An Otter.ai alternative for Mac that stays on your device

By Harshit Maurya, maker of Cued · Updated 16 October 2026

If you want Otter-style AI meeting notes without a bot in the call or your audio in the cloud, Cued is an Otter alternative for Mac: it records and transcribes Meet, Zoom and Teams calls on the device and writes the summary there too. Otter is a cloud service whose Notetaker can join meetings automatically; Cued keeps everything on your Mac, is a one-time purchase instead of a subscription, and adds a teleprompter in the notch.

Cued's meeting summary with a short summary, action items with owners, and key points — After the call: summary, action items with owners, and key points.

Why people switch from Otter

The bot. Otter's Notetaker joins Zoom, Teams and Google Meet to write notes, and it can join automatically from your calendar. On someone else's call, that can be awkward.
The free plan's limits. Otter's pricing page lists 300 transcription minutes a month, at most 30 minutes per conversation, 3 imported files in total, and only the 25 most recent conversations on the free plan.
Training on recordings. Otter's privacy policy says it trains its AI on de-identified audio recordings, and that data-labelling providers use shared data to make training data.
The lawsuit. In August 2025 a proposed class action, In re Otter.ai Privacy Litigation, was filed in federal court in California. It alleges the Notetaker records people without everyone's consent and uses the recordings to train Otter's models. On 13 August 2026 the court dismissed some claims and let others go ahead. That is not a finding that Otter did anything wrong; the case continues.
The cost over time. Pro is a monthly or yearly subscription, and the price adds up if you use it for years.

Cued and Otter compared

From Otter's pricing page, privacy policy and blog, checked 16 October 2026. Two-year cost is list price times 24 months, for one user.
	Cued	Otter.ai
Joins the call as a bot	No	Its Notetaker can join automatically; the desktop app can record without a bot
Where audio is processed	On your Mac	On Otter's cloud servers (its privacy policy names Amazon Web Services in the US)
Where transcripts are stored	On your Mac	In your Otter account
Saves the recording	Yes, screen and audio, on your Mac	Yes, audio (even the free plan exports mp3)
Trains AI on your recordings	No; nothing is uploaded	Yes, on de-identified audio, per its privacy policy
Account needed	No Cued account. It asks you to connect Google for calendar and Meet links, and you can continue without it	Yes, an Otter account
Works offline	Yes: recording, transcripts and summaries	Not mentioned on its pricing page; processing runs in its cloud
Free plan	No	Yes: 300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation
Price	One-time: $9 for the first 50 founding members, then $29 with a year of updates	Pro $16.99 a month, or $8.33 a month billed yearly; Business $30 a month, or $19.99 yearly
Cost over 2 years	$29 or $29, once	Pro about $200 (yearly) to $408 (monthly)
Teleprompter for what you want to say	Yes, in the notch	No
Platforms	Mac (Apple silicon, macOS 15+)	Web, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android

Otter's pricing page also showed a 50% discount on Pro when we checked. Discounts come and go, so we used list prices.

When Otter is the better fit

Otter works on more platforms, shares transcripts with a team in the browser, imports audio files, and offers team features. If you need notes on Windows or phones, shared workspaces, or a free plan for occasional use, Otter covers that and Cued does not.

When Cued is the better fit

You want nobody to see a notetaker join, including on calls you were invited to.
You would rather your meetings never leave your Mac, and work offline.
You want to pay once instead of a monthly subscription.
You also want help while you speak: your talking points under the camera.

How to move from Otter to Cued

Cued cannot import Otter transcripts or audio files, so your Otter history stays in Otter. The practical way to switch is to start fresh and keep Otter for looking things up.

Export what you need from Otter. Download the transcripts and audio of calls you will want later, while your plan still lets you see them.
Stop the Otter Notetaker joining. In Otter, under Account Settings → Meetings, set auto-join to 'Meetings I manually select', and turn the Notetaker off on any upcoming events that still have it on.
Install Cued and allow its permissions. Screen Recording and Microphone. Connect Google Calendar or your Mac's Calendar to see your calls.
Take your next call. Cued starts recording when the call starts. Compare the summary with what you are used to.

Other Otter alternatives

Granola AI: bot-free on Mac and Windows; transcribes in the cloud and does not keep the audio. Free with 30-day history, Business $14 a month.
Fathom: lets you choose a bot or bot-free capture, now live on Mac. Free plan; Premium $20 a month or $16 yearly.
Fireflies: a desktop app that records without its Notetaker on Mac and Windows; free and per-seat paid plans.
MacWhisper (Mac): records meetings with no bots and can transcribe on your Mac with local models. Free version; Pro €64, pay once.
Anarlog (Mac, formerly Hyprnote/Char): open source, no bot, on-device transcription on the free plan; Pro $14 a month.
Meetily: free, open-source (MIT) meeting transcription that runs on your own machine; summaries can stay local with Ollama.

Questions

Is Otter being sued?

Yes. A proposed class action, In re Otter.ai Privacy Litigation, was filed in August 2025 in the Northern District of California. On 13 August 2026 the court let some claims go ahead and dismissed others. These are allegations, not findings.

Does Otter use my recordings to train its AI?

Otter's privacy policy says it trains its AI on de-identified audio recordings. Business and enterprise accounts follow their company's own policy.

Is there an Otter alternative without a subscription?

Yes. Cued is a one-time purchase: $9 for the first 50 founding members, then $29 with a year of updates. MacWhisper Pro is also pay-once, and Meetily's community edition is free.

How do I stop Otter joining my meetings?

In Otter, set auto-join under Account Settings → Meetings to 'Meetings I manually select', then check upcoming events in its calendar view. Hosts can also remove the Notetaker from a call.

Can I import my Otter transcripts?

No. Cued records new calls; it can't import Otter transcripts or audio files.

Is Cued free?

No. Cued is a one-time purchase: $9 for the first 50 founding members, then $29 with a year of updates. Download it from getcued.pro and pay inside the app after a quick setup.

Try Cued on your next call. Your script in the notch, your call recorded and summarised on your Mac.

Download for Mac