Hyprnote

What is Hyprnote?

Hyprnote is an open-source AI meeting notepad that records calls on your own computer and blends the transcript with your typed notes into an editable summary. No bot joins the call, and files stay local by default.

John Jeong built it in 2025 at Fastrepl, a small software company founded in 2023 and working between Seoul and San Francisco, and took it through the Y Combinator Summer 2025 batch, with Pioneer Fund, TRAC, Krew Capital and angel investors also backing it. The product was later renamed Char, and in May 2026 it split in two: the meeting notetaker became Anarlog, while Char continued as a separate task-focused notepad. The old hyprnote.com address now leads to Char, so anyone looking for the meeting app should download Anarlog.

The meeting app is actively maintained. Its about page was updated on 2 October 2026, the community desktop app moved from a GPL to an MIT licence during the split, and paid enterprise components sit in a separate, commercially licensed folder of the same repository. The homepage showed about 9,430 GitHub stars when checked.

Key Features

Bot-free recording and a free choice of where AI runs sit at the heart of Hyprnote, because together they let you capture any call without handing audio to a vendor.

• Bot-free capture: The app records your microphone and system audio directly, so nothing appears in the participant list. It behaves the same on Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, phone calls and in-person conversations, and needs no calendar permission.
• On-device transcription: Built-in local models turn speech into text without an internet connection on supported Macs. Choices include Parakeet streaming and batch models for 25 European languages, Apple Speech on macOS 26 and any whisper.cpp model file.
• Enhanced notes: Once the call ends, AI merges your rough notes with the transcript into a summary you can edit like a document. Named templates can steer the output towards decisions, action items or a one-to-one format.
• Separate model settings: Transcription and the language model are chosen independently, so you can swap one without touching the other. Options run from Ollama, LM Studio or Unsloth on your machine to your own OpenAI, Anthropic or Deepgram keys.
• Search, chat and agent access: A local full-text index searches every past meeting, and a chat panel answers questions about your transcripts. The same data is reachable from a command-line tool, an MCP server and webhooks.
• Dictation and automations: Pro adds system-wide dictation through a configurable shortcut on macOS, Windows and Linux. It also runs post-meeting automations that post a Slack recap, update a Notion page or draft Linear issues from action items.

Pros

Privacy is the clearest reason to pick Hyprnote: recordings, notes and transcripts stay in a local database, and cloud sync remains off unless you switch it on.

• Data stays on your machine: Sessions and transcripts live in a SQLite database on your computer, and recordings are plain local files. Optional Cloud Sync encrypts content on the device before upload, so sync servers only hold ciphertext.
• Unlimited free use: The Free plan has no meeting or minute cap when you use on-device models or your own API keys. Anarlog contrasts this with Otter.ai, which it says caps free use at 300 minutes a month.
• Auditable code: The community desktop app is published on GitHub under the MIT licence. Security reviewers can check exactly how audio is handled, and the software keeps running even if the company changes course.
• Works offline: Pairing a local transcription model with a local language model lets the whole workflow run without internet access. That suits flights, client sites with locked networks and firms that block cloud notetakers.
• Portable notes: Meetings export as PDF, plain text, Markdown or Org files, and an import tool brings in history from other meeting assistants. Obsidian and Notion users can move notes in and out without lock-in.

Cons

Naming confusion is the first hurdle, since Hyprnote, Char and Anarlog now refer to two different products from the same small company.

• Confusing rebrands: Three names in roughly a year make search results and directory listings unreliable. Typing the old domain leads to Char, so first-time visitors can easily install the wrong product.
• Mac-first local transcription: The built-in on-device transcription models currently run only on Macs, mostly Apple Silicon ones. Windows and Linux users need a local Deepgram-compatible server, their own API keys or a Pro plan.
• Beta platforms: Windows and Linux builds are both labelled beta, and the mobile apps are only offered through TestFlight and Google Play testing. Teams standardised on Windows may meet rough edges.
• Manual speaker labels: Free users tag speakers by hand, while better speaker identification sits behind Pro. Calls with many participants therefore need extra tidying before a summary reads cleanly.
• Small support team: Fastrepl lists a two-person core team, so help comes through email, GitHub issues and Discord rather than a staffed help desk. Enterprise buyers get a founder-led rollout instead of an account team.

