Audiee vs Epilude
Epilude and Audiee are the two bot-free Mac note-takers that keep notes as Markdown on your disk; they differ on what happens to the audio. Epilude's Local Mode runs its own speech model on Apple silicon, so audio never leaves — pay once, $59. Audiee streams audio to a CJK-first speech provider and gets back mixed English–Mandarin–Cantonese transcripts, runs on Intel too, and builds a memory across meetings that agents can use over MCP. If fully offline is the requirement, Epilude. If the meetings are in two or three languages and you want them to add up to something, Audiee.
| Audiee | Epilude | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on | macOS app | macOS app; Local Mode needs Apple silicon and 16 GB |
| Where your notes live | Your Mac — plain Markdown files | Your Mac — Markdown files |
| Joins the call as a bot | No — captures from your Mac's audio | No — captures from the device |
| Languages recognized | English, Mandarin, Cantonese (mixed) | 30+ languages in Cloud mode; Local Mode is on-device (see its site) |
| Answers questions during the call | Yes, from your own record with sources | No |
| Memory across meetings | Yes — people, projects, decisions linked | Not described — notes per meeting |
| Voice dictation outside meetings | Yes — tap Ctrl in any app | Yes — hold-key dictation is its core product |
| Share with people who don't use it | Yes — email link, read-only page | Not described |
| Export | One click, Markdown | Markdown |
| Entry price | Free (3 h/mo); Pro $19/mo | Pay Once $59 (one year of updates); Pro $18/mo |
Where Epilude is better
- Local Mode: its own on-device models (EP-1 for meeting summaries, Model 4 for dictation) mean audio and text never leave the Mac. Audiee cannot make that claim.
- Pay once. $59 buys the app with a year of updates; there is no subscription if you stay on-device.
- Dictation polish: tone matching to the app you're in, filler removal, voice Actions on selected text. Audiee's dictation is good; Epilude's is the product.
Where Audiee is better
- Mixed Mandarin, Cantonese and English in one sentence, in every meeting, as the default — the case Audiee was built around.
- Runs on Intel Macs and on 8 GB machines; there is no local model to fit.
- Memory across meetings: people, projects and decisions become linked pages; questions are answered with the meeting they came from, during the call as well as after.
- MCP: your meetings and notes as tools for Claude Code, Cursor and Claude Desktop, and any MCP server plugged into Audiee in return.
- Sharing: a recap or a page sent by email as a read-only web page with expiry and revoke.
Who should pick which
Pick Epilude if audio must never leave the Mac, you have an Apple silicon machine with 16 GB, your meetings are mostly one language, and you would rather pay once.
Pick Audiee if your meetings mix Chinese and English, you want a searchable memory rather than a folder of recaps, you work with agents, or you're on an Intel Mac — and you accept that audio is transcribed in the cloud.
How to try Audiee next to Epilude
- Download Audiee and sign in — free, no card.
- Join your next Zoom, Meet or Teams call. Audiee notices it and offers to take notes; nothing joins the call.
- Keep Epilude running for the same call if you like. Compare the summaries, then ask Audiee a question about the meeting a week later.
Common questions
Is Audiee fully offline like Epilude's Local Mode?
No. Notes, search and memory are on your Mac; audio is streamed for transcription and transcript text is sent for summarising. The trust page lists every service. Epilude's Local Mode is the fully offline option.
Which is cheaper?
For one machine, Epilude's $59 once is cheaper than any subscription over a year. Audiee's free plan (3 transcription hours and 20 meetings a month) costs nothing; Pro is $19/month. Epilude's cloud features are a separate $18/month subscription.
Can I run both?
Yes. Both capture from the Mac's audio without a bot and do not conflict. Some people dictate with Epilude and take meetings with Audiee.