AI Meeting Assistants, Just the Facts

Which AI meeting assistants run AI on-device?

Hedy and MacWhisper can run both transcription and AI summaries on your own hardware, so meeting audio need never reach a vendor server. Krisp, TwinMind and Notta transcribe locally but send audio or transcripts to the cloud for summaries or other AI features. Every other tool we rank processes meetings in the vendor's cloud.

• Hedy Speech recognition on-device; AI runs on your choice of Local AI (supported hardware), Hedy's EU or US cloud, or Apple Private Cloud Compute on iOS 27
• MacWhisper On-device by default; optional cloud transcription and AI with your own API key; local AI via Ollama or LM Studio
• Krisp Hybrid: noise cancellation and English transcription on-device; other languages and summaries in the cloud
• TwinMind Hybrid — Ear-3 transcription and all AI chat run in the cloud; on-device Ear-2 model used offline
• Notta Cloud by default; optional on-device transcription in desktop Privacy Mode (beta); AI notes always in the cloud

Which AI meeting assistants work offline?

Hedy and MacWhisper work with no internet connection at all. Krisp, TwinMind, Plaud.ai and Notta work partially offline, for example recording locally and processing once you reconnect. The rest need a connection to produce a transcript.

• Hedy Yes — the full pipeline runs offline with Local AI on supported hardware
• MacWhisper Yes — transcription offline by default; AI summaries offline only if you set up a local model yourself
• Krisp Partly — noise cancellation and English transcription work offline
• TwinMind Partly — falls back to on-device transcription without a connection; AI features need the cloud
• Plaud.ai Partly — devices record offline; transcription and AI need the cloud
• Notta Partly — Privacy Mode transcription works offline on Mac and Windows; everything else needs internet

Which AI meeting assistants do not train on your data?

18 of the 28 tools we track state that they do not train AI models on customer meeting content by default: Hedy, MacWhisper, Microsoft Teams Copilot, Fellow, Fireflies.ai, Circleback, Jamie, tl;dv, Google Gemini in Meet, Zoom AI Companion, Read.ai, Grain, MeetGeek, TwinMind, Letterly, Plaud.ai, Bluedot and Outdoo. Otter.ai, Fathom, Granola, Wispr Flow and Sembly.ai use customer data for training by default or unless you opt out.

• Hedy No — zero training on your data, backed by contract with its AI providers
• MacWhisper No — no account, and nothing is sent to the developer by default
• Microsoft Teams Copilot No — Microsoft states customer data is not used to train its foundation models
• Fellow No — states it never trains AI on customer data
• Fireflies.ai No — states it does not train on meeting content; zero data retention at its AI vendors
• Circleback No — states it does not use customer data to train models
• Jamie No — states customer data is never used to train its or any provider's models
• tl;dv No — states it does not use customer content to train AI, nor do its AI providers
• Google Gemini in Meet No — Workspace data is not used to train models outside your organisation
• Zoom AI Companion No — Zoom's terms say it does not use audio, video or chat content to train AI
• Read.ai Not used for training by default (opt-in); a product-evaluation program is on by default with opt-out
• Grain No — Grain says it does not train AI models on customer data
• MeetGeek No — states it never uses recordings, transcripts or summaries to train AI models
• TwinMind No for transcripts and chats; de-identified audio only if you turn on Save Audio (off by default)
• Letterly No — states your words are never used to train AI
• Plaud.ai No — user data is not used for training unless you opt in
• Bluedot No — states customer data is never used to train or improve AI models
• Outdoo No — states customer data is not used for AI training

Which AI meeting assistants work without a meeting bot?

25 of the 28 tools we track can now capture an online meeting without adding a bot participant to the call; only Gong, Sembly.ai and Outdoo still need one. Many still use a bot by default, so check the setting. Bot-free capture avoids the lobby blocks Google Meet and Microsoft Teams introduced in 2026, but it does not remove the need to tell other participants you are recording.

