Jiva vs cloud AI notetakers
Most AI notetakers send your meeting to their servers, charge a monthly fee, and label everyone else on the call as "Them". Jiva runs on your Mac, is free, and learns who each person is.
Choose Jiva if
- you want audio and transcripts to stay on your Mac
- you want it free, with no meeting limit and no account
- you want real names that stick across every meeting
- you'd like dictation and to-dos in the same app
Choose a cloud notetaker if
- you need Windows, a web app or a phone app
- your team wants shared folders and admin controls
- you want slightly fewer missed words in fast cross-talk today
- you don't mind your meetings living on someone else's servers
At a glance
| JIVA | TYPICAL CLOUD NOTETAKER | |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy and price | ||
| Price | Free, no meeting limit | Monthly subscription; free plans usually capped |
| Where transcription runs | On your Mac. Works offline. | On the company's servers |
| Where meetings are stored | On your Mac, as plain Markdown files | In the company's cloud |
| Account needed | No | Yes |
| Bot joins the call | No | Some do, some don't |
| During the meeting | ||
| Starts with your meeting | Auto-records when a call starts; calendar reminder with one-click Join & Record (optional) | Varies |
| Live transcript | Both sides of the call, on-device | Usually, in the cloud |
| Live summary on screen | A private overlay with a running summary, Assist for what to say next, and Ask about past meetings | Rarely |
| Shared screens captured | Slides and documents shown in the call appear in the transcript as pictures with their text (optional) | Rarely |
| After the meeting | ||
| Who said what | Each person gets a label; voices are remembered across meetings so names stick | Often just "Me" and "Them" |
| Summary and action items | Yes, each action item links to the line where it was said | Usually |
| Answers cited to the moment | Ask any past meeting; tap a citation to jump to the line | Varies |
| To-do list | One list of what you owe and what others owe you, typed, dictated or filled from meetings | Rarely |
| Ask Claude about your meetings | Optional local connector (MCP) lets Claude search your meetings; only the passages it reads leave your Mac | Some offer cloud integrations |
| Beyond meetings | ||
| Dictation in any app | Hold Right ⌘, speak, and it types | Rarely |
| Platforms | Mac (Apple silicon). Android keyboard in beta. | Often Mac, Windows, web and phone |
Measured on a real meeting
Full results and method →WORDS GIVEN TO THE RIGHT PERSON90%A popular AI notetaker: 43%
PEOPLE IN THE MEETING4Jiva showed 6 labels · the notetaker showed 1
WORDS WRONG21%A popular AI notetaker: 17%
"I stopped using other tools and recommend Jiva to all my friends now."
"I like that everything is locally stored. For me, privacy is most important."
"Ran it on a 90-minute meeting. I actually liked it."
Questions
Can Jiva replace my cloud notetaker?
For most Mac users, yes. Jiva records without a bot, writes the summary and action items, and answers questions across past meetings, all on your Mac.
Can I run both?
Yes. They don't interfere with each other.
Does Jiva work on Windows?
No. Jiva needs a Mac with Apple silicon on macOS 14.4 or later.
Try Jiva free.
Download for Maccurl -fsSL https://jiva.works/install.sh | bash