RESEARCH-BASED BUYING GUIDE
Best AI note taker for the meetings you actually hold
Compare Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai, Fathom, MeetGeek and tl;dv by free-plan limits, how meetings are captured, and how pricing scales with your team.
This is a research-based shortlist from current provider documentation, not a hands-on accuracy ranking. We have not measured transcription accuracy, speaker recognition or summary quality. No product paid for placement.
CHOOSE BY CONSTRAINT
Which AI note taker fits your meetings?
Narrow the documented options. This is a fit filter, not a quality score.
5 documented options. Read the limits before choosing a plan.
Fathom
Free recording of your own calls
Several AI features are marked as limited use on the free plan, and bot-free recording is a Mac beta.
Read the evidence →Otter.ai
Auto-joined meetings with mobile access
The free plan has a monthly minute pool, a 30-minute limit per conversation and only three lifetime file imports.
Read the evidence →Fireflies.ai
Many platforms, with or without a bot
Paid plans are charged per seat, and English is the primary language while many others are documented as beta.
Read the evidence →MeetGeek
Many languages and follow-up workflows
The free plan is capped at three hours of transcription a month with short storage, and the pricing page shows two different sets of per-user prices.
Read the evidence →tl;dv
Per-seat team plans priced in euros
The free plan’s meeting and minute limits were not shown in our reading of the pricing page.
Read the evidence →AI note takers compared: free limits, capture and billing
Every cell links to its evidence. A documented capability is not a measured quality result. Scroll horizontally to see every criterion.
| Builder | What is actually free? | How meetings are captured | How pricing scales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fathom | Free forever with unlimited recordings and transcriptions; some AI features, such as action items, are marked limited use. | Records with a meeting bot or bot-free (a Mac beta); clips, playlists and search across calls. | Premium is priced per user; Team and Business per user with a two-user minimum; lower prices on annual billing. |
| Otter.ai | 300 monthly transcription minutes, up to 30 minutes per conversation and 3 lifetime audio or video imports. | Auto-joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet; live transcription; iOS and Android apps. | Pro, Business and Enterprise are priced per user, with lower annual prices. |
| Fireflies.ai | A Free plan is named, but its allowance did not appear in our reading of the pricing page. Confirm it there. Unresolved detail | Meeting bot on Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and other platforms, or Chrome-extension recording without a bot; file uploads. | Paid plans are billed per seat; volume discounts above 50 members through sales. |
| MeetGeek | 3 hours of transcription per month, a 2-hour meeting limit and 3 months of transcript storage. | Bot and bot-free recording for Zoom, Google Meet and Teams; transcription in 100+ languages. | Pro and Business plans with a monthly or yearly toggle; the page shows conflicting per-user figures, so confirm the price at checkout. Unresolved detail |
| tl;dv | A free single-seat plan is documented; its meeting and minute limits were not shown in our reading. Unresolved detail | Meeting recording, transcription, AI notes and insights across meetings. | Pro and Business are priced per seat in euros, lower with annual billing. |
Best free AI note taker: read the limits, not the label
Every option here has a free entry, but the limits differ in kind. Fathom documents unlimited recordings and transcriptions with some AI features limited. Otter.ai documents a monthly minute pool and a short per-conversation cap. MeetGeek documents three hours of transcription a month. Fireflies.ai and tl;dv name a free plan whose limits did not appear in our reading of their pricing pages.
Minutes versus meetings
A monthly minute pool, a per-meeting length cap and a storage window limit different habits. Compare them with a normal week of meetings.
Bot or no bot
Some tools join as a visible participant; others record from the browser or desktop. Participants and company policy may prefer one or the other.
Consent
Recording rules vary by country and organization. Tell participants and follow your local requirements before recording.
Free recording of your own calls
Fathom
Why consider it?
The free plan documents unlimited recordings and transcriptions with instant summaries, clips and search, which makes it a low-risk starting point.
Where the fit changes
Several AI features are marked as limited use on the free plan, and bot-free recording is a Mac beta.
What is actually free?
Free forever with unlimited recordings and transcriptions; some AI features, such as action items, are marked limited use.
How meetings are captured
Records with a meeting bot or bot-free (a Mac beta); clips, playlists and search across calls.
How pricing scales
Premium is priced per user; Team and Business per user with a two-user minimum; lower prices on annual billing.
Auto-joined meetings with mobile access
Otter.ai
Why consider it?
Otter documents auto-join for Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, live transcription with speaker identification, AI chat across meetings and mobile apps.
Where the fit changes
The free plan has a monthly minute pool, a 30-minute limit per conversation and only three lifetime file imports.
