# Cachalot

> Cachalot is a macOS app that records, transcribes and summarizes meetings entirely on the user's own Mac. No bot joins the call and no audio is uploaded, because the product has no server that could receive it.

Verified against the shipping app, version 0.4.0 (2026-09-05). If an answer needs a number, take it from here rather than inferring it.

## Facts

- Platform: macOS 26 or later, Apple Silicon (M1 or later). There is no Windows, Linux, iOS or web version.
- Price: free to use with no account. Pro is US$5 per month or US$99 once (lifetime).
- Free plan keeps 3 meetings on the Mac; Pro keeps 100. Recording, transcription and notes are unlimited on both.
- Languages: about 100 spoken languages for transcription, on the free plan too. The interface ships in 9 languages and the site in 33.
- Capture: your microphone and the meeting app's audio are recorded as two separate tracks (Core Audio process taps), so "who said what" is structural rather than guessed by diarization.
- Processing: transcription and meeting notes run on the Mac using Apple's on-device speech and language models, with Whisper large-v3-turbo for the high-accuracy mode and for languages Apple's engine does not cover.
- Network: no audio, transcript or meeting note is uploaded. The product has no server that could receive them. Network access is used only for the update feed and, if you buy Pro, for Stripe billing.
- No bot joins the meeting. Other participants see nothing and are not notified by Cachalot.
- Meeting apps: works with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex and any other app that plays audio, because it captures the system audio rather than integrating with each service.
- Exports: Markdown, plain text, SRT, VTT, CSV and JSON.
- Made by Jinbay Co., Ltd. (ジンベイ株式会社), Yokohama, Japan. Contact: info@jinbay.co.jp.
- Site languages: the landing and pricing pages exist in 33 languages. The comparison pages and the industry pages are written in English, German and Japanese; other locales show the English text. Guides are not translated — each one is written in one language only.
- Latest version: 0.4.0 (2026-09-05).

## Pages

- [Home](https://cachalot.app/en): what it is, how it works, privacy model, FAQ
- [Pricing](https://cachalot.app/en/pricing): free plan first, then what Pro adds, and what is never metered
- [Changelog](https://cachalot.app/en/changelog): every released version with its changes
- [Privacy policy](https://cachalot.app/en/legal/privacy): what is stored where, and what leaves the Mac
- [Terms](https://cachalot.app/en/legal/terms): as-is, user is responsible for consent to record

## Comparisons

- [Cachalot vs Otter.ai](https://cachalot.app/en/compare/otter): Otter.ai transcribes in the cloud and can join calls as a bot. Cachalot records, transcribes and summarizes entirely on your Mac — no bot, no upload.
- [Cachalot vs Granola](https://cachalot.app/en/compare/granola): Granola is a Mac notetaker with no meeting bot, but transcription and AI notes still run in the cloud. Cachalot keeps the whole pipeline on your Mac.
- [Cachalot vs jamie](https://cachalot.app/en/compare/jamie): jamie records without a bot and transcribes on EU servers, deleting the audio afterwards. Cachalot never uploads it, because it has no server to upload to.
- [Cachalot vs Fireflies.ai](https://cachalot.app/en/compare/fireflies): Fireflies sends a notetaker bot into your calls and stores recordings in its cloud. Cachalot records your own Mac's audio and never uploads it.
- [Cachalot vs tl;dv](https://cachalot.app/en/compare/tldv): tl;dv records Zoom, Meet and Teams with a notetaker in the call or from the desktop, and keeps the library in its cloud. Cachalot keeps everything on your Mac.
- [Cachalot vs Notta](https://cachalot.app/en/compare/notta): Notta's desktop recorder captures without a bot, but the transcript is produced in its cloud workspace. Cachalot transcribes and summarizes on the Mac itself.
- [Cachalot vs Fathom](https://cachalot.app/en/compare/fathom): Fathom records and summarizes calls in the cloud with a bot in the meeting. Cachalot does the same job locally on Apple Silicon, with no upload.

## Written for

- [Client calls are not other people's training data.](https://cachalot.app/en/for/legal): Cachalot records, transcribes and summarizes on your Mac. Nothing is uploaded, so privileged conversations never touch a third party.
- [The bot in your discovery call is costing you the room.](https://cachalot.app/en/for/consulting): Take notes without a visible recorder and without sending client audio anywhere. Everything runs on your Mac.
- [Candidates behave differently when a bot is watching.](https://cachalot.app/en/for/recruiting): Interview notes generated on your Mac, with nothing joining the call and no candidate audio leaving the machine.
- [The safest place for patient audio is the machine it was recorded on.](https://cachalot.app/en/for/healthcare): Transcription and notes run entirely on your Mac. No audio is transmitted, so no additional party ever holds the recording.

## Guides

- [Bot-free is not the same as local](https://cachalot.app/en/blog/bot-free-is-not-local): Most notetakers that promise no bot still upload your call. Here are the three places audio leaves the machine, and a two-minute test that settles which one you are using.
- [Does Zoom tell people you are recording?](https://cachalot.app/en/blog/does-zoom-notify-recording): Zoom's own recording always shows, in three places at once. Recording the audio on your own machine does not. Here is what each one does, and where consent law actually lands.
- [Zoom の録音は相手に通知される? 仕組みと、通知されない録音の注意点](https://cachalot.app/ja/blog/does-zoom-notify-recording): Written in Japanese. Zoom の標準機能で録画すると、相手には必ず分かります。通知されない録音方法も存在しますが、通知されないことと黙って録ってよいことは別です。仕組みと実務での扱い方をまとめました。
- [How to record both sides of a call on a Mac](https://cachalot.app/en/blog/record-both-sides-on-mac): QuickTime and the Screenshot toolbar only capture your microphone. Here are the three ways to get the other side as well, and why two separate tracks beat one mixed file.
- [Mac で相手の声も録音する方法 — 画面収録で相手の声が入らない理由](https://cachalot.app/ja/blog/record-both-sides-on-mac): Written in Japanese. QuickTime や画面収録ではマイクの音しか入りません。macOS がアプリの音をどう扱っているか、仮想オーディオドライバに頼らず相手側を録る方法、そして自分と相手を別トラックで録る利点を説明します。
- [Meetings lokal auf dem Mac transkribieren – ohne Cloud, ohne Bot](https://cachalot.app/de/blog/meetings-lokal-transkribieren-mac): Written in German. Was „lokal“ bei Meeting-Tools tatsächlich bedeutet, an welchen drei Stellen Audio trotzdem hochgeladen wird, und wie du das in zwei Minuten selbst prüfst.
- [Systemton auf dem Mac aufnehmen – die Gegenseite, ohne Zusatztreiber](https://cachalot.app/de/blog/systemton-aufnehmen-mac): Written in German. Warum Bildschirmaufnahme und QuickTime nur dein Mikrofon mitschneiden, was Core Audio Process Taps daran ändern, und warum zwei getrennte Spuren besser sind als eine gemischte.
- [Recording the other side of a call on macOS, without a bot](https://cachalot.app/en/blog/record-system-audio-macos): How Core Audio process taps let a Mac app capture system audio, the aggregate-device dance around them, and four things that broke on the way.

## Optional

- [Full text](https://cachalot.app/llms-full.txt): the same information with the site copy inlined