Bot-free meeting capture
Oats listens through your Mac and identifies speakers without placing a bot in the attendee list.
Oats
Oats is a local-first meeting notes app for Mac that turns calls into clean write-ups without adding a bot to the meeting. It is presented as free forever, with notes, transcripts, and recordings kept on your device.
Private meeting notes that stay on your device
Oats is a meeting-notes app that runs locally on your Mac and is built to turn live calls into clean write-ups without adding a bot to the meeting. According to the site, it listens through your device, works out who is speaking, and keeps the meeting experience unchanged for everyone else.
The product is positioned around privacy and simplicity: nothing leaves your device, there is no account to create, and the finished notes can be exported as a real file. The homepage also says Oats is free forever, with Mac and Windows download options shown on the site.
Core features
Notes plus transcript drafting
You can jot your own notes during the call, and Oats blends them with the transcript once the meeting ends.
Local-first storage
The app keeps recordings, transcripts, and notes on your device instead of sending them to a cloud service.
File export
You can export the final write-up as a real file that lives on your Mac and is not locked behind an account.
Bring your own model
Whisper and Ollama run locally out of the box, while Claude, Gemini, and OpenAI are available through your own key.
Where Oats fits
Bot-free note taking in live meetings
Useful for calls where you want meeting notes without adding a bot to the attendee list or changing how the meeting feels for participants.
Private or sensitive discussions
Fits confidential conversations where uploading recordings or transcripts is not appropriate, since the app is designed to keep work local on the device.
Turning rough notes into a finished summary
Helpful when you want a draft that combines your own shorthand notes with an automatic transcript-based write-up after the meeting ends.
Model selection on your own terms
A reasonable choice for people who want to use local models like Whisper and Ollama, or who prefer to supply their own key for Claude, Gemini, or OpenAI.
Exportable notes without account lock-in
Works for users who want a note file they can export and keep on their Mac rather than saving meeting output inside an account-based service.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Runs locally on your Mac, which keeps recordings, transcripts, and notes on device.
- No bot joins the meeting, so the attendee list is not changed by a virtual notetaker.
- No account is required and the site says there is no card or trial to manage.
- The app can use local models like Whisper and Ollama out of the box.
- Users can bring their own key for Claude, Gemini, or OpenAI if they prefer cloud models.
Cons
- The pricing page at /pricing returns a 404, so the site does not provide a separate pricing or plan breakdown.
- Windows support is mentioned with a download button, but the page only gives a brief first-launch warning note and does not provide broader platform details.
- The site does not document export formats, transcription settings, or deeper workflow options on the pages provided.
FAQ
How does Oats keep meeting notes private?
Oats runs locally on a Mac and does not send recordings, transcripts, or notes to a server. Its website also says no bot joins the call, so the meeting experience stays unchanged for other participants.
Is Oats free?
The page presents Oats as a free product with no account, no card, and no trial. The pricing page returns a 404, so no separate paid plan or limit details are confirmed on the site.
Does Oats work on Windows too?
Yes. The homepage says you can download Oats for Mac, and it also provides a Windows download button with a note explaining the first-launch Windows security warning.
What does Oats produce after a meeting?
Oats uses your own notes plus the meeting transcript to produce a clean write-up after the call ends. It also says the write-up can be exported as a real file.
Which AI models can Oats use?
The homepage says Whisper and Ollama run locally out of the box, and that Claude, Gemini, and OpenAI can be used with your own key stored on device.
Quick Facts
- Category
- Meeting notes
- Primary platform
- Mac
- Other platform mentioned
- Windows download available
- Pricing
- Free forever, according to the homepage
- Data handling
- Local-first; recordings, transcripts, and notes stay on device
- Source domain
- oatsnote.com
Alternativas a Oats
QuickQuill
QuickQuill is a macOS dictation and transcription app that runs locally on the device. It helps users record meetings, transcribe audio, generate summaries, and export notes without using a cloud service.
Tactiq
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Scripta
Scripta is a privacy-first AI notetaker that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings directly on your device. The public site currently shows a Mac beta download and a Windows waitlist.
Wendi AI
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Liam
Liam is an AI copilot for managing inboxes, writing replies, prioritizing email, and scheduling meetings. It is offered free for individuals, with custom pricing for teams and enterprise.
garden-md
garden-md is an open-source Node.js CLI that turns meeting transcripts into a local company wiki. It links entities across transcripts, keeps the original text intact, and renders the result as a browsable wiki.