Meeting notes on your Mac, or a shared cloud workspace.
Compare Epilude Notetaker and Otter for meeting capture, transcription, summaries and where your notes are processed.
Documentation reviewed September 30, 2026. This is a comparison of documented features, not a hands-on quality benchmark. Plans and availability can change.
Epilude vs Otter
| Feature |   | |
|---|---|---|
| Bot-free capture | Microphone and system audio on Mac | Otter Desktop supports bot-free recording on Mac and Windows; bot capture is also available |
| Transcription | Cloud default or local on Apple Silicon | Cloud service |
| Summaries | Cloud default; local requires separate selection and 16GB+ Apple Silicon | Cloud service |
| Notes and exports | Editable summaries, citations, decisions/actions; Markdown and PDF | Shared transcripts, summaries and collaboration |
| Speakers | Your side vs others, with manual labels | Speaker tools in its cloud workspace; capture mode matters |
| Other voice workflows | Dictation and Narrator | Meeting-focused; other workflows not assessed |
| Epilude plans | $12/month billed annually ($144/year). $59 Pay Once for supported local features, with one year of updates. | Free and paid plans; check meeting and import limits |
- Epilude
- Microphone and system audio on Mac
- Otter
- Otter Desktop supports bot-free recording on Mac and Windows; bot capture is also available
- Epilude
- Cloud default or local on Apple Silicon
- Otter
- Cloud service
- Epilude
- Cloud default; local requires separate selection and 16GB+ Apple Silicon
- Otter
- Cloud service
- Epilude
- Editable summaries, citations, decisions/actions; Markdown and PDF
- Otter
- Shared transcripts, summaries and collaboration
- Epilude
- Your side vs others, with manual labels
- Otter
- Speaker tools in its cloud workspace; capture mode matters
- Epilude
- Dictation and Narrator
- Otter
- Meeting-focused; other workflows not assessed
- Epilude
- $12/month billed annually ($144/year). $59 Pay Once for supported local features, with one year of updates.
- Otter
- Free and paid plans; check meeting and import limits
Features checked 2026-09-30. “Not established” means the reviewed sources do not confirm support; it is not a claim that a feature is absent.
Key differences
Bot-free is available on both
Otter Desktop can capture calls without sending a participant into the meeting. Epilude records microphone and system audio directly on Mac.
Library or workspace
Epilude’s notes library is on your Mac, with editable notes and exports. Otter suits a team that wants conversations together in a shared cloud workspace.
Local processing has conditions
Choose local transcription and local summaries separately. Local summaries need a 16GB+ Apple Silicon Mac and are slower and less capable than cloud summaries.
Where Otter is the better pick
Choose Epilude if
- You want a Mac notes library with Markdown and PDF exports
- You want separately configurable local transcription and summaries
- You also use Dictation or Narrator
Choose Otter if
- You want cloud team collaboration
- You need its web, desktop or mobile workflow
Writing, meeting notes and reading in one Mac app
Dictation
Notetaker
Narrator
Choose where each step runs
Try each workflow
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Epilude and Otter.
Otter Desktop supports bot-free recording on Mac and Windows; bot capture is also available
Choose local transcription and local summaries separately. Local summaries need a 16GB+ Apple Silicon Mac and are slower and less capable than cloud summaries. Cloud summaries send transcript text even when audio was transcribed locally.
No. It distinguishes your microphone from other participants and supports manual labels. Do not rely on automatic named identification.
