Best AI Meeting Note Takers in 2026 (Free and Paid)

The best AI meeting note taker depends on how you meet. Otter and Fireflies both record and transcribe meetings on Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, and both have a free plan. NotebookLM is different: it does not join your calls, but it can analyse audio files and documents you upload, which suits research and review.

Quick comparison

What to look for in a meeting note taker

First, decide whether you want a tool that joins your calls and records them, or one that works from files you upload afterwards. Second, check the transcription limits on the free plan, because meeting tools usually cap minutes. Third, think about privacy. Recording tools can sit in your calls, so it is polite, and sometimes a legal requirement, to tell people they are being recorded. Rules vary by place, so check what applies to you.

Otter

Otter is an AI meeting tool. Its site says it transcribes meetings and turns them into summaries with decisions and action items. You can record from a Mac or Windows desktop, a mobile device or a browser, or schedule its meeting agent to join Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet calls. On desktop it can also record without a bot joining the call.

Who it suits: people who attend a lot of regular meetings and want a live transcript and summary without much setup.

Free option: the Basic plan is free forever. The official pricing page shows 300 transcription minutes per user each month, a 30-minute limit per conversation, and 3 lifetime audio or video file imports. It supports Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, with live transcription and speaker identification.

Paid plans: Pro allows 1,200 minutes per user each month and up to 90 minutes per meeting. Business has unlimited meeting transcription with up to 4 hours per conversation. The official pricing page shows Business at $19.99 per user per month on annual billing, marked as a 33% saving against a $30 monthly list price. Monthly billing was shown with a separate promotional discount, so we have not quoted a monthly price. Pro prices appear only as promotional discounts with footnotes (one mentions an India-issued credit card), so we have not quoted a Pro price. Enterprise pricing is by demo.

Fireflies

Fireflies describes itself as taking notes, managing tasks and automating workflows across meetings, email, chat and your apps. It records and transcribes meetings, adds speaker identification, and writes summaries and action items. The site lists 100+ languages, a Chrome extension, desktop and mobile apps, and file upload for MP3, MP4, WAV and M4A.

Who it suits: teams that want a searchable record of calls, with AI search and connections to tools such as CRMs and Slack.

Free option: the Free plan is $0, listed as free forever. Its limits on the pricing page include limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of storage per team and 20 AI credits. It includes meeting integrations for Zoom, Google Meet and Teams, real-time notes, search and file upload.

Paid pricing: the official pricing page shows Pro at $10 per seat per month, Business at $19 per seat per month, and Enterprise at $39 per seat per month, all billed annually (Enterprise is annual only). The page also shows $18 and $29 next to the Pro and Business prices without a clear label, so check the live page before you rely on these figures. Pro adds video recording, downloads and 8,000 minutes of storage per seat. Business adds unlimited storage, conversation intelligence and admin analytics. The page does not show monthly-billing prices, so we have not listed them.

NotebookLM

NotebookLM is Google's AI research tool. Google's own site now calls it Gemini Notebook, "formerly NotebookLM". You add sources and ask questions about them, and answers include source references so you can check them.

Who it suits: people who already have recordings, transcripts or documents and want to question them, summarise them or study them. It is not a bot that joins your live meetings: the pages we read do not describe a meeting-recording or meeting-notes feature.

What you can add: Google's page lists Google Docs, Google Slides, PDFs, text and markdown files, web URLs, pasted text, public YouTube links and audio files. Each source can hold up to 500,000 words, and uploaded files can be up to 200MB. Audio Overviews, which turn your documents into listenable summaries, are a separate output feature.

Free option and pricing: the pages we read do not state a price or say that it is free. Google says Audio Overviews are included in all Workspace plans, offers a 14-day Workspace trial, and offers a way to try it with a personal Google account. It also says qualifying Workspace plans get higher limits and extra features. Check Google's page for what applies to you.

Tips for getting useful notes

AI summaries are a starting point, not a final record. Read the action items before you send them to anyone, because names, dates and numbers can be misheard. If a meeting matters, such as a client agreement or a decision with legal weight, keep your own short written note as well. It also helps to start each meeting by stating the topic and attendees clearly, since that gives the transcription tool better context. Finally, test any tool on one or two ordinary meetings using the free plan before you ask your team to adopt it.

How to choose

• You want a bot or desktop recorder for live calls: compare Otter and Fireflies on their free plans.
• You want long recording history and team search: Fireflies' storage and integrations are worth a look.
• You want to question uploaded recordings and documents: NotebookLM fits that job.
• You hold long meetings: Otter's free plan caps each conversation at 30 minutes, so you may need a paid plan.

How we chose

We checked each plan, price, limit and feature above against each tool's official website on 20 October 2026. If an official page was unclear or did not show a fact, we left it out. That is why some prices are missing. Prices change, so confirm on the official page before you pay.

FAQ

What is the best free AI note taker for meetings?

Otter's Basic plan gives 300 transcription minutes per month, and Fireflies has a Free plan with limited AI summaries. Both support Zoom, Google Meet and Teams. Which is better depends on your meeting length and how many meetings you attend.

Can AI note takers join Zoom, Teams and Google Meet?

Yes. Otter says its meeting agent can join Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, and Fireflies lists Zoom, Google Meet and Teams on its pricing and integrations pages.

Is NotebookLM a meeting note taker?

Not in the usual sense. It works from sources you upload, including audio files, rather than joining a call. Google's pages we read do not describe live meeting recording.

Do AI note takers work in other languages?

Fireflies lists 100+ languages for transcription. Otter says it offers live transcription in multiple languages but does not list them on the page we read.

Do I need to tell people I am recording?

Often yes, and in some places it is required by law. Rules differ by location, so tell attendees and check what applies where you and they are.