NoteOwl vs Notta

A Notta alternative that transcribes and summarizes on your Mac

NoteOwl is a Notta alternative for Mac that does all of the work on your computer: it records your calls with no bot, then transcribes, summarizes and answers questions about them on the Mac itself.

Nothing is uploaded, AI summaries and chat work the same with or without internet, meetings have no minute caps, and you pay once instead of subscribing — with free dictation into every app on top.

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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 Notta?

Because your meetings never leave your Mac — AI summaries and chat included — every feature works the same with or without internet, and you pay once, with no minute caps. On top of that you get free dictation in every app and voices recognised in any call.

  • Summaries on your Mac, too

    Recording, transcription, summaries and chat all run on your Mac with on-device AI models, and nothing is uploaded. Notta transcribes in its cloud by default, and its on-device Privacy Mode pauses or limits cloud AI summaries.[7,8]

  • The same online or offline

    Every feature works with Wi-Fi off, Chat included, after the one-time model download. Notta Desktop needs a network to transcribe, except in Privacy Mode.[6,8]

  • Pay once. No subscription.

    NoteOwl Pro is $79 once for your Mac. Notta Pro is $97.99 a year.[1]

  • Voices recognised, no bot needed

    Speakers are separated in any call app. Name a voice once and it’s recognised in every meeting after; the voice profile stays on your Mac. Notta Desktop labels bot-free recordings “Local” and “Remote”.[4]

  • No minute caps

    NoteOwl Pro records meetings of any length and imports as many recordings as you like. Notta Pro allows 1,800 minutes a month, 5 hours a recording and 100 file uploads a month.[1]

  • Free dictation in every app

    Tap fn and talk in Mail, Slack, Notion or your code editor. Your words type at the cursor as you talk, and one tap polishes them in the right tone for each app — free and unlimited.

  • Ask every meeting, even offline

    Chat answers from your own meetings and notes and cites the passage it used, with no credits to spend. A Notta Brain knowledge-base question costs 100 credits.[15]

  • 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 — Apple Calendar included.

An AI meeting summary in NoteOwl on a Mac: key decisions and action items by owner, with Summarize as above them
The notes for a four-minute client call, with three speakers labelled.
NoteOwl's commitments board: I owe (13) and Owed to me (12), each promise with a due label, the person, and the meeting it came from
Commitments: what you owe and what you’re owed, sorted by what’s due.

What is Notta, and how is NoteOwl different?

Notta is an AI note taker that records with Notta Bot, which joins Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and Webex calls, or with Notta Desktop, without a bot. By default it transcribes in its cloud[3,5,7]. NoteOwl does all of the work, summaries included, on your Mac.