Who is Using Hyprnote?

Engineers and technical founders make up the core audience, joined by professionals whose employers forbid sending meeting audio to third-party bots. The homepage shows logos including Databricks, Cloudflare, Meta, Adobe and McKinsey, and quotes Shopify chief executive Tobi Lütke calling it great and local.

• Developers and founders: Technical users want a notetaker they can audit and fork. Many also query past meetings from the CLI or MCP server inside their coding agents.
• Regulated professionals: Lawyers, healthcare staff and finance teams use it when confidential calls cannot pass through an outside bot. Recording consent rules still apply, so participants should be told.
• Local-first note keepers: Obsidian and Notion users export meetings as Markdown files. Their notes then sit beside the rest of their knowledge base rather than in a vendor workspace.
• Teams and enterprises: Small teams use Pro for shared workspaces, roles and per-seat billing. Larger organisations ask for Enterprise to get SSO, SCIM, retention policies and customer-hosted capture.

Pricing

Hyprnote, now sold as Anarlog, is freemium: Free costs nothing and Pro is $14 per person a month (official prices, October 2026).

One directory still lists an older $8 Pro plan from the Hyprnote era, which no longer matches the official page. Futurepedia still describes the tool as waitlist-only and Toolify cites an old macOS 14.2 requirement, so directory listings lag well behind the product.

Disclaimer: after two rebrands, confirm the current plan on the Anarlog site rather than older listings.

What Makes Hyprnote Unique?

Transcription and summarisation are two separate, swappable settings in Hyprnote, so you decide which provider, if any, ever hears your meeting.

Most AI notetakers either send a bot into the call or route audio through their own servers. Hyprnote does neither by default, keeps everything in readable local files and publishes its code, so the privacy claim can be checked rather than taken on trust. Pro users who prefer convenience still get hosted models, and the documentation names the current routes, such as Soniox 5 for cloud transcription and a Claude Sonnet alias for summaries.

Compatibilities and Integrations

Desktop apps for macOS, Windows and Linux are the main way to use Hyprnote, and its integration strength lies in AI providers rather than business software.

• Platforms: macOS 15 or later on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, with Windows 10 and 11 and Linux builds in beta. iOS and Android versions are in beta testing.
• Meeting apps: Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, phone calls and in-person meetings, all captured through system audio and the microphone.
• AI providers: Ollama, LM Studio and Unsloth locally, or your own keys for OpenAI, Anthropic, Deepgram, AssemblyAI, Gemini and others. Claude and ChatGPT subscriptions can also be connected.
• Workflow tools: Pro automations post recaps to Slack, append updates to Notion and draft Linear issues.
• Developer access: Local API, CLI, MCP server, webhooks, and exports in Markdown, PDF, text or Org format.

Hyprnote Tutorials

A first meeting summary takes about ten minutes once the app has its audio permissions.

1. Download Anarlog from its site, choosing the build for your chip or operating system.
2. Grant microphone and system audio permissions during setup.
3. Open Settings and pick a Transcription model, then an Intelligence provider.
4. Set your main language, add any other spoken languages and enter names in the Dictionary.
5. Start a note as the call begins and jot key points while the transcript fills in.
6. Choose a template, generate the summary and export it as Markdown.

How We Rated It

Hyprnote earns 4.0 out of 5 because privacy and value score highly, while community-led support and few native integrations pull the average down.

Summary

Hyprnote suits privacy-minded professionals who want meeting notes without a bot or a cloud upload. Developers gain the most, thanks to MIT-licensed code, a CLI and MCP access. The main limitation is naming confusion, since the old domain now leads to a different product, and Windows and Linux support is still in beta. Download it as Anarlog, choose a local model in Settings and test it on a practice call before using it with clients.