A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO REPLACING KRISP.Every claim sourced · verified Jun 2026

Choose a Krisp alternative based on why you are leaving.

Krisp remains strong for noise cancellation and bot-free meeting notes. Other tools offer local processing, finished follow-ups, broader device coverage, or freedom from subscriptions.

What's pushing you to look? Pick one — the page reorders around it.

The evidence

What actually differs, claim by claim.

Each section opens with the takeaway. The table underneath is the receipt — every cell carries its source and the date we checked it.

Pricing

Ottex offers the widest pricing choice: free local or BYOK use, $0.20 per hour pay-as-you-go, or $14 per month. Vowen costs $49 once for unlimited Pro use, while QuickWhisper charges $59 once and includes unlimited free file transcription with its Tiny and Base models. Krisp remains usable free for limited daily meetings and transcription, but Pro renews at $96 per year.

See the evidence — 24 claims across 6 toolsverified Jun 2026Show table

	Ottex	Krisp	Vowen	Granola	Hedy	QuickWhisper
Free tier	YesForever free with local models and BYOK providers.	Partial60 min/day noise cancellation; 2 meetings/day to take notes; 60 min/day transcription; 10 min/day accent conversion	PartialUnlimited voice dictation; 10 audio/video transcriptions; 5 hours total meeting notes recording; 5 Command Mode calls per day; 1 custom tone; 1 text expansion; 1 custom API integration.	Partial25 meetings/month	PartialUp to 5 hours per month; Real-time AI insights (first 30 min/session)	PartialTiny and Base Models; free transcription of audio and video files using the Tiny and Base models, with no limitations.
Subscription	$14/mo$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.	$16/moPro is priced at $16 monthly or $8/month billed yearly.	NoNo subscription plan	$18/moBusiness is $18 per member/month or $14 per member/month billed annually.	$12.99/moPro adds unlimited sessions, recording import, cross-session organization, Zapier, and API integrations.	NoNo subscription plan
Pay-as-you-go / one-timeEscape the flat subscription	$0.2/hourHosted models at cost: dictation ~$0.2/h, meetings ~$0.5/h (~$3/mo average).	NoSubscription only	$49 one-timeLifetime updates	NoSubscription only	$299 one-timeAll future updates included	$59 one-timePay-once use forever.
Bring your own keyPay the model provider, not the middleman	YesOpenRouter, Google AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, and compatible providers.	NoNo bring-your-own-model-key support is published.	YesCloud transcription and AI enhancement use user-provided provider keys.	No public claim	No public claim	YesChangelog lists adding existing API keys for cloud transcription providers and AI models.
Education discount	NoSame pricing for everyone.	YesStudents, teachers, faculty, and staff can apply for a 50% education discount.	No public claim	No public claim	No public claim	No public claim

Platforms

Hedy has the broadest confirmed reach across Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and web. Vowen ships on Mac and Windows, but its iOS and Android apps are only coming soon; Ottex is limited to Mac and iOS. MacWhisper is explicitly native and Mac-only, while Krisp does not publicly confirm whether its desktop app is native or Electron.

See the evidence — 9 claims across 6 toolsverified Jun 2026Show table

	Ottex	Krisp	Vowen	Granola	Hedy	QuickWhisper
Platforms	Mac, iOS	Mac, Windows, Android, Web	Mac, WindowsSome platforms in beta/waitlist	Mac, Windows, iOS, Android	Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Web	Mac
Native app footprintLight on memory, instant to invoke	YesNative Swift app, ~50MB RAM.	No public claim	No public claim	No public claim	YesVendor describes a native macOS application.	YesQuickWhisper is distributed as a macOS app through direct download, App Store, GitHub, and Homebrew.

Meetings & team memory

Granola is the polished bot-free choice for recording microphone and computer audio without a call bot, with 25 meetings per month free. Hedy adds bot-free online, in-person, and imported-media capture across five platforms, plus 5 free hours per month. Hyprnote stands out for private Mac capture with on-device recordings, transcripts, speaker identification, and notes.

