Shadow vs Claude Meetings

Claude Meetings brings Claude into the call. Shadow stays out of it and saves the meeting as files.

Pick Claude Meetings for Claude in your team's Google Meet calls. Pick Shadow for no bot, any call, and every meeting as files.

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Where your meeting goes.

Shadow

  1. Your call
  2. Transcribed on your Mac
  3. Markdown in your folder
  4. Your agents and Obsidian

Claude

  1. Add Claude from your calendar
  2. Claude joins the Meet call
  3. A meeting page in Claude
  4. Shared in your organization

Shadow and Claude Meetings, side by side.

Bot-free captureNo bot, starts on its ownJoins as a visible participant

ShadowCaptures system audio and your microphone on your Mac. Nothing joins the call. With Autopilot enabled, Shadow starts Listening when it detects a supported meeting.

Claude MeetingsClaude joins the Google Meet call as a visible participant and posts a notice in the call's chat. You add it to a meeting from your Google Calendar, or turn on auto-join.

Where transcription runsOn your MacClaude, in the call; no audio kept

ShadowOn your Mac, including speaker detection. Raw audio never goes to a transcription service.

Claude MeetingsClaude listens in the call and saves a transcript, a summary and descriptions of shared screens, not audio.

Where your notes liveMarkdown files in your folderA meeting page in Claude

ShadowMarkdown in a folder you choose: a dated meeting folder with the transcript, your notes and every Skill result, plus People pages. Open it as an Obsidian vault.

Claude MeetingsA meeting page in Claude with the summary, action items, transcript and anything Claude built. It can be shared with others in your organization, and invitees from your organization get a recap email with a link. Export to files is not described.

AI agents can read your meetingsAs files, no connectorInside Claude

ShadowYes, as files. Every meeting is Markdown in a folder on your Mac, with a SHADOW.md guide that explains the layout. Point Claude Code, Codex or any agent that reads files at it: no connector, no sign-in, no history limit on any plan.

Claude MeetingsClaude works with the meeting inside Claude. Anthropic says sending a meeting's transcript to tools such as Gong, Granola and Otter is coming soon.

Skills that run on your screen and voiceAny app, from a shortcutDocs, whiteboards and tools in the call

ShadowMeeting Skills run on the transcript when a call ends. Action Skills run on any screen, selected text or your voice from a shortcut, in any app.

Claude MeetingsDuring the call, say Claude's name or type in the Meet chat to ask a question, make a doc or a whiteboard, or use your connected tools with your permission. Answers go to the Meet chat by default.

In-person meetingsYes, from your MacNot described

ShadowTurn on In-person meeting and Shadow records the room through your Mac's microphone.

Claude MeetingsNot described. Anthropic's pages cover Google Meet calls on your calendar.

Free planUnlimited recordingTeam and Enterprise only

ShadowUnlimited recording and transcription, forever.

Claude MeetingsClaude Meetings is in beta on Claude Team and Enterprise plans.

Price for AI notes$8 a month, billed annuallyIncluded with Claude Team or Enterprise

ShadowPlus is $12 a month, or $8 a month billed annually, for unlimited AI meeting notes and Skills. Two weeks of Plus are included with every download.

Claude MeetingsNotes, transcripts and answers that do not use connected tools are included on Team and Enterprise. Docs and whiteboards made in a meeting are free through February 10, 2027. Connected tools count toward your usage. A Team standard seat is $20 a month billed annually, or $25 monthly, for 2 to 150 people.

PlatformsMac onlyGoogle Meet, for now

ShadowMac with Apple Silicon, macOS 14.2 or later.

Claude MeetingsGoogle Meet calls, managed from Claude and Claude Desktop. Anthropic says other video platforms are coming soon.

Claude Meetings fits better if your team is on Claude Team or Enterprise, meets on Google Meet, and wants Claude to answer and build docs during the call.

Checked against each product's own pages on November 13, 2026.

Read the full comparison

Pick Claude Meetings if your team already uses Claude Team or Enterprise and wants Claude in the Google Meet call, answering questions and building docs and whiteboards while people talk. Pick Shadow if you want nothing to join the call, want any call app or an in-person meeting recorded from your Mac, and want every meeting saved as Markdown files your AI agents can read. As of November 13, 2026, Anthropic's launch post and help article describe Claude Meetings as a beta on Team and Enterprise plans that joins Google Meet calls as a visible participant and keeps the notes, transcript and anything Claude built on a meeting page in Claude. Shadow is a Mac app that records system audio and your microphone, transcribes on your Mac, and writes each meeting into a folder you choose.

Choose Shadow if

  • You want nothing in the participant list: Shadow records from your Mac without joining the call.
  • You meet on Zoom, Teams, Slack huddles or in person, not only Google Meet.
  • You want transcription on your Mac and every meeting saved as Markdown in your own folder, where Obsidian, Claude Code and Codex read it as files.
  • You want a plan for one person: Shadow Plus is $12 a month, or $8 billed annually, and recording and transcription are free.

Choose Claude Meetings if

  • Your team is already on Claude Team or Enterprise, where Claude Meetings is included during the beta.
  • You want Claude in the call itself, answering questions asked out loud or in the Meet chat and building docs and whiteboards while people talk.
  • You want Claude to use your connected tools during the call, such as sending a Slack message, and share the meeting page with your organization.

Questions people ask about Shadow and Claude Meetings

A beta feature Anthropic launched on November 12, 2026 that adds Claude to a Google Meet call as a visible participant. You can ask Claude questions out loud or in the Meet chat, have it build a doc or a whiteboard during the call, and let it use your connected tools. After the call, a meeting page in Claude holds the summary, action items, transcript and everything Claude built. As of November 13, 2026 it is rolling out on Claude Team and Enterprise plans.

Try it on your next call.

Free forever for recording and transcription. Two weeks of Plus included, no card required.

Requires Apple Silicon and macOS 14.2 or later.