TL;DR
A self-hosted meeting note taker runs entirely on your infrastructure, keeping meeting audio and notes under your complete control. Meetily is the easiest self-hosted option - it records meetings invisibly, transcribes with local AI, and generates summaries without any cloud uploads. For teams needing complete data sovereignty, self-hosting is the only way to guarantee privacy.
If you're searching for a self-hosted meeting note taker, you probably have a good reason. Maybe your company handles sensitive client data. Maybe you're in healthcare or legal. Maybe you simply don't trust cloud providers with your confidential conversations.
Whatever your reason, this guide will show you how to set up a complete self-hosted meeting note system in 2026.
Why Self-Host Your Meeting Notes?
Before diving into the how, let's address the why. Self-hosting your meeting note taker provides benefits that cloud solutions simply cannot match:
1. Complete Data Sovereignty
With self-hosted tools, your meeting audio and notes never leave your infrastructure. You control:
- Where data is physically stored
- Who has access to it
- How it's encrypted
- When it's deleted
Cloud services like Otter.ai and Fireflies upload everything to their servers. Even with encryption, you're trusting a third party with your most sensitive conversations.
2. Compliance Without Complexity
Self-hosting eliminates third-party data processors from your compliance scope:
| Regulation | Cloud Challenge | Self-Hosted Solution |
|---|---|---|
| GDPR | Cross-border data transfers, DPA required | Data stays in your jurisdiction |
| HIPAA | BAA with vendor, their security = your risk | No BAA needed, your controls |
| SOC 2 | Vendor security audits | Your own audit scope |
| ITAR | US cloud restriction issues | Air-gapped deployment |
3. No Vendor Risk
Cloud services can:
- Raise prices suddenly
- Change terms of service
- Get acquired (with new data policies)
- Discontinue service
- Suffer data breaches
Self-hosted software you control can't be taken away or changed without your consent.
ℹ️ The Privacy Reality
When you use Otter.ai, Fireflies, or Read AI, a recording bot joins your meeting and uploads audio to their cloud. Even if they encrypt it, their employees could theoretically access it, and it's subject to their data retention policies.
Best Self-Hosted Meeting Note Takers
1. Meetily (Recommended - Complete Solution)
What it is: An open source meeting note taker that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings entirely on your device.
Why it's best for self-hosting:
- Bot-free recording - No visible presence in your meetings
- Local AI processing - Whisper or Parakeet engines run on your hardware
- Complete workflow - Recording + transcription + summaries + action items
- Desktop app - Run on your laptop with automatic updates
- Zero maintenance - No servers, no configuration, no upkeep
- Offline capable - Works without any internet connection
Deployment Options:
-
Desktop App (Easiest):
- Download and install on Windows, macOS, or Linux
- All processing happens on your machine
- No server setup required
- Automatic updates, zero maintenance
-
Air-Gapped:
- Works completely offline after initial setup
- Perfect for sensitive environments
Best For: Organizations that want a complete, ready-to-use meeting note solution they can self-host without building from scratch.
Try Meetily Self-Hosted
The easiest way to self-host your meeting notes. No cloud, no bots, complete privacy.
2. Whisper + Custom Pipeline (DIY Option)
What it is: OpenAI's open source speech recognition model that you can run locally.
Why consider it:
- Industry-leading accuracy (95%+ on clear audio)
- 99 language support
- Completely open source
- No cloud connection required
The catch: Whisper is a transcription engine, not a meeting note taker. You'll need to:
- Build or integrate meeting recording
- Run Whisper for transcription
- Add summarization (GPT, Llama, etc.)
- Create a UI for viewing notes
- Handle storage and organization
Best For: Technical teams who want maximum flexibility and are willing to build their own workflow.
3. Vosk + Integration (Lightweight Option)
What it is: A lightweight speech recognition toolkit that runs on minimal hardware.
Why consider it:
- Runs on Raspberry Pi
- Real-time capable
- Multiple language support
- Very low resource usage
The catch: Lower accuracy than Whisper, and you still need to build the complete workflow around it.
