Best Free AI Notetaker in 2026: 7 Free Plans Compared

Last updated October 7, 2026 · 7 tools compared

The best free AI notetaker for most people in 2026 is Scribbl: the free plan gives you 10 meetings a month with AI notes and action items, needs no credit card, and never sends a bot into your call on Google Meet, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams. The other well-known free plans cap the part you came for and put a bot in the call by default: Fathom records unlimited calls but gives advanced AI summaries on only your first 5 calls a month, tl;dv gives unlimited recordings but only 10 AI summaries for the life of the account, and Otter allows 300 transcription minutes a month (30 per conversation). Below we read every free plan line by line, with the exact published numbers most lists describe but never name, so you can see precisely where free runs out, then pick one and start in a single session.

The best free AI notetakers at a glance

Here is the full field in one place. The single thing that does not change much, and that almost no other list puts up front, is whether a tool adds a bot to your call, so that is the second column.

Tool	Free plan (published)	Bot or bot-free	Platforms	AI summary on free	Best free for
Scribbl	10 meetings/mo, no card	Bot-free everywhere	Meet, Zoom, Teams + desktop	Yes, notes + action items	Most people, external calls
Fathom	Unlimited recordings, advanced AI summaries on 5 calls/mo	Bot by default (bot-free beta on Mac)	Meet, Zoom, Teams	Every call; advanced on first 5/mo	A generous recording allowance
tl;dv	Unlimited recordings, 10 AI notes lifetime	Bot joins the call	Meet, Zoom, Teams	10 lifetime	Clip sharing and highlights
Otter.ai	300 min/mo, 30 min/session	Bot by default (no-bot mode on Meet)	Meet, Zoom, Teams	Limited on free	Live captions
Fireflies	3 meetings (unlimited with calendar auto-join on), 400 storage min total, ~20 AI credits/mo	Bot ("Fred") joins	Meet, Zoom, Teams	Credit-metered	CRM and search
Granola	Notes from the last 30 days	Bot-free	Mac, Windows, iOS, Android	Yes (typed + AI)	Solo note-takers
Read AI	5 meetings/mo	Bot-free on Meet, bot on Zoom/Teams	Meet, Zoom, Teams	Yes	Meeting analytics

The four tools people weigh against Scribbl most often are Otter, Fathom, tl;dv, and Fireflies. Here is how the free plans line up on the dimensions that decide this query, with competitor numbers hedged to "verify on the pricing page" because they change quietly.

Feature	Scribbl	Otter	Fathom	tl;dv	Fireflies
No bot joins the call	Yes	No-bot mode on Meet only	Beta on Mac only	– No	– No
Nothing announced to attendees	Yes	– No	– No	– No	– No
Free plan, no credit card	Yes	Free plan	Free plan	Free plan	Free plan
Google Meet	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Zoom	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Teams	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Connects to ChatGPT or Claude	Yes, on Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes, on Pro	Yes
AI notes + action items on free	Yes	Limited	Advanced summaries on 5 calls/mo; action items paid	10 lifetime	Credit-metered
Recording / video capture	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Search past meetings	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Free cap (where it runs out)	10 meetings/mo	300 min/mo	Unlimited rec, 5 advanced AI/mo	Unlimited rec, 10 AI lifetime	3 meetings, or unlimited with auto-join

The exact free AI notetaker caps (where free runs out)

This is the table the search is really about, with the actual published numbers instead of words like "limited." Free-plan figures change and vary by region, so you should confirm each one on the vendor's pricing page before you commit. The pattern worth seeing up front: on most tools the real meter is AI summaries, not recording minutes, so a plan can advertise "unlimited recordings" and still cap the part you actually came for.

Tool	Meeting or minute cap (free)	Per-meeting length cap	AI summary + action items	Source
Scribbl	10 meetings / month, no credit card	No length limit	Included on all 10	Pricing
Fathom	Unlimited recordings	Full-length calls	AI summary on every call; advanced summaries on your first 5 calls / month; action items paid	Pricing page
tl;dv	Unlimited recordings + transcripts	3-hour cap (all plans)	10 AI summaries lifetime	Pricing page
Otter.ai	300 minutes / month; keeps 25 most recent; 3 lifetime imports	30 min per conversation	Limited on free	Help center
Fireflies	3 meetings, or unlimited with calendar auto-join on; 400 minutes of recording storage in total	2-hour cap per recording	~20 AI credits / month (varies by signup)	Pricing page
Granola	Notes from the last 30 days	Full-length calls	Included	Pricing page
Read AI	5 meetings / month; 800-minute storage cap	Full-length calls	Included on free	Pricing page

The meter

Meetings, minutes, length, or storage cap

The card

Whether a credit card is required up front

The bot

Whether a participant joins your call by default

Free AI notetaker feature matrix: accuracy, platforms, integrations

The same field on the dimensions people screen for after the free cap. Accuracy is the engine's clean-English ceiling, which the free tier shares with the paid plan, so it is rarely what the free plan limits. Integration lists shift as vendors ship, so confirm specifics before you rely on them.

