Best AI Meeting Assistants for 2026: 12 tools compared for buyers
If you are looking for the best AI meeting assistant, the answer depends on whether you need free notes for yourself, shared notes for a team, sales call analysis or strict compliance. This page compares twelve AI meeting assistants and says who each one suits, from botless desktop notetakers to enterprise revenue platforms, so you can narrow the field quickly.
We compared the tools on fit, summary and action item features, platform coverage, ease of use and how openly pricing is published. Each profile also lists what the vendor states about security, admin controls such as SSO, and plan terms, which matter once recordings contain client or employee conversations.
Our shortlist at a glance
- Best for regulated teams that need a BAA
CirclebackIt lists SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA with a BAA and no training on customer data, and works with or without a bot.
$15 per user/month (Pro) - Best for summaries across meetings, email and chat
Read AIOne tool summarizes meetings, email and messages, covers Zoom, Teams and Meet, and offers SAML and SCIM on its top plan.
$15 per user/month billed annually (Pro) - Best for in-person and any-platform meetings
GranolaA botless desktop app captures device audio from any platform and merges it with your own typed notes, with SOC 2 Type 2.
Free; Business $14/user/month - Best for consulting and client deliverables
Sembly AIIt turns meetings into client-ready deliverables for professional-services teams and lists SOC 2 Type II, with SSO on its MAX plan.
$10 per user/month billed annually (Basic, single seat) - Best for call centers and noisy lines
KrispKrisp pairs noise cancellation with a bot-free assistant, and a separate Call Center AI plan includes SSO and SCIM.
$8 per user/month billed annually (Core) - Best for enterprise revenue teams
GongIt combines call summaries, deal and forecast intelligence and coaching, with ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type 2, sold by quote to mid-market and enterprise.
Contact sales
What are AI meeting assistants?
An AI meeting assistant listens to or records your calls, converts speech to text and produces summaries, decisions and action items you can search later. It replaces manual note taking, so people can focus on the conversation. Individuals use it for personal notes, sales teams for call reviews and CRM updates, and managers for follow-up tracking. The core capabilities are transcription with speaker labels, structured summaries, support for Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, and sharing notes to tools like Slack, Notion or a CRM. Some join as a visible bot, while others capture audio from your device without one.
AI Meeting Assistants side by side
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan or trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circleback | Best for regulated teams that need a BAA. | $15 per user/month (Pro) | Free plan |
| Read AI | Best for summaries across meetings, email and chat. | $15 per user/month billed annually (Pro) | Free plan |
| Granola | Best for in-person and any-platform meetings. | Free; Business $14/user/month | Free plan |
| Sembly AI | Best for consulting and client deliverables. | $10 per user/month billed annually (Basic, single seat) | Free trial |
| Krisp | Best for call centers and noisy lines. | $8 per user/month billed annually (Core) | Free trial |
| Gong | Best for enterprise revenue teams. | Contact sales | No |
 Fathom | Individuals and small teams wanting unlimited free recording. | Free; Team $15/user/month annual | Free plan, Free trial |
 Fellow | Teams that want agendas, notes and follow-ups in one tool. | $7 per user/month billed annually (Team) | Free plan, Free trial |
 Avoma | Sales and customer success teams wanting meeting notes plus coaching. | $19/user/month billed annually (Startup) | Free trial |
 Fireflies.ai | Teams wanting broad integrations and a free tier. | Free; Pro $10/user/month billed annually (third-party reported) | Free plan |
 Otter.ai | Individuals and small teams wanting a free or low-cost transcription tool. | Free (Basic); Pro $8.33/user/month billed annually | Free plan |
 tl;dv | Teams that want EU-hosted meeting data and a low per-seat price. | $18 per seat/month billed annually (Pro) | Free plan |
Prices as published by each vendor on October 24, 2026. "Contact sales" means the vendor publishes no price.
The 12 AI meeting assistants tools in detail
Best for regulated teams that need a BAA
Circleback
AI meeting notes tool that captures action items with or without a bot and offers an SSO/SCIM tier priced openly at $35 per user.
