The shortlist, ranked
1
Fathom
83/100 · Free, paid from $16/mo · Strongest area: Strong on UX quality
Effortless call notes. Join a meeting, get summaries and action items synced to your tools. No configuration, no manual work. Generous free tier.
Why it's on the list: The lowest-friction meeting assistant available. Install once, forget it exists, and get perfect notes after every call. Free tier is genuinely usable.
When to skip it: Limited analytics and no cross-meeting intelligence. If you need to search across months of conversations, Fireflies or Otter are better fits.
Full review →2
Otter
81/100 · Free, paid from $8.33/mo · Strongest area: Strong on trust
AI meeting transcription with summaries, action items, and CRM handoff. Speaker identification and searchable conversation history across all your calls.
Why it's on the list: Speaker identification and searchable history mean you can find "what did the CFO say about budget in the March call" without replaying recordings.
When to skip it: If you run fewer than 5 meetings per week, Fathom (free tier) covers basic notes without a subscription.
Full review →3
Read AI
80/100 · Free, paid from $19.75/mo · Strongest area: Strong on UX quality
AI copilot for meetings that scores engagement, generates summaries, and surfaces action items across Zoom, Teams, and Meet. Measures how attentive participants actually are.
Why it's on the list: Engagement scoring is the differentiator. You see who was engaged, who was distracted, and how balanced the conversation was — data no other note-taker provides. Useful for client workshops where participation matters.
When to skip it: If you only need transcripts and summaries, Fathom or Otter are simpler and cheaper. Engagement analytics add overhead if you do not use them.
Full review →4
MeetGeek
78/100 · Free, paid from $15/mo · Strongest area: Strong on UX quality
AI meeting assistant that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings automatically. Highlights key moments and pushes action items to your PM tools.
Why it's on the list: Automatic highlight extraction creates shareable meeting recaps without editing. The free plan is generous enough for solos taking under 10 calls per month.
When to skip it: If you need real-time collaboration on agendas or advanced engagement analytics, Fellow or Read AI are stronger choices.
Full review →5
Notta
76/100 · Free, paid from $8.17/mo · Strongest area: Strong on outcomes
AI meeting notes and transcription platform with summaries, multilingual support, and shareable meeting records.
Why it's on the list: Captures calls and turns them into searchable notes quickly, reducing post-meeting documentation time.
When to skip it: If you need deep revenue intelligence and advanced coaching analytics, specialized sales-call tools may fit better.
Full review →6
Krisp
75/100 · From $8/mo · Strongest area: Strong on UX quality
AI noise cancellation, transcription, and meeting notes for remote calls. 5-minute setup, works with any meeting tool. Your clients hear you, not your environment.
Why it's on the list: Noise cancellation works with any meeting tool (Zoom, Teams, Meet, etc.) so you sound professional from a coffee shop, coworking space, or home office.
When to skip it: If you work from a quiet office, the noise cancellation adds no value. Use Fathom or Otter for notes instead.
Full review →7
Sembly AI
75/100 · From $10/mo · Strongest area: Strong on UX quality
AI meeting assistant that captures notes, decisions, and action items with automations into CRM and collaboration tools.
Why it's on the list: Strong action-item extraction and automation options help convert meetings into tracked execution items.
When to skip it: If you only need basic transcription, lighter note-taking tools can be simpler and cheaper.
Full review →8
tl;dv
75/100 · Free, paid from $18/mo · Strongest area: Strong on UX quality
AI meeting recorder and summarizer with CRM sync. Generous free tier with unlimited recordings. Multi-language transcription and cross-meeting AI reports.
Why it's on the list: Unlimited free recordings set it apart. CRM sync means meeting insights update your pipeline automatically without manual data entry.
When to skip it: Paid tier is needed for advanced features like cross-meeting reports. If you need those on day one, Otter or Fathom may deliver faster.
Full review →9
Fellow
74/100 · Free, paid from $7/mo · Strongest area: Strong on pricing
AI meeting assistant with collaborative agendas, notetaking, and action item tracking. Connects follow-ups to your PM tools so nothing falls through the cracks.
Why it's on the list: Collaborative agendas plus action-item tracking turn meetings into accountable commitments. Best meeting tool for teams that need follow-through, not just transcripts.
When to skip it: The Team plan caps AI notes at 10 per user per month, so a heavy client-call schedule needs Business ($15/user/mo annual, $23 monthly). Solo consultants who only need recordings and summaries can also compare Fathom or Otter.
Full review →10
Fireflies
74/100 · Free, paid from $10/mo · Strongest area: Strong on UX quality
AI meeting transcription with searchable conversation history, summaries, and action items. Every client call becomes a knowledge asset you can reference later.
Why it's on the list: Searchable conversation history turns past meetings into a knowledge base. Ask questions across all your calls and get answers with timestamps.
When to skip it: If you mostly need live-call notes and next steps (not long-term search), Fathom is simpler and free.
Full review →11
Avoma
72/100 · From $19/mo · Strongest area: Strong on outcomes
AI meeting assistant covering the full lifecycle: scheduling, recording, transcription, coaching, and CRM sync. Your meetings become searchable, actionable data.
Why it's on the list: Full meeting lifecycle (schedule → record → summarize → sync to CRM) in one tool. Coaching reports help you improve your own client conversations over time.
When to skip it: Does many things decently but none exceptionally. If you only need transcription, Fathom or Otter are simpler and cheaper.
Full review →12
Granola
71/100 · Free, paid from $14/mo · Strongest area: Strong on trust
AI meeting notes with a botless style experience for fast capture.
Why it's on the list: An AI notepad built for back-to-back meetings: AI meeting notes, AI chat within and across meetings, and shared folders. Apps for desktop, iOS, Android and Apple Watch.
When to skip it: The free Basic plan keeps only limited meeting history; unlimited notes and history need Business ($14/user/mo), and the pricing page does not say whether that is billed monthly or annually.
Full review →13
Jamie
71/100 · From $24/mo · Strongest area: Strong on trust
AI meeting assistant for notes, summaries, and follow-up tasks.
Why it's on the list: It improves meeting to action execution and client reporting consistency.
When to skip it: Avoid if your delivery process is lightweight and does not need recurring reporting.
Full review →14
Tactiq
71/100 · Trial from $12 · Strongest area: Strong on trust
Live meeting transcription and post-call action summary workflows.
Why it's on the list: It improves meeting to action execution and client reporting consistency.
When to skip it: Avoid if your delivery process is lightweight and does not need recurring reporting.
Full review →