Bot in the call
NoteOwlNone; records your microphone and your Mac’s audio
NottaTwo ways: Notta Bot joins Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and Webex calls and appears in the participant list; Notta Desktop records without a bot, on all plans[3,4,5]
Where transcription runs
NoteOwlOn your Mac, with on-device AI models
NottaIn Notta’s cloud by default: audio is uploaded to its servers; Privacy Mode, in Notta Desktop on Pro and up, transcribes on your device[6,7,8]
Where AI summaries are written
NoteOwlOn your Mac, when the call ends; rewrite them in any of 22 templates
NottaIn Notta’s cloud; in Privacy Mode, cloud AI summaries are paused or limited[8]
Where recordings and notes are stored
NoteOwlA folder on your Mac; never uploaded
NottaNotta’s servers, in a data centre in Tokyo, until you delete them; Privacy Mode keeps files in a local folder[8,9,10]
Training on your data
NoteOwlNothing is uploaded; the app has no analytics or telemetry
NottaNotta’s pages say audio is never used to train AI models, one adding “without your explicit permission”[11,12]
Works offline
NoteOwlEverything, summaries and chat included, after the one-time model download
NottaNotta Desktop needs a network to transcribe; Privacy Mode works offline, with a licence check roughly once a month, and pauses or limits cloud AI summaries[6,8]
Price
NoteOwl$79 once for one Mac; no subscription
NottaPro $97.99 a year, or $13.49 a month, for one seat; Business $199.99 per seat a year, or $27.99 per seat a month[1,2]
Monthly limits
NoteOwlNone: no minute, upload or summary limits, and no meeting length limit
NottaPro: 1,800 transcription minutes, 100 file uploads and 100 AI summaries a month, and up to 5 hours a recording[1]
Speaker names
NoteOwlSpeakers separated in any call app; name a voice once and it’s recognised in later meetings; voice profiles stay on your Mac
NottaDepends on how you record: names from participants’ accounts with Notta Bot; “Local” and “Remote” in Notta Desktop without the bot[4,13]
Import recordings
NoteOwlMP3, WAV, M4A, AIFF, FLAC, AAC and MP4 files, with no monthly limit
NottaPro: 100 files a month, each up to 5 hours or 1 GB[1,14]
Chat with your meetings
NoteOwlAnswers from your own meetings and notes, citing the passage; works offline, with no monthly limit
NottaNotta Brain answers across recordings and documents, using AI credits: 100 credits per knowledge-base question[1,15]
Dictation into other apps
NoteOwlYes, free and unlimited; one tap polishes it in the right tone for each app
NottaNot listed in Notta’s Help Center[18]
Getting notes out
NoteOwlCopy any note into any app, export it as Markdown, PDF, text or SRT, or export everything as plain files
NottaDownloads on Pro and above: TXT, DOCX, SRT, PDF or XLSX, plus audio and video, up to 10 records at once[16]
Devices
NoteOwlMac
NottaWeb, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and a Chrome extension[1,17]
Mac requirements
NoteOwlmacOS 26 or later, Apple silicon, 16 GB memory
NottamacOS 11 or later, Apple silicon or Intel; recording your Mac’s audio needs macOS 13 or later[6]
Notta’s column is taken from Notta’s own website, shop and Help Center, checked on 27 September 2026; the numbers link to the sources.

Notta pricing

Is NoteOwl cheaper than Notta?

Yes, for one person on one Mac. NoteOwl Pro is $79 once. Notta Pro is $97.99 a year, billed annually — $195.98 over two years and $293.97 over three — or $13.49 a month, billed monthly.[1,2]

And you can start free: dictation and voice notes are free forever, and every Pro feature is free for 7 days in the app, with no card. Notta’s Free plan allows 120 transcription minutes a month, but only 3 minutes per conversation, and 10 AI summaries a month.[1]

What one person pays

  1. After 1 year

    NoteOwl Pro$79
    Notta Pro, billed annually$97.99

  2. After 2 years

    NoteOwl Pro$79
    Notta Pro, billed annually$195.98

  3. After 3 years

    NoteOwl Pro$79
    Notta Pro, billed annually$293.97
NoteOwl Pro: $79 once, for one Mac. Notta pricing: Pro is $97.99 a year billed annually ($8.17 a month), or $13.49 a month billed monthly, for one seat, with 1,800 transcription minutes a month and up to 5 hours per recording.[1,2] Notta’s US-dollar list prices, checked 27 September 2026; the monthly price is from Notta’s pricing help article, and totals are $97.99 for each year.

Does Notta transcribe on your device?

Only in Privacy Mode. By default, Notta uploads your audio to its servers and stores data in Tokyo. Privacy Mode, in Notta Desktop on Pro and up, transcribes on your device, but pauses or limits cloud AI summaries, sync and collaboration.[7,8,9]

Notta, in its own words

“Notta’s recording and transcription features require your audio recordings to be uploaded to our servers for processing”[7]
“Your data is stored in a data center located in Tokyo.”[9]
“Cloud transcription, cloud AI summaries, cross-device sync, and team collaboration are paused or limited.”[8]On Privacy Mode

NoteOwl

Recording, transcription, speaker detection, summaries, search and chat all run on the Mac. Recordings, transcripts and notes are never uploaded to NoteOwl or anyone else, 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: what NoteOwl sends, and what it never does

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.

