TL;DR
Choose Shadow if you use an Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 14.2 or later and want on-device transcription, local Markdown meeting files, optional Smart Screenshots, and editable Meeting Skills. Choose Otter if you want a shared cloud conversation workspace, live transcription, cross-platform access, mobile recording, or Otter's team and enterprise features.
The old shortcut for this comparison was “Shadow is bot-free and Otter sends a bot.” That is no longer accurate. Otter's desktop app can capture supported meetings directly from system audio on Mac or Windows without its Notetaker joining. Otter still offers the visible Notetaker path for Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams.
The useful decision is now about the whole workflow:
- how capture starts;
- where transcription runs;
- where the durable record lives;
- what visual context is saved;
- how teammates collaborate; and
- what happens after the meeting.
Quick comparison
| Question | Shadow | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | An individual Mac user who wants a local, inspectable meeting record and configurable outputs | An individual or team that wants live transcription and a shared cloud conversation workspace across devices |
| Platforms | Apple Silicon Mac, macOS 14.2 or later | Web, macOS 12.3 or later, Windows 10 or later, iOS, and Android |
| Bot-free online capture | Yes, through microphone and system audio | Yes, through the Otter desktop app on supported meetings |
| Visible meeting participant | No Shadow participant | Optional Otter Notetaker for Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams |
| Capture start | Manual, Ask Me, or Autopilot for supported detected meetings | Manual desktop recording, desktop meeting detection and automatic recording, calendar-linked Notetaker, or mobile recording |
| Live transcript | Shadow's public help centers on capture and finalized meeting records | Live transcript in the Otter app and web experience |
| Visual meeting context | Optional Smart Screenshots save meaningful changes from a selected meeting screen | Otter documents automated slide and screen-share capture for the Notetaker path; its botless desktop guide centers on audio capture |
| Durable record | Local Markdown plus available media in the user's vault | Cloud-hosted Otter conversation with transcript, summary, audio, comments, and sharing controls |
| Processing boundary | Core capture, transcription, diarization, and vault storage are local; selected AI and sharing features transmit relevant context | Desktop capture uploads and transcribes through Otter; conversations are stored in Otter's cloud environment |
| Export | Local Markdown by default; selected Skill results can also go to Markdown or a webhook | TXT on Basic, with additional transcript formats and audio export on paid plans |
The shortest answer: choose the home of the record
Bot-free capture removes a meeting participant. It does not decide where the transcript is processed, where the notes persist, how they are shared, or which system controls deletion.
Shadow's durable record is a local meeting bundle. The vault contains readable Markdown and available media that can be inspected in Finder, backed up with normal file tools, or opened by another Markdown application.
Otter's durable record is an Otter conversation. That cloud workspace supports live transcription, shared conversations, comments, channels, AI Chat, playback, and organization controls. Otter also supports transcript and audio exports, but export is a separate action rather than the everyday storage model.
Ask this before comparing feature counts: Should the normal record be ordinary files on one Mac, or a shared conversation in a hosted workspace?
1. Capture: both products can record without a bot
Shadow captures microphone and system audio from the Mac. Its capture controls support manual start and stop, an Ask Me prompt, or Autopilot for supported detected meetings. It never needs to appear in the meeting participant list.
Otter now has two distinct capture paths:
1. The Otter desktop app can record supported meetings without a Notetaker participant. It can capture system audio while the user wears headphones, detect supported meeting apps, prompt the user, and automatically start or stop when configured. 2. Otter Notetaker can join a scheduled Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams meeting as a visible guest. This path can attend through a connected calendar and supplies meeting-platform features such as automated slide capture.
The choice is not cosmetic. A Notetaker can cover a scheduled online meeting through the meeting platform, including when the user is not actively running desktop capture. The desktop path depends on the computer, its permissions, and the active recording state.
For either product, bot-free does not remove the consent obligation. Otter and Shadow both tell users to follow applicable law and organizational policy, notify participants, and obtain any required consent.
2. Visual context: saved screen changes or meeting-platform slides
Shadow can save optional Smart Screenshots when meaningful visual changes occur on the selected meeting screen. The result is a set of saved images in the meeting bundle, not a continuous screen video.
Otter's Automated Slide Capture can save unique slides and screen shares from Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams into the Otter conversation. Otter's documentation ties that feature to the Notetaker path. Its botless desktop guide documents screen and system-audio permission and focuses its output description on transcripts, summaries, and other Otter features; it does not promise the same automated slide-capture output for botless recordings.
If visual evidence matters, test the exact mode you plan to deploy. Do not assume that a macOS permission label proves which images or video will be retained after the meeting.
3. Processing and storage: local core or cloud conversation
Shadow's privacy guide says core audio capture, transcription, speaker diarization, and vault storage run locally. Raw audio is not sent to an external transcription provider. Selected AI and sharing features can transmit relevant context, including Meeting Skills, Action Skills, Ask, automatic meeting titles, Share to Web, and webhooks.
That means “local” needs a qualifier. A user can keep core capture and transcription on the Mac, but a configured AI feature or webhook can send selected meeting content outside the device. The guide explains how to disable those paths for sensitive content.
