# Shadow vs Tactiq

Shadow records 17,796 monthly visits with -4.4% month-over-month growth and Freemium pricing. Tactiq records 6,521,542 monthly visits with +4.1% growth and Freemium pricing.

| Metric | [Shadow](https://openaitools.app/tool/shadow) | [Tactiq](https://openaitools.app/tool/tactiq) |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Website URL | https://www.shadow.do | https://tactiq.io |
| Categories | AI Meeting Assistant, AI Transcription, AI Note Taker, AI Summarizer | AI Meeting Assistant, AI Transcription, AI Summarizer, AI Note Taker |
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Monthly Visits | 17,796 | 6,521,542 |
| MoM Growth Rate | -4.4% | +4.1% |
| Primary Market | United States | Brazil |
| Direct Visits | 7,167 | 2,766,580 |
| Review Score | 4.3 | 4.3 |
| Saved Count | 1 | 7 |
| Supported Platforms | Website | Website |

## Shadow

Shadow starts from a complaint many knowledge workers share about meeting assistants: the bot that joins your call, the note-taker that locks your history behind a subscription, and the data that leaves your machine for someone else's servers. Shadow's answer is a native Mac app that operates entirely in the background. It has no bot that joins the meeting, auto-detects when a call begins, records and transcribes it locally, and stops on its own when the call ends. Speaker identification is done in real time, so transcripts arrive labelled with who said what.

The output is deliberately portable. Every meeting is written to your Mac as Markdown — transcripts, notes, and Skill results — with every call and every person linked into a knowledge base. You can open the folder as an Obsidian vault, sync it with iCloud Drive or Google Drive, search it with Spotlight, or point any AI agent at it. Shadow emphasises that there is a built-in advantage: because agents read the raw files rather than a connector's filtered view, tools like Claude, Codex, or OpenClaw get the complete context.

Between calls, Shadow is more than a note-taker. Press a keyboard shortcut on any screen and it can see what you're looking at, hear what you say, or read selected text, then run an Action Skill to produce an email, a set of notes, or code. Skills are just prompts you can edit or write from scratch, and a webhook can forward results to Zapier, n8n, or Make. The privacy stance is equally concrete: transcription is local, audio does not leave the device, meeting content is never used for model training, and you choose which Skills are allowed to call AI at all.

**Pricing & Plans:** Shadow is free to start, and the developer's stated policy is that every meeting is saved to your Mac as Markdown with no history limit on any plan — you keep the files even if you stop paying. For current paid tiers, check the pricing page inside the app.

- **Bot-free auto recording:** Shadow detects when a call starts, records automatically, and stops at the end — no bot in the meeting, nothing to remember to press.
- **On-device transcription:** Transcription runs on your Mac, with real-time speaker identification so you always know who said what.
- **Markdown you own:** Every call is saved as a clean .md file locally, openable as an Obsidian vault, backed up with iCloud or Drive, or searchable by Spotlight.
- **Meeting and Action Skills:** Run prompts on a completed call (notes, BANT, follow-ups, summaries) plus shortcut-driven actions on your screen between meetings.
- **Webhooks and automation:** A webhook pushes transcripts and Skill results into Zapier, n8n, or Make so meetings feed your existing workflows.

**Strengths:** No bot joins your call, so meetings stay natural; Local, on-device transcription with no history limits; Meetings stored as portable Markdown that works with Obsidian and AI agents; Flexible Skills you can edit or write from scratch

**Limitations:** Mac-only — there is no Windows or web app; Local-first storage means you manage your own folder, sync, and backups; By design it records without a bot, so you are responsible for getting consent from other participants; Skill output quality still depends on prompt craft, though Skills ship with sensible defaults

[Profile (Markdown)](https://openaitools.app/tool/shadow.md)

## Tactiq

Tactiq is an AI meeting assistant delivered primarily as a Chrome extension. It transcribes meetings live in Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams without a bot appearing in the call, then produces summaries, action items, and follow-up content from those transcripts. Speaker identification and support for over 60 languages make it practical for international teams, and the extension reports over a million installed users.

Beyond raw transcription, Tactiq focuses on what happens after the meeting. One-click AI summaries and custom AI prompts turn a transcript into structured notes, and reusable prompts let you standardise the questions you ask of every meeting. AI workflows can trigger automatically and share insights into Slack, Notion, Linear, and HubSpot, while a verified connector in Claude's directory, a plugin in ChatGPT's directory, and an MCP connector help route meeting history into the AI tools a team already uses.

Tactiq is free to add to Chrome and works at a basic level on the free plan, with paid plans for higher usage and advanced features like workflows and enterprise controls. Privacy is a central selling point: Tactiq says it does not record or store meeting audio, the transcript is only visible to the user unless they choose to notify others, and it cites ISO 27001 certification, SOC 2 Type II attestation, and GDPR and HIPAA compliance.

