Granola
Great notes with no bot in the call, on desktop and phone.
Free · $14/mo
Best meeting notes
Short answer: Granola. Granola gives the best notes without a bot in your call; Fathom is the best free choice. If the meeting is confidential, use Meetily, because every other tool here keeps your recordings or transcripts in its cloud.
Which AI takes the best notes in my meetings?
Fathom
Unlimited free recordings and transcripts for Zoom, Meet and Teams.
Free · $20/mo
Meetily
Transcribes and summarizes on your own computer, nothing goes to the cloud.
FreeSome setupOpen
Zoom AI Companion
Already included with paid Zoom, no extra subscription.
Free · $16.99/mo
In June 2026 Google opened Meet's Take notes for me to personal AI Pro subscribers.
All 11 side by side.
Price, whether it runs on your own computer, and the main catch.
| # | Tool | Best for | Price | On your PC | Main downside |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | GranolaGranolaBest overall | People in back-to-back video calls | Free · $14/mo/mo paid | No | No bot means others may not know they are transcribed |
| 02 | FathomFathom | Free notes for frequent video calls | Free · $20/mo/mo paid | No | By default a bot joins the call and everyone sees it |
| 03 | Gemini in Google MeetGoogle | People who meet on Google Meet | $19.99/moper month | No | Not on free Google accounts |
| 04 | Zoom AI CompanionZoom | People who already meet on Zoom | Free · $16.99/mo/mo paid | No | Only works for Zoom meetings |
| 05 | OtterOtter.ai | Live transcripts of meetings and lectures | Free · $16.99/mo/mo paid | No | Its bot joins calls; facing a 2026 privacy class action |
| 06 | FirefliesFireflies.ai | Team calls in 100+ languages | Free · $18/mo/mo paid | No | Its bot "Fred" joins your calls visibly |
| 07 | Notion AI Meeting NotesNotion | Teams that already live in Notion | Free | No | Full use needs the pricier Business plan |
| 08 | Microsoft Teams CopilotMicrosoft | Companies already on Microsoft 365 | Paid | No | AI recap needs a Copilot or Teams Premium license |
| 09 | Read AIRead AI | Busy professionals across many tools | Free · $19.75/mo/mo paid | No | Its assistant is visible in the meeting and recorded in the cloud |
| 10 | tl;dvtl;dv | Recording and clipping team calls | Free | No | A bot joins and records the call |
| 11 | MeetilyZackriya Solutions | Confidential meetings, privacy first | Free | Some setup | Rougher than Granola or Fathom; Linux needs a source build |
Nothing matches. Try another filter.
Best first, with the catch.
-
- Price
- Free plan, then $14/moFree Basic plan with 30 days of meeting history.
- On your PC
- No, online only
- No bot joins, it listens through your computer
- Mixes your own jotted notes with the AI summary
- No bot means others may not know they are transcribed
- Transcripts are stored in Granola's cloud, not on your device
-
Fathom
Fathom
Free unlimited call recording and AI summaries for Zoom, Meet, Teams.
Best freeFree plan- Price
- Free plan, then $20/moUnlimited recordings and transcripts; AI action items limited.
- On your PC
- No, online only
- Free plan has no recording or transcript limit
- Works on Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams
- By default a bot joins the call and everyone sees it
- Video recordings are stored in Fathom's cloud
-
Gemini in Google Meet
Google · Take notes for me
Take notes for me: Gemini writes Meet notes into a Google Doc.
- Price
- From $19.99/mo
- On your PC
- No, online only
- Notes land in Google Docs, summary emailed after
- Everyone on the call is told notes are on
- Not on free Google accounts
- Only 8 languages, and only Google Meet calls
-
- Price
- Free plan, then $16.99/moFree Zoom plan gets summaries for 3 hosted meetings a month.
- On your PC
- No, online only
- Already inside Zoom, nothing extra to install
- Paid Zoom plans include it at no extra cost
- Only works for Zoom meetings
- Summaries and recordings live in Zoom's cloud
-
- Price
- Free plan, then $16.99/mo300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation.
- On your PC
- No, online only
- Live transcript you can read during the meeting
- Phone app records in-person meetings and lectures
- Its bot joins calls; facing a 2026 privacy class action
- Recordings and transcripts stored in Otter's cloud
-
Fireflies
Fireflies.ai
Meeting bot that transcribes, summarizes and searches all your calls.
Free plan- Price
- Free plan, then $18/moUnlimited transcription, limited summaries, 400 minutes of storage per team.
- On your PC
- No, online only
- Transcribes in more than 100 languages
- Search and ask questions across all past meetings
- Its bot "Fred" joins your calls visibly
- Everything is recorded and stored in Fireflies' cloud
-
- Price
- FreeLimited trial on Free and Plus plans.
- On your PC
- No, online only
- No bot joins the call
- Notes go next to your docs and tasks
- Full use needs the pricier Business plan
- Transcripts stored in Notion's cloud
-
- Price
- Paid
- On your PC
- No, online only
- Built into Teams, no bot from another company
- AI notes, tasks and speaker timeline after meetings
- AI recap needs a Copilot or Teams Premium license
- Expensive add-on on top of Microsoft 365
-
- Price
- Free plan, then $19.75/mo5 meetings a month, up to 1 hour each.
- On your PC
- No, online only
- Answers questions using meetings, email and messages
- Phone apps capture in-person meetings
- Its assistant is visible in the meeting and recorded in the cloud
- Free plan is only 5 meetings a month
-
- Price
- FreeFree plan available; limits not shown on the pricing page.
- On your PC
- No, online only
- Clips and timestamps key moments of calls
- Works with Zoom, Google Meet and Teams
- A bot joins and records the call
- Recordings stored in the cloud
-
Meetily
Zackriya Solutions · 0.4.1
Private meeting notes that never leave your computer.
Best on your computerFreeOpenRuns on your PC- Price
- Free, open sourceCommunity Edition is free and open source.
- On your PC
- Some setupApple Silicon Mac or Windows PC with 8 GB RAM
- Transcribes locally with Whisper or Parakeet, no bot
- Summaries can run locally with Ollama
- Rougher than Granola or Fathom; Linux needs a source build
- Speaker labels and exports only in paid Pro
1 of these run on your own computer.
Private and offline. Check what your machine can handle.
| Tool | Setup | You need |
|---|---|---|
| Meetily | Some setup | Apple Silicon Mac or Windows PC with 8 GB RAM |
Quick answers.
What is the best free AI note taker?
Fathom. Its free plan records and transcribes unlimited Zoom, Meet and Teams calls. Otter gives 300 free minutes a month but cuts each conversation at 30 minutes.
Is there an AI note taker without a bot?
Yes. Granola, Notion AI Meeting Notes and Meetily listen through your computer's audio, so no bot joins. Fathom also has a bot-free mode. Tell the other people you are transcribing.
Are AI meeting notes private?
Mostly not. Otter, Fireflies, Fathom, Read AI and tl;dv store recordings or transcripts in their cloud, and Otter faces a 2026 class action over recording without consent. For real privacy, run Meetily locally.
Otter vs Fireflies vs Fathom?
Fathom has the best free plan. Otter is best for live transcripts and in-person recordings. Fireflies is best for searching many team calls in 100+ languages. All three use a bot.
Can I take meeting notes offline?
Yes, with Meetily. It transcribes with Whisper or Parakeet on your computer and can summarize with a local model through Ollama, on Windows or an Apple Silicon Mac.
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