Krisp

Krisp made its name with AI-powered noise cancellation before expanding into meeting transcription and notes. This origin story matters because noise cancellation remains Krisp’s strongest feature, and it is genuinely excellent. The technology filters out background noise in real time, working bidirectionally so that both you and your meeting participants hear cleaner audio. For remote workers in coffee shops, co-working spaces, or homes with unpredictable noise, Krisp’s noise cancellation is transformative.

The meeting notes features came later and feel like a natural extension rather than the core product. Krisp can transcribe meetings, generate summaries, and extract action items. It works at the system audio level (no bot joins your call), which means it is compatible with any meeting platform. The transcription happens partially on-device, giving Krisp a privacy advantage over fully cloud-based competitors, though some processing does involve cloud components.

Krisp is a good example of a product that does one thing exceptionally well (noise cancellation) and does several other things adequately (transcription, summaries). If you are primarily looking for a meeting assistant and the noise cancellation is a bonus, Krisp may feel like it is not quite keeping up with dedicated transcription tools. If you need noise cancellation and want transcription bundled in, Krisp offers a compelling package.

Key Features

Krisp’s AI noise cancellation works in real time, removing background noise for both incoming and outgoing audio. The technology operates on-device, processing audio locally without sending it to servers. Meeting transcription captures conversations with speaker identification. AI-generated summaries and action items are produced after meetings. The system-level audio approach means Krisp works with any meeting platform: Zoom, Teams, Meet, phone calls, or any other audio source. An echo cancellation feature removes room echo for improved audio quality.

Pricing

Krisp’s free plan includes limited noise cancellation minutes and basic transcription. The Pro plan at $12 per month provides unlimited noise cancellation and meeting transcription with AI summaries. The Enterprise plan adds team management, analytics, and priority support. The pricing is reasonable given that you get both noise cancellation and meeting notes in one tool, though the transcription accuracy may not justify the cost if you do not also need noise cancellation.

Privacy & Security

Krisp has a stronger privacy posture than most cloud-based alternatives. The noise cancellation processes entirely on-device; audio is cleaned locally and never sent to servers. Transcription also uses on-device processing, though some AI features involve cloud communication. Krisp has published transparency reports about its data handling practices. For users who value privacy, Krisp’s hybrid approach is a meaningful step above fully cloud-based competitors, though it falls short of a fully on-device solution.

Best For

Krisp is the obvious choice for professionals who regularly take calls from noisy environments and want AI meeting notes as a secondary benefit. Remote workers, traveling consultants, and anyone in an open-plan office will appreciate the noise cancellation. It is less suited for users who primarily need best-in-class transcription accuracy, deep AI analysis, or mobile support.

How Krisp Compares to Hedy

Krisp and Hedy share important design principles: both process audio on-device and both work without a meeting bot. Krisp’s noise cancellation is a unique feature that Hedy does not replicate. But as a meeting assistant, Hedy is substantially more capable. Hedy’s transcription accuracy is superior, using optimized Whisper models with GPU acceleration. Hedy’s AI analysis goes far beyond Krisp’s basic summaries, offering real-time coaching, knowledge connections across meetings, and configurable session types. Hedy supports Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and web; Krisp is limited to Mac and Windows desktop. Hedy works fully offline; Krisp’s offline capability is partial. If your primary problem is noisy environments, Krisp solves that uniquely. For everything else a meeting assistant should do, Hedy delivers more.