Shadow vs Spellar AI

Shadow

• Mac users who want meeting notes without a bot in the call
• People who want to write their own prompts for notes and follow-ups
• Keeping transcripts as Markdown files on their own disk
• Using one app for meeting notes and voice typing

Spellar AI

• Apple users who want notes on Mac, iPhone and iPad under one plan
• People who want to pick the AI model or use their own API key
• Meetings where transcription should stay on the device

Shadow

• Mac only: it requires Apple Silicon and macOS 14.2 or later. Windows and other devices are on a waitlist.
• Data is stored only on the one Mac. Sync across devices is on the roadmap but not available.
• The Free plan lists transcription, recording and screenshots; unlimited AI meeting notes, Skills and AI chat need Plus.
• Skills, Ask and automatic titles send transcripts or screen context to OpenAI, Google or Anthropic. Capture, transcription and storage stay on the Mac.

Spellar AI

• The pricing page lists no free plan. Pro costs $20 a month or $180 a year, with a 14-day money-back guarantee on a first subscription.
• Apps are listed for Mac, iPhone, iPad and the web only. No Windows or Android version is mentioned.
• Teams, with shared notes, centralized billing and seat management, starts at 5 seats and is priced on request.
• The iPhone and iPad app requires iOS 18 or later, according to its App Store listing.

Shadow

Bot-free capture with Autopilot

Shadow records the microphone and system audio from the Mac, so nothing joins the call. Autopilot detects supported meetings and starts and stops listening on its own.

On-device transcription

Transcription and speaker labeling run on the Mac, and raw audio is not sent to an outside provider. The vendor lists around 100 languages and says English works best.

Smart Screenshots

Shadow finds the meeting window and captures it as the visuals change, so questions asked afterwards can cover what was shown as well as what was said.

Meeting Skills

Each Skill is an editable prompt that produces notes, action items, a follow-up email or a BANT breakdown. A Skill can run automatically after a meeting and send its result to a webhook.

Action Skills and voice typing

A keyboard shortcut in any app runs a Skill on what you say, what is on screen or the text you selected, then pastes the result at the cursor.

Local Markdown vault

Transcripts and Skill outputs are saved as Markdown files, with media, in a vault folder you choose on the Mac. You can keep or discard meeting audio.

Spellar AI

Local, bot-free recording

Records the audio of your device on a Mac, iPhone or iPad, so nothing joins the call or notifies attendees. It works with Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and Webex, and in person on an iPhone.

Choice of AI model

GPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity models are included in Pro and can be switched per meeting, per template or per question. You can also supply your own API key.

Opt-in server transcription

Server-side AI transcription is off by default and enabled per meeting, or transcription can run on the device with a built-in model. The pricing page lists 50+ languages.

Configurable audio retention

Audio is kept in an encrypted vault for a period you choose, from 1 hour up to always, or it can be set to device-only so that it does not leave your machine.

Templates, recaps and AI chat

Summary templates are written as natural-language prompts. Weekly and monthly recaps summarize across meetings, and an AI chat answers questions about them without a usage cap.

Integrations, API and MCP

Syncs with Notion, Linear and Jira in both directions and lists more than 20 native integrations. Webhooks, a public API and an MCP server are included.

Shadow

• Free$0

  Unlimited transcription, unlimited audio recording and unlimited Smart Screenshots, described as free forever.

• Plus$8

  per month, billed annually; $12 billed monthly

  Everything in Free, plus unlimited AI meeting notes, Meeting Skills, Action Skills and AI chat.

Spellar AI

• Spellar Pro$15

  per month, billed annually ($180); $20 billed monthly

  Unlimited recordings, transcripts, summaries and AI chat, every included AI model, custom templates, 20+ integrations, and apps for Mac, iPhone, iPad and web.

• Spellar TeamsCustom

  From 5 seats: shared templates, folders, notes and AI chats, centralized billing and seat management, team integrations and your own S3-compatible audio storage.

Shadow

• Annual discount

  Annual billing lowers Plus to $8 a month

  The pricing page's billing toggle shows Plus at $8 a month on annual billing and $12 a month on monthly billing, about a third less.

Spellar AI

• Annual discount

  25% off Pro with yearly billing

  The pricing page marks yearly billing as 25% off: Pro is $180 a year, shown as $15 a month, instead of $20 a month, which adds up to $240 a year.