See the evidence — 30 claims across 6 toolsverified Jun 2026Show table

	Ottex	Krisp	Vowen	Granola	Hedy	QuickWhisper
Meeting recordingThe call is captured at all	YesWith speaker separation.	YesKrisp can record and transcribe online and in-person meetings.	YesVowen captures meetings from Zoom, Teams, Meet, Slack Huddles, or any app that produces sound.	YesGranola records and transcribes meetings without joining as a bot.	YesHedy records live sessions and meeting conversations.	YesVendor lists recording meetings in Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and others.
Bot-free captureNo "recording bot" joins your call	YesSystem-audio capture, no bot joins the call.	YesThe desktop app can record and transcribe meetings without adding a bot to the call.	YesSilent meeting capture records without a bot or banner.	YesGranola does not send a bot to meetings.	YesFeature page says no bot joins calls.	YesVendor says meetings are recorded without bots joining calls.
Speaker separation	Yes	YesKrisp supports speaker identification for meeting transcripts.	PartialSpeaker identification is a Pro feature.	No public claim	No public claim	YesVendor lists global speakers and speaker filtering across history.
Calendar detection	YesCalendar-based meeting detection.	YesKrisp detects meetings from the desktop app and prompts to record or transcribe.	PartialAuto-detect meetings is a Pro feature.	YesGranola surfaces calendar events and can start notes from upcoming meetings.	YesGoogle Calendar is listed in the help center and news page.	No public claim
Cross-meeting search	Yes	YesKrisp AI Chat can answer questions across Krisp meetings.	No public claim	YesAsk Granola can answer across past meetings.	YesPro users can group sessions and ask questions across conversations weeks ago.	YesChangelog lists related transcriptions and semantic search across History.
Shared team memory	PartialPublic share links, not a full team workspace.	PartialMeeting notes can be shared, but no persistent team memory model is publicly described.	No public claim	YesBusiness workspaces include shared notes and folders for teams.	YesSharing sessions and topics is listed in the help center.	No public claim

From meeting to finished work

Ottex goes beyond summaries by turning meetings into follow-up emails, CRM updates, tickets, PRDs, notes, and docs. Granola emphasizes AI notes, decisions, action items, follow-up emails, reusable prompts, and shared team memory. Hedy is the live-coaching specialist, adding questions, blind-spot alerts, and talking points during the conversation rather than only processing it afterward.

See the evidence — 18 claims across 6 toolsverified Jun 2026Show table

	Ottex	Krisp	Vowen	Granola	Hedy	Hyprnote
Decisions, owners, action itemsLeave the meeting with next steps clear	YesDecisions with owners extracted.	YesKrisp AI Chat can highlight decisions from meeting content.	YesChat with meetings can surface decisions.	YesGranola can extract decisions from meetings through templates and AI notes.	YesGoogle Play listing says Hedy can find decisions across past conversations.	YesCore functionality includes action items.
Follow-up email draftedThe outcome is sent, not summarized	YesDrafted from templates or your own.	No public claim	YesMeeting chat can surface follow-ups.	YesRecipes can generate follow-up emails from meetings.	YesAuto-recap emails are listed for sharing insights.	YesAI Chat examples include drafting a follow-up email for a meeting.
CRM update / ticket draft	YesStructured for the target app.	No public claim	No public claim	YesGranola lists Attio as an integration for sending meeting notes to CRM records.	No public claim	No public claim
Your rough notes steer the result	YesRough notes and instructions steer the result.	No public claim	PartialCustom note instructions are Pro-only.	YesUser notes are used to guide the generated meeting notes.	YesHedy 3 added in-meeting note-taking that powers AI suggestions.	YesHyprnote crafts summaries by enhancing the user's quick notes.

Dictation & transcription AI

Krisp has no system-wide dictation, selectable speech model, custom vocabulary, or per-app writing rules. Ottex combines local models, BYOK, 100+ languages, mixed-language speech, and per-app output rules; FluidVoice offers free, unlimited local dictation with 99-language model support. Vowen adds 99-language local Whisper or Parakeet processing on both Mac and Windows.

