Kimiko vs Read AI: Local Meeting Notes or Cloud Copilot (2026)

The short answer

Read AI is a cloud assistant for meetings and messages. Once your calendar is connected, its bot joins Zoom, Teams and Google Meet calls, scores engagement and sentiment, and its desktop app can record without a bot. Kimiko records from your computer and transcribes, summarizes and answers questions there, keeping your library on your Mac or PC.

Choose Kimiko if

You want meetings transcribed and summarized on your own computer.
You need meetings processed offline once your models are downloaded.
You want live speaker labels without a bot in the call.
You’d like to choose your AI models, or use your own provider account.
You also want voice dictation in your other apps.

Choose Read AI if

You want one assistant for meetings, email and chat messages.
You want engagement and sentiment scores and meeting coaching.
You’d like a free plan for a few meetings a month.
Your team works in Notion, Jira, Salesforce or HubSpot.

Side by side

Kimiko and Read AI compared, checked 17 October 2026. Numbers link to the sources at the end of the page.
Feature	Kimiko	Read AI
Recording
Records without a bot in the call	YesThe desktop app records your microphone and computer audio, so nobody new joins the call.15	With the desktop appWith a calendar connected, Read’s assistant joins meetings. The Mac and Windows apps record without a bot.3
Zoom, Teams and Google Meet	Yes, and other call appsIt listens to your computer’s audio, so it works alongside Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet and other call apps.16	Yes, and moreThe bot joins Zoom, Teams and Google Meet; other platforms need the desktop app or an upload.6
Apps	Mac and WindowsApple silicon Macs with macOS 14.4 or later, and 64-bit PCs with Windows 11. No web or mobile app.17	Web, Mac, Windows, phonesDesktop apps for macOS 14+ and 64-bit Windows, iPhone and Android apps, a web app and a Chrome extension.1
Privacy and processing
Transcribes on your computer	Yes, by defaultLocal speech models run on your Mac or PC. Cloud transcription with Deepgram or ElevenLabs is optional.18	NoMeetings are processed in Read’s cloud on AWS. No on-device processing is described.7
Summaries and chat on your computer	Yes, by defaultBuilt-in local AI writes summaries, suggests tasks and answers questions. Cloud AI is optional.19	NoReports and Ask Read run in Read’s cloud; Ask Read uses OpenAI and Anthropic models.7
Works without internet	Yes, after setupDownloaded models work offline. Downloads, activation and subscription checks still need a connection.20	Not documentedRead’s pages don’t describe working without internet.3
Where your meetings are kept	On your computerAn encrypted database on your computer. Your Kimiko account doesn’t upload or sync your meetings.21	Read’s cloud, USStored on AWS in Northern Virginia, encrypted with AES-256.7
Meeting audio	Not saved by defaultKimiko transcribes, then discards the audio, unless you choose to keep it for 7 or 30 days.22	Your choiceYou decide whether audio and video are kept; playback is on Enterprise plans.7
AI training on your content	NoYour meetings don’t reach Kimiko’s servers. A cloud provider you choose applies its own terms.21	Only if you opt inMeeting content trains Read’s models only with your opt-in.8
Choose your AI models	YesPick local models, connect Ollama or LM Studio, or use OpenAI, Anthropic or OpenRouter with your own account.23	Ask Read, paid plansPaid plans can switch Ask Read to GPT or Claude. No own-key option is described.4
Notes and AI
Write your own notes during the call	YesWrite in a full notes editor beside the live transcript. Your notes help shape the summary.15	YesType notes during a meeting in the live dashboard or the desktop app.10
Ask questions across meetings	YesAsk about one meeting, a project or your whole library, then follow the source links back.24	Yes, and emailAsk Read searches meetings, email, chat, documents and CRM data.4
Action items	YesKimiko suggests next steps. You keep or dismiss each one, and it stays linked to its meeting.25	YesReports include action items you can send to Asana, Jira or Linear.2
Speaker labels	YesLive labels for up to eight remote voices; your microphone is “You”. Remembering voices is experimental.26	With the botBot recordings name speakers. Desktop and phone recordings don’t attribute speakers.9
Voice dictation in other apps	IncludedTurn it on and dictate into most apps’ text fields with your shortcut, using local or cloud speech.27	Not documentedRead’s product pages don’t describe dictation into other apps.2
Export formats	PDF, Word and MarkdownExport the summary, your notes or the transcript.28	Downloads and doc toolsDownload report sections, or send reports to Notion, Confluence, Google Docs or OneNote.11
Connect AI assistants (MCP)	Yes, localDesktop AI apps can read your notes, meetings and tasks through local MCP, off until you turn it on.29	Yes, hosted (beta)A remote MCP server, in open beta, on every plan including Free.12
Teams and plans
Integrations	Calendars and MCPOptional Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook connections. No CRM, Slack or Notion sync.30	CRMs, Notion, JiraNotion, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira and Zapier from Pro; Slack and Teams are listed too.1
Shared workspaces and admin	NoBuilt for individuals. One license works on up to 3 of your computers; ask us about team licensing.31	YesWorkspaces on paid plans; SSO and SCIM on Enterprise+.1
Security certifications	None yetKimiko doesn’t host your meetings: they stay in the encrypted database on your computer.21	SOC 2 Type 2SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR; HIPAA with a BAA on Enterprise+.7
Free option	Free trialTry the full app free. No credit card needed.32	Free plan5 meetings a month, up to an hour each, with unlimited Ask Read search.1
Paid plans from	$12 a month, or $107.88 a yearThe full app, tax included.33	US$15 per user a monthPro, billed annually ($19.75 billed monthly).1

