Meeting Notes Without Bots: How to Record Meetings Without Anyone Knowing

You’re mid-sentence in a client call. The room is focused. Then “Otter.ai has joined the meeting” pops up, and everyone freezes. The vibe shifts. People get guarded. Someone asks if they’re being recorded.

That bot just made your meeting worse.

This is the reality of AI meeting assistants in 2026. Tools like Otter, Fireflies, and Fathom send a visible bot into your call. It sits in the participant list. Everyone sees it. And it changes how people talk.

There’s a better way. You can get full transcriptions, AI summaries, and action items from your meetings without any bot joining your call. No participant notification. No awkward moment. Just notes.

The bot problem

Meeting bots work by joining your call as a separate participant. They record audio (and sometimes video) from inside the meeting. This approach has a few obvious problems.

First, everyone in the meeting knows they’re being recorded by a third-party tool. That changes behavior. People filter themselves. Sensitive conversations get pushed to Slack DMs instead. The meeting becomes performative.

Second, bots get blocked. IT departments at large companies routinely ban unknown participants. If your client’s org blocks bots, your fancy AI notetaker is useless.

Third, it’s just weird. You invited four people to this call. Why is there a fifth participant named “Fireflies.ai Notetaker”?

How no-bot recording works

The alternative is local recording. Instead of sending a bot into the call, you record the audio directly from your computer. Your machine is already playing the meeting audio through your speakers or headphones. A local app just captures that audio stream.

No bot joins. No one is notified. The recording happens entirely on your device.

After the meeting, AI processes the recording into a transcript, summary, and action items. Same output as the bot approach, without the baggage.

ScreenApp: the complete no-bot option

ScreenApp is a Mac app that records system audio natively. It captures whatever audio is playing on your machine, which means it works with every meeting platform. Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, Webex, Slack huddles. If you can hear it, ScreenApp can record it.

But ScreenApp does more than just audio. It also records your screen. So you get the full context of what was shown during the meeting, not just what was said. Shared slides, demos, dashboards, all captured alongside the transcript.

After recording, ScreenApp transcribes the audio and generates AI summaries with action items. You can search through transcripts, clip specific moments, and share recordings with your team.

A few things that set it apart:

• Works with any meeting platform (not locked to one ecosystem)
• Screen recording plus audio, not just audio
• Free tier available
• Has both a Mac app and a web app, so you’re not stuck on one device
• AI summaries and action items generated automatically

Granola: the other no-bot player

Granola takes a similar approach. It records meeting audio locally and uses AI to generate notes. Their marketing leans hard on the “no bot” angle, and they’re right to. They raised $43M on this premise.

Granola is a solid tool for people who want AI-enhanced notes without the bot problem. But it has limitations.

It’s desktop-only. There’s no web version. It focuses on note-taking rather than recording, so you don’t get screen capture or video playback. And it’s more of an AI notepad than a full meeting recorder. If you want to go back and rewatch a moment from a call, or clip a section to share, Granola can’t do that.

For straightforward meeting notes, Granola works. For anything more, you’ll outgrow it quickly.

The bot tools (and when they make sense)

To be fair, bot-based tools aren’t always wrong. If everyone in your organization uses the same tool and expects recording, the bot is fine. Internal standups where nobody cares about a bot in the call? Go ahead.

Here’s what the bot-based landscape looks like:

The pattern is clear. Bot-based tools are limited to major platforms and don’t record screens. No-bot tools work everywhere and give you more flexibility.

When to go bot-free

Go bot-free when:

• You’re on client calls and don’t want to explain why a robot joined
• Your company or your client’s company blocks meeting bots
• You need screen recordings, not just audio
• You use platforms beyond Zoom, Teams, and Meet
• You want meeting notes without changing anyone else’s experience

The whole point of AI meeting notes is to reduce friction. A bot that makes people uncomfortable is adding friction, not removing it.

FAQ

Can you get AI meeting notes without a bot?

Yes. Tools like ScreenApp and Granola record audio locally on your device instead of sending a bot into the call. You get the same AI transcription and summaries without any visible recording participant.

Is it legal to record meetings without a bot?

Recording laws vary by jurisdiction. In most places, at least one party needs to consent to the recording. Using a local recorder instead of a bot doesn’t change the legal requirements. Check your local laws and your company’s recording policy.

What’s the best meeting notetaker without a bot?

ScreenApp is the most complete option. It records system audio and screen, works with any meeting platform, and generates AI transcriptions and summaries. Granola is another no-bot option but is limited to audio notes on desktop.

Do meeting bots affect how people behave in calls?

Yes. Research on recording awareness shows that people self-censor when they know they’re being recorded by a visible third party. A bot in the participant list is a constant reminder. Local recording removes that psychological friction.

Does ScreenApp work with Google Meet, Zoom, and Teams?

ScreenApp records system audio, so it works with any platform that plays audio on your computer. That includes Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Slack, and any other meeting tool.

Can I record meetings on my phone without a bot?

ScreenApp’s web app works on devices beyond desktop. For phone-based recording, check the ScreenApp web recorder which works in the browser.

How is no-bot recording different from just pressing record in Zoom?

Platform-native recording (like Zoom’s built-in recorder) notifies all participants and is controlled by the host. Local system audio recording is independent of the platform and doesn’t trigger any in-app notification. Plus, you get AI processing on top of the raw recording.