Cleft vs Snow

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.

Snow turns spoken words into structured, searchable notes. It transcribes and cleans up voice captures, extracts key points, and adds tags and context. Notes can be searched by text or voice, and the plan includes AI summaries and connections between notes. A capture can be started with the ⌘+⇧+S shortcut. Snow provides native desktop apps for macOS, Windows, and Linux, plus a web version that works in a phone browser and can be added to the home screen. The maker describes workflows for designers, product managers, developers, and founders. Snow says it is not a meeting bot and does not claim to identify everyone in a group conversation. A seven-day trial is available; Pro costs $8 a month. After the trial, existing notes remain in limited free mode, but creating new notes requires a subscription. Data can be exported at any time. Snow says it does not sell notes or recordings or use them to train AI models, and that notes and recordings are encrypted on its servers. Its desktop apps are not code-signed yet and may prompt an operating-system warning during installation.