By Dmytro Barabash, founder of Nod · Published August 2, 2026 · Updated September 29, 2026 · Sources verified September 1, 2026
- Product evidence
- Nod captures microphone and system audio through macOS APIs, works across calling apps, and stores transcripts and summaries rather than a recording. Competitor capture modes are taken from the vendor help pages linked below.
- Limits
- Nod requires macOS and cloud inference. It is not a fully offline transcription tool and does not currently offer Windows, web, or a released iPhone app.
- Method
- The comparison uses public first-party product, help, pricing, and security documentation. Capabilities change, so the verification date matters and the linked vendor source takes precedence.
The short answer
If you want bot-free notes on a Mac plus recall that spans calls, Nod is built for exactly that. Nothing appears in the participant list, each audio segment is discarded once its text comes back, and durable notes are stored in the EU. If you need Windows, a phone app, or transcription that never leaves your machine, one of the alternatives further down fits better.
- Built for — people on back-to-back calls who don't want to explain a recorder bot: founders, sales, recruiters, product managers
- Not built for — Windows or mobile users, and anyone who needs fully on-device transcription
- Capture — system audio via ScreenCaptureKit, so it works in any app that plays sound through your Mac
- Price — 14-day trial with 5 meeting hours and no card, then $12/month billed annually
Set up your first call on Mac
Install Nod, grant microphone and system-audio permissions, and inform participants before you start capture. Check that both sides appear in the live transcript. Ambient screen context is optional and separate from meeting audio capture.
Use the walkthrough for Google Meet transcription without recording or Microsoft Teams notes without a bot. For Zoom, start with the Zoom integration guide. If you switch headsets or inputs, test a short call again.
From the conversation to a useful recap
For example, a project check-in might produce: Decision — start the pilot with support. Next step — Alex sends the checklist on Friday. Open question — who reviews the results? This is an illustrative example, not customer data or a guarantee of exact output.
Review names and dates against the transcript. A person or deadline in a summary is text to verify, not an automatically assigned task. You can then ask a follow-up about the captured conversation or search across earlier calls.
AI note takers for Mac, compared
Ten tools you can run on a Mac, read row by row. We make Nod, so it is listed first and highlighted; the other nine are in no ranked order and the table does not score them. Two distinctions decide most of it. The first is whether anything joins the call: several recorders now offer a bot-free desktop mode next to the bot, so check which one you get. The second is what exists afterwards, a recording or only text.
One caveat applies to every row, ours included: bot-free does not mean local. A desktop app can capture on your Mac and still transcribe in the cloud. Nod does exactly that. If nothing may leave the machine, see local AI meeting notes on Mac.
| Tool | On a Mac | What is kept | Also runs on | Entry price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nod | Native app that captures system audio. Nothing joins, in any mode. | Transcript and summary. No audio. | macOS only | 14-day trial, then $12/mo billed annually |
| Granola | Desktop app that captures device audio. No bot. | Notes and transcript; says it does not retain meeting audio | Windows, iPhone | Free Basic plan; Business $14 |
| Jamie | Desktop app. No bot. | Audio deleted once the transcript is ready | Windows, iPhone | Free plan; Plus €21/mo billed annually |
| Otter.ai | A bot, or a bot-free desktop app | Keeps audio by default; a workspace-wide remove-audio setting is Enterprise-only | Web, Windows, mobile | Free Basic plan; Pro $8.33/mo billed annually |
| Fireflies.ai | The Notetaker bot, or a bot-free desktop mode | Desktop mode: notes and transcript, no audio or video file. Notetaker: recordings. | Web, Windows, Chrome extension, mobile | Free plan; Pro $10/mo billed annually |
| Fathom | A bot, or bot-free capture in its Mac rollout (English) | Transcript-only, audio-only or audio-video, by mode | Windows, with its bot-based recorder | Free plan; Premium $16/mo billed annually |
| tl;dv | A bot for video, or a desktop app that records audio only | Recordings kept in its cloud library | Windows, Chrome extension, iOS, Android | Free plan; Pro €18 a seat/mo billed annually |
| Read AI | An assistant joins the meetings you connect; botless desktop app needs macOS 14+ | Captures audio and video; playback on Enterprise tiers, and users can opt out of retaining it | Web, Windows, iOS, Android | Free plan (5 meetings a month); Pro $15/mo billed annually |
| Notta | Web app uses a bot; bot-free desktop app is in beta | Recordings kept in the cloud; a local Privacy Mode exists | Web, Windows, iOS, Android | Free plan (120 minutes a month, 3 minutes a conversation); Pro $8.17/mo billed annually |
| Tactiq | Chrome or Edge extension that reads live captions; macOS app in beta | Extension: transcript text, no audio stored. Mac beta app: not stated. | Any computer with Chrome or Edge | Free plan (10 transcripts a month); Pro from $8/mo billed annually |
How a Mac app hears a call it never joined
Nod captures through ScreenCaptureKit, the macOS API Apple built for screen and system-audio recording. It reads your Mac's own output rather than anything inside the meeting, which is why Nod never needs a seat in the call to hear it.
