Compare · cloud note-takers
PrivateGoat vs Granola, Otter and Fireflies.
Granola, Otter and Fireflies are mature, well-known meeting assistants. They run on many platforms, open your notes in the browser, and transcribe in the cloud. If that is what your company has approved, they do the job well.
PrivateGoat is for when the audio must not leave the Mac: it transcribes and summarizes on your Mac, turns the meeting into Jira tickets you approve, keeps your Jira in a local cache, and gives Claude Code or Codex all of it over a local MCP server.
Who should pick what.
Pick Granola, Otter or Fireflies if…
you need Windows or phone apps, notes your team opens in the browser, or (Otter, Fireflies) a bot that joins the call for you, and cloud processing is approved where you work.
Pick PrivateGoat if…
you are on a Mac, your team lives in Jira, meeting audio may not be uploaded, and you want the meeting, its tickets and your coding agent in one place.
How PrivateGoat does it, in the docs: Recording without a bot · Transcripts · What leaves your Mac.
Side by side.
| Feature | PrivateGoat | Granola | Otter.ai | Fireflies.ai |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Records without a bot joining | No bot. Records your mic and the Mac’s sound, so it works with Zoom, Teams and Meet. | Yes, no meeting bot: it uses your system audio and microphone.[G1] | Both: a Notetaker that joins calls, and a desktop app that records without a bot.[O1] | Both: a bot by default, and bot-free recording through the desktop app or Chrome extension.[F1][F2] |
| Transcribe locally | Yes, on your Mac (Whisper). | Audio is passed to Granola’s transcription provider, then deleted.[G1][G2] | In Otter’s cloud (AWS). On-device option: not stated.[O2] | In Fireflies’ cloud in the US (AWS and GCP) by default. On-device option: not stated.[F3] |
| Audio stays on the device | Yes. Meeting audio never leaves your Mac. | No: it is sent for transcription.[G1] | No: processed in the cloud.[O2] | No: processed in the cloud.[F3] |
| Data location | Files on your Mac. No cloud sync. | Stored in the US; no EU data residency offered.[G2] | AWS S3; region not stated on the pages checked.[O2] | US by default; EU storage on Enterprise, processing in the US.[F3] |
| Platforms | Mac. | macOS, Windows, iPhone, Android; web for viewing and editing.[G1] | Mac and Windows apps, iOS, Android, Chrome extension, web.[O1][O3] | Mac and Windows apps, web, iOS, Android, Chrome extension.[F1][F6] |
| Creates Jira issues | Yes. Action items become drafts; you accept them and send them to Jira as epic › story › subtask. Nothing goes to Jira until you send it. | Through Zapier (Business plan); no native Jira integration stated.[G3] | Yes, a Jira connector pushes action items into Jira. Plan: not clearly stated.[O4][O3] | Yes, a Jira Cloud integration can auto-create issues from action items.[F4] |
| Local copy of your Jira | Yes. The projects you choose are cached on your Mac; search is instant, even offline. | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| MCP for coding agents | A local MCP server (no network) for Claude Code, Codex and other MCP clients: your Jira cache, meetings, to-dos and agent sessions. Agents can only draft local to-dos. | Hosted MCP server (notes; transcripts on paid plans). Names Claude Code among clients.[G4] | Hosted MCP server with transcripts, summaries and action items.[O3][O5] | Hosted MCP server with transcripts, summaries and action items, on every plan.[F5][F7] |
| Free without subscription | Free. No subscription. | Free tier; paid plans per user per month.[G5] | Free tier; paid plans per user per month.[O3] | Free tier; paid plans per seat per month.[F2][F8] |
Sources
Every cell about another product was checked on that product’s own website, help centre or marketplace listing on 2026-10-11. Products change: if something here is out of date, tell us in the Telegram group and we will correct it. “Not stated” means we found no statement on the pages listed, not that the feature is missing. Product names are trademarks of their owners; PrivateGoat is not affiliated with them.
- [G1] Granola Help Centre, transcription: docs.granola.ai/help-center/taking-notes/transcription
- [G2] Granola Help Centre, security and privacy FAQ: docs.granola.ai/help-center/consent-security-privacy/security-privacy-data-faqs
- [G3] Granola blog, action items to your task manager: www.granola.ai/blog/meeting-action-items-to-task-manager
- [G4] Granola Help Centre, MCP: docs.granola.ai/help-center/sharing/integrations/mcp
- [G5] Granola pricing: www.granola.ai/pricing
- [O1] Otter desktop app: otter.ai/desktop
- [O2] Otter privacy and security: otter.ai/privacy-security
- [O3] Otter pricing: otter.ai/pricing
- [O4] Otter blog, Jira: otter.ai/blog/ship-the-ticket-not-just-the-meeting-notes
- [O5] Otter and Claude (MCP): otter.ai/integration/claude
- [F1] Fireflies guide, recording without a bot: guide.fireflies.ai/articles/6666374717-how-to-record-meetings-without-a-bot-on-the-fireflies-desktop-app
- [F2] Fireflies pricing: fireflies.ai/pricing
- [F3] Fireflies guide, data storage and transfer: guide.fireflies.ai/articles/9596505232-learn-about-data-storage-and-transfer
- [F4] Fireflies guide, Jira integration: guide.fireflies.ai/articles/6214483081-how-to-integrate-jira-with-fireflies
- [F5] Fireflies docs, MCP configuration: docs.fireflies.ai/getting-started/mcp-configuration
- [F6] Fireflies guide, mobile app: guide.fireflies.ai/articles/8937818258-learn-about-fireflies-mobile-app
- [F7] Fireflies blog, MCP server: fireflies.ai/blog/fireflies-mcp-server
- [F8] Fireflies blog, pricing plans: fireflies.ai/blog/fireflies-pricing-which-plan-is-right-for-you
Get PrivateGoat.
Free. No subscription. A native Mac app.
Prefer Homebrew? One line in the terminal:
brew install --cask tomw1808/Questions, ideas, bug reports: Join the Telegram group