Buyers who dislike opaque pricing get public numbers up to a $35 Enterprise tier with SSO and SCIM. Rollout can use a joining bot or a desktop app that records quietly. Compliance reviewers will see SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA with a BAA.
- Best for
- Teams wanting transparent public pricing through the Enterprise tier.
- Company size
- Individuals to enterprise.
Key features
- Transcription accuracy and languages
- Over 100 languages (vendor)
- Meeting platform support
- Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, WebEx, Slack huddles, GoTo, in-person.
- Summaries and action items
- Structured notes, action items assigned and organized; search across meetings.
- CRM and workflow integrations
- Slack, Notion, Linear, HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio, Asana, Monday, Zoho, Intercom, Zapier, Make, API, MCP, CLI.
Pros
- Automatic notes and action items.
Cons
- Speaker identification and in-person meetings could be better (G2 reviewer)
Pricing: $15 per user/month (Pro) · Free plan
Best for summaries across meetings, email and chat
Read AI
Cross-platform meeting, email and chat summarizer with a free tier and a SAML/SCIM tier only on its top plan.
Worth a look if you want one summarizer across meetings, email and chat, and the $15 Pro plan fits a tight budget. Security buyers should note that SAML and SCIM appear only on the top plan, and Enterprise requires at least five licenses.
- Best for
- Teams that want meetings, email and messages summarized in one tool.
- Company size
- Individuals to enterprise; Enterprise needs 5+ licenses.
Key features
- Transcription accuracy and languages
- Meeting reports in 16+ languages (Free plan page says 20+; inconsistent)
- Meeting platform support
- Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet; desktop apps and mobile for in-person.
- Summaries and action items
- Summaries, highlights, action items, sentiment (G2 reviewers)
- CRM and workflow integrations
- Salesforce, HubSpot, Notion, Jira, Confluence, Zapier, webhooks on Pro and up.
Pros
- Automatic summaries and action items replace manual notes.
- Sentiment and engagement analysis.
Cons
- Summaries can miss subtle context in fast discussions.
- Support score on G2 comparison lower than peers.
Pricing: $15 per user/month billed annually (Pro) · Free plan
Best for in-person and any-platform meetings
Granola
Botless desktop meeting notes app that captures device audio and merges it with your own notes; SSO and SCIM are on a $35 Enterprise tier.
Granola is a botless desktop notes app that captures device audio and blends it with what you type. You start it manually for each meeting, and it offers SOC 2 Type 2, with SSO and SCIM on the Enterprise tier.
- Best for
- Individuals and teams who dislike visible bots in calls.
- Company size
- Individuals to enterprise.
Key features
- Meeting platform support
- Desktop works with any platform (Zoom, Meet, Teams); mobile for in-person.
- Summaries and action items
- AI chat across meetings; notes enhanced from your own typed notes.
- CRM and workflow integrations
- Notion, Zapier, HubSpot on Business; Salesforce on Enterprise.
- Privacy and security
- SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR commitment; US AWS VPC; no vendor model training by OpenAI/Anthropic; Granola trains on anonymized data unless you opt out (Enterprise off by default)
Pros
- No bot joins the call.
- Notes blend your typing with transcript.
Cons
- Manual start per meeting.
- Small G2 review base.
Pricing: Free; Business $14/user/month · Free plan
Best for consulting and client deliverables
Sembly AI
Meeting bot and notes platform repositioned toward professional-services deliverables, with SSO on its MAX plan.
Consultancies and agencies that turn meetings into client deliverables are the target. Pro serves 1 to 40 seats and MAX serves 3 to 500, with SSO only on MAX. IT reviewers can check SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA, but SCIM is not listed.
- Best for
- Professional-services and consulting teams that produce client deliverables.
- Company size
- Small to enterprise; Pro 1-40 seats, MAX 3-500.
