Zoom starts
A card asks whether to record. Record, Not this one, or Snooze. You tell the people on the call.
Guide
Record a Zoom call without a bot
To record a Zoom call without a bot, record it on your own computer: your microphone carries your side, and the sound your computer plays carries everyone else's. Nothing joins the meeting and nothing is added to the participant list, and it works the same whoever hosts and whatever plan they pay for. Recordist is an app that does this, and we make it. It transcribes the call and writes the notes on your computer, and you tell the people on the call.
What Zoom offers, and what it needs from the host
Zoom has two records of its own, and both run through the host. Record to computer saves the meeting on your own device, but only where the host's account allows it, and a participant may have to ask the host for permission first; Zoom's phone and tablet apps do not offer it. Meeting summary with AI Companion is started and stopped only by the host or a co-host. Anyone else can ask the host to start it, and Zoom's help lists the paid Zoom Workplace plans it needs.
When you host, those may be all you need. On a call a client hosts, Zoom's record depends on their settings and their plan. A recorder on your own computer needs nothing from Zoom, and it asks nothing less of you: the people on the call still learn of it from you first, and if anyone says no, you do not record.
A notetaker bot is the third way. It joins as a participant under its own name, takes a seat in the participant list, and records from its maker's servers.
How it works on your own computer
When Zoom starts using your microphone, Recordist recognises it by name and a small card asks "Record this meeting?" By default it asks before it records, and nothing is written to disk until you click Record. On a Mac, if the meeting is in your calendar, the card carries its title and the people invited.
Recordist records two channels: your microphone, and the sound your computer plays, which is everyone else on the call. The Zoom app and Zoom in a browser both reach you through your computer's speakers or headset, so both are covered. Your side is labelled You, and everyone on the other side shares one label for now, which you can rename for each meeting.
A Zoom call taken on your phone does not go through your computer, so there is nothing for Recordist to record there.
The call ends
The transcript is ready. A few minutes later the notes are written, each decision tied to the line it came from.
The record stays
The audio, the transcript and the notes stay in a folder on your computer. Nothing went to Zoom, and nothing went to us.
Telling the others
Nothing appears in Zoom's participant list, so telling the people on the call is yours to do, as it would be with any recorder. Copy notice on the record card copies a short notice to read out or paste into the Zoom chat, and a second click while the call records marks the notice as given, with the time and the words, kept under the transcript.
If anyone says no, choose Not this one and take notes by hand. Recording law differs by place: some places need everyone on the call to agree, some need one person. How to ask to record a call gives you the words and the rule where you and they are, and Recording law by place has general information.
After the call
When the call ends, the transcript is already there, written on your computer with Whisper. A few minutes later the notes follow: a summary, the decisions, the open questions and the action items, each linked to the line of the transcript it came from. An item no line supports is removed before the notes are saved. On Pro, the follow-up email is drafted with the notes and checked against the transcript the same way, for you to read, change and send from your own mail. Recordist sends nothing.
The audio stays on your computer, for 30 days by default or as long as you choose, so you can press the time beside any line and hear it said, while the audio is kept. It is never uploaded. 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 of that meeting goes from your computer to that provider under your own account, off by default, and the Privacy Ledger lists each request.
Free and Pro
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.
Questions
Do I need the host’s permission to record a Zoom call this way?
Not through Zoom: Recordist does not use Zoom's recording, so no Zoom setting is involved. The host is one of the people on the call, though, and everyone on it needs to know, and to agree where the law asks for it. Ask at the start, and if anyone says no, do not record. How to ask to record a call has the words for your kind of call and the rule where you and they are.
Does anything show up in the Zoom meeting?
No. Nothing joins the call, nothing is added to the participant list, and nothing is sent to Zoom. That is why telling the people on the call is yours to do, and the record card gives you the words with Copy notice.
Does it work with Zoom in a browser?
Yes. A Zoom call in a browser uses your microphone like any other app, so the card appears. On a Mac, Recordist names it from the browser's window title; on Windows and Linux it shows as Browser unless the Chrome extension is paired.
What about a Zoom call on my phone?
A call on your phone does not go through your computer, so there is nothing for Recordist to record. Join from the computer, in the Zoom app or a browser, and the card appears there.
Where do the audio and the transcript go?
They stay on your computer. The audio is never uploaded. With the built-in engine, the transcript and the notes are written there too. 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 in the app lists each request.
Is recording a Zoom call legal?
The rule depends on where you and the other people are: some places need everyone on the call to agree, some need only one person. The safe habit is to ask at the start, on the recording. Recording law by place has general information, and your lawyer has the answer for your situation.
Related: Meeting notes without a bot in the call, Teams meeting notes without Copilot or a bot, the AI notes built into Zoom, Teams and Meet, compared, and, for the calls you host, Keep notetaker bots out.
Zoom's own pages, read on 15 October 2026: Enabling and starting local recordings, Using Meeting Summary with AI Companion.
Zoom, Zoom Workplace and AI Companion are trademarks of their owner, named here only to identify its products. Recordist is not affiliated with Zoom. 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.