HearkeeperJoin the waitlist

A local alternative to Zoom AI Companion

Zoom's AI features, once branded AI Companion, summarise meetings in Zoom's cloud and now reach beyond Zoom calls. Hearkeeper does the same kind of work on your Mac. Here is how they compare, and when each one fits.

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If you are looking for “Zoom AI Companion”, you may notice the name is fading. In June 2026 Zoom retired the AI Companion brand: meeting summaries, transcription and the other features are still built into Zoom Workplace, now under their plain feature names, and included with eligible paid plans. Zoom’s new agentic product, ZoomMate, is a separate add-on.

Zoom’s AI is also no longer limited to Zoom calls. Its My Notes feature takes notes in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and other call apps, and in person, with no bot. On Pro and higher plans you can also invite Zoom’s AI into a Teams or Google Meet call, where it joins as a participant. If your organisation already pays for Zoom Workplace, these features cost nothing extra, and that is hard to beat.

Hearkeeper is not released yet. It is a Mac app that does this work on your own computer instead of in Zoom’s cloud.

The core difference

Where the work happens. Zoom’s AI features run in Zoom’s cloud. Zoom describes a federated approach that combines its own models with third-party models from providers such as OpenAI and Anthropic, and says those providers have zero data retention policies. Zoom also says it does not use your audio, video, chat, screen sharing or other communications content to train its own or third-party models. Notes from My Notes are stored in Zoom Hub.

Hearkeeper transcribes on your Mac with whisper.cpp, accelerated by Metal, and writes summaries, decisions and to-dos with a local language model, with no API key. Nothing is uploaded unless you connect a team server or your own API key, and everything keeps working offline.

Which calls it covers. Both now reach past Zoom. Hearkeeper records your microphone and your computer’s audio, so it works with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack huddles, Webex, FaceTime, and meetings or lectures in the room, all in one archive that you don’t need a Zoom account to reach.

Consent. When Zoom’s AI joins a Teams or Meet call, its video tile carries an AI indicator, and Zoom posts a chat message three minutes into the meeting to tell people it is there. Hearkeeper tells people before the recording starts: every recording opens with a consent step (read a short notice aloud, post it in the chat, or both), a consent receipt is saved with the recording, and the recording pill stays on screen, including in screen shares, with no hide button.

Icelandic. Zoom’s list of languages for meeting summaries has 33 entries, and Icelandic is not one of them. Hearkeeper treats Icelandic as a first-class language and detects mixed Icelandic and English on its own, among 99 languages in all.

Zoom’s AI and Hearkeeper side by side

Zoom’s AI features (formerly AI Companion) Hearkeeper
Bot in the call Zoom calls: built in. My Notes: no bot. In Teams or Meet you can also invite it as a participant No. Records on your Mac; no bot joins
Calls covered Zoom, plus Teams, Google Meet, other call apps and in person through My Notes Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack huddles, Webex, FaceTime, and in the room
Where audio is processed Zoom’s cloud, with Zoom’s own and third-party models (such as OpenAI and Anthropic) On your Mac (whisper.cpp with Metal)
Where notes are stored Zoom (Zoom Hub) One SQLite file and your own audio and note files on your disk
Training on your meetings Zoom says it does not train on your communications content No. Nothing is uploaded unless you connect a server or your own API key
Works offline Not described on the pages we read Yes, fully
Consent step and receipt AI indicator on its tile and a chat notice when it joins another platform’s call Consent step before every recording; receipt saved; pill that can’t be hidden
Icelandic Not in the 33 languages listed for meeting summaries Yes, first-class, with mixed Icelandic and English
Platforms Zoom Workplace on Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile and web Mac (macOS 14.2+, Apple silicon and Intel), when released; other platforms later
Price as listed Basic free (3 meeting summaries and 3 My Notes uses a month); Pro $16.99 per user a month, or $14.16 billed yearly; Business $21.99, or $18.33 billed yearly; unlimited summaries on paid plans (as listed on 28 September 2026) Not announced yet

When Zoom’s AI is the better choice

  • You already pay for Zoom Workplace. Meeting summaries and My Notes are included with paid plans, so there is nothing new to buy or install.
  • You need it today. It is available now. Hearkeeper is on a waitlist.
  • You use Windows, Linux, a phone or the browser. Zoom runs on all of them. Hearkeeper starts on the Mac only, and other platforms have no date yet.
  • You want notes on every device. My Notes are stored in Zoom Hub and sync across your devices. Hearkeeper keeps them on your Mac.
  • You want an assistant that attends for you. Zoom’s AI can join a Teams or Meet call as a participant. Hearkeeper only records what your own Mac hears.

When Hearkeeper fits better

  • You’d rather your meetings stayed on your computer. Transcription, summaries and search all run on your Mac, and keep working without a connection.
  • You want consent before the recording, not during it. A consent step every time, a saved receipt, and a pill that stays visible, including in screen shares.
  • You meet in Icelandic, or switch between Icelandic and English in the same meeting.
  • You want answers you can check. Every summary line and every answer cites the second it was said, and you can ask questions during the call and across all your meetings.
  • You want your notes outside any one vendor. Audio and notes are your own files, search lives in one SQLite file on your disk, and notes export to Markdown.

Sources

All read on 28 September 2026.

Hearkeeper is coming to the Mac first. Join the waitlist to hear when it’s ready.

Try Hearkeeper first

Private meeting and lecture notes, made on your own Mac. Join the waitlist and we’ll email you when it’s ready.

One email when it’s ready, nothing else. Leave any time. Privacy