Where they differ

A bot in the call, or your computer’s audio

Once you connect your calendar, Read’s assistant joins meetings according to your settings, either all of them or only the ones you host. Its desktop and phone apps can record without a bot, but those recordings don’t attribute speakers.

Kimiko records your microphone and your computer’s audio from the desktop app. It labels up to eight remote voices live, and your own microphone is labeled “You”.

Where meetings are processed and kept

Read processes meetings in its cloud and stores them on AWS in the United States. Meeting content trains its models only if you opt in, and you choose whether audio and video are kept.

Kimiko runs local speech and AI models and keeps your library in an encrypted database on your computer. Meeting audio isn’t saved unless you choose to keep it, and cloud providers are optional.

Beyond meetings

Read reaches past the call. Readouts summarize Gmail, Outlook, Slack and Teams messages, Ask Read searches meetings alongside email and documents, and bot-recorded meetings get sentiment, engagement and Read Score metrics with coaching.

Kimiko stays with your notes and meetings: a full notes editor, projects, tasks you keep or dismiss, questions across your library, and dictation into other apps.

Pricing

Kimiko

$12 a month, or $107.88 a year

The full app on up to 3 of your computers, tax included. Free to try, no credit card needed.

See Kimiko’s plans

Read AI

Free: Free5 meetings a month, up to 1 hour each.
Pro: $15 per user a monthBilled annually, or $19.75 monthly. Meetings up to 4 hours.
Enterprise: $22.50 per user a monthBilled annually, or $29.75 monthly. Recording playback.
Enterprise+: $29.75 per user a monthBilled annually, or $39.75 monthly. 5+ licenses, SSO and HIPAA.

As listed by Read AI, Inc. on 17 October 2026, in US dollars.1

Questions

Does Read AI join my meetings as a bot?

Once you connect your calendar, Read’s assistant joins meetings according to your settings, and you can turn that off. Its desktop and phone apps can record without a bot. Kimiko only records from your computer.

Does Read AI use my meetings to train AI?

Read says meeting content trains its models only if you opt in. Its help center also describes a separate Customer Experience Improvement Program, used to evaluate product performance, that is opt-out by default. Your Kimiko meetings stay on your computer.

Does Kimiko score engagement like Read AI?

No. Kimiko’s Insights show your own meeting time and talk/listen balance, but it doesn’t score engagement or sentiment. If coaching metrics matter to you, Read offers them.

Does Read AI work offline?

Read’s pages don’t say it works without internet, and its processing runs in the cloud. Kimiko’s local models transcribe and summarize without internet once they’re downloaded.

Is there a free version of Read AI?

Yes. Read’s Free plan covers 5 meetings a month of up to an hour each. Kimiko has a free trial of the full app, with no credit card needed.

Try Kimiko with your next meeting

Record a short call you have permission to record, then read the summary and the tasks Kimiko suggests. Free to try. No credit card needed.

Download for Mac

Apple silicon · macOS 14.4 or later

Download for Windows

64-bit Windows 11 PCs

Running locally? 16 GB of RAM is a practical starting point. See the system requirements

Sources

We read Read AI’s pages on 17 October 2026. Plans and features change, so check them before you decide. Kimiko is an independent product and is not affiliated with Read AI, Inc. Product names belong to their owners. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.