Comparison
Cachalot vs Otter.ai
Both turn a meeting into notes. Otter.ai does it on its servers and can put a visible assistant in the call; Cachalot does it on your Mac and puts nothing in the call.
Download free for MacmacOS 26+, Apple Silicon · No account required
The structural difference
| Cachalot | Otter.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Joins your meeting as a bot | No — nothing appears in the call | Can join meetings as a visible assistant so others see it |
| Where your audio goes | Nowhere. It stays in ~/Documents on your Mac | Uploaded to Otter's servers for transcription |
| Works offline | Yes — recording, transcription and notes all run locally | No — transcription needs the service |
| Runs on | macOS 26+, Apple Silicon | Web, iOS, Android, meeting-platform integrations |
Based on Otter.ai's publicly documented behaviour as of September 2026. Prices and individual features change often, so they are deliberately left out. Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will fix it.
When Otter.ai is the better choice
- you need a shared team workspace where everyone browses the same transcripts in a browser
- you work on Windows, Linux, or mostly from a phone
- you want the transcript to appear for everyone in the call, not just for you
Cachalot is built for the opposite constraint: conversations that cannot be uploaded — client work under NDA, candidate interviews, medical, legal and financial calls — where a bot in the meeting or audio in someone else's cloud is not an option.
Try it on your next call
Free, no account, no trial period. Record, get notes, and see for yourself that nothing leaves the machine.