XSpeak: Fully Private On-device Hedy Alternative

This article is based on my personal experience with both tools. The scenario was the same for each, with the same audio setup: onboarding, recording a session and asking help from AI. It is not a benchmark and not objective.

Before I started building XSpeak, I was looking for an AI that could help me during meetings in real time. The first tool I found was Hedy. It was a young product and it looked promising. In this article I'll explain why Hedy didn't work for me, and compare it with XSpeak, the fully on-device Hedy alternative I ended up building. For both tools I do the same thing: set them up and record a short fictional performance review with a friend, where I play the employee and they play my manager. Here's the script:

Manager: Hey, thanks for taking the time. I wanted to catch up on your performance review. Overall, I think you've had a really strong quarter.
Employee: Thanks, I appreciate that. Yeah, I feel like the project went well.
Manager: Absolutely. The client feedback was great, delivery was on time. You really stepped up. I've noted all of that in the review.
Employee: Good to hear. So, I actually wanted to bring up compensation. I think it might be a good time to discuss it.
Manager: I hear you. And honestly, your work has been solid. The challenge is that we've had a company-wide freeze on salary adjustments this cycle. It's not about your performance. It's a budget constraint across the board.
Employee: Oh. Okay...
Manager: I know it's not what you were hoping to hear. But it's the same situation for everyone on the team. What I can offer is revisiting this in six months. And in the meantime, we could look at other things. Maybe a conference budget, or a project you've been wanting to lead.

Then I'll ask each tool to help me with the raise. After that I compare features, privacy, free plans and pricing.

First setup comparison

Hedy

Hedy is available from their own website. I download the macOS version and move it to Applications. The app takes 623 MB on disk. On first launch I get a notification that Hedy added itself as a Login Item. Not sure I want that. Then I see a welcome screen and press Let's Get Started.

The app walks me through a long series of questions: my language, my name, the language I use in meetings, what brings me to Hedy (I pick Professional Meetings), how the app can help me best (I pick "Too many meetings, need to focus on participation"), and where to store my data (I pick EU). Next screen asks me to log in, and there's no way to continue without an account. I log in with Google. I'm already a bit uncomfortable, since the app now has access to some of my Google account data, even if it's minimal. Then it asks if I want to sync my data. I say no.

After that the app wants to ask me questions about my work. I can skip, but I answer them to make the AI suggestions as good as possible. The questions:

• How do colleagues refer to you in meetings?
• What do you do?
• Where do you work?
• What kind of meetings should I be ready for?
• What should I focus on most?
• Any names, terms or preferences I should remember?

Once I'm done, the app tells me my personal context is ready and that I can edit it later in Settings. Then Hedy offers a video tutorial. I skip it. I've already spent around 20 minutes on onboarding and I'm tired. Finally, I see the main screen.

XSpeak

I install XSpeak from the App Store. It takes 112 MB on disk. The first screen explains how the app handles privacy: nothing is shared, everything is processed on my device. I continue. The next screen is Voice Profile Setup, which explains the profile helps the app recognize me. I can do it later, but I set it up now. The app asks for microphone access, then records me reading 5 short phrases. That's it, the app is ready. It took around 2 minutes.

Recording

Hedy

I press Start Session in Hedy. A dialog opens where I pick the meeting type, language and type of assistance: "Negotiations", "English", "Professional Boundary Assistance". I press Start Session again. After a few seconds of loading, Hedy asks for mic and system audio permissions and starts recording. The session view has several tabs. I switch to Transcript so I can see what it picks up and how it labels my voice. When I stop the recording, here's the transcript:

I wanted to catch up.

I hear you and honestly you work hard solved the challenge is that we've had a company wide freeze on salary adjustment this cycle.

It's not about your performance, it's budget constraints across the board.

I know it's not what you were hoping to hear but it's the same situation for everyone on the team.

What we can offer is rebuilding this in six months and in the meantime we could look other things.

Maybe a contract budget or a project you've been wanting to lead.

Speakers are not separated and some of the content is missing. I'm not sure why. I looked for a way to assign speakers manually but couldn't find one. It's possible I missed something, but I didn't find a solution. Hedy did name the conversation on its own: "Salary Adjustments Discussion with Dima".

