The short answer: Arcs is the only product in this comparison whose complete path from recording to structured summary and finished presentation runs on the user’s device. The cloud products offer stronger collaboration and integrations; Apple Notes offers a native summary but not Arcs’ Threads, Next and Build workflow.
Three different claims people call “private”
Bot-free
No visible participant joins the call. Processing may still happen in the cloud.
Encrypted cloud
Material leaves the device but is protected in transit and at rest.
On-device
The core understanding runs on the hardware in front of the user.
| Product | Audio / recording | Transcript and notes | AI processing | Finished result without signal | Best reason to choose it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ArcsiPhone, iPad, Mac | Recorded and retained on device. | Stored on device; optional private CloudKit sync tied to the owner’s Apple ID. | On device. Arcs has no data servers. | Yes: recording, transcription, structured summary, Threads, Next and Build. | Private, single-player understanding and finished work on Apple hardware. |
| GranolaDesktop and mobile | No bot. Granola says it does not retain audio; mobile may temporarily cache it. | Stored in encrypted US-hosted AWS infrastructure and cached locally. | Cloud providers including OpenAI and Anthropic; Granola may use anonymised data for its own model improvement unless the user opts out. | Notes can be opened offline; finished AI enhancement depends on cloud processing. | Polished collaborative meeting notes, integrations and mature desktop workflow. |
| OtterWeb, desktop and mobile | Its policy says it receives audio recordings and may capture meeting screenshots. | Meeting and uploaded information are processed and stored through cloud providers. | Cloud and AI service providers; policy describes improvement using de-identified audio and transcriptions. | Not positioned as a complete offline workflow. | Team transcription, meeting assistant and broad collaboration. |
| FathomVideo-meeting workflow | Receives meeting audio and video recordings. | Receives recordings, transcripts, notes, attendee and calendar information. | Cloud service; de-identified meeting content may improve in-house models depending on account settings. | Not positioned as a complete offline workflow. | Video-meeting capture, clips, sharing and team workflow. |
| FirefliesCloud meeting assistant | Manages meeting recordings and transcripts in cloud infrastructure. | Encrypted cloud storage; enterprise private-storage and retention controls are available. | Cloud AI; Fireflies says vendor retention is zero days and customer data is not used for training by default. | Not positioned as a complete offline workflow. | Enterprise integrations, conversation intelligence and administrative controls. |
| Apple NotesNative Apple app | Records audio inside Notes. | Transcript and summary live in Notes and can sync through iCloud. | Apple Intelligence generates a transcript summary on supported hardware, languages and regions. | Feature availability depends on Apple Intelligence support; this benchmark does not claim full offline parity. | A built-in transcript summary with no additional app. |
Method
- Prefer current first-party security, privacy and help documentation.
- Distinguish vendor-stated facts from hands-on tests.
- Do not call encrypted cloud products insecure; architecture and security are different questions.
- Use “not positioned as” when a vendor does not make an explicit offline claim.
- Date every material claim and provide a correction route.
Primary sources
- Granola security and data FAQ
- Otter privacy policy
- Fathom privacy policy
- Fireflies security and privacy policy
- Apple Intelligence in Notes
- Arcs privacy policy and Flight Mode explanation
Corrections
Products change. If a source, product behaviour or description is out of date, email joshua.karthik@gmail.com. We will verify the claim against a primary source and date the correction.