Key features
- Transcription accuracy and languages
- 48 languages per About page; other pages say 40+ or 42 total; full support for a subset.
- Meeting platform support
- Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams (Webex on one vendor page)
- Summaries and action items
- Summaries, action items and client-ready deliverables.
- Privacy and security
- SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA (MAX and Enterprise), GDPR alignment, Microsoft 365 Certification.
Pros
- Ease of use scored 9.1 on G2 (about 41 reviews)
Cons
- Not confirmed by the vendor; G2 support score 8.8 in comparison table.
Pricing: $10 per user/month billed annually (Basic, single seat) · Free trial
Best for call centers and noisy lines
Krisp
Noise cancellation and accent conversion software that added a bot-free AI meeting assistant for transcripts and notes.
Consider it if people dislike a bot appearing in calls, because capture happens locally on each device. The product grew out of noise cancellation, so test CRM depth if that matters. Call centers can look at the separate per-agent plan.
- Best for
- Teams on Zoom/Meet/Teams who want notes without a bot in the call.
- Company size
- Individuals to enterprise and call centers.
Key features
- Transcription accuracy and languages
- About 17 languages per a 2026 third-party review; speaker IDs and timestamps.
- Meeting platform support
- Works across apps on desktop (Zoom, Teams, Meet) and in-person via mobile app.
- Summaries and action items
- Transcripts, summaries and action items.
- Privacy and security
- Voice processed on device for noise cancelling; AI Meeting Assistant stores transcripts and recordings in Krisp cloud; certifications on trust.krisp.ai (not retrievable)
Pros
- Strong noise cancellation and ease of use.
- No visible bot in meetings.
Cons
- Occasional software glitches.
- Limited free trial minutes.
- Inconsistent microphone connectivity.
Pricing: $8 per user/month billed annually (Core) · Free trial
Best for enterprise revenue teams
Gong
Revenue intelligence platform that records and analyzes sales calls; priced per user plus a platform fee via quote only.
Sales leaders with budget and a connected CRM should evaluate it for call analytics, forecasting and coaching in one place. Expect a quote with a per-user licence plus platform fee on annual terms, so it is poor value for plain meeting notes.
- Best for
- Sales orgs with budget for a CRM-connected revenue platform.
- Company size
- Mid-market and enterprise sales teams.
Key features
- Transcription accuracy and languages
- Multilingual capabilities claimed, languages not specified on homepage.
- Summaries and action items
- Call summaries, deal and forecast intelligence; Engage, Forecast, Enable, Agents products.
- Privacy and security
- SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001/27017/27018/27701/42001, PCI DSS SAQ-D, CSA STAR, EU-US DPF; data never used to train generative models.
Pros
- Strong conversation intelligence and call analysis.
- Highly rated by sales users.
Cons
- Not confirmed by the vendor; third parties cite high cost and platform fees.
Pricing: Contact sales
Fathom
AI notetaker with an unlimited free plan for recording and transcription, paid Premium, Team and Business tiers, and SSO and SCIM on Enterprise.
Solo users and small teams can record and transcribe without paying, which makes a trial easy to run. Sales managers should look at Business for CRM field sync, while anyone needing SSO or SCIM must ask about Enterprise, where no price is published.
- Best for
- Individuals and small teams wanting unlimited free recording.
- Company size
- Individuals through teams; Enterprise for large orgs.
Key features
- Summaries and action items
- Instant AI summaries free; advanced summaries and AI action items on Premium.
- CRM and workflow integrations
- CRM field sync and Deal View on Business.
Pros
- Generous free plan.
- Accurate summaries (G2 reviewers)
Cons
- Feature limits on lower tiers not clearly mapped.
- Enterprise price not public.
Pricing: Free; Team $15/user/month annual · Free plan, Free trial
Fellow
Meeting assistant that combines agendas, AI notes and action-item tracking, with Slack, CRM and Notion sync.
Pick it when meeting prep matters as much as the notes, since agendas, AI summaries and follow-up tracking live together. Check the seat ceilings during rollout: Team stops at 20 users and Business at 50, after which Enterprise pricing applies.
