# Anarlog vs Meetily Comparison Anarlog and Meetily were both created in December 2024. Both are written in Rust. Both capture system audio without a bot. Both are open-source and local-first. They look like the same product. They are not. Meetily is a private transcription recorder. It records, transcribes locally, and generates a summary. Anarlog is a meeting notepad. Its bet is that meetings are part of your workflow, not a separate activity. Transcription is one component of that. ## TL;DR: Anarlog vs Meetily **Use Meetily if:** you are on Windows, or you want local transcription that works in minutes with no API keys. **Use Anarlog if:** you are on Mac, you take active notes during meetings, or you want your meeting history connected to your calendar, contacts, and developer tools. ## Anarlog vs Meetily: Side-by-Side Comparison | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | **Anarlog** | **Meetily** | | **Platform** | macOS (check download page for updates) | macOS, Windows | | **Free tier** | On-device Transcription and Bring Your Own AI Model (cloud or local) | Ollama | | **Paid** | $15/mo or $150/year (Pro) | $10/mo (Pro) | | **License** | MIT | MIT | | **GitHub stars** | [8,213](https://github.com/fastrepl/anarlog) | [11,081](https://github.com/Zackriya-Solutions/meetily) | | **Calendar** | Google, Apple, Outlook | Not available | | **CLI** | Yes | No | | **Daily notes** | In preview | No | ## Similarities Between Anarlog and Meetily Both tools were built as a direct reaction to cloud meeting tools like Otter and Fireflies. They share the same foundational decisions: - System audio capture. No bot joins your call. No calendar permissions required. - 100% local processing available. Audio never has to leave your device. - Open-source codebases. You can audit exactly how your data is handled. - Ollama support. Both work with locally-run models for fully offline operation. - Bot-free recording. No visible recording participant in your meetings. - Built in Rust. If your primary requirement is "no cloud, no bot, open-source," both tools satisfy it. The differences start after that. ## Differences Between Anarlog and Meetily ### 1. Platform support Meetily runs on macOS and Windows, with Linux available through a source build. Anarlog has stable macOS builds plus Windows and Linux beta builds. If platform maturity is the deciding factor, compare the current installers on your own hardware. ### 2. What each tool is built to do Meetily is a recorder. Record, transcribe with Whisper or Parakeet via Ollama, get a summary. The product loop is short and intentional. Anarlog is a meeting notepad. It connects to your calendar (Google, Apple, Outlook), tracks your contacts, gives you a rich editor for notes, ships an AI assistant called Charlie that can edit your notes directly, and has daily notes in preview with task carry-forward. Meetings in Anarlog connect to the rest of your work. ### 3. Taking notes during a meeting Meetily is passive. You get a transcript and summary after the call. There is no editor. _Meetily's official repository screenshot shows the transcript and generated meeting record side by side. Source: [Meetily](https://github.com/Zackriya-Solutions/meetily/blob/main/docs/summary.png)._ Anarlog has a built-in editor. You write notes before the meeting starts: agenda items, context, things you need to close on. You take notes during the call. After the meeting, the AI folds your notes and the transcript into a structured summary. Your pre-meeting context shapes the output. _Anarlog keeps recording controls and meeting templates in the same desktop view where you prepare notes before a call._ Charlie, the persistent chat assistant, keeps the full session in context. It can reformat the summary, draft a follow-up email, or extract decisions. It edits your notes in place. ### 4. Developer tools Anarlog ships with a CLI, a REST API, and an MCP server. Tools like Cursor and Claude Code can query your meeting history directly. A JS plugin runtime lets you write custom extensions. Shell hooks trigger automations when a meeting ends. You can also point Anarlog's storage at your Obsidian vault. Meetily is a standalone app with no API, CLI, or plugin layer. Anarlog and Meetily are both MIT licensed. ### 5. Pricing Meetily's community edition works out of the box with Ollama. No account required, no API key. Anarlog's free tier offers unlimited local transcription and requires a BYOK API key for AI summaries (OpenAI, Anthropic, Deepgram) or a local model via Ollama or LM Studio. Two minutes of setup if you have keys already. - **Anarlog Pro: $15/month or $150/year.** Cloud transcription, cloud LLM, speaker identification, calendar connections, local-cloud sync, and DocSend-style shareable links with view tracking and expiration. - **Meetily Pro: $10/month.** Enhanced accuracy, auto-meeting detection, PDF and DOCX export, improved diarization. 14-day free trial. ## When Should You Use Meetily? - You are on Windows. - You want a local transcription tool with zero configuration. Download, open, record. - Your meetings are self-contained. You do not need calendar integration, contacts, or cross-session history. - You want MIT-licensed code you can fork or self-host without restrictions. ## When Should You Use Anarlog? _Anarlog keeps the structured summary beside the local meeting history, so the record remains connected to the rest of your work._ - You are on Mac and want meetings connected to your broader workflow. - You take notes before or during meetings and want the AI to use that context. - You are a developer who wants CLI access, MCP server support, shell hooks, or Obsidian integration. - You want calendar-aware sessions: auto-creation from events, participant context, meeting countdown. - You want a long-term contact and meeting history that links across sessions. ## Get Started with Anarlog Anarlog is free to download. The free tier works offline with a local model through Ollama or LM Studio. No subscription required to start. [Download Anarlog](/content/download/index.html) and run your first meeting with local processing. Upgrade to Pro at $15/month if you want cloud transcription and speaker identification without managing API keys.