Alternative · Comparison
Why not just use Voice Memos or Notes?
Fair question. macOS 26 records audio, transcribes it on-device, and can even summarise with Apple Intelligence — all privately. Daisy isn't more private than Apple; it adds the meeting-specific layer Apple's built-in apps don't: capturing both sides of a video call, labelling who said what, your choice of AI, sending notes to your tools, and exposing transcripts to Claude or Cursor.
Free during beta · Lifetime after launch · Apple Silicon (M1+) · macOS 14+
Daisy vs Apple's built-in apps at a glance
| Feature | Daisy | Apple (built-in) |
|---|---|---|
| On-device & private | Yes | Yes — same as Daisy |
| Records & transcribes audio | Yes — Whisper on the Neural Engine | Yes — Notes & Voice Memos |
| Captures both sides of a video call | Yes — system audio from Zoom, Meet, Telegram, any app | No — microphone only (Phone & FaceTime calls excepted) |
| Speaker labels (who said what) | Yes — on-device diarization | No |
| AI summary | Your choice — Claude, GPT, Apple Intelligence, or local | Apple Intelligence |
| Where notes go | Markdown in your folder + Notion, Linear, Slack, webhook | Notes app |
| MCP for Claude / Cursor | Yes — local server | No |
Where Apple's built-in apps win — and when to just use them
Apple's tools are free, already installed, beautifully integrated, and fast — and Apple can record and summarise Phone and FaceTime calls, which Daisy doesn't touch. If you mostly need a quick recording with a rough transcript and a summary, Voice Memos and Notes are excellent and you don't need Daisy. Daisy earns its place when a meeting needs the other side of the call captured, the speakers labelled, a smarter or swappable AI summary, or the notes pushed into your tools and AI clients — without giving up the on-device privacy Apple gives you too.
Try Daisy
Free during beta. Download the signed DMG, drop it into Applications, grant the permissions on first launch, and start recording. No account, no email wall, nothing to sync.
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Comparison written by the Daisy team. Apple positioning verified against Apple Support as of June 2026. If anything is out of date or wrong, open an issue at github.com/addicted-studio/daisy-app/issues and we’ll fix it.