Transcripted vs tl;dv

Why local processing matters

tl;dv is a solid product. But its core architecture — cloud processing — creates a trust dependency you can't opt out of. Every meeting you record, every conversation you have, goes through tl;dv's servers. That includes sensitive discussions: compensation reviews, client strategy, product roadmaps, hiring decisions.

With Transcripted, audio is processed on your Mac using Apple's Neural Engine. The files Transcripted creates live in ~/Documents/Transcripted/. They never touch a server. You can read them, move them, delete them, sync them wherever you want — and no one else can.

That's not a feature. It's an architectural guarantee.

The cost math

tl;dv charges $18-59/month depending on your plan — $216-708/year. Over three years that's $648-2124 for meeting transcription. Transcripted is $0. It's MIT licensed, which means it's free to use, free to modify, and free to ship to your whole team. There's no paid tier being planned.

The reason it can be free: it runs on hardware you already own. The M-series Neural Engine handles the transcription pipeline faster than a cloud API and costs nothing per request.

Where tl;dv is better

To be honest: tl;dv has AI summaries. Transcripted doesn't yet. If you need automatic meeting summaries, action items, and follow-up drafts inside the app, tl;dv does that today.

tl;dv also has a polished, consumer-facing UI and a more established product. If you're not technical and want everything in one place without thinking about files, tl;dv works.

But if you care about privacy, if you're using AI agents that need context about your meetings, or if $18-59/month for transcription feels wrong — Transcripted is the answer.