**Pricing & Plans:** Freemium: the Chrome extension is free to install and use at a basic level, with paid plans for higher limits and advanced features; check the pricing page for current tiers.

- **Bot-free live transcription:** Real-time transcription in Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams without a bot joining the call, with speaker identification.
- **Instant summaries and Ask AI:** Generate meeting summaries and action items in one click, or ask AI your own questions during and after the call.
- **AI workflows and integrations:** Create reusable prompts and automations that push meeting insights to Slack, Notion, Linear, HubSpot, and other tools.
- **Works with Claude, ChatGPT, and MCP:** Tactiq is a verified connector in Claude's directory, a plugin in ChatGPT's directory, and offers an MCP connector for your meeting history.
- **Security and compliance:** Tactiq cites ISO 27001 certification, SOC 2 Type II attestation, and GDPR and HIPAA compliance, and does not store meeting audio.

**Strengths:** No bot joins the call, so meetings stay natural; Live transcription plus one-click summaries and action items; Works across Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams in 60+ languages; Verified Claude and ChatGPT connectors plus MCP and workflow integrations

**Limitations:** Requires the Chrome extension, so browser choice is limited; Advanced workflows and higher usage sit behind paid plans; Focused on meetings rather than being a general note-taking system

[Profile (Markdown)](https://openaitools.app/tool/tactiq.md)

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How do Shadow and Tactiq compare in monthly traffic?

Shadow has 17,796 monthly visits, while Tactiq has 6,521,542. Traffic estimates describe audience size, not product quality.

### How do their growth rates compare?

Shadow has a month-over-month growth rate of -4.4%; Tactiq has +4.1%.

### How does pricing compare?

Shadow: Freemium. Shadow is free to start, and the developer's stated policy is that every meeting is saved to your Mac as Markdown with no history limit on any plan — you keep the files even if you stop paying. For current paid tiers, check the pricing page inside the app. Tactiq: Freemium. Freemium: the Chrome extension is free to install and use at a basic level, with paid plans for higher limits and advanced features; check the pricing page for current tiers.

## Alternatives

| # | Tool Name | Monthly Visits | MoM Growth Rate | Pricing Model | Summary | Profile (Markdown) |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 1 | [Otter AI](https://openaitools.app/tool/otter-ai) | 7,360,981 | +9.6% | Freemium | Industry giant for live transcription and searchable conversation archives, but requires bot entry or direct audio uploads. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/otter-ai.md) |
| 2 | [Fathom](https://openaitools.app/tool/fathom-2-0) | 5,620,385 | +0.2% | Freemium, Free Trial | Extremely popular meeting assistant with great free tiers and summaries, though it relies on a calendar bot rather than a browser extension. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/fathom-2-0.md) |
| 3 | [Fireflies.ai](https://openaitools.app/tool/fireflies-ai) | 4,411,502 | +3% | Freemium | Robust enterprise meeting search and CRM integration capabilities, though it uses a bot participant in calls. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/fireflies-ai.md) |
| 4 | [Notta](https://openaitools.app/tool/notta) | 2,585,354 | +2% | Freemium, Paid, Contact for Pricing | AI note taker that transcribes, summarizes and visualizes meetings | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/notta.md) |
| 5 | [tl;dv](https://openaitools.app/tool/tldv-io) | 1,396,729 | +1.9% | Freemium | Excellent video snippet clipping and multi-platform meeting recording, though uses bot joining instead of extension capture. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/tldv-io.md) |
| 6 | [Bluedot](https://openaitools.app/tool/bluedot) | 546,739 | -5.4% | Freemium | Operates as a bot-free browser extension just like Tactiq, capturing high-quality local meeting transcripts without annoying calendar bots. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/bluedot.md) |
| 7 | [Noota](https://openaitools.app/tool/noota) | 283,526 | +3.3% | Freemium, Paid, Contact for Pricing | Bot-free AI meeting assistant hosted in Europe | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/noota.md) |
| 8 | [Circleback](https://openaitools.app/tool/circleback) | 272,906 | +12.5% | Free Trial | AI notetaker and company brain that turns every meeting into searchable knowledge | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/circleback.md) |
| 9 | [Fellow](https://openaitools.app/tool/fellow) | 188,722 | -5% | Contact for Pricing | The secure AI meeting notetaker built for teams that cannot get privacy wrong | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/fellow.md) |
| 10 | [Bubbles](https://openaitools.app/tool/bubbles) | 148,424 | +2% | Freemium, Free Trial | Always-on AI meeting notetaker with a self-erasing screen replay | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/bubbles.md) |

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Source: https://openaitools.app/compare/shadow-vs-tactiq

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