Tasks, calendars and focus4 picks
The best meeting apps for Mac
Granola is the meeting notes app most Mac users should try, and its free plan keeps 30 days of history.
GranolaPick it if you're on calls most of the day and want notes written for you with no bot in the room.Free to startGranola writes meeting notes from your computer's audio, so no bot joins the call, and the free plan keeps 30 days of history. MacWhisper is the pick for private transcripts made on your own Mac. Krisp strips background noise and voices from both sides of a call, and Loom replaces a meeting with a short screen video you share as a link.
How we chose
- 1Notes without a bot joining the call
- 2Where your audio and transcripts go
- 3Clear sound on every call
Compare at a glance
Tap a name to jump to its write-up.
| App | Price | How you pay | Mac | iPhone | iPad | Watch | App Store | Developer | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granola | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 5 | ||||||
 MacWhisper | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | Too few ratings | ||||||
 Krisp | From $8 | Subscription | Too few ratings | ||||||
 Loom | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.8 |
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The picks, in order
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Pick it if you're on calls most of the day and want notes written for you with no bot in the room.
Free for AI meeting notes with 30 days of history, Granola listens through your computer's audio instead of sending a bot into the call, then writes up decisions and action items. The iPhone app does the same for phone calls and in-person chats, and you can chat with your notes to draft a follow-up. Anything older than 30 days needs Business at $14 a user a month, which adds up fast for a team.
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Pick this if your recordings must stay on your Mac, like client calls or research interviews.
Apple's built-in dictation types what you say, but it can't turn a 2-hour interview file or a Zoom call into a transcript; MacWhisper does both on your Mac without uploading the audio. The free version already handles files, call recordings and subtitle exports. Pro is a one-time €65, charged in euros, and it is worth it mainly for automatic speaker labels and batch transcription.
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Pick it if people on your calls hear kids, cafe chatter or echo behind you.
The Voice Isolation mic mode in macOS cleans up your own voice, but Krisp also strips noise, background voices and echo from what other callers send you, across Zoom, Meet, Teams and Slack huddles with no per-app setup. Paid plans add bot-free meeting notes with transcripts and action items. It's a subscription from $8 a month billed yearly, with nothing free after the 7-day trial, so occasional callers are better off with the built-in mode.
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Pick this if a 2-minute video would replace half the meetings on your calendar.
The Mac's Shift-Command-5 tool records your screen, but Loom records your camera and voice with it and hands you a share link the moment you stop. Viewers leave time-stamped comments and reactions, and you see who watched. The free plan caps you at 25 videos of up to 5 minutes in 720p, and Business is $18 per user a month, so Cap is worth a look if you want shareable links for less.
Head to head
Stuck between 2 of these? Each comparison lines up price, devices and who should pick which.