Tool	Clean-English accuracy	Platforms	Capture	Notable integrations
Scribbl	~90 to 95%	Meet, Zoom, Teams + desktop	Bot-free everywhere	Claude and ChatGPT on Pro; Smart Collections; Automations to HubSpot, Pipedrive, Slack, Notion, Linear, Jira
Fathom	~90 to 95%	Meet, Zoom, Teams	Bot (bot-free beta on Mac)	Claude and ChatGPT, CRM sync, Zapier
tl;dv	~90 to 95%	Meet, Zoom, Teams	Bot	Claude and ChatGPT on Pro, clip sharing, CRM, Slack
Otter.ai	~90 to 95%	Meet, Zoom, Teams	Bot (no-bot mode on Meet)	ChatGPT and Claude, Slack, calendar
Fireflies	~90 to 95%	Meet, Zoom, Teams	Bot ("Fred")	ChatGPT and Claude, CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot), search
Granola	~90 to 95%	Mac, Windows, iOS, Android	Bot-free	Claude and ChatGPT, Slack
Read AI	~90 to 95%	Meet, Zoom, Teams	Bot-free on Meet, bot elsewhere	Claude and ChatGPT, calendar, analytics

How we compared these free AI notetakers

We read each of the seven free plans line by line, because on a free-tier question the limits are the product, not the marketing.

• The free plan, read line by line. For every tool we logged the exact thing the free plan limits: meetings or minutes per month, per-meeting length cap, storage, whether AI summaries and action items are free or paywalled, export, and team seats. That is the section the search is really about.
• Free versus trial. We flagged anything that is a time-limited trial dressed up as free, because a 14-day full-feature trial is a different promise from a forever-free plan with a cap.
• Consent note. Disclose recording on every external call. A tool being bot-free does not remove your obligation to tell people when the law or your policy requires it.

What other users say about these AI notetakers (third-party review scores)

Aggregated review scores tell you how thousands of other people rate each tool. Below are the public ratings with their sample sizes, because a score means nothing without the count behind it. These are pulled from G2 and the Chrome Web Store; ratings shift weekly, so check the live badge before you lean on a number.

Tool	Rating	Reviews (sample size)	Source	What reviewers praise
Scribbl	5.0	3,000	Chrome Web Store	Bot-free capture, fast setup, notes that turn into work
Scribbl	4.9	725	G2	Ease of use, accurate transcriptions
Fathom	5.0	~6,833	G2	Generous recording allowance, clean summaries
Fireflies	4.7	~746	G2	Search and CRM integrations
Otter.ai	4.4	~462	G2	Live captions, brand familiarity
tl;dv	4.7	several hundred	G2	Clip sharing, multilingual coverage
Granola	4.9	~23	G2	Bot-free, blended notes
Read AI	4.0	~43	G2	Analytics, no-bot Meet capture

What free AI notetaker plans look like in practice

Two illustrations, drawn to scale rather than screenshotted, so you can see the two things that actually decide a free plan: where the meter sits, and who shows up in the call.

Free-plan meter, side by side

AI summaries on the free plan

• Scribbl 10 / month
• Fathom Advanced on 5 / month
• Otter 300 min / mo
• tl;dv 10 lifetime
• Granola Last 30 days

Google Meet

Participants (bot tool)

• You
• Client
• Notetaker (bot) joined

The free-versus-trial trap in AI notetakers (read this first)

The word "free" hides two very different things, and most disappointment with a "free AI notetaker" comes from confusing them.

A real free tier runs forever. You never pay, but something is capped: a number of meetings or minutes per month, a per-meeting length limit, a short storage window, or AI features held back for paid plans. This is the honest free plan you can build a habit on.

A trial gives you the full paid product for a few days or weeks, then stops working unless you enter a card. Trials are fine, but they are not what most people mean when they search for a free notetaker, and a tool that only offers a trial should not be on a "free" shortlist without that label.

The bigger catch most free AI notetaker lists skip: the bot

Almost every free notetaker comparison stops at the meter and never mentions the bot. It is the difference that shows up in the room.

On the free plans of Otter, Fireflies, Fathom, and tl;dv, a named bot joins your call by default as a visible participant and records everyone. It is a surprise in client and candidate meetings, where the other side did not necessarily agree to a recording attendee. In 2025, Otter's notetaker bot drew consolidated consumer-privacy litigation in federal court over exactly this auto-joining, auto-recording behavior. You do not have to read that as "bots are bad," but you should read it as "a recording attendee is a decision, not a default."