- Best for
- Teams that want agendas, notes and follow-ups in one tool.
- Company size
- Small teams to enterprise; Team caps at 20 seats, Business at 50.
Key features
- Meeting platform support
- Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams (plus Slack)
- Summaries and action items
- AI notes, summaries and action items; pre-meeting agendas.
- CRM and workflow integrations
- Salesforce and HubSpot on Business; Confluence and Notion on Team; Slack on Free.
- Privacy and security
- Hosted on AWS; Enterprise adds transcript redaction and recording permissions; certifications not confirmed by the vendor.
Pros
- Clean interface and automated note taking (G2 summary)
- High support and setup scores on G2.
Pricing: $7 per user/month billed annually (Team) · Free plan, Free trial
Avoma
Meeting assistant plus conversation and revenue intelligence for sales teams, priced per recorder seat with separately priced add-ons.
Sales and customer success managers who want coaching on top of notes should demo it, ideally with fewer than 100 seats. Price the add-ons before signing, as conversation and revenue intelligence start at $29 per seat. Data sits on AWS in the US.
- Best for
- Sales and customer success teams wanting meeting notes plus coaching.
- Company size
- Startup up to 25 seats, Organization up to 100, Enterprise 10+.
Key features
- Transcription accuracy and languages
- Reviewers note occasional errors with accents or poor audio.
- Summaries and action items
- Ask Avoma search; notes and action items (G2 reviewers)
- CRM and workflow integrations
- Lead Router add-on; conversation and revenue intelligence add-ons.
- Privacy and security
- SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 42001:2023, GDPR support; hosted in AWS US.
Pros
- Integrations and insight extraction.
- Time saved via auto transcription.
Cons
- Conversation and revenue intelligence add-ons are costly.
- Transcription varies with accents.
Pricing: $19/user/month billed annually (Startup) · Free trial
Fireflies.ai
AI meeting notetaker with free, Pro, Business and Enterprise tiers; prices shown here come from third-party write-ups.
Teams that record many sales or recruiting calls and want lots of connectors will find it on most shortlists. Verify credit and storage rules in a trial, since they are hard to read. Enterprise adds private storage, custom retention and audit logs.
- Best for
- Teams wanting broad integrations and a free tier.
- Company size
- Individuals to enterprise.
Key features
- Meeting platform support
- Video conferencing, dialers, Chrome extension (vendor nav)
- Summaries and action items
- AI Assistant, Conversation Intelligence, Live Assist (per vendor site)
- CRM and workflow integrations
- CRM, dialer and collaboration integrations plus API.
- Privacy and security
- Trust Center lists SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR; Enterprise has private storage, custom retention, audit logs.
Pros
- Good value and many integrations.
- Highly rated on G2 with a large review base.
Cons
- Storage and credit rules are hard to understand.
- Prices not shown on the vendor page.
Pricing: Free; Pro $10/user/month billed annually (third-party reported) · Free plan
Otter.ai
Meeting transcription and AI notes tool with a visible bot option, free tier, and per-user paid plans; SSO and SCIM are Enterprise-only with a 100-user minimum.
A low-risk starting point for individuals and small teams, thanks to a usable free tier and per-user plans. Admins should plan around the fact that SSO and SCIM need Enterprise with a 100-user minimum, and the trust center lists SOC 2, HIPAA and GDPR.
- Best for
- Individuals and small teams wanting a free or low-cost transcription tool.
- Company size
- Individuals to teams; Enterprise for large orgs with 100-user minimum for SSO.
Key features
- Meeting platform support
- Zoom and Google Meet video replay noted on Enterprise; full platform list not confirmed by the vendor.
- CRM and workflow integrations
- Custom CRM and dialer integrations on Enterprise; Otter Sales Notetaker.
- Privacy and security
- SOC 2 and HIPAA (2025 announcement); Trust Center badges: CCPA, GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2, VPAT, TX-RAMP Level 2; subprocessors include Anthropic and AWS.