Because capture happens at the operating-system level rather than inside one app, it doesn't care where the call is running: the Zoom desktop app, Google Meet in a browser tab, Teams, a Slack huddle, or a phone call on speaker.
- A native Swift app that lives in the menu bar, not a web app in a wrapper
- Works with any app that plays audio through your Mac
- Requires macOS 13 or later
- Notes in 35 languages
Nothing joins your meeting
Bot-based capture adds a participant to the call. Bot-free desktop capture listens from your computer instead. Several tools offer both, so compare the mode you will actually use. Nod captures your Mac's audio without joining the meeting; inform participants and follow your organization's rules.
That difference matters most in the calls you would least like to explain a bot in: a candidate interview, or a first conversation with a customer who hasn't signed anything yet. See meeting notes without a bot for the full comparison.
| Nod on macOS | Bot-based note takers | |
|---|---|---|
| Joins the call | Never — captures your Mac's audio | A recorder appears in the participant list |
| Stored audio | No retained recording; each segment discarded when text returns | Commonly keeps the recording — check each vendor |
| Where notes are stored | EU (AWS eu-west-1), encrypted at rest | Varies by vendor and plan |
| Recall across calls | Ask Nod answers across everything you've captured | Usually archive search, varies by plan |
| Beyond web meetings | Phone calls on speaker and in-person conversations | Typically web meetings only |
| Platforms | macOS 13+ only | Usually web, Windows, and mobile too |
No stored audio, EU-hosted
Capture is local on your Mac; transcription isn't. Each audio segment is sent through a European proxy to hosted transcription, and Nod discards it when the text returns. No model trains on the data. Groq may retain transient error or abuse logs for up to 30 days unless Zero Data Retention is enabled. Only the transcript and summary are saved by Nod, encrypted at rest in the EU (AWS eu-west-1). See the security page.
What you get from every call
Each capture becomes a structured recap — topics, decisions, action-item text that can name a person or deadline, and open questions — plus a full transcript. Generated attribution should be checked against the source conversation. Ask Nod then searches across every conversation you have captured, so the answer to "what did we decide about pricing?" comes from all of them, not just the one still open on your screen.
Per-platform setup: Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. For the category overview, see what an AI note taker is; for pricing, the free trial runs 14 days with no card.
When a different Mac tool is the better pick
Nod is macOS only and has fewer integrations than the mature incumbents. Three cases point elsewhere, and it's worth saying which.
For the named head-to-heads, see Nod vs Granola, Nod vs Otter.ai, and Nod vs Fireflies.ai, or the criteria behind them on how to choose the best AI note taker.
- You need Windows or a phone app — Granola and Jamie cover more platforms.
- Nothing may leave the Mac — Nod's capture is local, but transcription is not. If fully on-device transcription is non-negotiable, choose a local-only Mac recorder instead; see local AI meeting notes on Mac.
- You need notes from calls you don't attend — that requires a bot in the meeting, which Nod will never do. Fireflies documents a Notetaker that can attend without you; see Fireflies and Fathom, and check its current documentation.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI note taker for Mac?
For bot-free capture on a Mac with recall that spans calls, Nod: it never joins the meeting, creates no retained recording, and answers questions across everything you have captured. Rank the alternatives on capture mode, audio retention, platforms, and team controls; the criteria are set out in how to choose the best AI note taker.
Is there an AI notetaker app for Mac that doesn't join the meeting?
Yes. Nod is a native macOS notetaker app that captures the audio your Mac is already playing, so nothing joins Zoom, Google Meet or Teams as a participant. It also works as an AI meeting assistant on a Mac: you can ask it questions during the call and across earlier ones. See the AI meeting assistant for Mac page for that side of it.
Is transcription done on the Mac?
No. Capture and voice detection run locally on your Mac, but transcription runs on hosted infrastructure outside the EU, reached through a European proxy; durable notes are stored in the EU. See private by default for the full processing path.
Does Nod work on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs?
Nod runs on macOS 13 or later. Capture uses ScreenCaptureKit, which is a system framework available on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs running a supported macOS version.
Does an AI note taker for Mac need microphone access?
Nod captures system audio through ScreenCaptureKit, which macOS gates behind a screen-recording permission you grant once. It also records your own microphone so your side of the conversation is in the transcript.
Does Nod record my Mac's screen?
No. ScreenCaptureKit is the API macOS provides for capturing system audio, and macOS files the permission for it under screen recording. Nod uses it for audio; no video or screenshot of your screen is captured or stored.
How much does an AI note taker for Mac cost?
Nod starts with a 14-day free trial that includes 5 meeting hours and needs no credit card. After that, Starter is $12/month billed annually ($15 monthly) with 8 meeting hours a month, Pro is $24/month billed annually ($29 monthly) with unlimited meeting hours under fair use and every integration, and Teams is $32 per seat billed annually ($39 monthly, three seats minimum) with 25 hours per seat and integration credits pooled across the team. See pricing.
Which languages does it support?
Thirty-five: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Catalan, Galician, Estonian, Turkish, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Urdu, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Afrikaans, Zulu, and Xhosa. Notes come back in the language the meeting was held in rather than translated.