When is Notta the better choice?

When you want a cloud service. Notta transcribes and summarizes in its cloud by default and keeps your recordings there, with apps for the web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android. If you want your meetings on your Mac, summaries included, choose NoteOwl.[7,10,17]

Can you switch from Notta to NoteOwl?

Yes, starting with your next meeting. Download NoteOwl, and the next call you take is transcribed and summarized on your Mac. Recordings you already have as audio or video files 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 . Notta facts are quoted or summarised from Notta’s own website, shop and Help Center, using US-dollar list prices. Plans and policies change; check them before you decide.

  1. [1]Notta, Pricing
  2. [2]Notta Help Center, Understand Notta’s Plans Pricing
  3. [3]Notta Help Center, Record online meetings
  4. [4]Notta Help Center, Desktop vs Bot
  5. [5]Notta Help Center, What is Bot-Free Recording?
  6. [6]Notta Help Center, Getting Started with Notta Desktop
  7. [7]Notta Help Center, Mobile app offline?
  8. [8]Notta Help Center, What is Privacy Mode Recording?
  9. [9]Notta Help Center, Data security and privacy policy
  10. [10]Notta Help Center, Storage period
  11. [11]Notta, Audio to Text Converter
  12. [12]Notta Shop, Notta Memo
  13. [13]Notta Help Center, Speaker identification
  14. [14]Notta Help Center, Import files from local storage
  15. [15]Notta Help Center, Notta Brain guide
  16. [16]Notta Help Center, Download transcription file
  17. [17]Notta Help Center, Supported environments
  18. [18]Notta, Help Center — all 326 articles, searched for dictation

FAQ

Questions about NoteOwl and Notta

Is there a Notta alternative that works offline?

Yes. NoteOwl records your calls with no bot, then transcribes, summarizes and answers questions on your Mac, so every feature works offline after a one-time model download. Notta transcribes in its cloud by default, and its offline Privacy Mode pauses or limits cloud AI summaries.

Is NoteOwl cheaper than Notta?

Yes, for one person on one Mac. NoteOwl Pro is $79 once, with a 7-day free trial and no card, and NoteOwl’s dictation is free forever. Notta Pro is $97.99 a year, billed annually — $293.97 over three years — or $13.49 a month, with 1,800 transcription minutes a month. Prices checked on 27 September 2026.

What is Notta Privacy Mode?

Notta’s Privacy Mode is an option in Notta Desktop, on its Pro, Business and Enterprise plans, that transcribes on your device and keeps files in a local folder; Notta says cloud AI summaries, sync and collaboration are paused or limited in it. NoteOwl transcribes, summarizes and answers questions on your Mac, with nothing uploaded.

Where does Notta store my recordings?

Notta says it stores data in a data centre in Tokyo and keeps transcripts on its servers until you delete them; Privacy Mode keeps files on your device. NoteOwl keeps every recording, transcript and note in a folder on your Mac and uploads nothing.

Does NoteOwl join my calls?

No. NoteOwl records your microphone and your Mac’s audio, so no bot joins your Zoom, Google Meet or Teams call. Nothing tells the other people that you are taking notes, so tell them yourself — it is the right thing to do and, in many places, the law.

Does NoteOwl have a free plan?

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

Can I switch from Notta to NoteOwl?

Yes, starting with your next meeting. Download NoteOwl, and the next call you take is transcribed and summarized on your Mac. Recordings you already have as audio or video files can be imported into NoteOwl Pro and transcribed with speaker labels.

Does NoteOwl run on Windows or iPhone?

No. NoteOwl is a Mac app for macOS 26 or later on Apple silicon with 16 GB of memory. Its AI runs on the Mac itself, which is what keeps your meetings off the cloud.

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How NoteOwl does it

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Get your next meeting’s summary on your Mac

Free to download. Runs entirely on your Mac.

Download free

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 one-time purchase.

NoteOwl pricing: what’s free and what Pro adds

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