A bot-free free plan removes that decision from your guests' surprise list. The bot-free free options are rarer. Scribbl is bot-free on Meet, Zoom, and Teams, with AI notes and action items on every free meeting. Granola is bot-free but keeps no recording, and its free plan shows only notes from the last 30 days, and Read AI is bot-free on Google Meet but uses a bot on Zoom and Teams. For the full category, see our botless AI notetaker guide.

Free, bot-free

• In the call: nothing joins the participant list
• External calls: no surprise attendee for clients or candidates
• Credit card: Scribbl needs none to start
• Examples: Scribbl, Granola, Read AI on Meet
• Free cap: Scribbl 10 meetings/mo, Granola notes from the last 30 days

Free, with a bot

• In the call: a named bot joins and records everyone
• External calls: the bot announces itself, sometimes by surprise
• Credit card: varies by tool
• Examples: Otter, Fireflies, Fathom, tl;dv
• Free cap: Otter 300 min/mo, Fathom advanced summaries on 5 calls/mo, plus the bot

Every free AI notetaker plan, dissected

For each tool below we say what the free plan includes, where it runs out, and who it is for, with the published number wherever the vendor states one. Confirm them on the tool's pricing page the day you sign up, because they change quietly.

1. Scribbl, the best free pick for most people (bot-free)

The free plan. Scribbl's free plan includes 10 meetings a month with AI notes and action items, needs no credit card, and never adds a participant to Google Meet, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams. You get the video, a searchable transcript with speaker names, AI notes, and action items after each call, from the Chrome extension on Google Meet and Scribbl Desktop on Zoom and Teams.

Where free runs out. The cap is 10 meetings a month, not a feature lockout: AI notes and action items are included on every one of those meetings, not paywalled the way Fathom's advanced summaries and tl;dv's AI notes are. When you pass 10 in a month, Pro lifts the limit and teams move to the Team plan for shared access and admin controls.

What makes it the pick. It is bot-free on all three major platforms (Meet, Zoom, and Teams) and gives the video, transcript, AI notes and action items on every free meeting. Granola keeps no recording and shows only notes from the last 30 days, and Read AI's no-bot capture holds only on Google Meet. On Pro, Claude or ChatGPT can search every meeting, Smart Collections narrow that to one group of meetings ("What were the main objections in my sales calls this week?"), and Automations do the follow-up, so the notes become work done rather than a transcript you never reopen.

• Best free for: most people, external client and candidate calls, and anyone who wants the notes to turn into work.
• Capture: bot-free on Meet (Chrome extension), Zoom and Teams (Scribbl Desktop).
• Platforms: Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams.
• Pros: truly bot-free on all three platforms; no credit card; AI notes and action items included on free; on Pro, ask Claude or ChatGPT about every meeting, and Automations do the follow-up; rated 5.0 from 3,000 reviews on the Chrome Web Store and 4.9 from 725 reviews on G2.

2. Fathom, unlimited recordings, advanced AI summaries on 5 calls a month (bot)

The free plan. Fathom has one of the most generous recording allowances in the category: unlimited call recordings, transcripts, and storage across Meet, Zoom, and Teams, plus search, with transcription in 38 languages. A bot joins your call as a visible recording participant by default; bot-free capture is a beta, on Mac only.

Where free runs out. The catch is the part you came for: every call gets an AI summary, but advanced AI summaries cover only your first 5 calls each month, after which calls get the standard summary template. AI action items, AI follow-up emails, and Ask Fathom need Premium ($20 per user per month billed monthly, or $16 billed annually). So you can record everything for free, but only the first five calls a month get an advanced AI summary. Confirm the current split on Fathom's pricing page.

• Best free for: people who want to record everything and do not mind a bot, as long as they only need a handful of advanced AI summaries a month.
• Capture: a bot joins the call by default; bot-free capture is a Mac beta.
• Pros: unlimited recordings, transcripts, and storage on free; search; works across Meet, Zoom, and Teams.
• Cons: advanced AI summaries on only your first 5 calls a month; a visible bot joins by default, which is awkward on external calls; action items and Ask Fathom are paid.

3. tl;dv, unlimited recordings, 10 lifetime AI notes (bot)

The free plan. tl;dv's free plan has unlimited recordings and transcripts in 30+ languages, unlimited viewers, and unlimited moment summaries, plus timestamped clips you can share. Bot-based capture by default.

Where free runs out. The wall is the AI: you get only 10 AI meeting notes for the entire life of the account (not per month). Folders, channels, and advanced integrations are paid, and there is a 3-hour meeting cap on every plan. Verify the current limits on tl;dv's pricing page.

• Best free for: recording calls when you rarely need AI notes.
• Capture: bot joins the call.
• Pros: unlimited recordings and transcripts in 30+ languages; timestamped clips; unlimited viewers.
• Cons: only 10 AI summaries for the lifetime of the account; bot joins every call; library organization is paid.

