Cleft vs Offscript

Cleft is an iOS and macOS app that turns spoken thoughts into notes with main points, actions, summaries, and transcripts. Its built-in output styles are Structured, Structured Prose, and Clean Transcript; Plus users can also save custom styles. Cleft says it works offline and supports 99 languages, including switching languages mid-sentence. Transcription runs locally using Whisper, and temporary audio is deleted afterward unless Keep Audio is enabled. Optional cloud formatting sends transcript text, not audio, to OpenAI, with Groq as a backup. Cleft lists support for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and CarPlay. Its Basic plan includes recordings up to five minutes, on-device transcription, tags, search, and export. Plus raises the recording limit to 30 minutes and adds attachments, Notion and Zapier integrations, and Family Sharing for up to five. Plus costs $6.99 per month or $39.99 per year through the App Store, with automatic renewal unless canceled. Cleft says notes are encrypted at rest and in transit.

Offscript is an Android and iOS app that turns voice recordings into searchable notes. Whisper transcribes recordings locally after an initial model download of about 100 MB, and semantic search also runs on the device. The maker says recording, transcription, search, and note workflows work offline after that download. Recordings stay on the phone rather than being sent to the maker’s servers or third parties. Audio files use AES-256-GCM encryption, while the notes database uses SQLCipher. Biometric access is supported; Android requires a secure device lock and offers secure-screen protections. Core note-taking requires no account, and the product page lists no accounts or tracking. The App Store listing says transcription covers 99 languages and the interface has 19 languages. Premium adds summaries, action items, PDF, Markdown, CSV, and plain-text exports, calendar integration, and encrypted backups. The free plan includes core voice notes, on-device transcription, and search. Premium costs $2.99 a month, $19.99 a year, or 59.99 USD once for lifetime access. Notes can be organized with tags.