Aside records calls without a bot, transcribes on-device and offers live guidance on Mac and Windows. Free plan; Pro from $12/month billed yearly.
Researched and fact-checked by Bartu Cavusoglu · Updated October 26, 2026
Aside is a desktop app for Mac and Windows that records calls, transcribes them on the user's computer and writes them up afterward. It also offers optional live guidance: a small pill just under the camera shows call goals, a suggested next move and answers the user prepared in advance. It was built by Yoel Gal, a software engineer in London, and the About page describes it as a one-person project.
No bot joins the call. Aside records the microphone and the sound the computer plays, so it works with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack huddles, FaceTime, Webex, browser calls and in-room meetings. The company describes itself as in early days. Notes, recording and transcripts are free, while guidance on every call requires the Pro plan.
Aside works in three stages. Before a call, the user can write a plan with goals and ready answers, or have a brief researched on the people being met. During the call, the pill sits under the camera. Goals appear as dots that fill in as they are covered, and one line suggests what to ask next.
Audio is captured locally and turned into text by an on-device speech model covering English and 24 European languages. After the call, a summary, next steps and a follow-up email are written as the user watches. Only text syncs to the Aside account. Audio stays on the computer, except for calls in unsupported languages or on slow machines, which go to a speech-to-text provider.
Live guidance covers goals, a next-move line, answers drawn from the user's plan, and a What should I say? prompt available by button, ⌃⌥A or Ctrl+Alt+A, or a note ending in a question mark. The pill and cards are hidden from screen sharing on Mac and Windows. Quick notes use ⌃⌥N or Ctrl+Alt+N and land in the transcript at the moment typing started.
After calls, Aside lists the other side's questions and objections, notes whether each was answered, and tracks promises made by both sides with due dates. Each person and company gets a page. Search runs through ⌘K or Ctrl+K. A connector for Claude, ChatGPT and other MCP apps lets those tools read meetings, write plans and save playbooks.
Aside is a Mac and Windows app that records calls without a bot, transcribes them on your computer and writes up each meeting. It can also guide you live from a small pill under your camera, showing goals, a next move and answers you prepared.
Free is $0 with unlimited recording and notes, plus guidance on 2 calls a week. Pro is $15 a month, or $12 a month billed $144 yearly. A Team plan is planned at $20 per person a month but has not launched.
Yes. New accounts get 14 days of Pro with no card needed. After that you move to Free unless you pick a plan, and recording, notes and transcripts keep working.
No. It records your microphone and the sound your computer plays, so nobody gets a join request. Its pill and cards are also hidden from screen sharing on Mac and Windows.
Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack huddles, FaceTime, Webex and calls in a browser, plus phone calls through your computer and meetings in the room. It listens to computer audio, so nothing needs installing in the call app.
Not for calls Aside can transcribe on your computer, which covers English and 24 European languages. Calls in other languages, or on a computer too slow to keep up, are sent to a speech-to-text provider. Voiceprints always stay local.
Yes. Aside has an MCP connector at mcp.asidehq.app. Connected apps can read meetings, plans, promises and memory, and write plans and playbooks, but they cannot delete meetings or reach audio.
Yes. Aside's site says recording laws differ by place and many require everyone's consent. It suggests telling people at the start, for example with a line in the call's chat.