Pros
- Easy to start with a usable free tier.
- Wide adoption and familiar interface.
Cons
- Free and Pro minute caps are tight.
- Review counts and pricing details are confusing on higher tiers.
Pricing: Free (Basic); Pro $8.33/user/month billed annually · Free plan
tl;dv
Meeting recorder and AI note taker for Zoom, Google Meet and Teams with EU-hosted data, sold per seat with a free tier.
tl;dv records and summarizes calls on Zoom, Google Meet and Teams, with data stored in the EU. It is sold per seat with a free tier and lists SOC 2 and GDPR, and it suits customer-facing teams that want call libraries.
- Best for
- Teams that want EU-hosted meeting data and a low per-seat price.
- Company size
- Individuals through mid-market teams (no enterprise tier on the vendor pricing page)
Key features
- Transcription accuracy and languages
- 30+ languages and dialects per vendor homepage; no accuracy figure published.
- Meeting platform support
- Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams.
- Summaries and action items
- AI summaries, highlights and action items (vendor homepage)
- CRM and workflow integrations
- Vendor claims 5,000+ tools via integrations.
Pros
- Low per-seat price versus most competitors.
- EU-based hosting appeals to European buyers.
Cons
- Not stated: no review themes verified.
Pricing: $18 per seat/month billed annually (Pro) · Free plan
What to look for in AI meeting assistants
Begin with the meetings you actually run. Sales calls, client work, internal standups and in-person sessions put different demands on a tool, so list the platforms and languages involved first. Then judge the output: do summaries and action items read well enough that nobody rewrites them? Check how notes reach your CRM or workspace, whether a visible bot is acceptable to guests, and what the vendor says about retention, training use and certifications. Pricing and seat minimums come after fit.
Pricing model
Most assistants charge per user per month, and free plans limit transcription minutes, storage or AI credits. Seat caps by plan, annual billing and enterprise minimums change the real total for a team. Ask what happens at the free limit and which security features are held back for the top tier.
- Circleback: Per user, four tiers, free viewers.
- Read AI: Per user, four tiers; all seats on the same plan.
- Granola: Per user; Basic, Business, Enterprise.
- Sembly AI: Per user with monthly AI credits and client/brand package limits.
- Krisp: Per user; Call Center AI priced per agent.
Target company size
Individuals, sales teams and large enterprises need different things. A freelancer wants fast notes at low cost, a mid-size team wants shared libraries and integrations, and an enterprise wants SSO, retention controls and audit logs. Check plan seat caps and minimums so the tool does not outgrow its tier.
- Circleback: Individuals to enterprise.
- Read AI: Individuals to enterprise; Enterprise needs 5+ licenses.
- Granola: Individuals to enterprise.
- Sembly AI: Small to enterprise; Pro 1-40 seats, MAX 3-500.
- Krisp: Individuals to enterprise and call centers.
Transcription accuracy and languages
Notes are only as good as the transcript beneath them. Look for accurate speaker labels, handling of accents and background noise, and support for the languages your meetings use. Vendors rarely publish accuracy figures, so test with a real recording that includes crosstalk and several speakers.
- Circleback: Over 100 languages (vendor)
- Read AI: Meeting reports in 16+ languages (Free plan page says 20+; inconsistent)
- Sembly AI: 48 languages per About page; other pages say 40+ or 42 total; full support for a subset.
- Krisp: About 17 languages per a 2026 third-party review; speaker IDs and timestamps.
- Gong: Multilingual capabilities claimed, languages not specified on homepage.
Meeting platform support
Confirm coverage of Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, and whether phone calls, Webex and in-person meetings are handled. Bot-based tools join calls directly, while desktop apps capture audio on the device. In a demo, run the tool on your actual meeting platform.
- Circleback: Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, WebEx, Slack huddles, GoTo, in-person.
- Read AI: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet; desktop apps and mobile for in-person.
