Notta vs Basil: Multilingual vs Privacy-First AI Transcription

Notta and Basil are perhaps the closest competitors in the AI transcription space—both target individuals (students, journalists, professionals) rather than enterprise teams. But they diverge on a fundamental question: multilingual versatility or absolute privacy? Here's how to choose.

Basil AI Overview

• On-Device Processing: Transcription and summaries generated entirely on your iPhone/Mac
• Privacy-First: No cloud uploads, no account required
• Individual Focus: Designed for solo professionals
• Pricing: $99/year for unlimited transcription

Notta: Multilingual Cloud Transcription

G2 Rating: 4.4/5 (200+ reviews)
App Store Rating: 4.0/5 (1,000+ ratings)

Notta is an AI-powered transcription app that has gained traction among individuals, students, and multilingual users. Featured as an Apple App of the Day, Notta offers real-time transcription with impressive language support and translation features.

Key Features

• 58 languages supported: Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, German, and 53 more
• Translation to 42 languages: Transcribe in one language, translate to another instantly
• Up to 98.86% accuracy claimed in ideal conditions
• Fast processing: transcribe a one-hour file in ~5 minutes
• Bookmark feature: mark important moments during recording
• Keyword search within transcripts to jump to specific segments
• AI summarization: instant summary or key points after recording
• Multiple export formats: TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT subtitles
• Noise reduction: AI removes background noise for clearer audio
• Hardware integration: Works with Notta Memo and other recorders
• Cloud sync: Access transcripts from any device

Pricing

• Free plan: Only 3 minutes per recording (essentially a trial)
• Premium plan: $114.99/year (~$9.58/month annual)
• Premium includes:
  • 1,800 minutes/month (~30 hours)
  • Unlimited length for live transcription
  • File imports
  • Zoom/Teams plugin for meeting integration
  • Translation features
  • Custom dictionary

Notta Premium: $115/year with 30-hour monthly cap vs Basil Pro: $100/year with unlimited usage

The Fundamental Difference

Notta's Strengths

• Multilingual support: 58 languages make Notta ideal for international users
• Real-time translation: Transcribe Spanish, translate to English instantly
• Cross-device sync: Cloud storage means access from anywhere
• Fast file processing: Upload an hour-long file, get transcript in 5 minutes
• Noise reduction: AI cleans background noise for better audio quality
• Powerful cloud ASR: Some users find it more accurate than Otter

Basil's Advantages

• Complete privacy: Audio never uploaded, data never leaves your device
• Offline capable: Transcribe in airplane mode or secure facilities without internet
• No account required: Install and start recording immediately
• Lower cost: $100/year vs $115/year
• Unlimited usage: No monthly minute caps (Notta caps at 30 hours/month)
• No audio uploads: Ideal for confidential interviews or sensitive recordings

Use Case Analysis

Best for Notta

• Multilingual professionals: Lawyers working with international clients, translators, language teachers
• Students: Attending lectures in different languages, studying abroad
• Researchers: Conducting interviews across multiple languages
• Content creators: Need translation for subtitles or multilingual content
• Remote workers: Need cloud access from multiple devices

Best for Basil

• Privacy-critical professions: Journalists protecting sources, lawyers with attorney-client privilege
• Healthcare workers: Doctors transcribing patient notes (HIPAA concerns)
• Secure environments: Government, defense, or corporate settings with strict data policies
• Frequent travelers: Need offline capability in areas with poor connectivity
• Heavy users: Regular transcription needs exceeding 30 hours/month

Accuracy Comparison

Notta: Claims up to 98.86% accuracy in ideal conditions. Uses powerful cloud-based speech recognition engines. Some users report it's more accurate than Otter for certain accents.

Basil: Leverages Apple's on-device speech engine, known for excellent English accuracy. Works in real-time without latency. Quality comparable to cloud solutions for English, but limited to languages Apple supports on-device.

Verdict: For English transcription, both are excellent. For multilingual needs, Notta is the clear winner. For privacy-first English transcription, Basil is unmatched.

Free Tier Reality Check

Notta Free: 3 minutes per recording is virtually unusable for real meetings or lectures. This is clearly a trial tier designed to push users toward Premium.

Basil Free: 60 minutes per month. While limited, it's actually usable for occasional transcription needs (4-5 short meetings monthly).

Verdict: Basil's free tier is more practical for genuine free usage. Both apps essentially require paid plans for regular use.

Privacy & Security

Notta's Cloud Security

• SOC 2 Type II certification
• ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification
• Strong data security measures
• Audio sent to cloud for processing
• Privacy policy states they don't train models on your data without permission
• Data can be deleted, but temporarily resides on external servers

Basil's On-Device Privacy

• Zero cloud processing: All AI runs locally on your iPhone/Mac
• No account required: No login, no data collection
• GDPR/HIPAA compliant by design: No external data processing = inherent compliance
• Works in airplane mode: Complete offline functionality
• Data only as vulnerable as your device itself

Summary Generation

Notta: Uses large cloud models for AI summaries. Can provide detailed summaries with key points. Quality benefits from cloud computing power.

Basil: Generates summaries on-device using Apple's foundation models. More concise (shorter bullet lists), but created without any cloud dependency.

Trade-off: Notta's summaries may be more detailed due to larger models. Basil's summaries prioritize privacy over maximum detail but are still highly useful.

When to Choose Notta

Notta is the right choice if:

• You need multilingual transcription (non-English or mixed languages)
• Real-time translation is essential for your workflow
• You want cloud sync across multiple devices
• You need to transcribe uploaded audio/video files quickly
• Your transcription needs stay under 30 hours/month
• Privacy concerns are moderate (you're comfortable with cloud processing)

When to Choose Basil

Basil is the right choice if:

• Privacy is non-negotiable (confidential sources, client data, medical records)
• You need offline transcription capability
• You transcribe primarily in English
• You exceed 30 hours of transcription monthly (Basil has no cap)
• You want lower annual cost with unlimited usage
• You prefer not to create accounts or upload sensitive audio

Conclusion

Choose Notta if you need multilingual support, translation features, and cloud convenience, and you're comfortable with cloud processing.

Choose Basil if you need absolute privacy, offline capability, and unlimited English transcription at a lower cost.

These tools are the closest competitors in targeting individual users, but they excel in different dimensions. Notta is unbeatable for multilingual needs. Basil is unmatched for privacy-first transcription.

The decision is straightforward: Do you need multiple languages or maximum privacy?

Your Conversations Deserve Privacy

On-device AI transcription. No uploads. No cloud. No compromises.

Free to try • $99/year for unlimited transcription