Krisp AI Meeting Transcription: A Closer Look
If you've ever had trouble hearing someone through a video conference due to background noise, then you may know Krisp. What you might not know about Krisp, however, is that its AI meeting transcription capabilities go far beyond simply canceling background noise. Today, Krisp will record your calls, generate automatic transcripts, and write meeting summaries.
But is this worth it? Especially when Krisp processes audio data in the cloud?
What Krisp Actually Does
At its core, Krisp began as a noise cancellation tool. By placing itself between your microphone and the meeting app you're using, Krisp can filter out the sounds of barking dogs, keyboards clacking away, or the constant chatter of coworkers who insist on taking phone calls from the local coffee shop.
Over time, Krisp began adding AI meeting transcription features to its offerings. Today, Krisp offers three main features:
Recording and Transcription
Krisp can record your meetings no matter what video conferencing platform you're using. It works with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and virtually every other video conferencing app out there. Recording occurs locally on your own computer, but the actual transcription of those recordings happens on Krisp's remote servers.
According to Krisp, their AI is capable of accurately transcribing conversations with multiple speakers and even labeling speakers as such. While this is true for the most part, their accuracy begins to fall off when participants speak with heavy accents or when many people are speaking at once. This is a common issue among many cloud transcription services.
Meeting Summaries and Action Items
Following each call, Krisp will create an automated meeting summary based on the content of the conversation. These summaries typically follow a similar structure to help participants quickly recall the key takeaways from their discussions. They tend to work particularly well in structured meetings with clearly defined agendas. On the flip side, free-form brainstorming sessions typically result in much less useful meeting summaries.
Noise Cancellation
Krisp still has one of the most powerful features in its arsenal: real-time AI noise cancellation. This function operates in real time and produces very little lag. It removes background noises from both your microphone and your speaker output, allowing you to clearly hear the voices of others on your end of the call.
A 2023 study from the University of Michigan found that excessive background noise during meetings can decrease overall productivity by as much as 6.9 percent. Krisp's ability to remove background noise represents a huge advantage compared to competitors.
Krisp Pricing Breakdown
While Krisp's pricing model is relatively simple, it can be somewhat confusing. Below is a breakdown of each tier and what you'll receive.
Free Plan
Krisp offers a free version of its software. With this version, you'll receive limited noise cancellation (just 60 minutes per day) along with basic transcription functionality. If you only hold a few short meetings per day totaling one hour, this should suffice.
Pro Plan
At $8 per month (on annual billing), Krisp's Pro tier completely removes any daily limits on noise cancellation and includes unlimited transcription features along with automated meeting summaries and action items. This is the most popular tier for individual users.
Business and Enterprise
Prices for businesses begin at $15 per user per month (annually billed). Business pricing tiers add administrative control options, usage analytics, and group management features. Large enterprise clients will be quoted custom prices based upon their specific needs and receive access to advanced security options along with priority customer service.
Compared to other solutions offering AI meeting transcription services, Krisp is competitively priced. Most other providers offer cloud transcription for somewhere between $10 and $30 monthly. You also get noise cancellation included with your subscription.
The Privacy Trade-Off
Here is where things become quite interesting. Krisp's noise cancellation operates solely at the local level (on your personal device) and therefore doesn't transmit your audio anywhere for that feature. However, when it comes to transcription, Krisp does indeed transmit your recorded audio to its cloud servers for processing.
Krisp states that it retains no copies of your recordings after processing has occurred and that data is transmitted via encryption. Despite the lack of storage, transmitting your meeting audio to any outside server certainly raises concerns regarding data protection and regulatory compliance.
Why This Matters
For casual team standups, cloud processing is probably fine. But consider these scenarios:
- Legal consultations where attorney-client privilege applies
- Healthcare meetings with HIPAA-protected patient information
- Board meetings discussing confidential financial data
- HR conversations involving sensitive employee matters
In these cases, sending audio to any external server creates compliance risks. A 2024 Cisco survey found that nearly 94% of organizations indicated they would not purchase products from companies that failed to adequately protect customer data.
Offline Alternatives
Fortunately, there are several offline transcription tools available that can perform the same functions as Krisp, but instead of uploading your audio data to an external server, they operate solely on your device and retain all data locally. Shmeetings is one such alternative. It allows you to record and transcribe meetings entirely on your Mac or Windows PC using local AI models. No upload necessary. No cloud. No data transfer.
The trade-off with offline tools is that they rely on the processing capability of your local device. Modern Macs with Apple Silicon handle local transcription without issue. The accuracy is comparable to cloud solutions for most use cases.
For a direct feature comparison, visit our Shmeetings vs Krisp page.
