Record it from your own Windows PC. Everyone on the call is already coming out of your computer, so an app on that computer can capture them alongside your microphone — no bot in the participant list, no host permission, no Zoom cloud recording. Pithflow does this in Video call mode and writes the notes when you stop.
The common way to transcribe a Zoom call is to invite a notetaker into it. That works, and it is why every meeting now has a participant called something-Notetaker. It is also why the approach is getting harder: round-ups of the category this year (Fellow, MirrorCaption and Basil all published one) describe Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and enterprise Zoom tenants flagging or blocking third-party bots by default. Some clients simply will not admit them from the waiting room. And a bot needs to be invited before the meeting, which is not how most meetings you wish you had notes for actually start.
Any headphones. The point is that the other side stops coming out of your speakers and back into your microphone.
Host or guest, desktop app or browser. Nothing changes on the Zoom side and nothing needs to be enabled.
Say to the call that you are taking AI notes. Then press record. The clock starts; Zoom carries on.
The notes appear on the card in under a minute: summary, ranked key points, decisions, action items, and the Me / Them transcript behind a toggle.
Without headphones the other side is captured twice — once as the audio Zoom plays, once again as your microphone hears it from the speakers. Pithflow removes the duplicate from the transcript, so the notes stay right, but it is a repair on top of a problem headphones simply do not have. The app says the same thing on the Video call card.
Sometimes. Zoom has two features people mean by "transcription", and it is worth knowing which one you are reaching for:
If you host the meeting, your account is a paid one with cloud recording enabled, and everyone is comfortable being recorded by Zoom, the built-in transcript is fine. The cases it does not cover are the common ones: you are a guest, the host's account does not include it, the admin has cloud recording off, or you want notes without a Zoom recording existing at all. Recording from your own PC covers all four.
A raw Zoom transcript is forty minutes of text. Pithflow keeps the transcript — split into Me for your microphone and Them for the rest of the call — and writes notes on top of it: a summary, the key points ranked by how many separate times each came up with the count shown, the decisions that were stated, and the action items. The thing three people kept returning to is line one of the list, not a sentence buried in minute 27. The format is shown on the Meetings page.
| Zoom cloud transcript | Notetaker bot | Pithflow (Video call) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works as a guest | No — host and plan | If admitted | Yes |
| Visible to participants | Recording notice | Extra participant | No — you announce it |
| Speaker names | Per participant | Per person | Me / Them |
| Live captions | Yes | Usually | No |
| Key points ranked by mentions | No | No | Yes, with counts |
| Also works for in-person meetings | No | Some, via phone app | Yes |
Two honest concessions in that table: Pithflow has no live captions and no per-person speaker names. If either is the thing you need, Zoom's own feature or a bot is the better answer.
Your next Zoom call, without the bot
Headphones on, press record, read the ranked notes when it ends.
Typing in the Zoom chat by voice is the other Zoom question people bring to us, and it is a different feature of the same app — dictating in Zoom chat covers it. And recording someone without telling them is not something Pithflow makes acceptable: the app does not announce itself, so you must. The consent rules are short and worth two minutes.
Yes. Zoom's own transcript is attached to a cloud recording, so it needs recording turned on and a plan that includes it. Recording from your PC instead — your microphone plus the audio Zoom is playing — needs nothing enabled in Zoom at all, and produces no Zoom recording.
No. Nothing joins the meeting, so there is no extra participant and no 'is recording' badge from Pithflow. That also means Pithflow does not tell them for you — say it at the start of the call.
No. Zoom's built-in transcription is a host control. Recording from your own computer works whether you host the meeting or were invited to it, including meetings on someone else's Zoom account.
Yes — there is no bot to block. Pithflow does not connect to Zoom, request any permission, or appear in the participant list. It records what your computer is already playing and what your microphone hears.
On speakers, the other participants come out of the room's speakers and back into your microphone, so they are captured twice — once digitally, once acoustically. Pithflow drops the echoed copy from the transcript, but it is a repair; headphones make the split between Me and Them clean to begin with.
No. Zoom's live transcription is live; this is not. Pithflow uploads the recording a minute at a time and writes the notes after you press Stop and save. If you need captions during the meeting, Zoom's own feature is the right tool and the two can run at the same time.
Free for a single meeting up to 15 minutes, within the weekly free allowance. Pro at $9.99 USD a month, or $99 a year, has no per-meeting cap. Pricing is on the pricing page.
Recorded from your Windows PC, ranked by what came up most.
Download free for Windows15-minute meetings free · no card · Pro removes the cap
