Otter built a great product on cloud infrastructure. That's also the problem — every word of every meeting lives on someone else's server. Kargoo does the same job, but every byte stays on your machine.
If you've ever paused before sharing a sensitive call with Otter, switch to Kargoo. Same transcript, same AI summary, same Zoom & Teams support — without ever uploading your audio.
| Kargoo | Otter.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Where audio is processed | On your Mac (Whisper) | Otter's cloud servers |
| Where transcripts live | Your filesystem | Otter's cloud |
| Joins your meeting as a bot | No — silent system-audio capture | Yes — "Otter.ai has joined the call" |
| Works without internet | Yes | No |
| Uses your audio for AI training | Never (we can't — we don't see it) | Per their policy, with opt-out |
| System-wide dictation (fn-fn) | Yes | No |
| Starting price | $0 for 14 days · $8.99/mo Pro | $0 limited · $16.99/mo Pro |
| Works with Zoom, Teams, Meet | Yes — records system audio | Yes — via bot |
| Files you own | .m4a + .txt + .md on disk | Locked inside Otter |
Your boardroom conversation never touches a server. Compliance teams love this; lawyers really love this.
Nothing joins the meeting. No awkward "Otter.ai is recording" announcement. Guests don't even know it's running.
Audio, transcript and AI summary live in ~/Documents/Kargoo — back up, sync, or move them with the rest of your work.
InfoSec asked "where does the audio go?" and there wasn't a good answer. Kargoo has one: nowhere.
Clients started declining calls when an Otter bot joined. Kargoo doesn't join — it's just your Mac listening.
Team plans add up fast. Kargoo is a one-time-feel subscription: $8.99/mo or $89.99/yr, all-you-record.
Free to download. Free 14-day trial. No account required.
Download for Mac · Free