How Krisp Compares to Other Tools
Krisp is not the only option for AI meeting transcription. Here's a brief overview of how it compares to major competitors.
Krisp vs Otter.ai
Otter.ai primarily focuses on collaboration and transcription tools, not noise cancellation. Krisp combines both functionalities. Otter's transcription accuracy is marginally better than Krisp's in general tests, likely because transcription is their primary focus. But Krisp possesses superior noise cancellation capabilities. Although Otter does not include built-in noise cancellation, users could theoretically utilize a separate noise cancellation product in conjunction with Otter's transcription services.
Krisp vs Fireflies.ai
Fireflies joins your meetings as a virtual bot participant and records all activity. It offers robust search capabilities across past meetings and CRM integration capabilities. Unlike Fireflies, when you join a meeting using Krisp's system-level audio capture technology, no virtual bot appears in your meeting. Other participants don't know you are recording unless you tell them, which provides a more seamless experience.
Krisp vs Offline Tools
All three major cloud AI meeting transcription providers (Krisp, Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai) require active internet connection in order to capture and process audio for transcription purposes. None provide a way for you to easily transcribe meetings without relying upon cloud infrastructure.
Offline meeting recorders can process transcription entirely on your local device without requiring any form of external processing. This eliminates concerns around maintaining confidentiality or protecting sensitive information contained within recorded conversations.
If you regularly record sensitive interviews or confidential meetings, an offline tool eliminates the privacy concern entirely.
Who Should Use Krisp
If you spend time in noisy environments or want an all-inclusive product that addresses both noise cancellation and AI transcribed meeting notes, then Krisp is likely a worthwhile investment. If you work remotely with family members, kids, pets, or construction noise, the built-in noise cancellation capabilities alone justify subscribing.
The transcription features are a solid bonus. They are not the most accurate available, but they are good enough for most professional use cases. Having everything in one tool is convenient.
When to Skip Krisp
- You need to maintain complete confidentiality around sensitive topics and wish to prevent transmission of audio data to cloud servers
- You operate under strict data residency regulations
- Your workplace environment has a quiet space and you only need transcription
- You prefer non-subscription pricing (most offline tools charge only once)
For teams that need both noise cancellation and private transcription, the best approach is to pair Krisp's noise cancellation (which operates locally) with an offline meeting recorder application that processes all transcription on your device.
Setting Up Krisp for Meeting Transcription
Installation
- Download and install Krisp from their official website
- Select Krisp as your microphone and speaker within your meeting application's audio settings
- Turn on recording within Krisp's app preferences
- Join your meeting and Krisp will take care of the rest
Tips for Better Transcripts
- Use a quality microphone. Regardless of whether you enable noise cancellation, a better microphone will increase the likelihood of obtaining accurate transcriptions
- Enable Krisp's noise cancellation during transcription as this will improve the quality of your audio input
- Speak clearly and avoid talking over other participants
- Label your meetings in the calendar so Krisp can reference them when generating meeting-specific transcripts
- Review meeting transcripts within 24 hours while the content of the meeting is still fresh in your mind
You can also link Krisp to additional applications such as Notion or Slack so that meeting notes can be distributed automatically among relevant team members following each call.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Krisp meeting transcription free?
Krisp offers basic meeting transcription on its free tier, but users are subject to limitations on both noise cancellation capabilities and the number of minutes per day. The Pro plan at $8 per month (annual billing) removes these limits and adds full transcription, summaries, and action items.
Does Krisp store my meeting recordings?
Based on its documentation, no. Krisp states that audio data is not stored after processing. Once completed, recordings and their corresponding transcripts will be deleted from Krisp's servers. However, your audio does travel to cloud servers temporarily during the transcription process.
Can Krisp transcribe meetings in languages other than English?
Yes. Krisp supports multiple languages including Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese. However, English remains Krisp's best-supported language. Accuracy varies by language and accent.
Does Krisp work with all meeting platforms?
Yes. Krisp works at the system audio level, so it is compatible with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Slack calls, and any other app that uses your microphone. You select Krisp as your audio device in the meeting app settings.
Is Krisp transcription accurate?
Krisp's transcription accuracy is good for clear English audio with one or two speakers. Accuracy decreases with heavy accents, multiple simultaneous speakers, or poor audio quality. For the best results, use Krisp's noise cancellation alongside the transcription feature.
Are there alternatives to Krisp that work offline?
Yes. Tools like Shmeetings process transcription entirely on your device without sending audio to the cloud. This is useful for confidential meetings or situations where you need guaranteed privacy. The trade-off is that processing happens on your computer, but modern hardware handles this well.