Decision table
| Need | Pick | Price or limit (as listed 17 October 2026) | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited free recording | Fathom | Free plan: unlimited recordings and transcripts | Start here unless your company mandates a platform tool |
| Cheapest paid plan with live transcripts | Otter.ai | Pro USD 8.33 a month billed annually, 1,200 minutes | Best value if you stay under 90 minutes a meeting |
| Calls in many languages | Fireflies.ai | Pro USD 10 per seat a month billed annually; 100+ languages | Pick it for international teams |
| Google Workspace company | Gemini in Google Meet | Business Standard USD 14 per user a month | Use it if you already pay for Standard |
| Zoom-first company | Zoom ZoomMate | ZoomMate USD 20 per user a month | Paid Workplace summaries may be enough |
The 5 tools on the same fields
Fathom
- Best for: people who record many external calls and want search and clips without a monthly fee.
- Main limitation: advanced summaries and Ask Fathom are limited use on the free plan, and CRM field sync starts at Business.
- Price or plan limits: Free; Premium USD 16 a month billed annually or USD 20 monthly; Team USD 15 per user billed annually (two-user minimum); Business USD 25 per user billed annually, as listed on 17 October 2026.
- How it joins: a visible bot, or bot-free capture in beta on Mac.
Fathom's free plan included unlimited recordings and transcriptions, according to Fathom's pricing page checked 17 October 2026.
Otter.ai
- Best for: live transcription, lectures and in-person conversations recorded on a phone.
- Main limitation: the free Basic plan allows 300 transcription minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation and only the 25 most recent conversations.
- Price or plan limits: Otter's pricing page lists Pro at USD 8.33 per user a month billed annually or USD 16.99 monthly, with 1,200 minutes and up to 90 minutes per meeting. Business is USD 19.99 billed annually, with unlimited meetings up to four hours each.
- How it joins: a notetaker joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet; transcription covers English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese.
Otter.ai Pro cost USD 8.33 per user a month billed annually with 1,200 minutes, according to Otter's pricing page checked 17 October 2026.
Fireflies.ai
- Best for: sales and international teams that need many languages and CRM-friendly notes.
- Main limitation: the free plan has limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of storage per team and a two-hour recording limit.
- Price or plan limits: Fireflies' pricing page lists Pro at USD 10 per seat a month billed annually (USD 18 monthly) with 8,000 minutes of storage per seat, and Business at USD 19 billed annually with unlimited storage.
- How it joins: a bot named Fred, or a Chrome extension that records without a bot.
Fireflies.ai Pro cost USD 10 per seat a month billed annually, according to Fireflies' pricing page checked 17 October 2026.
Gemini in Google Meet
- Best for: organizations that already run on Google Workspace and want notes saved to Docs.
- Main limitation: Google's help article says "Take notes for me" handles one language per meeting and is recommended for meetings of 15 minutes to 8 hours.
- Price or plan limits: the Workspace pricing page lists Gemini in Meet on Business Standard (USD 14 per user a month) and above, but not on Business Starter (USD 7).
- How it joins: built into Meet, so no third-party bot enters the call.
Gemini in Google Meet required Google Workspace Business Standard at USD 14 per user a month, according to Google's pricing page checked 17 October 2026.
Zoom ZoomMate
- Best for: companies that hold nearly every meeting in Zoom.
- Main limitation: the free tier gives meeting summaries for only 3 hosted meetings a month, and Basic meetings stop at 40 minutes, per Zoom's ZoomMate page.
- Price or plan limits: Zoom's comparison page says paid Workplace plans from USD 14.16 per user a month include meeting summaries, and ZoomMate starts at USD 20 per user a month with 2,200 AI credits.
- How it joins: native to Zoom, with My Notes for third-party platforms.
Zoom ZoomMate started at USD 20 per user a month with included AI credits, according to Zoom's comparison page checked 17 October 2026.
Recording consent is your job, not the tool's
A meeting assistant records people, so the law on recording conversations applies to you as the host.
US federal law is a one-party consent rule: under 18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d), a participant may record a call they are part of. Several states go further. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press summarizes California's rule as requiring every party to a confidential conversation to consent, and Penal Code 632 sets fines of up to USD 2,500 per violation for a first offense.
Practical checks before you switch a bot on:
- Announce it. Put a recording line in the calendar invite and say it at the start. Otter lists a recording disclaimer email among its admin controls.
- Know who joined. A visible bot tells guests they are recorded. Bot-free capture is quieter, so the verbal notice matters more.
- Check retention. Decide how long transcripts live and who can share them. Our AI tool privacy checklist covers the questions to ask a vendor.
What the summary will miss
Summaries compress. A one-paragraph recap of a pricing negotiation can drop the condition attached to a discount. Keep the transcript as the record and treat the summary as an index into it. If you mainly need short recaps of documents and recordings after the fact, our AI summarizer rankings cover tools built for that job.
How to choose
- List where your meetings happen. Zoom, Meet or Teams only? A platform tool may be enough.
- Count your minutes. Otter's free plan stops at 300 a month; Fathom's does not cap recordings.
- Run one week of real calls in two tools at once, with consent from attendees.
- Compare the action items each tool produced against your own notes.
- Test the export. Check whether summaries reach your CRM, Docs or task tool without copy and paste.
For recorded files rather than live calls, see our AI transcription tools guide, and for follow-ups drafted from your notes, our AI email assistant picks.
How we rank
We compared free-plan limits, per-seat prices, minutes and meeting-length caps, supported languages, how each tool joins a call, and data controls listed by each vendor. Every price and limit was read on the vendor's own pricing or help page on 17 October 2026. Our ranking method explains how we weigh price against documented limits, and our broader productivity tool picks apply the same rules.
Frequently asked questions
Is Fathom really free? Yes, Fathom's free plan includes unlimited recordings, transcripts and instant AI summaries. Advanced summary templates and the cross-call assistant are limited until you upgrade.
Is Otter.ai free? Yes, with limits. Otter Basic includes 300 transcription minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation and three lifetime file imports.
Which AI meeting assistant supports the most languages? Fireflies.ai, which lists transcription in more than 100 languages. Otter lists six languages, and Google's notes feature handles one language per meeting.
Can an AI note taker join a meeting without a bot? Yes. Fathom offers bot-free capture in beta on Mac, Fireflies has a Chrome extension that records without a bot, and Gemini and ZoomMate are built into their platforms.
Do I need consent to record a meeting with an AI assistant? Often yes. Federal law allows one-party consent, but California and some other states require every party to a confidential conversation to agree.
Does Google Meet take notes on Business Starter? No. Google's pricing page lists Gemini in Meet on Business Standard and higher plans, not on Business Starter.
Is Zoom's AI note taking free? Partly. The free ZoomMate Basic tier gives meeting summaries for 3 hosted meetings a month, and paid Workplace plans include summaries.