• Hedy Bot-free system audio capture on desktop; phone and tablet mic for in-person meetings; Apple Watch companion
• MacWhisper Bot-free Mac app records system audio and mic with automatic meeting detection; file import; iPhone and iPad app
• Microsoft Teams Copilot Built into Teams meetings, no bot; Teams Rooms captures in-room attendees
• Otter.ai Meeting bot joins Zoom, Meet and Teams by default; bot-free desktop app; mobile and web mic for in-person
• Fellow Botless desktop recording (Mac, Windows); optional meeting bot; Zoom-native mode; iOS and Android apps for in-person
• Fireflies.ai Meeting bot by default; bot-free Chrome extension for Google Meet; bot-free desktop app; mobile app
• Circleback Meeting bot or bot-free desktop app (system audio); iOS, Android and Apple Watch apps for in-person audio
• Krisp Bot-free desktop app working as a virtual audio device with any meeting app; mobile app mic
• Fathom Meeting bot joins Zoom, Meet and Teams; bot-free desktop capture is a Mac-only beta
• Jamie Bot-free desktop app records device audio; iOS and Android apps record in person with the phone mic
• tl;dv Meeting bot joins Zoom, Meet and Teams; botless recording mode; mobile app for in-person
• Google Gemini in Meet Built into Google Meet, no bot; the Meet app or website can also take notes for in-person meetings
• Zoom AI Companion Built into Zoom meetings, no bot; My Notes also captures Teams, Google Meet and in-person conversations
• Read.ai Bot joins Zoom, Meet and Teams by default; botless Google Meet add-on, bot-free Mac/Windows desktop app and mobile mic
• Grain Meeting bot; bot-free Desktop Capture (Mac Apple Silicon, Windows); iPhone app in beta
• MeetGeek Bot joins Zoom, Meet and Teams; bot-free Mac and Windows desktop app and Chrome tab capture; mobile app; upload
• Granola Bot-free system audio on desktop; mobile mic, including iPhone phone calls; Apple Watch app
• TwinMind Phone mic for in-person and all-day capture; Chrome extension, Mac and Windows apps for calls; Apple Watch; no bot
• Letterly Phone, computer or Apple Watch mic; dictation; Windows app records meeting audio (since Oct 2026); audio upload; no bot
• Plaud.ai Hardware recorders (Note, NotePin, NotePin S, Note Pro); desktop app records calls via system audio, no bot
• Bluedot Bot-free Chrome extension; Mac and Windows apps record system audio; iOS, Android and Apple Watch apps record in person
• Wispr Flow Bot-free desktop app on Mac and Windows records computer audio; no bot joins the call
• Avoma Bot joins Zoom, Meet and Teams by default; bot-free import of Zoom, Webex and Teams cloud recordings; mobile app for in-person
• Notta Meeting bot; bot-free desktop app; mobile app mic; Chrome extension; Notta Memo hardware recorder
• Tactiq Chrome and Edge extension reads the platform's captions; bot-free Mac app (beta) captures system audio for desktop calls

Which AI meeting assistants will sign a HIPAA BAA?

Hedy, Microsoft Teams Copilot, Otter.ai, Fellow, Fireflies.ai, Circleback, Krisp, Fathom, Google Gemini in Meet, Zoom AI Companion, Read.ai, MeetGeek, Granola, Avoma and Sembly.ai offer a Business Associate Agreement, usually only on a business, healthcare, or enterprise plan. Without a signed BAA a tool should not be used for protected health information.

• Hedy SOC 2 Type I (April 2026); HIPAA assessment; BAA on Enterprise (200-seat minimum); GDPR; EU or US data residency chosen at signup
• Microsoft Teams Copilot SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA BAA, GDPR, EU Data Boundary (Claude models excluded)
• Otter.ai SOC 2 Type II; HIPAA as an Enterprise add-on; no EU data residency mentioned
• Fellow SOC 2 Type II; GDPR; HIPAA BAA on Enterprise; SSO on Enterprise
• Fireflies.ai SOC 2 Type II; GDPR; HIPAA on Enterprise
• Circleback SOC 2 Type II; EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework; HIPAA BAA on Enterprise
• Krisp SOC 2 Type II; GDPR; PCI-DSS 4.0; HIPAA BAA on Enterprise; recordings and notes stored in the US only
• Fathom SOC 2 Type II; HIPAA with signed BAA; GDPR; US-only data storage
• Google Gemini in Meet SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, FedRAMP High; HIPAA BAA for Workspace; EU data residency available
• Zoom AI Companion SOC 2; HIPAA BAA; ISO 27001; EU data processed in the US under the Data Privacy Framework
• Read.ai SOC 2 Type II; GDPR; EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework; HIPAA BAA on Enterprise+; no EU data residency
• MeetGeek SOC 2 Type II; HIPAA BAA available; GDPR; CCPA; choice of EU or US data storage
• Granola SOC 2 Type II; HIPAA with BAA on Enterprise only; GDPR; US-only data storage
• Avoma SOC 2 Type II; ISO/IEC 42001; GDPR; EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework; HIPAA on Enterprise
• Sembly.ai SOC 2 Type II; GDPR; HIPAA on MAX and Enterprise; EU-US DPF; FERPA; PCI DSS

All 28 tools at a glance

Ordered by our overall ranking. Each name links to the full review and its complete Key Facts list.