Best For: Edge deployments, IoT scenarios, or resource-constrained environments.
Setting Up a Self-Hosted Meeting Note Taker
Option 1: Meetily Desktop (10 Minutes)
The fastest path to self-hosted meeting notes:
Step 1: Download Meetily
- Download the latest release from GitHub
- Choose the installer for your operating system
Step 2: Install
- Run the installer
- Choose installation directory
- Select transcription engine (Whisper recommended)
Step 3: Configure
- Select audio input (system audio for meetings)
- Choose transcription model size
- Set storage location for notes
Step 4: Start Taking Notes
- Join your meeting normally
- Click record in Meetily
- Notes appear automatically
That's it. No servers, no Docker, no configuration files.
Option 2: Air-Gapped Deployment
For environments with no internet access:
-
Prepare on internet-connected machine:
- Download Meetily installer from GitHub releases
- Download AI models (Whisper, Parakeet)
- Transfer to secure media
-
Install in air-gapped environment:
- Run installer from secure media
- Configure to use downloaded models
- No internet required after setup
ℹ️ Air-Gapped Considerations
Air-gapped deployments won't receive automatic updates. Plan for periodic manual updates from a secure source when needed.
Self-Hosted vs Cloud: What You Gain and Lose
| Feature | Self-Hosted (Meetily) | Cloud (Otter.ai) |
|---|---|---|
| Data stays local | ✅ | ❌ |
| Works offline | ✅ | ❌ |
| No subscription | ✅ | ❌ |
| GDPR by design | ✅ | ❌ |
| Bot-free option | ✅ | ❌ |
| Automatic updates | ✅ | ✅ |
| Zero maintenance | ✅ | ✅ |
| Mobile apps | ❌ | ✅ |
What You Gain with Self-Hosting
- Privacy: Complete control over your data
- Compliance: GDPR, HIPAA, and other regulations simplified
- Cost: No subscription fees (open source)
- Control: Run exactly the version you want
- Offline: Works without internet
- Security: Your security controls, your audit
What You Might Miss
- Mobile: Most self-hosted tools are desktop-focused
- Collaboration: Sharing requires more setup
- Support: Community support vs vendor support
Use Cases for Self-Hosted Meeting Notes
Healthcare (HIPAA)
Medical practices and healthcare organizations can't risk patient information leaking through cloud services.
Self-hosted benefits:
- PHI stays on your infrastructure
- No BAA complexity with vendors
- Audit trail under your control
- Air-gapped option for sensitive facilities
Legal (Attorney-Client Privilege)
Law firms must protect privileged communications.
Self-hosted benefits:
- Client conversations never uploaded
- Complete chain of custody
- Meet bar association requirements
- No third-party access possible
Government & Defense (ITAR, FedRAMP)
Government contractors and defense companies face strict data handling requirements.
Self-hosted benefits:
- Air-gapped deployment possible
- No foreign server concerns
- Meet ITAR export control
- Full audit capability
Financial Services (SOC 2, PCI)
Financial institutions need to protect customer data and trading information.
Self-hosted benefits:
- Customer conversations protected
- Audit trail for compliance
- No vendor security dependencies
- Integration with existing infrastructure
Enterprise (Data Sovereignty)
Large enterprises often have policies against sending data to third parties.
Self-hosted benefits:
- Meet internal security policies
- Integrate with corporate infrastructure
- Maintain data sovereignty
- Avoid vendor lock-in
ℹ️ Real Example: Chapman University
Chapman University banned Read AI because it was uploading meeting data to cloud servers without adequate consent controls. Self-hosted tools eliminate this risk entirely.
Hardware Requirements
Minimum (Slower Processing)
- CPU: Modern quad-core (Intel i5/AMD Ryzen 5)
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 10GB for software + space for recordings
- GPU: Not required (CPU processing)
Recommended (Real-Time Processing)
- CPU: Modern 8-core (Intel i7/AMD Ryzen 7)
- RAM: 16GB+
- Storage: SSD with 50GB+ free
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3060 or better
ℹ️ GPU vs CPU Trade-off
GPUs dramatically speed up transcription but aren't required. A meeting that takes 1 minute to process on GPU might take 10 minutes on CPU - still faster than real-time and perfectly usable.
