Plan details checked September 20 and 21, 2026 on each vendor's own site. US dollars, list price, before tax. Vendors change plans often, so confirm before you buy.
Meeting note-takers record or join your calls, transcribe them, and turn them into summaries and action items. Most small teams don't need the fanciest one. They need to know what their meeting platform already includes, how many meetings they'll run, and what each seat costs. This guide covers the built-in options first (Google Meet, Teams, Zoom and a CRM), then four standalone tools.
How this guide was built: it draws on the vendors' own pricing and help pages. We have not hands-on tested every product, so we give no ratings or scores. Where a vendor's page doesn't state something, we say so instead of guessing.
1. Start with what your meeting platform already includes
Google Meet (Gemini). On Google Workspace, Gemini in Meet can summarize, translate and take notes, but only on Business Standard, Plus and Enterprise. It is not supported on Starter, and recordings saved to Drive follow the same split. Standard is $14 per user per month on annual billing. Our small-business AI guide has the full Google and Microsoft breakdown.
Microsoft Teams. Microsoft says its business plans that include Teams add live captions and meeting transcription. Copilot in Teams needs a Teams license on top of Copilot. Copilot Business lists at $21 per user per month on annual billing, and Microsoft's page shows $18 for the first year through December 31, 2026.
Zoom Workplace. Basic is free but limits AI note-taking to 3 uses a month, with meeting summaries for 3 hosted meetings a month. Pro is $14.16 per user per month billed annually and includes unlimited AI note-taking for Zoom, third-party and in-person conversations, plus unlimited meeting summaries. Business is $18.33 billed annually. These prices include the meeting platform itself.
Pipedrive (a CRM). If your meetings are sales calls, Pipedrive's Lite plan at $14 per seat per month billed annually includes Pipedrive Nova, its meeting intelligence tool: a brief before every meeting, a transcript of every call, and ready-to-approve CRM updates afterward. Growth is $39, Premium $59 and Ultimate $79, all billed annually, and there is a 14-day free trial with no credit card.
If everyone already meets on one of these platforms or lives in a CRM, price the built-in option first.
2. Standalone note-takers
Otter.ai. The free Basic plan includes 300 transcription minutes a month, with conversations capped at 30 minutes. Pro is $16.99 per month billed monthly or $8.33 billed annually, with 1,200 minutes a month and meetings up to 90 minutes. Business is $30 per user per month billed monthly or $19.99 billed annually, with unlimited meeting transcription, meetings up to four hours, and three concurrent meetings.
Fireflies.ai. The Free plan lists unlimited transcription with an asterisk (read the fine print), limited AI summaries, and 400 minutes of storage per team. Pro is $10 per seat per month billed annually ($18 billed monthly) and adds unlimited AI summaries, 8,000 minutes of storage per seat, and video recording. Business is $19 annually ($29 monthly) and adds unlimited storage, conversation intelligence and team analytics for admins. Enterprise is $39 per seat, annual only. Fireflies lists transcription in 100+ languages and uses a Notetaker bot (its FAQ covers renaming the bot). Its pricing FAQ also has a question on monthly transcription credits, so confirm what applies to your plan.
Fathom. The Free plan for individuals allows unlimited recordings and transcriptions with instant AI summaries, and lets you choose between bot-free capture (in beta) or a meeting bot. Individual Premium is $16 per month billed annually ($20 monthly). For teams, Team is $15 per user per month annually ($19 monthly) and Business is $25 annually ($34 monthly). Both team plans have a two-user minimum, and Fathom's page shows a 90-day guarantee.
Read AI. The Free plan includes 5 meeting transcripts a month. Pro is $15 per user per month billed annually ($19.75 monthly) with unlimited meeting transcripts, unlimited storage and premium integrations such as Notion, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira and Zapier. Enterprise is $22.50 annually ($29.75 monthly) and adds audio and video playback and video highlights. Read AI lists support for 20+ languages.
If your team works across languages
- Otter: transcription covers English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese.
- Fireflies: lists transcription in 100+ languages.
- Read AI: lists 20+ languages.
- Fathom: its pricing page doesn't state language coverage, so check before you buy.
- Currency: Otter and Read AI state their prices in US dollars.
How to choose
- Price the built-ins first. If you already pay for Google Workspace Standard, a Microsoft plan with Teams, Zoom Pro or a CRM like Pipedrive, see what notes you get before adding a tool.
- Compare limits, not just seat prices. Otter caps transcription minutes (300 free, 1,200 on Pro), while Fireflies Pro, Fathom's team plans and Read AI Pro advertise unlimited transcription or meetings.
- Check seat minimums. Fathom's Team and Business plans need at least two users.
- Test the free tier on a real week of meetings. The free plans differ a lot: Otter's is 300 minutes, Read AI's is 5 transcripts, Fathom's is unlimited recordings, and Fireflies' limits summaries and storage.
- Tell people you're recording. Consent rules differ by country and state, so check them and let attendees know. Read each vendor's data-handling terms before recording client calls.
Quick math for a 5-person team at list price, annual billing: Fireflies Pro is 5 × $10 = $50 a month. Fathom Team and Read AI Pro are each 5 × $15 = $75. Fireflies Business is 5 × $19 = $95. Otter Business is 5 × $19.99 = $99.95. Zoom Workplace Pro is 5 × $14.16 = $70.80, and that includes the meeting platform itself.
FAQ
Is there a free way to start? Yes. Otter, Fireflies, Fathom and Read AI each have a free plan, with different limits.
Do I need one if I use Google Meet, Teams or Zoom? Not necessarily. Standalone tools matter most when your team meets on more than one platform. Fireflies, for example, lists Zoom, Google Meet and Teams.
This guide contains no affiliate links.