See the evidence — 21 claims across 6 toolsverified Jun 2026Show table

	Ottex	Krisp	Vowen	Granola	Hedy	QuickWhisper
Engines	Cloud: Whisper, Gemini 3 Flash, Voxtral. Local: Whisper, Parakeet v3.Hosted routing, BYOK, or fully local.	No public claim	Local Whisper and Parakeet; cloud models from Groq, Deepgram, AssemblyAI, ElevenLabs, Mistral, Soniox, and moreThe docs say users can choose from 10+ engines.	No public claim	Two local and two cloud speech recognition providersUsers can choose between private on-device transcription and cloud-based speech recognition.	Whisper, Qwen 3 ASR, Nvidia Parakeet 110M, Nvidia Nemotron, Mistral Voxtral Mini, cloud providers OpenAI, Google, DeepGram, ElevenLabs, and GroqVendor changelog lists local voice model additions and cloud transcription providers.
Local / on-device optionAudio never leaves the machine	YesWhisper and Parakeet v3 run fully on-device.	NoLive system-wide dictation is not a supported feature.	YesLocal Whisper and Parakeet run offline on the device.	NoGranola states it requires an internet connection to transcribe and generate notes.	YesLocal speech recognition and local AI processing can run on-device and offline.	YesVendor says all transcriptions are processed and stored locally on the machine.
Model selection per task	YesChoose the model per task and per provider.	NoNo user-selectable speech recognition model is published for live dictation.	YesUsers can pick and switch transcription engines.	No public claim	YesSpeech recognition provider can be changed in Settings > Speech & AI.	YesVendor lists Whisper settings, custom GGML model import, and selectable local/cloud models.
Languages & mixed speechWork that crosses languages mid-sentence	Yes100+ languages · Mid-sentence language switching.	No public claim	No public claim	No public claim	Yes30+ languages · App Store listing says Hedy supports multilingual conversations while returning insights in the preferred language.	No public claim
Per-app output rules	YesPer-app output rules: exact in AI chats, polished in email.	NoNot supported	YesPer-app writing styles are listed in the docs.	NoNot supported	No public claim	No public claim

The short answer

OttexMac, iOS · Free tier · $14/mo · PAYG

Try Ottex for free

Ottex is unusually broad for a young Mac/iOS-first tool: it turns dictation and meetings into emails, tickets, CRM updates, notes, and docs, but it is not the pick if you need Windows, Android, web, browser extension, or compliance paperwork.

Choose Ottex if

You want one tool for system-wide dictation, meeting recording, and finished written outcomes like follow-up emails, Linear tickets, CRM updates, PRDs, and docs
You want a real free path: unlimited local dictation, file transcription, and meetings on Mac with Whisper/Parakeet, or BYOK instead of a forced subscription
You need multilingual dictation with 100+ languages, auto-detection, mixed-language speech, personal vocabulary, and per-app output rules

Look elsewhere if

You need Windows, Android, Linux, web access, or a browser extension
You need mature team infrastructure such as a shared workspace, API/webhooks, third-party note destinations, or assistant chat over transcripts today.

Cost

What a year actually costs at your volume.

Personal or team — switch tabs. Subscriptions are flat; usage-based pricing depends on how much you speak and meet.

You dictate about 3 h a week≈ 23,400 words at ~130 wpm

0 h5 h10 h

and sit in 4 h of meetings a weekhours you'd want captured and turned into follow-ups

0 h7.5 h15 h

Fill the gaps with:

Dictation appadded to meetings-only toolsMeetings appadded to dictation-only tools

OttexOttex Provider — PAYG$135/yrHosted models at cost: dictation ~$0.2/h, meetings ~$0.5/h (~$3/mo average).

OttexSubscription - Pro$168/yr$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.

KrispPro$240/yr$96 + $144Pro is priced at $16 monthly or $8/month billed yearly. · Unlimited noise cancellation; unlimited meetings to take notes; 1200 min/month transcription; 60 min/day accent conversion

GranolaBusiness$312/yr$168 + $144Business is $18 per member/month or $14 per member/month billed annually. · Unlimited meetings

KrispBusiness$324/yr$180 + $144Business is priced at $30 per user monthly or $15/user/month billed yearly. · Unlimited noise cancellation; unlimited meetings to take notes; unlimited transcription; 60 min/day accent conversion

Estimates, not quotes. Striped bar segments are the cost of the second app you picked above to cover the gap — rankings use that combined total. PAYG uses hosted at-cost estimates ($0.2/h dictation, $0.5/h meetings); BYOK is estimated at about a third of that because you pay the model provider directly. Bring-your-own-key plans still pay the model provider per use. One-time licenses are amortized over 2 years. Subscriptions use published pricing, checked Jun 2026.

