Best Free AI Note Takers 2026: 7 Options Compared

An AI note taker joins your call, records it and writes a summary, and the free plans differ mainly in how many meetings you get before the paywall. Otter.ai's Basic plan gives 300 monthly transcription minutes with a 30-minute cap per conversation, which covers a few short calls but not a day of back-to-back meetings. Read AI's free plan allows 5 meeting transcripts a month, up to an hour each. Fathom says it offers unlimited recordings and call summaries on its free plan, which makes it the easiest choice if you take many calls, though some features are limited. Zoom's Basic plan includes 3 AI meeting summaries a month, handy only if your whole team already uses Zoom. Granola's free Basic plan limits meeting history to 30 days, and Fireflies and tl;dv both have free plans, so check their pricing pages for current numbers. Before you pick one, ask everyone on the call whether they accept being recorded, since a visible bot in the participant list can raise eyebrows with clients. The trade-off is retention: free history windows mean you must export the notes you want to keep.

Fathom

Free plan with unlimited recordings and call summaries, though some features are limited. The Team plan is $15 per user a month billed annually with a two-user minimum.

Price: Free (unlimited recordings and call summaries; some features limited); paid from $15 per user/month, billed annually (Team, 2-user minimum) (Fathom pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.

Best for: People with many calls a week.

Worth knowing: Monthly billing is $19 on Team.

Otter.ai

Basic plan: 300 monthly transcription minutes and 30 minutes per conversation. Pro starts at $8.33 per user a month billed annually, or $16.99 monthly.

Price: Free (Basic: 300 monthly transcription minutes, 30 minutes per conversation); paid from $8.33 per user/month, billed annually (Pro; $16.99 monthly) (Otter.ai pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.

Best for: Transcripts of short interviews and calls.

Compare: Otter.ai alternatives

Read AI

Free plan covers 5 meeting transcripts a month, each up to an hour. Pro runs $15 to $19.75 per user a month; check the pricing page for the current rate.

Price: Free (5 meeting transcripts per month, meetings up to 1 hour) (Read AI pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.

Best for: Light meeting load with summaries and analytics.

Granola

Free Basic plan at $0 with meeting history limited to 30 days per the comparison table. Business is $14 per user a month; the billing term is not stated on the page.

Price: Free (Basic plan at $0 with limited meeting history (30 days per the comparison table)); paid from $14 per user/month, Business; billing term not stated (Granola pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: macOS, Windows, iOS. Proprietary SaaS.

Best for: Notes written beside your own typed prompts.

Fireflies.ai

Lists Free, Pro, Business and Enterprise plans, but the price numbers did not load, so no limits or prices are recorded here. Check the free plan caps before relying on it.

Price: Free (Fireflies.ai pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.

Best for: Teams who want a bot that joins every call.

Compare: Fireflies.ai alternatives

tl;dv

Has a free plan, but its limits were not shown with numbers. Pro is 18 EUR per seat a month billed annually (29 EUR monthly), so confirm what the free tier covers.

Price: Free; paid from EUR 18 per seat/month, billed annually (Pro; EUR 29 billed monthly) (tl;dv pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.

Best for: Sales and product teams sharing call clips.

Zoom

Basic plan includes 3 AI meeting summaries a month and 5 clips of up to 2 minutes, with meetings capped at 40 minutes. Pro is $14.16 per user a month billed annually.

Price: Free (Basic plan: meetings up to 40 minutes and 100 participants, 3 AI meeting summaries a month, 5 clips of up to 2 minutes); paid from $14.16 per user/month, billed annually (Pro; $16.99 billed monthly) (Zoom pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android. Proprietary.

Best for: Teams already holding meetings on Zoom.

Compare: Zoom alternatives

Which one to pick

• You take many calls and want no cap on recordings: Fathom
• You mostly record short interviews: Otter.ai
• Your team already uses Zoom: Zoom
• You want to type your own notes and let AI fill gaps: Granola