Security Best Practices
When self-hosting meeting notes, you're responsible for security. Follow these best practices:
1. Encrypt Storage
- Enable disk encryption (BitLocker, FileVault, LUKS)
- Encrypt backup drives
- Use encrypted network transfers
2. Access Control
- Implement user authentication
- Use role-based access control
- Audit access logs regularly
3. Network Security
- Keep self-hosted services on internal networks
- Use VPN for remote access
- Firewall unnecessary ports
4. Backup Strategy
- Automated daily backups
- Offsite backup copies
- Regular restore testing
Key Takeaways
- Meetily is the easiest self-hosted meeting note taker for 2026
- Self-hosting keeps meeting data under your complete control
- GDPR, HIPAA, and compliance are simplified with self-hosting
- Desktop deployment takes under 10 minutes with Meetily
- Air-gapped deployment is possible for sensitive environments
- GPU recommended but not required for transcription
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is a self-hosted meeting note taker?
A self-hosted meeting note taker runs entirely on your own infrastructure (laptop, server, or data center) rather than uploading audio to cloud services. Your meeting recordings and notes never leave your control, providing complete data privacy and sovereignty.
Q: Is Meetily really self-hosted?
Yes. Meetily runs 100% locally on your device. The AI transcription (Whisper or Parakeet) processes audio on your hardware, notes are stored on your drives, and no data is ever uploaded to any cloud service. You can run it completely offline after initial setup.
Q: Can I self-host Otter.ai or Fireflies?
No. Otter.ai and Fireflies are cloud-only services with no self-hosted option. They require uploading meeting audio to their servers for processing. If you need self-hosted meeting notes, you must use open source alternatives like Meetily.
Q: Do I need a powerful computer for self-hosted meeting notes?
Not necessarily. Meetily works on any modern computer. For faster transcription, a GPU helps (NVIDIA recommended), but CPU-only processing works fine - just slower. Minimum: quad-core CPU, 8GB RAM. Recommended: 8-core CPU, 16GB RAM, NVIDIA GPU.
Q: Can a self-hosted meeting note taker work offline?
Yes. Once set up, Meetily works completely offline. The AI models run locally, so no internet connection is needed for recording, transcription, or note generation. This is ideal for air-gapped environments or unreliable connections.
Q: How accurate is self-hosted transcription?
Very accurate. Meetily uses OpenAI Whisper which achieves 95%+ accuracy on clear English audio and supports 99 languages. This matches or exceeds cloud services. Accuracy depends on audio quality and model size selected.
Q: Is self-hosted meeting notes HIPAA compliant?
Self-hosting is inherently more HIPAA-friendly because no PHI leaves your infrastructure. There are no third-party processors, no BAAs required with vendors, and you control all access. However, you're still responsible for implementing proper security controls.
Q: What's the cost of self-hosted meeting notes?
Most self-hosted tools including Meetily are free and open source. Your costs are hardware (use existing computer or server), electricity, and your time for setup and maintenance. No subscription fees, ever. For high-volume users, self-hosting is dramatically cheaper than cloud subscriptions.
Conclusion
Self-hosted meeting note takers have matured significantly in 2026. You no longer need a team of engineers to set up privacy-first meeting notes - tools like Meetily make it accessible to anyone.
If you want the easiest path to self-hosted meeting notes, download Meetily. It's designed specifically for meetings (not generic transcription), works out of the box, and keeps everything local.
If you need maximum flexibility, use Whisper as your transcription engine and build your workflow around it.
Either way, you'll gain complete control over your meeting data - something cloud services can never provide.
The choice is clear: keep your confidential conversations confidential with self-hosted meeting notes.
Get Started with Self-Hosted Meeting Notes
Download Meetily and take control of your meeting data. Free, open source, runs anywhere.
About the Author
Meetily Team - We build privacy-first AI tools for professionals who need meeting intelligence without compromising data sovereignty. Meetily is open source and trusted by organizations worldwide.
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