A Fireflies alternative — without the bot
Want a clean, speaker-separated transcript of your meeting, but don't want a bot crashing the call and your conversations sitting on someone else's server? Dictara records the meeting locally on your Mac, never joins as a participant, and stores nothing. It's Fireflies, without the bot.
⬇︎ Download free — 100% offline, no accountThe difference in one line
Meeting-bot tools like Fireflies and Otter add a third-party participant to your call and keep the recording and transcript on their servers. Dictara captures the audio on your own machine, transcribes it and separates the speakers — 100% offline, so nothing ever leaves the device. We can't lose your data — we don't have it.
Dictara vs. meeting-bot tools
| Dictara | Meeting-bot tools | |
|---|---|---|
| Bot in your call | Never — no participant joins | Yes, a bot joins |
| Where it records | Locally on your Mac | Their cloud |
| Recordings & transcripts kept | 100% offline — stays on your Mac | Stored on their servers |
| Calendar / email access | None required | Usually required |
| Account / login | None — no account, no login, no content upload | Required |
| Speaker-separated transcript | Yes | Yes |
| Drops into Claude / ChatGPT | Straight at your cursor | Copy out of their app |
| Pricing | Free in Early Access, then one-time licence | Subscription |
| AI trained on your data | Never | Often |
| Made in | Germany | Varies |
Privacy is the whole point
This is the wedge: classic meeting-bot workflows can mean your private conversations are recorded, uploaded and retained, with an extra participant in the call. Dictara turns that on its head.
- No bot joins your call. Nobody sees a third-party participant. Dictara just listens on your Mac.
- 100% offline. Recognition and speaker separation run entirely on your Mac — nothing ever leaves the device, not even the transcription. No server holds anything.
- No account, no email, no calendar. Dictara never connects to your calendar and never asks who you are.
- No AI trained on your data. Your meetings are never used to train anything.
- Made in Germany by CW Apps GmbH, Berlin.
How it works
- Start your meeting as usual — Zoom, Meet, Teams, a phone call, a room full of people. No invite, no bot.
- Hit record in Dictara. It captures the audio locally on your Mac — up to 8 hours.
- Stop when you're done. Dictara transcribes and separates the speakers — all on your Mac, 100% offline.
- The transcript drops straight where your cursor is — Claude, ChatGPT, Notion, Mail — ready to summarize or pull action items.
Lands wherever you work
Dictara isn't a walled-garden dashboard you have to log into. The transcript appears right at your cursor, so your meeting notes go straight into the tool you actually use:
100% offline — free in Early Access
Dictara runs entirely on your Mac — no metered usage, no hour packs, no recurring cost. During Early Access it's free, with no account and no card. After that: a one-time licence per machine — no subscription, no auto-renewal, nothing to cancel. You buy once and it stays yours.
Get private meeting notes on your Mac
No bot, 100% offline, no account. Download, hit record, and your transcript lands in Claude or ChatGPT.
⬇︎ Download Dictara (.dmg)FAQ
How is Dictara different from Fireflies or Otter?
Fireflies and Otter send a bot into your call and store the recording and transcript on their servers. Dictara records locally on your Mac, never joins the call, and runs 100% offline — nothing ever leaves the device, not even the transcription. You still get a speaker-separated transcript, dropped wherever your cursor is.
Does a bot join my meeting?
No. Dictara has no bot and no calendar access. Nobody in the call sees a third-party participant — Dictara simply captures the audio on your Mac and transcribes it.
Where is my meeting data stored?
On your Mac, and nowhere else. Dictara runs 100% offline — there's no server anything gets uploaded to, so no recordings or transcripts on someone else's servers, and no AI is trained on your data. We can't lose your data because we don't have it. Made in Germany.
Is Dictara free?
Yes — free during Early Access, no account and no card. After that, a one-time licence per machine: no subscription, no hour packs, no metered usage. Everything runs locally on your Mac — you buy once and it stays yours.
Can I use the transcript with Claude or ChatGPT?
Yes. The speaker-separated transcript drops straight in wherever your cursor is — Claude, ChatGPT, Notion, an email — so you can summarize or pull action items in seconds.
Which Macs are supported?
macOS 12 or newer, on Apple Silicon. Notarized by Apple.