What is actually free?
300 monthly transcription minutes, up to 30 minutes per conversation and 3 lifetime audio or video imports.
How meetings are captured
Auto-joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet; live transcription; iOS and Android apps.
How pricing scales
Pro, Business and Enterprise are priced per user, with lower annual prices.
Many platforms, with or without a bot
Fireflies.ai
Why consider it?
Fireflies documents recording on Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and other platforms, plus a Chrome extension that records without a meeting bot.
Where the fit changes
Paid plans are charged per seat, and English is the primary language while many others are documented as beta.
What is actually free?
A Free plan is named, but its allowance did not appear in our reading of the pricing page. Confirm it there.
Unresolved detail
How meetings are captured
Meeting bot on Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and other platforms, or Chrome-extension recording without a bot; file uploads.
How pricing scales
Paid plans are billed per seat; volume discounts above 50 members through sales.
Many languages and follow-up workflows
MeetGeek
Why consider it?
MeetGeek documents transcription in more than 100 languages, bot and bot-free recording, AI summaries and, on paid plans, agents and automation integrations.
Where the fit changes
The free plan is capped at three hours of transcription a month with short storage, and the pricing page shows two different sets of per-user prices.
What is actually free?
3 hours of transcription per month, a 2-hour meeting limit and 3 months of transcript storage.
How meetings are captured
Bot and bot-free recording for Zoom, Google Meet and Teams; transcription in 100+ languages.
How pricing scales
Pro and Business plans with a monthly or yearly toggle; the page shows conflicting per-user figures, so confirm the price at checkout.
Unresolved detail
Per-seat team plans priced in euros
tl;dv
Why consider it?
tl;dv documents meeting recording, transcription, AI notes and insights, with per-seat Pro and Business plans.
Where the fit changes
The free plan’s meeting and minute limits were not shown in our reading of the pricing page.
What is actually free?
A free single-seat plan is documented; its meeting and minute limits were not shown in our reading.
Unresolved detail
How meetings are captured
Meeting recording, transcription, AI notes and insights across meetings.
How pricing scales
Pro and Business are priced per seat in euros, lower with annual billing.
How we selected these ai note takers
We selected five note takers that document meeting recording, transcription and AI summaries, each with a different reason to choose it. The table applies the same decision criteria to every option; it does not award a universal winner.
- What is actually free? A free label can mean a minute pool, a meeting cap, a storage window or limited AI.
- How meetings are captured A note taker only helps if it reliably records the meetings you hold.
- How pricing scales Per-user and per-seat billing multiply quickly across a team.
We read each provider’s official pricing page on 8 November 2026. Fireflies.ai’s plan table and tl;dv’s feature list did not render in our reading, and MeetGeek’s page shows two different sets of per-user prices; we flag these gaps instead of filling them. No accounts were created and no meetings were recorded for this study.
Our research and testing policy →What this shortlist leaves out
Built-in meeting platform notes
Zoom, Teams and Google Meet offer their own AI notes on some plans. They are not compared here because availability depends on your existing subscription.
Accuracy and summary-quality claims
No controlled recording test was run. Vendor accuracy figures are not interchangeable with independent measurements.
Questions before choosing an AI note taker
What is the best free AI note taker?
It depends on the limit that matters to you. Fathom documents unlimited recordings and transcriptions on its free plan, with some AI features limited. Otter.ai gives 300 minutes a month with a 30-minute cap per conversation. MeetGeek gives three hours a month. Check Fireflies.ai and tl;dv directly, as their free limits did not appear in our reading.
Can an AI note taker record without joining as a bot?
Fireflies.ai documents a Chrome extension that records without a bot, MeetGeek documents bot-free recording, and Fathom documents bot-free recording as a Mac beta. Otter.ai documents auto-join as a participant.
Do I need consent to record meetings?
Often yes. Rules differ by country and organization. Inform participants and follow your local requirements and company policy before recording.
Sources and evidence limits
Commercial observations are scheduled for review within 30 days; export/workflow help within 180 days. When evidence expires, this page flags it and stops qualifying for search publication. Source checks do not certify the provider’s claims or establish a hiring outcome.
- Fathom: plans and free limits ↗
Checked 2026-11-08 · Within review period
- Otter.ai: plans and limits ↗
Checked 2026-11-08 · Within review period
- Fireflies.ai: plans and capture options ↗
Checked 2026-11-08 · Within review period
- MeetGeek: plans and free limits ↗
Checked 2026-11-08 · Within review period
- tl;dv: plans ↗
Checked 2026-11-08 · Within review period