- Granola: Desktop works with any platform (Zoom, Meet, Teams); mobile for in-person.
- Sembly AI: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams (Webex on one vendor page)
- Krisp: Works across apps on desktop (Zoom, Teams, Meet) and in-person via mobile app.
Summaries and action items
This is the core value of the category. Strong tools produce a short summary, clear decisions and action items with owners, and let you search across past meetings. Weak ones produce generic recaps that miss context in fast discussions. Compare outputs from the same meeting across your shortlist.
- Circleback: Structured notes, action items assigned and organized; search across meetings.
- Read AI: Summaries, highlights, action items, sentiment (G2 reviewers)
- Granola: AI chat across meetings; notes enhanced from your own typed notes.
- Sembly AI: Summaries, action items and client-ready deliverables.
- Krisp: Transcripts, summaries and action items.
CRM and workflow integrations
Notes are most useful when they land where work happens. Check native links to Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Notion and project tools, plus API or Zapier access for the rest. Note which plan unlocks each integration, since CRM sync is often reserved for business tiers.
- Circleback: Slack, Notion, Linear, HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio, Asana, Monday, Zoho, Intercom, Zapier, Make, API, MCP, CLI.
- Read AI: Salesforce, HubSpot, Notion, Jira, Confluence, Zapier, webhooks on Pro and up.
- Granola: Notion, Zapier, HubSpot on Business; Salesforce on Enterprise.
- Fathom: CRM field sync and Deal View on Business.
- Fellow: Salesforce and HubSpot on Business; Confluence and Notion on Team; Slack on Free.
Privacy and security
Recordings can contain client, financial or personal information, so review retention settings, whether the vendor trains models on your data, and certifications such as SOC 2 and GDPR or HIPAA support. Find out which plan includes SSO, SCIM and audit logs, and where data is hosted.
- Circleback: SOC 2 Type II, EU-US DPF, HIPAA with BAA; no training on customer data.
- Read AI: HIPAA support on Enterprise+; SOC 2 not stated on pricing page.
- Granola: SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR commitment; US AWS VPC; no vendor model training by OpenAI/Anthropic; Granola trains on anonymized data unless you opt out (Enterprise off by default)
- Sembly AI: SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA (MAX and Enterprise), GDPR alignment, Microsoft 365 Certification.
- Krisp: Voice processed on device for noise cancelling; AI Meeting Assistant stores transcripts and recordings in Krisp cloud; certifications on trust.krisp.ai (not retrievable)
Bot-based vs botless capture
A bot appears as a participant and announces recording, which supports consent but can make guests uneasy in client calls. Botless tools capture audio on your device and feel less intrusive, though you may need to start them manually. Choose based on who is on your calls and your consent rules.
- Circleback: Either: bot joins or macOS/Windows desktop app records without a bot.
- Read AI: Bot joins Zoom/Teams/Meet; desktop and mobile apps capture without joining; admins control which meetings Read joins.
- Granola: Botless: you start it manually, no auto-join.
- Sembly AI: Bot joins meetings.
- Krisp: Bot-free: captures audio locally on the device.
Buying AI meeting assistants: security, admin and vendor checks
Once a tool fits the team, the purchase depends on what the vendor commits to in writing: single sign-on, user provisioning, audit logs, where data lives and the contract. The checks below use each vendor's public pages, so a blank means "ask", not "no".
- Try before you buy
- 11 of 12
- Publish SAML SSO
- 10 of 12
- Publish SCIM provisioning
- 7 of 12
- Publish a DPA
- 3 of 12
3 free trials, 8 free plans
ask the rest in writing
ask every vendor in writing
Circleback, Granola and Sembly AI
Must-haves and what each vendor publishes
A blank is not a no, but it is work for your security review. Granola publishes the most (5 of 5). Tick what your team requires; vendors that drop out show why, and the budget check prices the plan that actually includes single sign-on when you require it.
