Shadow vs Wispr Flow Notetaker
Same bot-free capture. A different answer to where your audio goes.
Wispr Flow launched its Notetaker for Mac on August 5, 2026. Like Shadow, it captures meeting audio on your computer without a bot. The difference is what happens to that audio and to the notes. Wispr transcribes in the cloud, keeps your transcripts in its cloud, and lets AI tools reach them over MCP. Shadow transcribes on your Mac and saves every meeting as Markdown in a folder you own, where Claude Code, Codex and Obsidian read it as files. Flow Pro is $15 a month, or $12 billed annually. Shadow Plus is $12, or $8 billed annually, and Shadow's free plan has no weekly meeting limit.
Every claim below was checked against each product's own pages on October 28, 2026. Sources are at the bottom.
Choose Shadow if
- You want meeting audio transcribed on your Mac, not uploaded.
- You want each meeting saved as Markdown in your own vault, where Obsidian and any AI agent can read it.
- You want unlimited recording and transcription on the free plan, with no weekly meeting cap.
- You want voice typing plus custom Skills that run on your screen, not dictation alone.
Choose Wispr Flow Notetaker if
- You already pay for Flow dictation and want meeting notes in the same subscription.
- You need Windows as well as a Mac, with notes synced across both.
- You want to import your Granola or Otter history on day one.
Side by side
Shadow and Wispr Flow Notetaker, feature by feature
Bot-free capture is the floor. The rows that still decide it are where transcription runs, where your notes live, whether your AI agents can read them, and what you pay.
| What matters | Shadow | Wispr Flow Notetaker |
|---|---|---|
| Bot-free capture | Captures system audio and your microphone on your Mac. Nothing joins the call. With Autopilot enabled, Shadow starts Listening when it detects a supported meeting. | Captures audio locally on your device rather than joining calls as a visible bot. Detects unscheduled calls on Meet, Zoom, Teams, WhatsApp and FaceTime. |
| Where transcription runs | On your Mac, including speaker detection. Raw audio never goes to a transcription service. | Wispr's privacy page says transcription always happens in the cloud. Its Notetaker page says meeting audio is stored temporarily on your device and, in some cases, in cloud storage. |
| Where your notes live | Markdown 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. | Wispr's private cloud, synced across your devices, with retention you can set. Export formats are not listed on Wispr's pages. |
| AI agents can read your meetings | Yes, 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. | Through Wispr's MCP connector, on the free plan too: Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini can pull transcripts, summaries and notes that stay in Wispr's cloud. Export to files is not listed. |
| Skills that run on your screen and voice | Voice Typing is one built-in Action Skill. Add your own prompts that use your screen, selected text or voice, from any app. | Dictation into any text field with a personal dictionary and snippets. Your notes are reachable from Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini over MCP. |
| Free plan | Unlimited recording and transcription, forever. | $0 with limited Notetaker access and a weekly meeting limit. Dictation is capped at 2,000 words a week on desktop. |
| Price for AI notes | Plus 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. | Flow Pro is $15 per user per month, or $12 billed annually, with higher Notetaker limits and longer history. |
| Platforms | Mac with Apple Silicon, macOS 14.2 or later. | Mac and Windows. Mobile is on the roadmap. |
Bot-free capture
Shadow
Wispr Flow Notetaker
Where transcription runs
Shadow
Wispr Flow Notetaker
Where your notes live
Shadow
Wispr Flow Notetaker
AI agents can read your meetings
Shadow
Wispr Flow Notetaker
Skills that run on your screen and voice
Shadow
Wispr Flow Notetaker
Free plan
Shadow
Wispr Flow Notetaker
Price for AI notes
Shadow
Wispr Flow Notetaker
Platforms
Shadow
Wispr Flow Notetaker
Questions people ask about Shadow and Wispr Flow Notetaker
A meeting notetaker added to Wispr Flow, the dictation app, on August 5, 2026. It records meeting audio on your Mac without a bot, cleans up the transcript, and writes summaries and action items. It is bundled with Flow's Free and Pro plans rather than sold separately.
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.
Sources
Each claim on this page was checked against the pages below on October 28, 2026. Competitor pricing and features change; if a page has moved on, the linked page wins, and this page will be updated.
- Wispr Flow Notetaker page (wisprflow.ai/notetaker)
- Wispr Flow pricing (wisprflow.ai/pricing)
- Wispr Flow privacy: cloud transcription and Notetaker storage
- TechCrunch, August 5, 2026: launch date of the Mac notetaker (used only for the date)
- Shadow pricing (shadow.do/pricing)
- Shadow Help: Privacy and data leaving your Mac
- Shadow Help: Your vault and local files
- Shadow Help: Capture a meeting