Earkeep
The MacWhisper alternative built for meetings
Last updated: · Reviewed quarterly
MacWhisper is a local file transcriber: hand it an audio file or a live mic feed and it turns it into text, fast, entirely on your device. Earkeep runs the same models just as locally, but is built for the other half of the problem: already listening when the meeting happens.
14-day full trial, no account required.
- Already recording before you remember to
- Meetings marked after they end
- Whisper on your device, same as MacWhisper
The honest verdict
If your problem is "I have a recording and I need a transcript of it," MacWhisper is a genuinely excellent, well-loved tool for that, and you don't need Earkeep; if your problem is "I have 8-15 meetings a week and I never remember to hit record," MacWhisper can't help, because it doesn't capture anything: it transcribes audio you already have. Both apps process locally, need no account, and (in MacWhisper's Gumroad edition) charge once rather than monthly, so the difference between them is entirely about workflow, not trust.
Why people look for a MacWhisper alternative
Always-on capture, not a file you drag in
MacWhisper needs an input: a file you drag in, or a live mic session you started. Its own feature notes are explicit that there is no always-on mode and no background capture, so the burden of remembering to record sits with you, every single time.
Earkeep records mic and system audio continuously while it is running, transcribes locally with Whisper or Parakeet models, and lets you go back and select the span on the timeline that was the meeting. System audio is core and always-on here rather than a real-time Pro add-on, so a Zoom, Meet or Teams call is captured the same way an in-person conversation with your laptop open is.
Meetings you can go back to, not raw transcription
MacWhisper's output is a transcript of whatever file or session you fed it: no concept of a meeting, no timeline, no daily view. Earkeep captures everything into a continuous timeline, and a meeting is a span you or your calendar carve out of it.
That structure is what lets Earkeep answer "what happened in my 1:1 with Sam last Tuesday" instead of just "here's some text." Connect Google, Apple, Outlook or any ICS URL and even the click that marks the span becomes optional.
Your agents can read the record, meeting by meeting
Earkeep ships in-app support for coding and knowledge agents, run directly against your meeting history, plus a built-in MCP server so external tools like Claude Desktop or Cursor can read your meetings too.
Nothing in MacWhisper's feature set, pricing pages, or community discussion points to an MCP server or in-app agent integration, so we haven't included it as a comparison point beyond noting its absence.
Side by side
| Capability | Earkeep | MacWhisper |
|---|---|---|
| Always-on background capture | Continuous | No background capture mode |
| Bot-free | No participant joins | Not a meeting tool at all |
| Audio processed on your device | In memory, never written to disk | Yes to transcribe; Pro AI summaries call a cloud API |
| Transcribes files you already have | Live audio only, nothing to drag in | Drag in any file, and batches of them |
| Retroactive meeting spans | Select the span on the timeline afterward | No meeting boundaries, just raw transcription |
| Captures system audio | Continuous | Pro only, and real-time rather than persistent |
| AI summary when it ends | No, but an agent you connect writes them from the transcript | Pro, through a cloud API |
| Labels who said what | Not yet | Speaker diarization on Pro |
| Your own agents can read it | ACP agents plus an MCP server | None found |
| Free tier that doesn't expire | 14 days free, then €39 once | The basic app is free |
| One-time purchase | €39, one device | $69 Pro, or $99.99 lifetime on the App Store |
| Pricing | €39 one-time, one device | Free basic, $69 one-time Pro (Gumroad); $29.99/yr or $99.99 lifetime (App Store) |
| Platform | macOS 13+ | macOS |
Built inNo, but an agent you connect canPartlyNot available
Adding it takes an afternoon
- Install it, then forget about it for a day. Earkeep starts listening as soon as it is running, so a first day of real meetings is captured before you have configured anything. There is no import tool and nothing to migrate: Earkeep cannot ingest the audio files or transcripts MacWhisper has already produced, and it only knows what was said from the moment it is running.
- Mark yesterday, or connect a calendar. Drag a span across the timeline where a meeting was, or point Earkeep at Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook or any ICS URL and let every event title its own span.
- Keep MacWhisper for the files. There is nothing to cancel on either side, and the two fees buy different products: MacWhisper Pro's $69 unlocks file work (batch, diarization, YouTube transcription, dictation), while Earkeep's €39 unlocks always-on capture with retroactive meetings. Running both is the normal outcome, not a compromise.
Which one fits you
Choose Earkeep if
Your problem is the conversations nobody recorded, not the files you already have.
- You never remember to hit record, and the meeting is already over
- You want a day as a timeline, with meetings marked as spans on it
- Online calls and desk conversations should be captured the same way, without a Pro tier for system audio
- Your calendar should name the meetings for you
- Your own agents should be able to read your meetings directly, in-app or over MCP
Choose MacWhisper if
Be honest with yourself about which job you actually have, because for several of them MacWhisper is simply the right tool.
- You have audio files sitting on your disk already (interviews, lectures, voice memos, downloaded videos) and just need them turned into accurate text: Earkeep doesn't take file uploads at all
- You transcribe podcasts or long-form content for captions, where MacWhisper's batch processing and SRT/VTT export are aimed squarely at that workflow
- You want a dictation tool, speaking instead of typing into whatever app has focus, which Earkeep does not do
- You need every Whisper model size available for a specific file, to trade off speed against accuracy job by job
- You need to know who said what, which MacWhisper does with speaker diarization on Pro and Earkeep does not do yet
Product managers, product owners, project managers, engineering leads, and other roles with 8-15 meetings a week are the people the "forgot to hit record" problem hits hardest, across in-person conversations, Zoom calls, and check-ins nobody scheduled; that is the gap Earkeep closes. If your week is mostly about turning existing recordings into text rather than capturing new conversations as they happen, MacWhisper's file-first workflow is the better fit. See Earkeep for UX researchers for the case where both jobs show up in the same week.
Other tools people weigh this against
Anyone shopping for a MacWhisper alternative usually has a few other tabs open. Each of these gets the same treatment as this page: Granola, Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai, Fathom, tl;dv, Jamie, Limitless and Plaud, or all nine side by side.
Frequently asked questions
Is Earkeep a good MacWhisper alternative?
Only for one of the two jobs. If you came to MacWhisper because you wanted local, account-free transcription of meetings and kept forgetting to record them, Earkeep is the better fit: it listens all day and you mark the meeting afterwards. If you came for file transcription, it is not an alternative at all, because Earkeep accepts no files, has no dictation mode, no batch processing or SRT/VTT export, and does not label who said what yet.
Can I use MacWhisper and Earkeep together?
Yes. They don't overlap. Use Earkeep to capture and retroactively define your meetings, and MacWhisper for transcribing files you already have, such as podcast episodes or old interview recordings.
Does Earkeep replace MacWhisper's dictation or file transcription?
No. Earkeep doesn't accept file uploads or offer a dictation mode; it's built for continuous ambient capture and retroactive meeting spans, not one-off file jobs.
Is Earkeep's audio processing as local as MacWhisper's?
Yes. Earkeep processes audio only in memory and never writes it to disk; transcripts are saved locally as plain files you own. MacWhisper's Gumroad edition also transcribes locally, though its Pro AI-summary feature calls a cloud API.
Why is Earkeep a one-time price like MacWhisper?
Because that's the model both of us think respects the buyer: €39 once for one device, full functionality, no tiers, the same pay-once philosophy MacWhisper's Gumroad customers say they value.
Try it yourself
14-day full trial, no account required.