A Supernormal alternative: Supernormal and Notey compared

Supernormal used to join meetings as a bot. Since April 2026 it takes notes from a desktop app on your computer, with no bot in the call, so the bot is no longer the reason to look elsewhere. The differences that remain are where the audio is transcribed, what is kept afterwards, and what each tool is built to produce. Supernormal transcribes in its cloud, keeps no recording, and aims at agencies turning meetings into client work. Notey transcribes on your Mac and keeps the recording on your disk.

This comparison describes Supernormal from its own website, security page and help centre as of September 2026. Check Supernormal's desktop app page and security page for the current state before deciding.

At a glance

What changed at Supernormal

Supernormal's help centre lists the changes made in 2026: the meeting bot, known as Norma, and the Chrome extension were retired on 2 April 2026, along with video and audio recording and several integrations, including HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, ClickUp, Asana and Zapier. (Supernormal help centre)

What is left is a desktop app: "The Supernormal app takes notes from your computer. No bot joins the call." It asks for microphone and system-audio permission, and it connects to your Google or Outlook calendar to know when meetings are. (Supernormal desktop app)

If you read an older comparison that describes Supernormal's bot, it is out of date.

How each one hears a meeting

Both apps listen to your microphone for your side and to the computer's audio output for everyone else, which is how either can take notes without a participant in the call. Bot-free meeting notes covers what that changes for the people on the other side, and how meeting bots work covers what it replaces.

Supernormal uses the calendar to know a meeting is on and takes notes from the computer's audio.

Notey records the two inputs as two separate tracks. It notices calls in Zoom, Teams, Slack and FaceTime, and in Chrome, Safari, Arc and Edge when the browser uses the microphone, and asks on its floating button; nothing is saved until you press Allow. Any other app, you press Start. A calendar is optional: you can tick calendars whose meetings it should record, and it shows the next one on Home with Turn off beside it.

Where your data goes

Supernormal

• Transcription: "Transcribed and summarized inside SOC 2 infrastructure", per its security page. That is Supernormal's cloud, not your computer.
• Recording: none. Its help centre says video and audio recording is not part of the desktop app.
• Transcripts and notes: "Stored with AES-256 encryption, private to your account". You can restrict, delete or export them.
• Training: "On paid plans, your data is excluded from training AI models entirely, ours or anyone else's." The page does not say the same about the free plan.
• Certifications: SOC 2, audited annually; HIPAA with a BAA; GDPR with a DPA. (Supernormal security)

Notey

• Audio is recorded to your Mac and never uploaded to be transcribed.
• Transcription runs on the Mac, live. After an English meeting, Notey reads the recording again on your Mac and keeps the words the recognisers agree on. On-device transcription explained covers how that works.
• 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. (Notey's privacy policy)
• Notey holds no certifications and claims none.

The trade-off is plain. Supernormal keeps no audio but sends it to its service to be transcribed. Notey sends no audio but keeps it on your Mac, which makes the file your responsibility.

What each one produces

Supernormal describes itself as an AI agent for agencies: "Turn meetings into completed client work in a flash." Beyond notes, it produces decks, briefs and proposals from meetings, and connects to Slack, Gmail, Google Calendar, Outlook, Google Drive, Linear, Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor.

Notey produces fixed kinds of note from one meeting: a summary with action items, minutes, tough questions, where the two sides differed, and a follow-up email. Ask Notey answers questions about the meeting and says when the transcript does not cover it. 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.

Languages

Supernormal transcribes seven languages: English, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Swedish and Portuguese. Notey's live transcription covers ten, in the Mac's language, one per meeting; the better transcript after the meeting is English only. If your meetings are in Swedish, Supernormal covers them and Notey does not. If they are in Japanese, Korean or Chinese, Notey does and Supernormal does not.

Where Supernormal is stronger

• Client deliverables. Decks, briefs and proposals from meetings. Notey writes notes only.
• Windows. Notey is Mac only.
• Older Macs. Supernormal runs on macOS 14.4.1 or later; Notey needs macOS 26.
• Integrations. Slack, Gmail, Drive, Linear and AI assistants. Notey has none.
• No audio files. If you would rather have no recordings on your laptop at all, Supernormal keeps none.
• Certifications. Supernormal lists SOC 2 and HIPAA. Notey claims none.

Where Notey makes different choices

• Transcribed on the Mac, with no audio uploaded.
• A recording to go back to. Every transcript line plays from its timestamp, and the whole-meeting overview shows your side above and theirs below.
• No account to record. Recording, transcription and search are free with no account; AI notes are paid by the hour. See the pricing section.
• Asks first. It asks before each recording unless you made a standing choice, and every standing choice is listed where it can be withdrawn.

Which one fits

Supernormal is likely the better fit if:

• you run an agency and want meetings turned into client documents;
• you use Windows or a Mac older than macOS 26;
• you want no audio files kept anywhere;
• you want notes delivered to Slack or other tools.

Notey is likely the better fit if:

• your audio must not be sent to a transcription service;
• you want a recording you can replay line by line;
• you want to record with no account and no network;
• you want your side and theirs kept as separate tracks.

For more tools compared, see the best AI notetakers for Mac.

Frequently asked questions

Does Supernormal still use a bot?

No. Supernormal's help centre says its meeting bot and Chrome extension were retired on 2 April 2026. It now takes notes from a desktop app for Mac and Windows, and no bot joins the call.

Does Supernormal record audio?

Supernormal's help centre says video and audio recording is not part of the desktop app. It keeps transcripts and notes, not a recording you can play back.

Where does Supernormal transcribe?

On its servers. Supernormal's security page says meetings are transcribed and summarised inside SOC 2 infrastructure. Notey transcribes on the Mac, with Apple's speech recognition.

Does Supernormal train AI on my meetings?

Its security page says that on paid plans your data is excluded from training AI models entirely. It does not say the same for the free plan, so check its current terms.

Does Notey need a calendar connection?

No. Notey notices calls in Zoom, Teams, Slack, FaceTime and supported browsers by watching which app uses audio, and asks before recording. A calendar is optional, for recording scheduled meetings.