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📝 Productivity

Best AI tool for meeting notes and transcription

Accurate transcripts, useful summaries and action items, without babysitting a bot.

Last updated: 14 Nov 2026·4 tools compared·Not yet tested

Every notetaker can transcribe now. The differences are in the summary quality, whether a bot joins your call, how long your history is kept on the free plan, and what they do with your recordings.

Our pick: Granola. Granola is our early pick for individuals: no meeting bot, notes that build on what you typed, and a free plan. Fathom is the pick if you want unlimited free recordings and transcripts.

At a glance

#ToolFree tierStatus
1Granola Our pickBasic: free, AI meeting notes, templates, 30 days of meeting history.Not yet tested
2FathomFree: unlimited recordings, storage and transcription; advanced summaries limited.Not yet tested
3Otter.aiBasic: 300 minutes/month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 lifetime file imports.Not yet tested
4Fireflies.aiFree: unlimited transcription, 400 minutes of storage, 20 AI credits.Not yet tested

The tools

#1Granola

Our pickNot yet tested
Best for
People who take their own notes and want AI to fill in the rest, without a bot joining the call.
Skip it if
You need more than 30 days of meeting history for free.
Free tier
Basic: free, AI meeting notes, templates, 30 days of meeting history.
Price
Business $14/user/month (unlimited history, integrations, API).
Official site ↗
Pricing checked 14 Nov 2026 from: www.granola.ai/pricing, docs.granola.ai/help-center/managing-your-account/subscriptions-and-billing. Prices in USD and can change; check the official page before you buy.

#2Fathom

Not yet tested
Best for
Anyone who wants unlimited free recordings and transcripts with instant summaries.
Skip it if
You need AI action items and follow-up emails for free; those need Premium.
Free tier
Free: unlimited recordings, storage and transcription; advanced summaries limited.
Price
Premium $20/month ($16 billed annually); Team $19/user/month ($15 annually, 2 users min).
Official site ↗
Pricing checked 14 Nov 2026 from: www.fathom.ai/pricing. Prices in USD and can change; check the official page before you buy.

#3Otter.ai

Not yet tested
Best for
Live transcription of talks, classes and calls, including importing recordings.
Skip it if
Your meetings run longer than 30 minutes on the free plan.
Free tier
Basic: 300 minutes/month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 lifetime file imports.
Price
Pro $16.99/month or $8.33/month billed annually (1,200 minutes, 90-minute meetings).
Official site ↗
Pricing checked 14 Nov 2026 from: otter.ai/pricing. Prices in USD and can change; check the official page before you buy.

#4Fireflies.ai

Not yet tested
Best for
Teams that want searchable transcripts across Zoom, Meet and Teams plus integrations.
Skip it if
You need to keep lots of recordings on free; storage is capped at 400 minutes.
Free tier
Free: unlimited transcription, 400 minutes of storage, 20 AI credits.
Price
Pro $10/seat/month billed annually or $18 monthly.
Official site ↗
Pricing checked 14 Nov 2026 from: guide.fireflies.ai/articles/3734844560-learn-about-the-fireflies-pricing-plans. Prices in USD and can change; check the official page before you buy.

How we'll test this

Run the same three recorded meetings (a 1:1, a 6-person stand-up with crosstalk, and a 60-minute client call with accents) through each tool. Score transcript accuracy, summary usefulness, action-item recall, and what the free plan limits.

Every tool gets the same task, scored on result quality, speed, ease of use and price/free tier. Results and the test date will appear here, and the ranking can change once we have them. Full methodology

New releases we're watching for this job

  • Claude Meetings

    Adds Claude to your call so it can take notes and start work while you talk.

    Via Product Hunt · Meetings, Agents · Up against: Meeting notes and transcription
    Not yet tested

  • Yogurt

    Desktop app (Mac, Windows, Linux) that records calls without a meeting bot; transcripts and summaries run locally via whisper.cpp and llama.cpp. MIT licensed, no account required. Speaker names from Zoom, Teams and Meet, and calendar access, are Mac-only for now. Setup downloads 5–14 GB of local models.

    Via Hacker News (Show HN) · Meetings, Open source · Up against: Meeting notes and transcription

    14 Nov 2026: We read the public README and GitHub metadata (MIT, 1,250 stars). The makers' claims match the README: no bot joins the call, audio/transcripts/summaries stay on the device after a one-time model download, and no account is required. The README does not itself use the phrase 'Granola alternative' (that was the Show HN framing). We did not install or run Yogurt on our meeting-notes test recordings.

    README inspected

  • Scribe v3 by ElevenLabs

    Speech-to-text model; ElevenLabs claims 27% fewer errors across 90+ languages.

    Via Product Hunt · Transcription · Up against: Meeting notes and transcription
    Not yet tested

No tool paid to be on this page. Some links may become affiliate links in future; they never change the order. Disclosure