Krisp alternative

Meeting notes first — not a noise-canceller’s side feature.

Krisp is a noise-canceller that grew an AI Meeting Assistant — the notes live in Krisp’s app, behind $16/seat/mo. If what you want is good local meeting notes — no bot, plain Markdown, a folder you own — Quietly is the direct tool, for $49 once.

macOS 13+ No bot Markdown export MCP shipping next
What you get
A folder of meetings.

Plain .md. Front-matter has attendees, calendar, duration. Body is clean, LLM-polished Whisper output.

14:32
2026-05-04-q3-launch-review.md 42 min · 5 attendees
2026-05-05-1on1-jane.md 28 min
2026-05-06-customer-acme.md Recording
Why notes-first users move

A noise-canceller that bolted on notes. Subscription. Closed app.

Notes are a side feature. Krisp's primary product is noise cancellation. AI notes are an add-on, and it shows in depth and integration story.

Notes live in Krisp's app. Not your folder, not plain Markdown, not a file you own — they're behind their UI, with their export.

$16/seat/mo Pro. $192/year per person, mostly to keep noise cancellation. The notes piece doesn't justify the line item alone.

No MCP, no Cursor, no Codex CLI. If your workflow runs on plain files and AI tools, Krisp is the wrong shape.

Side-by-side

Quietly vs Krisp.

Quietly Krisp
Primary product Meeting notes Noise cancellation
No bot joins the call Yes
Where notes live Plain .md in your folder Krisp app
Noise cancellation built-in Use Krisp alongside Industry-leading
MCP for Claude / Cursor / Codex Shipping next
Open in VS Code / any editor
Works fully offline Notes need cloud
Pricing $49 once $16/seat/mo Pro
Honest take

Where Krisp is better (and it's real).

Krisp's actual strengths. If you need them, run both — they're not the same product.

Audio

Best-in-class noise removal.

Krisp's noise cancellation is genuinely excellent and well-tuned. Quietly doesn't do this — most users keep Krisp running for the audio side.

Voice

Live accent softening + voice clarity.

Krisp ships voice features (accent localization, voice cancellation) that Quietly doesn't — these are why people pay for Krisp.

Cross-platform

Mac, Windows, Linux.

Krisp's audio engine runs everywhere. Quietly is macOS-only today.

Why people switch

Where Quietly wins.

No bot

Notes-first, not audio-first.

Quietly was built around the question “where do my meeting notes live?” — not “how do we add notes to a noise-canceller?” The depth of integration with your file system, editor, and AI shows.

Local

Notes on disk, not in an app.

Krisp keeps your transcripts in their cloud / app shell. Quietly writes plain .md to a folder you choose — iCloud, your Git repo, any folder you like.

$49 once

No subscription for notes.

Krisp Pro = $192/seat/year, mostly for noise cancellation. If you only need the notes part, $49 once for Quietly is a much smaller line item.

MCP next

AI tools, natively.

An MCP server for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Codex CLI is shipping next; today the plain Markdown is already readable by your editor's filesystem MCP and file readers. Krisp's notes don't flow into your AI editor at all.

In-person

In-person captures.

Hallway chats, conference talks, customer dinners — open Quietly and hit ⌘R for a mic-only recording. Pick Transcribe a file… to convert any audio file. Krisp's flow assumes a call.

Plain Markdown

Open in anything that reads files.

Plain .md with YAML front-matter. Open in VS Code, search in ripgrep, ingest in your scripts. Krisp's notes are stuck in Krisp.

Migration

You'll probably run both — here's how.

01

Keep Krisp running for noise cancellation. It's the best at it — leave it on as a system audio filter.

02

Disable Krisp's AI Meeting Assistant. Krisp Settings → Meeting Assistant → off. You can still cancel the Pro tier if notes are the only reason you're paying.

03

Install Quietly, point it at any folder you choose. All new meetings save as Markdown there. Cursor, Codex CLI, and Claude Desktop pick them up automatically via MCP.

If you want to import old Krisp notes, export them from the app — happy to help via support@meetquietly.com.

FAQ

Things people ask before switching.

So Quietly isn't trying to replace Krisp's noise cancellation?
Correct. Krisp's audio engine is genuinely best-in-class — most Quietly users keep Krisp installed for noise removal. We replace Krisp's AI Meeting Assistant (the notes piece), not the noise canceller.
Why not just use Krisp's AI Meeting Assistant?
If you only ever read your notes inside Krisp's app, it's fine. But if you live in Cursor, Codex CLI, Claude Desktop, or any tool that reads files — Krisp's notes don't reach you there. Quietly writes plain Markdown to a folder you choose, with MCP support so AI editors read it natively.
Does Quietly do anything to clean up audio?
No — that's exactly what Krisp is for. Quietly captures system audio + mic with macOS-native APIs (Core Audio Process Tap / ScreenCaptureKit), transcribes locally with Whisper, and writes Markdown. Audio quality is whatever your mic + Krisp produce.
Can Quietly read transcripts that Krisp generated?
If you can export them as text or Markdown, drop them in your Quietly folder and they're indexed alongside the new ones. Cursor, Codex CLI, and Claude Desktop read plain Markdown today; an MCP server for native AI access is shipping next.
Is Quietly really $49 once?
Yes. One purchase, two Macs, all updates within the major version, no subscription. Buying for a team? Email support@meetquietly.com about multi-seat licensing. You can keep paying Krisp for noise cancellation and stop paying for notes.

Keep Krisp for the noise. Switch the notes.

Free 7-day trial · No account, no card. 7-day refund. $49 once, no subscription.

$ 49 once · 2 Macs
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Buying for a team? Contact us