An AI meeting notes taker is software that captures a meeting's audio, transcribes it, and turns the transcript into structured notes: a summary, decisions and action items, usually within minutes of the call ending. The method is simple. Pick how the audio gets captured (a bot that joins the call, or an app on your own device), give the AI a template that matches the meeting, and have one person check the notes before they go out. No single tool covers every situation, so choose by how you meet.
What a complete AI meeting notes setup needs
A transcript is not a set of notes. The job is done only when five parts work together, and most frustration with these tools comes from a missing part, not a bad transcript.
- Capture. Something has to hear the meeting: a bot that joins the video call as a participant, or an app that listens to your computer or phone audio.
- Starting reliably. Calendar auto-join covers scheduled calls. Ad hoc calls need a manual way in.
- Structure. A template turns the transcript into minutes, a sales recap or a one-on-one summary.
- Review. A human reads the summary, fixes names and numbers, and confirms who owns each action item.
- Storage and search. Notes land somewhere the team can find them next month.
The second part matters more than it looks. Microsoft's telemetry shows 57 percent of meetings are ad hoc calls without a calendar invite [1]. A notes taker that only follows your calendar will miss many of them. Every tool below has a second door for those calls, and knowing where it is saves a lot of lost notes.
If you still take notes by hand, the method in our guide on how to take meeting minutes is the baseline these tools automate.
Before relying on calendar auto-join, learn how your tool joins a call that has no invite: a pasted link, an add-to-live-meeting button or a desktop app that detects the call.
Bot or no bot: the first decision
The capture route shapes everything else. A meeting bot joins Zoom, Teams or Google Meet as a visible participant, records, and works even when you are not at your desk. It follows your calendar and often joins whether or not you host. The trade-off is social: guests see a named participant, a host may have to admit it, and some people object.
A bot-free app runs on your own computer or phone and captures the device's audio. Nobody sees an extra participant, and it works in any calling app or across a table. The trade-off is that you must be there, on that device. Some bot-free apps also need you to start capture yourself.
Neither route is better in general. A sales rep with back-to-back external calls may want the bot's consistency. A consultant whose clients dislike recorders may want nothing visible. Many teams end up using both. Either way, tell people the meeting is being captured. A visible bot does not replace saying it out loud.
If a bot in the call is fine
These three tools center on a meeting assistant that joins from your calendar and delivers notes without you lifting a finger. All three include this on a free plan.
Otter.ai's Otter Notetaker joins Zoom, Teams and Google Meet events from your connected calendar, transcribes live and sends a summary with action items. You can set it to join every meeting with a video link, only meetings you host, or only those you select, and the Otter.ai setup for Zoom, Teams and Meet walks through each route. For an unscheduled call, paste the meeting URL on the Otter home page.
The Otter Notetaker joins Zoom, Teams and Google Meet events from your connected calendar, transcribes live and sends a summary with action items; meeting templates shape the notes. The desktop app records without a bot.
Fireflies.ai starts broad. Right after sign-up its Notetaker auto-joins every calendar meeting with a conferencing link, hosted by you or not. Rules by keyword, email or domain narrow that down. For ad hoc calls, add the Notetaker to a live meeting from the dashboard or the mobile app.
The Fireflies.ai Notetaker auto-joins calendar meetings whether or not you host and writes a summary with an overview, notes and action items. Take Notes in the desktop app and the Chrome extension for Google Meet capture without a bot.
Read AI shapes its output as a meeting report rather than plain minutes. A live dashboard shows a running transcript and short summaries during the call. Its Auto-Join Unscheduled Meetings option covers impromptu Meet and Zoom calls.
Read AI's meeting assistant builds a report after each meeting with a summary, chapters, action items, key questions and a transcript by speaker, plus a live dashboard during the call. Stock and custom templates shape the report.
Default settings may send the bot to every meeting with a link, including ones you do not host. Narrow the rules to the meetings you actually want captured.
If you want no bot in the meeting
Bot-free tools suit people who meet clients, candidates or partners who should not see a recorder join. They also cover calls in apps the bots cannot enter.
Granola has no bot at all. It captures your device audio for any call or in-person conversation, then combines whatever rough notes you typed with the transcript. Your own words stay visually apart from what the AI added, which makes review fast. It also works if you type nothing. The catch is discipline: you start capture yourself, and a meeting you forgot to capture cannot be recovered. Our guide on how to use Granola in Zoom, Teams, Meet and in person covers the setup.
No bot: Granola captures your device audio for any call or in-person talk, then merges your rough typed notes with the transcript into AI notes, keeping your words apart from the AI's. Custom templates are made on desktop.
Krisp's AI Note Taker runs bot-free in almost any calling app that lets you choose a microphone and speaker, whether you host or join as a guest. It produces a summary with key points and action items after each call. Its starter templates include a Meeting Minutes template for formal records. If you cannot attend, an optional Krisp Bot can go instead.
