Callbox vs Tactiq

Yes. Callbox is a Chrome extension like Tactiq, and neither one sends a bot into your call. The difference is what each one keeps. Callbox records the audio your tab plays, plus your microphone, and saves the audio file with a Google Doc transcript in your own Google Drive.^[1]

Tactiq keeps text. Its home page says "Tactiq does not record or store the audio from your meetings", and its install guide says the extension "uses the meeting platform's captions to create the transcript". You get a live transcript, then AI summaries and action items.^[1][3]

The audio is what lets you check a transcript later. In Callbox you can play back the moment someone gave a number, or download the file and open it in any player. Tactiq has no audio to go back to, and the spoken language has to be right from the start, because Tactiq "cannot retroactively change the transcription language of a completed live transcript".^[18]

In the browser on Zoom and Microsoft Teams, yes. Tactiq's Zoom guide says to "enable Zoom's Automated captions setting", which is "off by default on many accounts", and a guest whose host has captions off can only "Request Captions". On Teams, Tactiq needs live captions on and a "Meeting spoken language" that matches the call.^[4][17]

Callbox needs no captions, because it records the audio the tab plays. It works the same on Google Meet, Zoom and Teams in Chrome, whatever the host's caption settings, and on any other site that runs a call in a Chrome tab. Tactiq's extension names three platforms: Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams.^[3]

With Tactiq, the platform also sets which languages you get. Its help center says it supports "more than 30 languages", with a different list for each platform. Callbox's own engine covers 25 European languages, and your own key on a Whisper large-v3 service such as OpenAI or Groq covers 99.^[11]

On desktop apps, Tactiq is ahead. Callbox records only calls in a Chrome tab, so it misses a call you take in the Zoom or Teams desktop app. Tactiq's extension doesn't support the Teams desktop app either, but its Mac app transcribes "Zoom Desktop meetings, Slack huddles, and Microsoft Teams calls held in the Teams desktop app" from the Mac's system audio. There is no Windows version yet.^[17][5]

In Tactiq's cloud, as text. After a Google Meet call, Tactiq saves the transcript "to My Meetings in the Tactiq web app", and its privacy policy says your data is "stored in Google Cloud". Its pricing page lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and HIPAA on every plan.^[18][9][12]

Tactiq can also copy each transcript to Google Drive, on every plan, as a Google Doc in one "Tactiq Transcription" folder. The copies are transcripts only. To take your history out, you export each transcript as a PDF or TXT file, because "transcripts must be exported individually".^[10][12][19]

Callbox keeps the files in your own Drive. Each recording is an audio file and a Google Doc transcript in the folder of its project, and in Meet and Teams the transcript names each speaker. Callbox asks for Google's drive.file permission, so it sees only the files it creates, and if you cancel or delete your account, the files stay in your Drive.

If the network drops or the browser closes mid-call, Callbox keeps the recorded audio on your computer and uploads it when it can. Tactiq keeps a transcript that isn't saved yet in the browser where the meeting happened, and for one that went missing, its help center says "it's not possible to retrieve transcripts from past meetings".^[4][20]

Tactiq writes the summaries for you, and Callbox does not. Every Tactiq plan has AI summaries, action items, "Ask Tactiq AI" and a Daily Digest. The AI runs on credits: 5 a month on Free, 10 on Pro and unlimited on Team and up. Credits don't roll over, and Pro users can't buy more.^[12][13]

Callbox leaves the writing to your own AI agent. Its MCP server gives Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Cursor or any other MCP client every tool in the app, so your agent can search, read transcripts, move and rename calls, and save notes. It writes the summary with the model you choose, on the Free plan too.

Tactiq has an MCP server too, with OAuth sign-in and "no static API keys". Its help center says Free and Pro can only "Search and list your meetings" and Team and up can read summaries and full transcripts, though its pricing page lists MCP under Business. Every tool it documents reads data and none writes, and questions asked through Claude or ChatGPT use AI credits.^[14][12][13]

For other tools, Tactiq shares to Slack, Notion, Linear and HubSpot, and Zapier lists one Tactiq trigger, "Meeting Transcript Is Ready". Callbox has API keys and webhooks for events such as a recording that finished or was transcribed, on paid plans.^[1][15]

No, Tactiq has no in-person mode. Its Companion mode, for a second screen in a meeting room, still needs a Google Meet call, and its download page lists no iPhone or Android app. You can record the meeting another way and upload the file, which uses one meeting credit.^[6][7][8]

Callbox records meetings in the room from the browser. Open the Record page in any browser on a phone or computer, and it records with that device's microphone, with no app to install. In Chrome, the extension's "Record in person" does the same.

Tactiq Free gives you 10 meeting credits and 5 AI credits a month. Meetings shorter than five minutes don't use a credit, each uploaded file uses one, and archiving an eligible saved transcript gives a credit back for a future meeting. When you run out, "the transcript is limited to preview access", and next month's credits don't unlock it, only an upgrade does.^[21][13][8]

Callbox Free records as many calls as you want to your Drive and transcribes 5 hours a month, subject to availability. With your own speech-to-text key there is no hour limit, and the MCP server is included.

Which one covers more depends on how long your meetings run. Tactiq counts meetings and Callbox counts hours, so ten one-hour calls fit in Tactiq Free, while Callbox Free transcribes five of those hours and keeps the audio of all ten. With Tactiq's ten starting credits, ten 30-minute calls use the same five hours Callbox Free includes, and calls between 5 and 30 minutes fit more meetings into Callbox Free. Tactiq charges no credit for calls under five minutes, and archiving gives credits back.^[21]

Both free plans are open to anyone and need no card. Tactiq's pricing page says "Free forever. No credit card."^[12]