All 12 vendors shown. Tick a must-have to filter. ● published with the plan, ◐ mentioned without plan or details, ○ not on the vendor's public pages.
| Vendor | SAML SSO | SCIM | Audit logs | Data residency | DPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granola5 of 5 published | ● PublishedEnterprise | ● PublishedEnterprise | ● PublishedEnterprise | ● PublishedUS only (AWS VPC) | ● Published |
| Circleback3 of 5 published | ● PublishedEnterprise | ● PublishedEnterprise | ○ Not published | ○ Not published | ● Published |
| Fireflies.ai3 of 5 published | ● PublishedEnterprise | ● PublishedEnterprise | ● PublishedEnterprise | ○ Not published | ○ Not published |
| Krisp3 of 5 published | ● PublishedEnterprise | ● PublishedCall Center AI Core | ○ Not published | ● PublishedEnterprise offers data center location choice | ○ Not published |
| Sembly AI3 of 5 published | ● PublishedMAX | ○ Not published | ● PublishedMAX | ○ Not published | ● Published |
| Avoma1 of 5 published | ● PublishedEnterprise | ◐ Mentioned | ○ Not published | ◐ MentionedAWS USA only | ○ Not published |
| Fathom2 of 5 published | ● PublishedEnterprise | ● PublishedEnterprise | ○ Not published | ○ Not published | ○ Not published |
| Otter.ai2 of 5 published | ● PublishedEnterprise | ● PublishedEnterprise | ○ Not published | ○ Not published | ○ Not published |
| Read AI2 of 5 published | ● PublishedEnterprise+ | ● PublishedEnterprise+ | ○ Not published | ○ Not published | ○ Not published |
| Fellow1 of 5 published | ● PublishedEnterprise | ◐ Mentioned | ○ Not published | ○ Not published | ○ Not published |
| Gong1 of 5 published | ○ Not published | ○ Not published | ○ Not published | ● PublishedAWS-hosted; regions not named on security page | ○ Not published |
| tl;dv1 of 5 published | ○ Not published | ○ Not published | ○ Not published | ● PublishedEU hosting per vendor homepage; privately hosted AI on request | ○ Not published |
How to evaluate AI meeting assistants
Meeting tools are easy to demo and hard to compare, because the output looks good in almost every trial. A useful evaluation tests the same real meeting in each shortlisted tool and checks the things a demo hides: who can access recordings, how guests are told, what the admin can control and which platforms work on your plan. The criteria below give you a checklist to run in every trial and questions to send to every vendor.
Pricing model
Ask the vendor to confirm in writing which plan includes the features you tested, because free and trial accounts often show features the paid plan on your budget does not have. Check what happens when minutes or credits run out and whether seats can be moved between users. Request the renewal terms and whether monthly billing is available.
Target company size
Check whether the product was built for your size of company by looking at the admin features on offer: roles, workspace controls and billing. In this list, several tools only offer SSO on Enterprise plans, and one has a 100-user minimum for it. Ask a vendor which customers of your size use the product and which plan they are on.
Transcription accuracy and languages
Run the same recording through each shortlisted tool, including one with accents, crosstalk and company jargon. Check speaker labels, names and numbers, and count the corrections you needed. If you work in more than one language, test each of them, since language support can differ by plan.
Meeting platform support
Test the tool in the platforms you actually use: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, plus phone or in-person capture if you need them. Check how it joins calls, what a guest sees, and what happens when a meeting is hosted by an external party. Ask whether any of these platforms require admin approval on your side.
Summaries and action items
Run a real meeting, then ask the person who attended whether they would send the summary as written. Check whether action items name an owner and a due date, and whether you can use custom templates for different meeting types. Ask how the tool handles a wrong summary and how users can correct it.
CRM and workflow integrations
In the trial, connect the integration you will use in production and push one real meeting through it. Check which fields are mapped, whether it can write to existing records without creating duplicates, and who needs admin rights. Ask whether the integration is included in your plan, since on some tools it sits on a higher tier.