XSpeak

I start recording in XSpeak. It shows a disclaimer reminding me to get consent from other participants. I press Agree and Start and recording begins. A "Listening" indicator appears at the top of the transcript window. The glow moves from the center to the top and speeds up, so it's clear what's happening. The transcript appears almost instantly and follows the speech word by word. There are a few very minor mistakes, but they're small enough that the transcript is essentially perfect. It recognizes me right away, and it even named the conversation "Performance review and raise" on its own. Here's the full transcript:

Other: Hey, thanks for taking the time.
Other: I wanted to catch up on your performance review.
Other: Or I think you've had a really strong quarter.
You: Thanks, I appreciate that.
You: Yeah, I feel like project went well.
Other: Absolutely.
Other: The client feedback was great.
Other: Delivery was on time.
Other: You really step up.
Other: I noticed all of that in the review.
Other: Good to hear.
You: So I actually wanted to bring up compensation.
You: I think it might be a good time to discuss it.
Other: I hear you, and honestly, your work has been solved.
Other: The challenge is that we've had a company wide freeze on salary adjustment this cycle.
Other: It's not about your performance, it's budget constraints across the board.
You: Um, okay.
Other: I know it's not what you were hoping to hear, but it's the same situation for everyone on the team.
Other: What I can offer is through building this in 6 months, and in the meantime, we could look at other things.
Other: Maybe a conference budget or a project you've been wanting to lead.

Overall, transcription speed and quality are excellent.

AI analysis

Hedy

During the recording, Hedy already shows a real-time suggestion:

I like this suggestion. It's smart and on-point. I also want to see what else it can offer, so I type a simple "Help me" in the Chat window. Here's the response:

The suggestion is smart. Based on the conversation I think there's still a chance to negotiate a raise in this same meeting, since my performance was acknowledged. But those strategies are riskier, and I wouldn't expect an AI tool to suggest them. Overall, Hedy's help here is excellent. I like it.

XSpeak

XSpeak shows real-time insights in the bottom pane. Here's what I get during the recording:

I can tell it understands the situation. Now I ask for help directly with a "Help me" message. Here's the response:

I like the analysis. It's very useful for my situation. It doesn't suggest anything risky to solve the problem right now, but it describes in detail what I should do to maximize my chances for a raise in six months. That's an excellent result in my opinion, and it's impressive that it runs on a local model, fully on-device.

Features

Hedy has more features and flexibility. XSpeak is simpler, more focused and fully local. I couldn't find speaker identification in Hedy, but it still chose to help me instead of my manager somehow. I guess it made a guess about whom to help.

Features reflect what I found in each app at the test date. Verify current features on Hedy's website and XSpeak's website before making a decision.

Privacy

This is where the tools are different. Both transcribe locally. But Hedy runs AI in the cloud, while XSpeak runs it on-device. Hedy also requires an account.

Free plan

The free plans are very different. Hedy gives you 300 minutes of transcription per month, XSpeak doesn't limit transcription minutes. On the other hand, Hedy gives you 30 minutes per session of live AI suggestions, while XSpeak has no AI analysis on the free plan at all. I couldn't find a stated limit on AI queries in Hedy.

Free plan limits are as of the test date. Verify current limits on Hedy's website and XSpeak's website before making a decision.

Pricing

Both tools have free, monthly, yearly and lifetime plans. XSpeak is cheaper.

Prices are as of the test date. Verify current pricing on Hedy's pricing page and XSpeak's pricing before making a decision.

Platforms

Both tools work on major Apple platforms, but Hedy also supports Android and Windows.

Platform support is as of the test date. Verify current platforms on Hedy's website and XSpeak's website before making a decision.

Final thoughts

Both tools are brilliant. Both look polished and are enjoyable to use. Hedy has more built-in features and feels more established. XSpeak has faster and more accurate live transcription, speaker identification, and stays fully on-device. I'm really impressed by Hedy's personalization. It feels like a lot of work went into making the suggestions as accurate as possible.

I believe Hedy is the right tool for you if you're looking for a meeting coach with great flexibility and personalization, and you're fine with your conversations processed by cloud AI. And I believe XSpeak makes total sense if you want a fully private and local meeting coach with accurate notes and AI help that runs entirely on your device.

Looking for more comparisons? See my XSpeak vs Otter write-up.

XSpeak is not affiliated with Hedy AI.