Otter's desktop guide says recordings upload and transcribe when a network connection is available. Otter's privacy and security page describes cloud storage in AWS S3 with server-side AES-256 encryption and explains its model-training practices. A deleted Otter conversation moves to Trash for 30 days before associated data is permanently removed from Otter's servers, according to Otter's deletion guide.
Neither architecture can be reduced to a single privacy adjective. Review the path for audio, transcript, summary, screenshots, exports, and generated results. Record where each artifact is processed, where it persists, who can access it, and how deletion works.
4. Live work and collaboration
Otter is stronger when the transcript itself is a shared live surface. It provides live transcription, speaker identification, conversation sharing, channels, comments, playback, and AI Chat. The Notetaker can also post a recording notice and live-transcript link into supported meeting chat.
Shadow's public workflow is personal and file-first. The floating controls expose the current capture state to the local user, and the finalized bundle becomes the durable record. Meeting Skills can create notes, action items, a follow-up draft, customer feedback, a BANT breakdown, or another defined result after processing.
Choose Otter when people need to follow and collaborate in the same hosted conversation. Choose Shadow when one Mac user needs to preserve the source record locally and produce a bounded output for the next tool.
5. Portability and post-meeting actions
Shadow's primary record is already Markdown. A Meeting Skill can save an additional Markdown result or send a generated result to a webhook. The webhook is configurable, but it is not a claim of a native integration with every destination. The receiving service still needs authentication, mapping, duplicate handling, and failure recovery.
Otter's export guide supports text and audio exports. Basic users can export transcript text as TXT; paid plans add more formats and settings. Otter's pricing page also lists integrations and enterprise controls that vary by plan.
The difference is the default:
- Shadow begins with local files and adds selected external actions.
- Otter begins with a cloud conversation and lets the user export or connect it elsewhere.
6. Languages and access
Otter currently documents transcription in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Chinese (Simplified), with one selected transcription language at a time except for its documented French-to-English switching behavior. Its mobile apps and Windows support make it the broader device choice.
Shadow is Mac-only and requires Apple Silicon. Shadow's current landing help does not publish a precise supported-language count, so this comparison does not make one. Test the languages, accents, and meeting conditions that matter to your work before standardizing on either product.
7. Pricing
Shadow pricing lists a Free plan with unlimited transcription, audio recording, and Smart Screenshots. Plus costs $8 per month billed annually or $12 month-to-month and adds unlimited Action Skills, AI Meeting Notes, Meeting Skills, and AI Chat.
Otter pricing lists Basic at $0 with 300 monthly transcription minutes and three lifetime audio or video file imports. When reviewed on September 10, 2026, Pro displayed $8.33 per user per month billed annually or $16.99 month-to-month, and Business displayed $19.99 per user per month billed annually or $30 month-to-month. Otter was also displaying promotional prices, so verify the live checkout, billing period, eligibility, and renewal price before buying.
Price is only comparable after choosing the workflow. A hosted collaboration system and a local personal record solve different operational needs even when their monthly figures are close.
A practical decision guide
Choose Shadow when most of these are true:
- You use an Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 14.2 or later.
- Core transcription should run on the device.
- The durable record should be local Markdown and media.
- Meaningful screen changes should be saved as meeting evidence.
- Different meetings need different editable output prompts.
- You want to decide which result, if any, leaves the Mac.
- You need Mac, Windows, web, iOS, or Android access.
- A shared hosted conversation is the desired system of record.
- Live transcription and in-conversation collaboration matter.
- Mobile or attended-by-Notetaker capture is useful.
- Team administration, MDM deployment, or enterprise integrations are requirements.
- Text and audio exports are sufficient for your portability needs.
Pilot the exact capture mode
Do not evaluate “Otter” as one capture behavior. Test Otter desktop botless recording and Otter Notetaker separately if both are candidates.
For the same low-risk meeting type, score:
1. Start reliability: Did the intended manual, prompt, automatic, or calendar rule run? 2. Consent workflow: Did every participant receive the notice your policy requires? 3. Source coverage: Were speakers and relevant visuals represented in the retained record? 4. Record ownership: Did the durable record land in the expected local or hosted system? 5. Recovery: Could you find, correct, export, and delete the record without vendor support? 6. Next action: Did the result reach the right destination without unnecessary content or silent failure?
For the broader category change behind this comparison, read Bot-Free Recording Is Now a Capture Mode, Not a Category.
Sources and verification date
This comparison was refreshed on September 10, 2026.
- Otter Desktop App, for platform requirements, botless capture, system audio, detection, automation, permissions, and network behavior.
- Otter Notetaker Overview, for the visible guest-participant path and supported meeting platforms.
- Otter Automated Slide Capture, for saved slides and screen shares in the Notetaker path.
- Otter pricing, export guidance, supported languages, privacy and security, and deletion guidance, for current commercial, portability, processing, storage, and lifecycle claims.
- Shadow's capture, privacy, vault, Smart Screenshots, Meeting Skills, and pricing pages, for current Shadow behavior and limits.
This article was written by Chad Oh, Shadow's AI writer. While we strive for accuracy, AI-generated content may contain errors. If you spot something off, let us know.