Starlings vs. meeting notetakers
Notes that land on the project, not in another app.
Granola, Fireflies and Otter take notes on calls that happen somewhere else. Starlings hosts the call, writes the transcript on your device and files it on the project, with the tasks, chat and docs around it.
| Starlings | meeting notetakers | |
|---|---|---|
| Calls | Hosts them from a Mac or iPhone. The Mac app also transcribes Zoom, Teams and Google Meet calls. | None of the three hosts calls. They work with calls on Zoom, Google Meet and Teams. |
| In the call | No bot. The host’s device transcribes. | Granola uses no bot. Fireflies and Otter send a bot by default, and each has a desktop mode without one. |
| Audio | Never stored. Transcription runs on the host’s device, and only the text leaves it. | Granola deletes audio after cloud transcription. Otter keeps audio you can export. Fireflies records video on Pro and above. |
| After the call | The transcript and summary are filed on the project, with a suggested task for each commitment. | Notes, summaries and AI chat over your meetings, in the notetaker’s own app. |
| The rest of the work | Tasks, chat, docs and calendar on the same project. | Notes, first of all. Otter adds team chat in Channels. We found no tasks or projects in any of the three. |
| AI agents | Claude works across calls, tasks, chat and docs through one MCP endpoint, as you. Shared agents sit in your team list. | All three offer an MCP server for their meeting notes. Granola’s needs the Business plan. |
| Pricing | Proposed: a flat price per workspace. People and agents are included. | Per user, for all three. |
Choose meeting notetakers if
- You only want notes, and your calls stay on Zoom or Teams.
- You need many transcription languages. Fireflies lists more than 100, and Granola lists 31.
- You want a recording to replay. Otter keeps audio, and Fireflies records video.
- Your hosts use Windows.
Choose Starlings if
- You want notes filed on the project, next to the tasks and the chat.
- You want no bot and no stored audio, with transcription on your own device.
- You want your agents to work across calls and everything around them.
Facts about meeting notetakers checked on 3 October 2026 from Granola transcription, Granola security FAQ, Granola pricing, Fireflies pricing, Fireflies bot-free recording, Otter Notetaker, Otter audio export and Otter pricing. Products change. If something here is out of date, tell us.