Privacy and security
Ask for the SOC 2 report or security overview, the data processing agreement, the data retention settings and a clear statement on whether your recordings train any models. Check where data is hosted, since at least one tool in this list does not offer non-US hosting. Confirm SSO, SCIM and audit logs on the exact plan you are buying.
Bot-based vs botless capture
Decide whether a visible bot is acceptable in client and candidate calls, then test how each tool handles consent and notification. A bot makes recording obvious but can feel intrusive, while botless capture is discreet and may need local audio permissions. Ask the vendor how consent is shown to guests and whether you can turn recording off per meeting.
Questions to ask AI meeting assistant vendors
A sales call is your chance to get answers that the pricing page and the trial account will not show. These questions focus on risk: recorded data, access control and contract terms. Send them in writing before the call, so the vendor can bring the right person, and keep the answers for your security review. Use them as a checklist when you compare quotes, and keep the answers with your records for the renewal.
Does our meeting data train your models?
Ask for the answer in the contract, not only on the website. If recordings or transcripts are used for model training, even in anonymized form, you need to know before sensitive meetings are recorded.
What are the retention and deletion controls?
Ask who can delete a recording, how long data stays after deletion, and whether admins can set a retention period. This matters when a meeting contains personal data or when a client asks you to erase it.
Which plan includes SSO, SCIM and audit logs?
Many tools in this category reserve SSO for Enterprise, and some set a user minimum. Ask which exact plan has the controls your IT team needs and what the minimum commitment is.
How is consent handled for guests?
Ask how the tool notifies participants, whether a visible bot or an announcement is used, and how legal requirements for recording in different countries are handled. This protects you in client and candidate calls.
Where is data hosted and who are the subprocessors?
Ask for the hosting region and the subprocessor list, and ask whether non-US hosting is available. Some tools in this list do not offer it, which can rule them out for EU customers.
What happens to our data if we leave?
Ask for the export format, how long data remains available after cancellation and whether deletion is confirmed in writing. A clean exit plan is part of the purchase.
How to run the decision
Run the decision as a short, structured pilot. Define the meetings you need to capture and the security requirements, shortlist three tools, and test each with the same real meeting. Send the vendor questions in writing, involve IT early, and decide on evidence: accuracy, consent handling, admin controls and contract terms. Document the result so renewal is easier next year.
Our recommendation
Match the tool to the meetings you run: botless apps for sensitive or in-person talks, integration-heavy tools for sales calls, and compliance-focused vendors for regulated work. Pick two or three, record the same real meeting in each, and compare the summaries side by side. Before rollout, ask security and legal to review retention, consent and data-use terms, then confirm which plan holds the controls you need.
AI Meeting Assistants: frequently asked questions
What is an AI meeting assistant?
An AI meeting assistant records or listens to meetings, transcribes them and produces summaries, action items and searchable notes. Some also send insights to your CRM or project tools, and a few work without a visible bot in the call.
What is the best AI meeting assistant?
It depends on your use. Circleback suits regulated teams, Granola suits people who dislike visible bots, Fellow suits teams that want agendas and follow-ups, and Gong suits enterprise sales organizations. Match the tool to your meeting types.
Which AI note taker has the best free plan?
Fathom is the one to test first, as it allows unlimited free recording and transcription. Otter.ai, Read AI, Fireflies.ai, Granola and tl;dv also offer free tiers. Most cap minutes, credits or features, so check those limits against your meeting volume.
Do AI notetakers join calls as a visible bot?
Some do and some do not. Fireflies.ai, Otter.ai and Sembly AI send a bot into the call, Granola and Krisp record audio on your own device, and Circleback and Read AI support both. A visible bot makes consent obvious to attendees, whereas botless capture is less intrusive.
Are AI meeting assistants secure and compliant?
Several list SOC 2, GDPR or HIPAA support, including Circleback, Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai. Compliance varies by plan, and SSO or SCIM is often limited to Enterprise. Ask each vendor for retention rules and whether it trains models on your data.