Four o'clock
The call ends. The transcript is already there, written on your computer.
Guide · for client work
Private meeting notes for consultants
A client's words are theirs to trust you with. The private way to keep notes of a client call is to record it on your own computer, tell the client, and keep the recording, the transcript and the notes on that computer: no bot in their participant list, no copy on a vendor's server, no account. Recordist works this way, and we make it. A few minutes after the call, the notes are written and the follow-up email you owe is drafted with them, and any line plays back while the audio is kept.
The call, on whatever your client uses
Clients choose the platform, and you join. Recordist records your computer's microphone and the sound it plays, so it covers the call whoever hosts it: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, or a phone call routed through your computer. When the call starts, a small card asks "Record this meeting?" By default it asks before it records, and nothing is written to disk until you click Record.
You tell the client, in your own words. Copy notice on the card gives you a short notice to read or paste, and a second click while the call records marks the moment you gave it, kept under the transcript. If the client would rather not, Not this one, and you take notes by hand.
Client work, in Settings → Privacy and during setup, sets Recordist up for calls about clients: notes written on your computer, every call asks first, no agent can start a recording, and no notification names a meeting.
The follow-up you owe, drafted
The call ends at four. The follow-up gets written at eleven, from memory, and "as agreed on our call" is filled in with what you think was agreed. With Pro, a few minutes after you hang up the notes are written: a summary, the decisions, the open questions and the action items, each linked to the line of the transcript it came from.
The follow-up email is drafted with them, from you to the people on the call: a short recap and the next steps, each given to the person who said they would do it. Before the draft is saved, it is checked against the transcript like the summary. A sentence that claims a decision the call did not reach, gives a task to someone other than the person who took it on, or is made of words nobody said is taken out and listed with the other removed items. The greeting, the thanks and the sign-off stay.
Read it, change a word, send it from your own mail.
A few minutes later
The notes are written, each decision tied to the line it came from, and the follow-up is drafted with them.
Before you leave your desk
You read the draft against the line, change a word, and send it in your own name.
When a client asks what was agreed
Three weeks later: "Did we say the 4th?" Search everything finds the sentence across every meeting on your computer. Open it at the line and press the time, and you hear the words in the voice that said them, while the audio is kept. On Pro, Ask reads your recent meetings, or the ones a search found, and is told to name the meeting and the minute each answer came from.
The audio stays on your computer for 30 days by default, or for as long as you choose, and a meeting on hold is kept whatever the setting. A record that cannot take your side is one a client can trust.
What never happens
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It never joins a call.
Nothing appears in the participant list. You tell the client yourself, and Recordist gives you the words and marks when you said them.
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It never uploads your audio.
With the built-in engine, the transcript and the notes stay on your computer too. If you choose a cloud AI provider for notes, the transcript goes to it under your own account, off by default, and the Privacy Ledger lists each request.
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It never sends anything for you.
Every follow-up draft is yours to read, change and send from your own mail, with nothing added.
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It keeps nothing about your meetings on our side.
There is no account, and no Recordist server that receives a recording, a transcript or a note. The Trust Center lists what leaves the computer and what never does.
What it costs
Free for Mac, Windows and Linux. No account and no email needed. Windows and Linux are a preview. The Mac app is signed with our Developer ID and notarised by Apple.
Recording, transcription and search are free, with no time limit, and Free writes notes for 3 calls a month. Every install includes 7 days of Pro, with no card, starting with your first recorded call of 10 minutes or more. Pro writes up every call and drafts the follow-up email with the notes. Pro is US$9 a month or US$90 a year for anyone who subscribes by 30 November 2026, and that price stays for as long as the subscription stays active; from 1 December 2026 new subscribers pay US$15 a month or US$144 a year.Pro is CA$9 a month or CA$90 a year for anyone who subscribes by 30 November 2026, and that price stays for as long as the subscription stays active; from 1 December 2026 new subscribers pay CA$15 a month or CA$144 a year.Pro is €9 a month or €90 a year for anyone who subscribes by 30 November 2026, and that price stays for as long as the subscription stays active; from 1 December 2026 new subscribers pay €14 a month or €139 a year.Pro is £8 a month or £79 a year for anyone who subscribes by 30 November 2026, and that price stays for as long as the subscription stays active; from 1 December 2026 new subscribers pay £12 a month or £119 a year.
A week with Pro walks through Monday to Friday: the notes, the follow-ups, the answers, and what stays free.
Questions
Do I have to tell my client that I am recording?
Yes. Nothing joins the call, so the client hears about the recording from you, and the record card gives you the words with Copy notice. Recording law differs by place: some places need everyone to agree, some need one person. How to ask to record a call has the words and the rule where you and they are, and your lawyer has the answer for your situation.
Can my client’s words end up on someone else’s server?
The audio never leaves your computer. With the built-in engine, the transcript and the notes are written there too, and there is no account and no Recordist server. If you choose a cloud AI provider for notes, the transcript of that meeting goes from your computer to that provider under your own account; that is your choice, off by default, and the Privacy Ledger lists each request. If you connect your own AI assistant to your meetings, what it reads goes wherever that assistant sends it.
Does it work when the client hosts the call?
Yes. Recordist records your microphone and the sound your computer plays, so it covers the call whoever hosts it and whatever they use: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, or a phone call routed through your computer. The same card asks you, and you tell the client.
What is in the follow-up email, and who sends it?
A short recap and the next steps, from you to the people on the call, drafted with the notes a few minutes after the call ends. Before it is saved it is checked against the transcript: a sentence that claims a decision the call did not reach, or gives a task to someone other than the person who took it on, is taken out and listed. You read it, change a word and send it from your own mail. Recordist sends nothing.
How long is the recording kept?
By default, a meeting's audio is deleted after 30 days, and the transcript, notes and search index stay until you delete them. You can keep audio for 7, 30 or 90 days, forever, or delete it as soon as the transcript is written, and a meeting on hold is never deleted while the hold lasts. Every choice works the same on every plan.
What stays free?
Recording, transcription and search, with no time limit and no account; hearing any line again while the audio is kept; the record card, Copy notice and the Client work preset; and the notes for a few calls a month. Pro is the work after every call: the notes, the follow-up draft and Ask.
Related: Meeting notes without a bot in the call, A notetaker that keeps the audio, and the AI notetaker privacy checklist for the questions a client's IT or legal team may ask.
Notes, drafts and Ask's answers come from an AI model and can be wrong, so the app keeps the audio for you to check them against. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and Webex are trademarks of their owners, named only to identify their products. This page is general information and not legal advice. If something here is out of date, write to support@recordist.app and we will correct it.