Does Otter.ai work offline or store transcripts on my computer?
No on both counts: Otter requires an active internet connection for transcription, and your conversations live in Otter's cloud workspace rather than as files on your computer. Otter's recording help page states the connection requirement; audio captured during a dropout is uploaded and transcribed once you reconnect, and everything is then read, searched and exported from the web or mobile app. Audiee shares one of those limits and not the other. Capture needs a connection, because transcription runs in the cloud. But the transcript, summary, notes and knowledge base are written as Markdown files under ~/.audiee on your Mac, so reading, searching, editing and the local MCP server all work on a plane, and no server holds a copy of your meetings. If you leave, the files are already yours. If your concern is offline capture, look at a fully on-device tool such as MacWhisper; if it is ownership of the record, Audiee fits. Open ~/.audiee after your first meeting to see the difference.
Checked September 2026. Numbers about other products link to the page they came from.
“An active internet connection is required for real-time transcription.”
— Otter help: record a conversation, checked September 2026
Key facts
- Otter: internet required for transcription; transcripts stored in Otter's cloud; export per conversation (checked September 2026).
- Audiee: transcription online; files on your Mac; search, reading, editing and MCP work offline.
- Fully offline capture: MacWhisper, Meetily (on-device models).
Who this fits
Travellers and privacy-minded users who want the record on their own disk.
Next step
Compare all nine Mac tools in the roundup.