Shadow vs Spellar AI (2026)

Shadow

by Taper Labs

Spellar AI

by Spellar LTD

Pros

• ✓No bot joins the call: Shadow captures system audio and the microphone on the Mac, so nothing appears in the participant list on Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or Slack huddles, and Autopilot can start and stop recording with each supported meeting.
• ✓Transcription runs on the Mac and every meeting is saved as Markdown files the user owns, with no history limit on any plan, so the archive opens in Obsidian and AI agents such as Claude can read it without a connector.
• ✓Smart Screenshots capture what is shown on screen as well as what is said, and every Meeting Skill and Action Skill is an editable prompt, so users can build their own notes, follow-up drafts and voice-typing workflows without code.

Limitations

• –Runs only on Macs with Apple Silicon and macOS 14.2 or later. Windows is on a waitlist and there is no mobile app, so teams with mixed platforms cannot standardize on Shadow.
• –AI meeting notes, Skills and Ask require Plus or the two-week trial. Shadow's privacy policy says it is not intended for environments that require HIPAA compliance, and no SOC 2 report or trust center is published.
• –Integrations are limited to native Google Calendar plus webhooks to tools such as Zapier, n8n or Make.com, with no native CRM or project-management integration and no team or admin plan.

Pros

• ✓No bot joins the call: Spellar records on the Mac, iPhone, iPad or browser the user is already in, server-side transcription is opt-in per meeting, and audio can stay device-only.
• ✓GPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity are all included on Pro and switchable per meeting, template or question, with bring-your-own-key support for OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and Perplexity.
• ✓Publishes a remote MCP server listed in the official MCP Registry, so Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor can read meetings and action items, with write tools opt-in and no tool able to delete anything.

Limitations

• –No permanent free plan: the free trial covers 300 minutes, after which transcription and AI stop and notes older than 7 days are locked until the user subscribes.
• –Spellar publishes no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification, so security reviews rely on its privacy policy, AI usage policy and the custom DPA offered with Teams.
• –There is no Windows desktop app, so Windows users rely on the Chrome extension for browser meetings and the web app for notes.