Anarlog
Local-first AI meeting notepad that takes notes without a bot joining the call.
Anarlog is an MIT-licensed desktop notepad, built by Fastrepl, that listens to your device audio rather than joining your meeting as a participant. Sessions, notes and transcripts live in a local SQLite database with recordings as ordinary files on disk, and you choose where the intelligence comes from: an on-device model, your own API key, or an OpenAI-compatible local server such as Ollama or LM Studio. Hosted transcription, encrypted sync and sharing exist as a paid tier, but nothing depends on them. It was called Hyprnote until the project renamed itself in 2026, which is worth knowing when you search for guides.
What it does well
- +Ships macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows and Linux builds in the same release — desktop_v1.4.27 was published 2026-09-25
- +Nothing joins your call and nothing appears in the participant list; it also stays hidden while you share your screen
- +Your data is readable without the app: local SQLite plus plain recording files, with Markdown export
- +Bring your own AI — hosted provider, your own key, or a local OpenAI-compatible server; cloud sync is off unless you turn it on
- +Very active development, with releases landing almost daily
Where it falls short
- −The rename from Hyprnote means older bookmarks, tutorials and blog posts point at a name and repository that now redirect
- −Its README states the team is now building a separate product, char, while the community app stays MIT-licensed and maintained — worth watching if you are betting a workflow on it
- −Enterprise components are source-visible and commercially licensed, not MIT — the free, MIT part is the community desktop app
- −Built-in on-device transcription models are described as available on supported Macs, so Windows and Linux users may need their own keys or a local server
- −Like every device-audio notetaker, it only covers meetings you attend on that computer
Anarlog as an alternative to
Where Anarlog shows up in our comparisons, and how it ranked.
Anarlog head-to-head
Straight comparisons against the tools people weigh it against.