 over three years.[1,3]

Every NoteOwl Pro feature is free for 7 days in the app, with no card, and NoteOwl’s dictation into any app stays free after the trial.

Price
NoteOwl$79 lifetime for one Mac; no subscription
MeetilyCommunity: free and open source. Pro: $10 per person per month, billed yearly at $120; one device per licence[1]
Speaker labels
NoteOwlPro: in every meeting; a voice named once is recognised in later meetings
MeetilyPro only; names stay with the meeting they were given in[3,4]
Chat with your meetings
NoteOwlPro: answers from every meeting, citing the passage
MeetilyComing soon, on every plan[1]
Dictation into other apps
NoteOwlFree and unlimited
MeetilyNot in any plan[1]
US-dollar prices as each company publishes them. Checked 31 October 2026.

How is NoteOwl different from Meetily?

Both take meeting notes with no bot and keep them on your computer, with AI that runs there by default[1,6]. The difference is what happens after the meeting: NoteOwl recognises voices across meetings, answers questions from all of them and tracks every promise.

Bot in the call
NoteOwlNone; records your microphone and your Mac’s audio
MeetilyNone; captures your microphone and system audio[6,9]
Where transcription runs
NoteOwlOn your Mac, always, with on-device AI models
MeetilyOn your computer by default; Pro adds cloud and custom transcription providers, which receive the audio[1,5]
Where summaries run
NoteOwlOn your Mac, built in; nothing to install, connect or pay per use
MeetilyA local model by default, or a provider you add with your own API key, which receives the transcript text[1,2]
Works offline
NoteOwlEverything, after the one-time model download
MeetilyYes, with local models, after the download[6]
Speaker labels
NoteOwlPro: speakers separated in any call app; name a voice once and it’s recognised in later meetings
MeetilyPro only, in beta and off by default; names are kept for that meeting, and recognising a voice across meetings is not currently available[3,4]
Chat with your meetings
NoteOwlPro: ask across every meeting; each answer cites the passage it came from
MeetilyComing soon, on every plan[1]
Calendar
NoteOwlPro: your Mac’s Calendar, with a prep page for each meeting from your own notes
MeetilyComing soon, on every plan[1]
Summary templates
NoteOwlPro: 22 built-in, plus your own
MeetilyCommunity: a default template. Pro: 6 built-in, plus your own[2]
Getting notes out
NoteOwlCopy any note into any app, export it as Markdown, PDF, text or SRT, or export everything as plain files
MeetilyCommunity: copy. Pro: PDF, DOCX and Markdown exports[1]
Dictation into other apps
NoteOwlFree and unlimited: tap fn and your words type at the cursor as you talk; one tap polishes them for that app
MeetilyNot in any plan[1]
Analytics in the app
NoteOwlNone: no analytics or telemetry
MeetilyOpt-in usage statistics and anonymized crash reports, which can be turned off[8]
Price
NoteOwl$79 lifetime for one Mac; no subscription. Dictation is free
MeetilyCommunity free. Pro $10 per person per month, billed yearly at $120, for one device[1]
Devices
NoteOwlMac
MeetilyMac and Windows; Linux by building it from source[7]
Mac requirements
NoteOwlmacOS 26 or later, Apple silicon, 16 GB memory
MeetilymacOS 11 or later, Apple silicon, 8 GB memory[6]
Meetily’s column is taken from Meetily’s own website, docs and GitHub repository, checked on 31 October 2026; the numbers link to the sources.

Does Meetily keep your meetings on your computer?

By default, yes: Meetily transcribes on your computer and keeps recordings there. What leaves depends on the settings you choose: a cloud transcription provider receives the audio, and a summary provider you add with your own API key receives the transcript text.[2,5]

Meetily, in its own words

“Meetily sends audio to the transcription engine you select.”[5]
“With BYOK, only the transcript text is sent to your chosen provider. Audio and recordings never leave your device.”[2]
“Names and corrections are saved for the current meeting. Automatic speaker recognition across different meetings is not currently available.”[4]
“All analytics are completely optional and can be disabled in settings.”[8]

NoteOwl

Recording, transcription, speaker detection, summaries, search and chat all run on the Mac, with on-device AI models that come with the app. There is no transcription engine to pick, no summary provider to choose and no API key to add. Recordings, transcripts and notes are never uploaded, and the app has no analytics or telemetry.

The only network use: the one-time model download, update checks and, for Pro, signing in and an occasional licence check — none of which sends what you record. Offline AI meeting notes, and what stays on your Mac

What does NoteOwl remember from one meeting to the next?

