AI Note Takers Compared: 7 Apps, Side by Side (2026)

We compared the seven tools people ask about most — Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai, Granola, Plaud, Fathom, tl;dv, and CoHear — using each vendor's own pricing page, checked on October 22, 2026.

The short version

• Best free plan for online meetings: Fathom (unlimited recording and transcription, free forever)
• Best for teams that live in Zoom and a CRM: Fireflies.ai
• Best bot-free option on a laptop: Granola
• Best if you want a dedicated recorder: Plaud (hardware required)
• Best for lectures and in-person conversations on iPhone: CoHear
• Best-known all-rounder, with real minute caps: Otter.ai
• Best free tier for trying AI notes on calls: tl;dv

The comparison table

*Fireflies' free-plan transcription is unlimited per its pricing page; AI summaries are limited and storage is capped. Prices are US list prices from each vendor's pricing page, October 22, 2026. Per-seat tools charge per team member; CoHear and Plaud's individual plans do not.

First, decide how you want to record

Bot-based tools (Otter, Fireflies, Fathom, tl;dv) send a visible participant — "Fireflies Notetaker", "Otter.ai" — into your Zoom, Meet, or Teams call. Strengths: nothing to remember, works for remote teams, deep CRM integrations. Weaknesses: clients and executives sometimes object to a bot in the room, some companies ban them, and they do nothing for a conversation that happens in a room instead of a call.

Device-based tools (Granola, CoHear) record from your own laptop or phone. No extra participant joins, and the same tool works online and in person. Granola captures your computer's audio; CoHear records on your iPhone and keeps working with the phone in your pocket — in a lecture hall, an office, or a café. The trade-off: you are responsible for pressing record and for consent, which is why CoHear keeps recording status visible and notes private by default.

Hardware (Plaud) sells you a dedicated recorder (Note or NotePin) that pairs with its app. One button, nothing to install on a computer, excellent for doctors, lawyers, and journalists who record all day. The trade-off: an extra device to buy, charge, and carry — and the subscription is separate from the hardware price.

The tools, one by one

Otter.ai — the incumbent

The best-known name in the category, with live transcription, speaker identification, and mature apps on every platform. The catch is the caps on the plans most people actually buy: the free Basic plan allows 300 minutes a month and cuts conversations at 30 minutes; Pro (about $16.99/month, or $99.99/year) raises that to 1,200 minutes and 90 minutes per conversation. Unlimited minutes require the Business plan. Choose Otter if you want live captions in online meetings and the safest mainstream pick; look elsewhere if your conversations regularly run past 90 minutes or happen in person.

Fireflies.ai — the team integrations play

Fireflies is built for companies: it joins calls as a bot, transcribes in 100+ languages, and pushes summaries into Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, and dozens of other tools, with conversation-intelligence analytics on higher tiers. Pro is $10 per seat/month billed annually (unlimited transcription, 8,000 minutes of storage per seat); Business is $19. The free plan's transcription is unlimited, though AI summaries are limited and team storage is 400 minutes. Choose Fireflies if a sales or success team needs meeting data flowing into a CRM; individuals recording in-person conversations will find it call-centric.

Granola — the invisible notepad

Granola captures your device's audio — no bot ever joins — and enhances the rough notes you type during the meeting. It runs on macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android, deletes audio after transcription, and is SOC 2 Type II certified. Basic is free but keeps only 30 days of meeting history; Business ($14/user/month) makes history unlimited and adds integrations and API access. Choose Granola if your meetings are back-to-back video calls on a laptop and you hate bots; note that it is designed around calls you attend at your computer, and there is no minute-based plan because there are no minute caps.

Plaud — the hardware route

Plaud (Note, NotePin) is a dedicated AI recorder you carry, paired with an app offering transcription in 112+ languages and a large template library. The Starter plan bundled with a device includes 300 transcription minutes a month; Pro ($8.33/month billed annually) gives 1,200 minutes, and Unlimited ($20/month billed annually) removes the cap. The hardware itself is sold separately. Choose Plaud if you record face-to-face all day — clinics, sites, interviews — and want a single-purpose device; skip it if you'd rather not buy and carry extra hardware for a job your phone can do.

Fathom — the generous free plan

Fathom's free plan is the strongest in this comparison: unlimited recordings and transcriptions for individuals, with a bot-free capture option in beta on Mac. Paid plans (Premium $16/user/month billed annually; Team $15) add advanced summaries, action items, and CRM sync. It is focused on Zoom, Meet, and Teams calls rather than in-person recording. Choose Fathom if you want a free notetaker for your own online meetings; teams will outgrow the free tier's collaboration limits.

tl;dv — the free-tier specialist

tl;dv records and transcribes unlimited meetings for free in 30+ languages, limiting AI notes to 10 meetings on the free plan; Pro ($18/seat/month billed annually) removes the AI limits and adds integrations, with a 3-hour cap per recording. It is GDPR-focused and EU-hosted, which matters to European teams. Choose tl;dv for cost-free call recording with a European data footprint; it does not address in-person recording.

CoHear — the in-person and long-session pick

CoHear records on your iPhone — no bot joins anything, and there's no extra hardware. It is built for the conversations other tools miss: two-hour lectures, office hours, client meetings across a table, investor calls you take while walking. Sessions run 4+ hours; a one-hour recording comes back as a summary, decisions, and action items in about a minute. Paid Meeting Plus ($14.99/month after a 7-day free trial) removes minute limits entirely — no 300-minute months, no 90-minute cut-offs. It also generates study plans and practice questions for students, keeps every quote traceable to a timestamp in the original audio, and can share notes to other AI tools over MCP. Recordings and notes are private by default, with recording status kept visible.

Choose CoHear if your important conversations happen in rooms, classrooms, and cafés, or regularly run long. Be clear about the trade-offs: CoHear is iPhone-only today, it doesn't send a bot into calls you aren't attending, and teams that need CRM field-sync or org-wide admin consoles should look at Fireflies or Fathom instead.

Which one fits your situation?

• You mostly record lectures or classes → CoHear (long sessions, study plans, exam-focused summaries), with Plaud as the hardware alternative.
• Your team lives on Zoom and Salesforce → Fireflies, with Fathom for smaller teams.
• You refuse to have a bot on your calls, and you work at a laptop → Granola.
• You record face-to-face all day and want one button → Plaud.
• You want free, for your own online meetings → Fathom, then tl;dv.
• You want live captions and the mainstream default → Otter, watching the minute caps.

How we compared

Prices, minute limits, and session caps were taken from each vendor's official pricing page on October 22, 2026, and are US list prices; vendors change pricing, so check their pages for current numbers. We compared capture method, free-plan limits, the main paid plan, transcription allowances, maximum session length, platforms, and in-person use. Tools we also considered but did not include in this round: Notion AI, MeetGeek, Krisp, Jamie, and Fellow.

Related comparisons

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