The field

All 7 tools, one line each.

The honest one-liner we'd give a friend for each. Select 2–4 and compare them side by side.

Ottex

Mac, iOS

Free tier · $14/mo · PAYG

Best when: You want one tool for system-wide dictation, meeting recording, and finished written outcomes like follow-up emails, Linear tickets, CRM updates, PRDs, and docs

Krisp

Mac, Windows, Android, Web

Limited free · $16/mo

Best when: You want bot-free meeting recording and transcription on macOS or Windows, with noise cancellation as a core part of the workflow.

Vowen

Mac, Windows

Limited free · $49 one-time

Best when: You want offline-capable dictation and transcription on Mac or Windows with local Whisper/Parakeet plus optional cloud engines.

Granola

Mac, Windows, iOS, Android

Limited free · $18/mo

Best when: You want bot-free meeting capture that records from your mic and computer audio without joining calls.

Hedy

Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Web

Limited free · $12.99/mo · $299 one-time

Best when: You want real-time coaching during meetings, with questions, blind-spot alerts, talking points, summaries, to-dos, and follow-up recaps after the session.

QuickWhisper

Mac

Limited free · $59 one-time

Best when: You want local-first dictation, file transcription, and bot-free meeting recording on macOS 14.6+ with Apple Silicon.

Hyprnote

Mac

Free tier · $8/mo

Best when: You want a macOS meeting recorder that keeps recordings, transcripts, and notes on device by default.

Pick 2–4 tools, then compare.

Switching

Move from Krisp in about 10 minutes.

Nothing breaks: both apps can run side by side while you decide.

1
Download Ottex and dictate right away2 min
Free out of the box: local models or the included starter credits, no card. Press the hotkey and speak — the default experience is deliberately close to Krisp. Keep Krisp installed; they coexist fine.
2
Move your hotkey — or run both1 min
Set Ottex to the key you already press by muscle memory, or give it its own shortcut while you compare output side by side.
3
Bring your dictionary3 min
If Krisp keeps a custom dictionary or replacement rules, copy those words into Ottex's personal dictionary and glossaries — names and jargon survive the move.
4
Pick where AI runs2 min
Defaults just work on starter credits. When you care, switch per task: local Whisper or Parakeet v3 for on-device privacy, your own key for control, or hosted routing at cost.
5
Add per-app rules and meetings when ready5 min
Set exact text for AI chats, polished email, structured tickets. Then record one low-stakes call and check the follow-up, CRM update, and ticket drafts.

FAQ

Questions people actually ask.

What is Krisp?

Krisp is a noise-cancelling meeting assistant for recording, transcribing, summarizing, and reviewing online or in-person meetings. It fits call-heavy work better than system-wide voice typing because it does not insert dictated text across apps.

Is Krisp free?

Yes. The free plan includes up to two meetings per day for notes, 60 minutes per day of transcription, 60 minutes per day of noise cancellation, and 10 minutes per day of accent conversion; Krisp does not publish a separate free trial.

How much does Krisp cost?

Krisp Pro costs $16 monthly or $96 yearly, while Business costs $30 per user monthly or $180 per user yearly. Cheaper non-subscription paths include Vowen at $49 once, QuickWhisper at $59 once, and Ottex at $0.20 per hour or free with local models or BYOK.

What is the best free alternative to Krisp?

Hyprnote is the strongest genuinely free path for private, local Mac meeting notes. Ottex also offers unlimited local dictation, file transcription, and meetings on Mac, while Hedy includes 5 meeting hours per month across Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and web.

Is Krisp safe and private?

Krisp publishes GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, encryption in transit and at rest, and a promise not to train on customer content without permission. Noise cancellation runs on-device, but meeting recordings and notes use cloud services; Hyprnote is stronger when keeping meeting data on the Mac by default is the priority.

Does Krisp use a bot to record meetings?

A bot is not required when recording through the Krisp desktop app, which captures both user and participant audio. Krisp also supports a calendar-connected bot and provides partial consent controls through disclaimers and recording indicators.

Download Ottex and dictate right away2 min

Move your hotkey — or run both1 min

Bring your dictionary3 min

Pick where AI runs2 min

Add per-app rules and meetings when ready5 min