Who spoke, what was promised, and who you met. NoteOwl Pro recognises the voices you’ve named, keeps a board of what you owe and are owed, writes a profile for everyone you meet, and answers questions across all your meetings, citing the passage — on your Mac.

Who spoke. Speakers are separated in any call app, and a voice you name in one meeting is labelled in the next one too. Transcription with speaker identification

What was promised. Action items land on a board of what you owe and what you’re owed, each linked to the moment it was said. Meeting action items, tracked

Who you met. Everyone gets a profile written from your meetings, with your own private notes beside it. A personal CRM from your meetings

When is Meetily the better choice?

When you want meeting notes that cost nothing, with code you can read and change, or you work on Windows: Meetily’s Community edition is free and open source under the MIT licence. For voices recognised, chat across meetings and meeting memory with no subscription, choose NoteOwl.[7,9]

Can you switch from Meetily to NoteOwl?

Yes, starting with your next meeting. Download NoteOwl, and the next call you take is transcribed and summarized on your Mac. Meeting audio you’ve already saved can be imported into NoteOwl Pro and transcribed with speaker labels.

Your notes are never locked in: copy any note into any app, or export your meeting notes as Markdown, PDF, text or SRT — or all of your data at once as plain files.

Sources

Last checked . Meetily facts are quoted or summarised from Meetily’s own website, docs and GitHub repository.

  1. [1]Meetily, Pricing — the feature table: Community, Pro Trial, Pro, Enterprise
  2. [2]Meetily, Meetily Pro
  3. [3]Meetily, Speaker diarization
  4. [4]Meetily Docs, Speaker Diarization
  5. [5]Meetily Docs, Transcription providers
  6. [6]Meetily, Meetily Free: Community Edition
  7. [7]Meetily, Download Meetily
  8. [8]Meetily, Privacy Policy & Data Protection
  9. [9]Zackriya Solutions on GitHub, Meetily: README and MIT licence (Community release v0.4.1)

FAQ

Questions about NoteOwl and Meetily

Is Meetily free?

Meetily’s Community edition is free and open source under the MIT licence, with transcription and summaries on your computer. Speaker labels, custom summary templates and PDF, DOCX and Markdown exports are part of Meetily Pro, at $10 per person per month, billed yearly at $120. Prices checked on 31 October 2026.

Does Meetily have speaker identification?

In Meetily Pro, yes: it labels speakers on your computer, and you name them in each meeting. Meetily’s docs say recognising a voice across different meetings is not currently available. NoteOwl Pro separates speakers in every meeting and recognises a voice you’ve named in every meeting after.

Is NoteOwl cheaper than Meetily?

Than Meetily Pro, yes, from the first year: NoteOwl Pro is $79 lifetime, with no subscription, while Meetily Pro is $120 a year, or $360 over three years. Meetily’s Community edition costs nothing, without speaker labels. NoteOwl’s dictation is free forever. Prices checked on 31 October 2026.

Can you chat with your meetings in NoteOwl?

Yes, with NoteOwl Pro. Chat answers questions from every meeting on your Mac and cites the passage it used, or says when nothing matches, with Wi-Fi off. Meetily lists chat with your meetings as coming soon on all of its plans.

Does NoteOwl work offline?

Yes. NoteOwl records, transcribes, summarizes and answers questions on your Mac, so everything works offline after the one-time model download. There is no engine, provider or API key to set, and the app has no analytics or telemetry.

Does NoteOwl have a free plan?

Yes. Dictation into any app and voice notes are free forever, with no limit. Meeting notes, speaker labels, chat and the rest of Pro are free for 7 days in the app, with no card; after that Pro is $79 lifetime.

Does NoteOwl run on Windows?

No. NoteOwl is a Mac app for macOS 26 or later on Apple silicon with 16 GB of memory. Meetily runs on Windows and on Apple silicon Macs from macOS 11.

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How NoteOwl does it

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Try private meeting notes that remember every voice

Free to download. Runs entirely on your Mac.

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macOS 26 or later · Apple Silicon (M1 or newer) · 16 GB memory minimum, 24 GB recommended

About NoteOwl

NoteOwl is private AI meeting notes and memory for the Mac. It captures meetings without a bot joining the call, labels every speaker, writes summaries and action items, and builds a memory of every conversation that you can chat with — fully offline, because the speech recognition and the AI run on the Mac itself. Dictation into any app is free; Pro is a lifetime licence.

NoteOwl pricing: what’s free and what Pro adds

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