Shadow

Shadow is a bot-free AI meeting assistant for Mac, built by Taper Labs in San Francisco and led by founder and CEO Jay Song, with the Shadow 2.0 launch on May 6, 2026 marking the platform's evolution from passive note-taker to active post-meeting agent. Shadow runs natively on macOS and detects meetings at the operating system level automatically across Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Slack huddles, Discord, or any audio source, without ever joining as a visible participant. Capture covers both audio (transcribed on-device) and on-screen content through smart screenshots taken at meaningful intervals, giving Shadow a complete record where every major competitor including Otter.ai, Fathom, Fireflies, and Granola captures audio only. Shadow 2.0 introduces autonomous Skills that execute post-meeting work automatically the moment a call ends: PDF creation, slide generation, CRM updates, follow-up email drafts, and scheduling, turning the meeting into completed tasks rather than a transcript backlog. Pricing is straightforward freemium: Free tier covers unlimited recording and transcription with AI features (Skills and Chat) capped at 25 lifetime meetings, and Plus at $8 per month unlocks unlimited AI features and full Skills automation. Setup is under 5 minutes from download to first meeting capture. Integrations include native export to Markdown folders (Obsidian-compatible), Zapier webhooks for connecting to Notion, Slack, Linear, custom CRMs and any webhook endpoint, plus 100+ language support with real-time speaker labelling. Security architecture is local-first: transcription happens on-device so audio never leaves the Mac, AI features use SOC 2-certified third-party APIs (OpenAI Enterprise Policy with no model training on user data), and storage defaults to local. Limits: Shadow does not currently hold its own first-party SOC 2 certification, which may be a procurement constraint for regulated enterprise buyers; the platform is Mac-only with no Windows or mobile support, which excludes Windows-heavy organisations; the free tier is 25 lifetime meetings rather than 25 monthly, so users hit the AI features cap relatively quickly. TCO at one user is $8 per month after free tier exhausted, putting Shadow among the most affordable paid meeting assistants in 2026 (Fathom Premium $15, Otter Pro $16.99 monthly, Fireflies Pro $10 annual / Business $19 to $29).