A Read AI alternative without a bot: Read AI and Notey compared

Read AI is a meeting assistant that can work two ways: as an AI agent that joins your Zoom, Google Meet or Teams call, or as a desktop app that records without a bot. It sends meetings to its cloud to transcribe and summarise them, and it is known for meeting analytics and coaching. Notey is a Mac app that never joins the call, transcribes on the Mac, and keeps the recording on your disk. If you are looking for a Read AI alternative because a bot in the call is the problem, Read AI's own desktop app may already solve it; if you want the transcript made on your computer, Notey does that.

This comparison describes Read AI from its own website and privacy page as of September 2026. Products change; check Read AI, its desktop app page and its privacy page before deciding.

At a glance

How each one hears a meeting

Read AI describes its agent this way: "Attendance is optional, AI agent summarizes the meeting." It works across Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Because the agent is a participant, everyone in the call sees it, and Read AI's privacy page says that "meeting participants can opt out of Read at any time", with the meeting data then "immediately and permanently deleted." How meeting bots work explains what a bot participant can and cannot do.

Read AI also has a desktop app: "Record and summarize meetings without needing a bot. In person discussions, 1:1s, Slack Huddles? The Desktop app has you covered." It requires Windows 10 or later, or macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon or Intel, and a Read AI account. The page does not say whether the desktop app keeps audio on the computer. (Read AI desktop)

Notey records your microphone and the sound your Mac plays as two separate tracks. Nothing joins the call, so there is no participant to admit, and nobody on the other side is asked anything by Notey. That also means telling them you are recording is your job. Notey notices calls in Zoom, Teams, Slack, FaceTime and in Chrome, Safari, Arc and Edge when the browser uses the microphone, and asks before saving anything. For other apps you press Start.

The practical difference: Read AI's agent can cover a meeting you cannot attend. Notey cannot; it records what your Mac hears, so you have to be there.

Where your data goes

Read AI

• Transcription and summaries are done in Read AI's service. Its site does not describe on-device transcription.
• Model training: "Contributing to model improvement is off by default. You decide - and can change your mind any time."
• Encryption: data it stores is "encrypted with AES-256 at rest and TLS 1.2+ in transit."
• Certifications: Read AI lists SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA with a BAA on request, and GDPR with a DPA and SCCs. (Read AI privacy)

Notey

• Audio is recorded to your Mac and never uploaded to be transcribed. There is no fallback, debug mode or crash report that sends it.
• Transcription runs on the Mac with Apple's speech recognition, live, in ten languages. After an English meeting, Notey reads the recording again on the Mac and keeps the words the recognisers agree on.
• With no account, nothing leaves the Mac.
• AI notes send transcript text, never audio, to Notey's service and on to OpenAI as a processor; not used for training and not kept by Notey. That happens when you ask, or when a meeting ends if write-ups are on. (Notey's privacy policy)
• Notey holds no security certifications and does not claim any.

The question to ask any vendor is where each step runs and what is kept afterwards. Where does meeting audio go? has the full checklist.

Analytics and coaching

This is Read AI's territory. Its site lists Speaker Coach among its features, and its privacy page says every meeting report uses role-based permissions "so only the right people see your reports", which is how a team shares them. Check Read AI's site for the current list of metrics.

Notey has none of that. On a meeting's Notes tab it shows Length, Words, Your words and Their words, as a share of the words rather than of talking time, and it leaves out lines your microphone picked up from your own speakers. That is the whole of its analytics. If you want coaching or meeting scores, Notey is not the tool.

Notes and search

Read AI produces summaries, action items and searchable reports, and "Ask Read" searches across meetings and folders. It sends them into Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Notion, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Confluence, Google Docs and more.

Notey writes fixed kinds of note when you ask: a summary with action items (it says so when nobody committed to anything), minutes, tough questions, where the two sides differed, and a follow-up email. Ask Notey answers questions about one meeting and says when the transcript does not cover the question. ⌘K searches every meeting by what was said. There are no integrations; you export notes as Markdown and the transcript as plain text. Everything the AI wrote is labelled as AI-generated, and your edits are marked.

Where Read AI is stronger

• Meetings you cannot attend. The agent goes without you.
• Coaching. Speaker Coach and meeting reports. Notey has word counts only.
• Teams. Shared reports with permissions. Notey has no sharing; sync is only between one person's own Macs.
• Platforms. Web, Windows, Intel Macs, older macOS versions and phones.
• Integrations. A long list. Notey has none.
• Certifications. Read AI lists SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA. Notey claims none.

Where Notey makes different choices

• The transcript is made on the Mac, and the audio stays on your disk.
• No account to record. Recording, transcription, search and speaker separation work with no account and no network. You pay only for AI notes, by the hour; see the pricing section.
• Two tracks. Your side and theirs are separate recordings, so the transcript knows which is which without learning anyone's voice. Voice recognition across meetings exists but is off by default and only suggests names.
• Visible recording. A red dot and elapsed timer show in the window, the menu bar and the floating button whenever audio is kept. Any standing choice to record is shown before it acts.

Which one fits

Read AI is likely the better fit if:

• you want notes from meetings you are not in;
• you want speaker coaching or meeting reports;
• your team shares meeting reports;
• you use Windows, an Intel Mac or a phone;
• you want notes sent into a CRM or project tool.

Notey is likely the better fit if:

• you want no bot in the call and no audio uploaded;
• you work alone on an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 26;
• you want to record and transcribe with no account;
• you want your side and theirs kept as separate recordings.

For more tools side by side, see the best AI notetakers for Mac, and for what changes when nothing joins the call, bot-free meeting notes.

Frequently asked questions

Can Read AI take notes without a bot?

Yes. Read AI's desktop app for Mac and Windows records and summarises meetings without a bot, per its site, including in-person discussions and Slack huddles. Its best-known mode is still an AI agent that joins Zoom, Google Meet and Teams calls.

Does Read AI train on my meetings?

Read AI's privacy page says contributing to model improvement is off by default and that you can change your mind at any time. Check its current privacy page for details.

Does Notey have meeting analytics like Read AI?

Only simple counts. Notey's Notes tab shows the meeting's length, the number of words, and your share and their share of the words. It has no coaching or scoring.

Can Notey record a meeting I do not attend?

No. Notey records what your Mac hears, so it needs you in the call on that Mac. An agent that joins by itself, like Read AI's, can attend without you.

Which works on Windows?

Read AI has a desktop app for Windows 10 or later, as well as macOS 14 or later and phone apps. Notey runs only on Apple silicon Macs with macOS 26 or later.