Private AI Note Taker vs Idea Think
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Private AI Note Taker
This app provides on-device AI-powered transcription and summarization for meetings, ensuring your conversations remain private. It records audio from in-person meetings or computer calls, generates transcripts in over 60 languages, and offers features like action item extraction. Specialized versions are available for legal professionals.
- On-device AI transcription and summarization
- Records in-person and computer-based meetings
- Transcripts in 60+ languages
- Identifies speakers and action items
- Full-text search of recordings
- Export transcripts and notes
- Legal-specific features for attorneys
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Basil is a private AI note taker for meetings. Recording, transcription and summaries run on your device. Basil has no server, and Basil never receives your meetings. WHY ON-DEVICE MATTERS Most AI note takers send your audio to a cloud service to be transcribed and summarized. Basil doesn't. Transcription runs on the Neural Engine. Summaries are generated on your device by Apple Intelligence, on devices that support it. There is no Basil account to create. RECORD ANY MEETING • In Person — capture the room with your microphone. • Computer (Mac) — capture both sides of a Zoom, Teams or Meet call without putting a bot in the meeting. Nothing joins your call. • Import existing audio or video files. Basil extracts the audio on your device. TRANSCRIPTS AND SUMMARIES • A fast live transcript while you record, then a more accurate final pass right after the session. • Transcripts show who spoke. Name a speaker once and Basil recognizes them next time. • Summaries, action items, decisions and follow-ups, generated on your device. • Transcription in 60+ languages. • Full-text search across everything you have recorded. • Export your transcripts and notes. BASIL FOR LAW A legal edition for attorneys and firms: • Privilege attestation — an on-device provenance record of how a recording was captured and processed. • Consent log — a timestamped attestation, built to the strictest all-party-consent standard. • Matters and clients — organize by matter rather than by date. • Privileged & Confidential labeling on recordings, transcripts and exports. These are record-keeping tools for legal professionals. They are not legal services or legal advice, and no software can guarantee a privilege outcome. Basil's contribution is architectural: Basil never receives your client conversations, and AI processing runs on your device. ACROSS YOUR DEVICES A universal app for iPhone, iPad and Mac. iCloud Sync is on by default. It keeps your library in your own iCloud account so your other devices can use it. Apple stores it; Basil does not receive it. Basil shows what sync sends before anything moves. Turn it off any time in Settings › iCloud. YOUR CHOICES • Live transcription runs on your device by default. If you turn that setting off, some languages use Apple's speech service for the live preview, and for the final transcript when no on-device engine can make it. • No analytics and no ad SDKs in the app. EXPORT Share a transcript and its notes as text to Notes, Files, Mail and other apps. Pro adds JSON and CSV export. SUBSCRIPTIONS Basil Pro unlocks unlimited recording. Basil for Law adds the legal feature set above. Free trials are available on both. Current pricing and trial length are shown on the subscription screen in the app. Privacy Policy: https://basilai.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://basilai.app/terms
Idea Think
Capture, organize, and visualize your thoughts with a mind mapping tool. Branch ideas naturally, search your entire library, and export your thinking as PDFs. Keep your ideas private and offline.
- Capture ideas in one tap
- Unlimited branching
- Interactive Tree Map view
- Search by text or tag
- Export as PDF
- Private and offline storage
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Capture ideas fast, branch them naturally, and organise everything offline. Idea Think turns scattered thoughts into a clear mind map you can search, tag, pin, visualise, and export whenever inspiration strikes. Whether you are planning a project, collecting insights, outlining content, or saving a passing idea before it disappears, Idea Think gives every thought a place to grow. CORE FEATURES - Capture ideas in one tap - Grow unlimited branches from any idea - View your structure in an interactive Tree Map - Search by text or tag across your whole library - Pin and tag important ideas for quick access - Export any idea tree as a clean PDF - Use daily reminders to build a thinking habit - Keep everything private and fully offline FAST CAPTURE Type a thought and hit send. No folders, no setup, no friction. New ideas land in your Inbox first, so you can capture now and organise later. NATURAL BRANCHING Tap any idea to drill deeper and add child branches. Start from one seed and grow it into a full mind tree as your thinking expands. VISUAL THINKING Use Tree Map view to see your idea structure at a glance. Pinch, zoom, and pan through your thinking visually. Long-press any node to edit, move, or delete. SEARCH AND ORGANISE Find any idea quickly with text or tag search. Filter by Top Level, Seedbed, Recent, Most Branched, or Deep Ideas. Pin the ideas you want to keep in focus. EXPORT AND SHARE Turn any idea tree into a beautifully formatted PDF. Share it with your team, send it to yourself, or archive your thinking for later. PRIVATE AND OFFLINE Everything stays on your device. No account. No cloud. No forced sync. Light and Dark Mode are both supported, with six accent colours to personalise your trees. FREE TO USE Idea Think is free to download and use. The app is supported by ads, which help us keep it updated and improving. Available in English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Idea Think at free against Private AI Note Taker's freemium. Idea Think also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Private AI Note Taker sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Idea Think sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Private AI Note Taker ships an update every 5 days, Idea Think every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Private AI Note Taker | Idea Think |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (44 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 94.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 44 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 6 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | TONSOR LLC | Man Chi CHoi |
Customer experience
Private AI Note Taker
Idea Think
In-app purchases
Private AI Note Taker
- Basil AI Pro Monthly3 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Basil for Law Monthly3 Days trial$19.991 Month
- Basil AI Pro Yearly (Save 17%)7 Days trial$99.991 Year
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- Basil for Law Yearly7 Days trial$199.991 Year
- Basil AI Pro Lifetime$199.00
Idea Think
- IdeaThinkPro$1.99
Questions
Is Private AI Note Taker free?
Is Idea Think free?
Do Private AI Note Taker or Idea Think have ads?
Which is updated more often, Private AI Note Taker or Idea Think?
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