What Transcripted does not do
Transcripted is a free Mac app that records meetings, dictation, and audio files and saves them as private Markdown notes on your Mac. It is great at that one job. Here is what it does not try to do, so you can tell quickly if it fits.
It only runs on a Mac
Transcripted needs a Mac with Apple Silicon and macOS 26 or later. There is no Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android, or browser version.
That is on purpose. Transcription runs on your Mac's own chip, so your audio does not need to go to a server. If you are not on a recent Mac, a cloud tool will serve you better.
It does not join your calls
There is no meeting bot. Transcripted records the audio your Mac already plays and hears. Nothing shows up in the attendee list.
If your team wants a bot that joins every call on a shared calendar automatically, even when you are not there, Transcripted is the wrong tool.
It has no team workspace
Your notes are files on your Mac. There is no web dashboard, no admin console, and no shared folder we host for your company.
You can still share notes. Put the folder in iCloud, Dropbox, a Git repo, or Obsidian. But you manage that, not us. Teams that need central admin and permissions should look at a hosted product.
It does not lock notes inside the app
This one is a feature. Each meeting is saved as a Markdown file with YAML frontmatter, which is a short block of structured details like the date and speakers. Any text editor can open it. If you stop using Transcripted tomorrow, your notes still work.
It does not make AI the main event
Transcripted does not write a fancy summary the second a call ends. The core job is a clean, accurate record of who said what.
AI is the payoff later. Because the notes are plain files, you can point Claude, Cursor, or another tool at them and ask questions across months of meetings. Transcripted also includes a starter prompt, a read-only MCP server, and a command-line tool for that. But you choose when to use them.
It does not handle consent for you
Recording rules depend on where you and the other people on the call live. Transcripted does not announce itself the way a bot does, so it is on you to tell people you are taking notes.
So who is it for?
Transcripted is a good fit if you:
- use a recent Mac
- want meeting notes with no bot in the call
- want your notes as plain files you own
- like Obsidian, scripts, or AI tools that read local files
- do not want another subscription
If that is you, it is free to try. If not, that is fine. A cloud meeting tool is probably the better pick, and now you know why.
Sound like a fit?
Free, open source, and your notes never leave your Mac.