The bot-free AI Note Taker runs in almost any calling app, as host or guest, and writes AI notes and action items after each call; starter templates include Meeting Minutes. An optional Krisp Bot can join instead.
Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai also have bot-free routes: Otter's desktop app detects meetings and records automatically, and Fireflies.ai offers Take Notes in its desktop app. Fathom's Mac app does the same, covered next.
Solo, team or sales: matching the tool to the work
Working solo, starting free. Most people start alone, test on their own calls, and only later bring a team. Five of the seven tools here have a free plan, and the free tiers differ in where they stop: summary depth, how much history stays visible, or how many reports you get. Read the limit on each card before you commit your notes to one place.
Fathom fits both ends of that path. Its Notetaker joins Zoom, Meet or Teams, or its bot-free Mac app captures your device audio, and an AI summary arrives as soon as the call ends. In the Mac app the summary updates live during the call. When a team joins, the Team plan adds a shared workspace with folders, comments and playlists, and the Fathom guide for Google Meet and Teams explains both capture routes.
The Fathom Notetaker joins Zoom, Meet or Teams, or the bot-free Mac app captures device audio, and an AI summary arrives as soon as the call ends; in the Mac app the summary updates live.
Sales and customer-facing teams. Here the notes feed a pipeline, so structure and the CRM matter more than a pretty summary. Fathom offers summary templates such as BANT and Sandler. Read AI has SPICED, BANT and MEDDPICC templates.
Avoma is built for sales and customer-success teams. Its notes are organized by Smart Topics, with a template applied by meeting purpose, so a discovery call and a renewal get different structures. Notes save automatically to CRM records such as Salesforce and HubSpot.
Avoma records by bot or a bot-less route and writes one-page AI notes organized by Smart Topics, key takeaways and action items, with a template applied by meeting purpose; notes save to CRM records.
Combinations that close the gaps
One tool rarely covers every meeting you have. Three patterns work well.
A free bot plus a bot-free app. Let a free Notetaker from Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai or Read AI handle internal calls, where nobody minds a visible assistant. Use Granola or Krisp for external calls where a bot would feel intrusive. The cost is two places to search, so pick one home for the final notes.
A free tool first, a team plan once notes must be shared. Start on a free plan to learn which template your meetings need. Move up when a teammate has to find your notes without asking you, or when the free history limit starts hiding last month's calls.
A template you control. If your organization requires formal minutes in a set format, keep a meeting minutes template as the official record. Paste the AI summary into it and correct it. The AI drafts, the template governs.
If you mix a bot and a bot-free app, pick one place where the final notes live, so search still works a month later.
How to choose an AI meeting notes taker
Answer four questions in order.
- Will guests accept a bot? If yes, Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai, Read AI or Fathom. If not, Granola, Krisp, or a bot-free route of Fathom, Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai.
- Are you often not the host? The Fireflies.ai Notetaker joins calendar meetings whether or not you host, though a host may still have to admit it. Krisp's app works as a guest too.
- Do you meet in person? Bot-free apps that use your device audio, such as Granola, cover a conversation across a table. Video bots do not.
- Do notes feed a CRM? Then look at Avoma, or at the CRM sync and sales templates of the others.
Then run one real week of meetings through your pick. Check three things: did it catch the ad hoc calls, were the action items right, and could you find Monday's notes on Friday. A tool that passes those three is the right one, whatever its feature list says.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free AI meeting notes taker?+
Yes. Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai, Fathom, Read AI and Granola each have a free plan. Each stops somewhere different, such as summary depth, visible history or the number of reports, so check the limit before you depend on it.
Can an AI meeting notes taker join a meeting I don't host?+
Often yes. The Fireflies.ai Notetaker joins calendar meetings whether or not you host, and bot-free apps such as Krisp work when you join as a guest. A host may still have to admit a bot.
What is the best meeting notes app for in-person meetings?+
One that captures your device audio rather than a video-call bot. Granola works for in-person conversations without a bot; video-call bots cannot join a meeting around a table.
Do I still need to check AI meeting notes?+
Yes. Transcription accuracy depends on the audio, and summaries can get names, numbers or owners wrong. A quick review before sharing is part of the method.
The bottom line
The best AI meeting notes taker is the one that fits how you meet: a calendar bot if guests accept it and you want zero effort, a bot-free app if they do not, a sales-focused tool if notes feed a CRM. Whatever you choose, add the two human steps no tool removes: a way in for unscheduled calls, and a quick review before the notes go out. Accuracy depends on the audio, so check names, numbers and owners every time.
- [1] Microsoft (Nov 2026) https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/breaking-down-infinite-workday