4. Otter.ai, free live captions with a real meter (bot by default)

The free plan. Otter's free Basic plan is the textbook metered tier: 300 transcription minutes a month, capped at 30 minutes per conversation, plus live captions. It also keeps only your 25 most recent transcripts and allows just 3 file imports total (lifetime, not monthly). The Otter notetaker bot auto-joins by default on every platform, though there is an opt-in on-device mode that avoids the bot on Meet.

Where free runs out. You hit the 300-minute monthly cap and the 30-minute per-conversation limit fast in a busy week (six 50-minute meetings would blow through the monthly minutes even before the per-call cap), and older transcripts drop off the 25-transcript shelf. The richer AI features are reserved for paid. This is the clearest example of "free, but watch the meter." See how it stacks up in Read AI vs Otter.ai, and our best Otter alternatives.

• Best free for: live captions and short, occasional calls.
• Capture: bot by default; opt-in no-bot mode on Meet.
• Pros: well-known live captions; clear published caps; opt-in on-device mode avoids the bot on Meet.
• Cons: 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes per conversation bite quickly; keeps only the 25 most recent transcripts; 3 lifetime imports; the notetaker bot drew consolidated consumer-privacy litigation in 2025 over auto-joining behavior.

5. Fireflies, free with limited storage (bot)

The free plan. Since September 1, 2026, Fireflies' free tier gives unlimited transcription only with calendar auto-join on (otherwise 3 meetings), 400 minutes of recording storage in total, a 2-hour cap per recording, search, and an AI-credit allowance (commonly around 20 credits a month, though the number varies oddly by how you signed up). Its "Fred" bot joins from your calendar. It is popular with sales teams for CRM connections.

Where free runs out. The 400-minute storage cap is a total, not a monthly allowance, so it is not much if you do 5+ hours of meetings a week, and AI summaries, action items, and AskFred all draw down the same limited credit pool, so the AI runs dry before the minutes do. Deeper CRM and conversation intelligence are paid. The bot is always a visible attendee. Confirm current storage and credit limits on Fireflies' pricing page.

• Best free for: searchable transcripts and CRM-leaning workflows with light AI use.
• Capture: bot ("Fred") joins.
• Pros: strong search across past calls; deep CRM connections (Salesforce, HubSpot); unlimited free transcription if you let its bot auto-join from your calendar.
• Cons: 400 minutes of recording storage in total, 3 meetings without calendar auto-join, and a 2-hour per-recording limit; the AI-credit system is confusing and small on free; the "Fred" bot is always a visible attendee.

6. Granola, bot-free notes with no recording (last 30 days on free)

The free plan. Granola runs on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android and blends your typed notes with an AI summary. No bot joins. The free Basic plan shows notes from the last 30 days, with AI notes and AI chat across meetings. It transcribes the audio and then deletes it, so it keeps no recording.

Where free runs out. Notes older than 30 days are hidden until you move to the Business plan ($14 per user per month, billed monthly), and there is never a recording to go back to. It is built around a single note-taker rather than team distribution.

• Best free for: quick bot-free notes when you never need the recording or anything older than a month.
• Capture: bot-free.
• Pros: bot-free; blends your typed notes with AI cleanly; runs on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android.
• Cons: keeps no recording; only the last 30 days of notes on free; built for a single note-taker.

7. Read AI, free analytics (bot-free on Meet only)

The free plan. Read AI's free plan covers 5 captured meetings a month with transcripts, summaries, meeting analytics (sentiment and engagement), and enterprise search, plus an 800-minute storage cap before you must delete or upgrade. It records Google Meet through Google's native API with no bot; on Zoom and Teams it uses a visible assistant.

Where free runs out. Five meetings a month is tight for anyone with daily stand-ups or customer calls, and the bot-free promise only holds on Meet. If you mostly use Zoom or Teams, a bot is back in the room.

• Best free for: Google Meet users who want analytics and no bot, on a handful of calls a month.
• Capture: bot-free on Meet, bot on Zoom and Teams.
• Pros: no-bot Meet capture via Google's native API; meeting analytics like sentiment and engagement; tidy recaps.
• Cons: only 5 meetings a month and an 800-minute storage cap; the bot-free promise holds on Meet only (Zoom and Teams use a visible assistant).

Privacy and security on a free AI notetaker plan

Free does not mean unsafe, but a free plan is still recording your conversations, so screen it the way you would a paid tool. The mainstream notetakers encrypt data in transit and at rest, but the specifics differ by vendor and sometimes by plan, so read each tool's security page before you put client calls through it.

Three questions cut through most of it:

• Where does the audio go, and is it used to train models? Check the data-processing terms, and make sure you can opt out of model training. Scribbl doesn't use your meetings to train AI for anyone other than you.
• Who is in the room? A bot is a visible third party recording everyone. A bot-free tool like Scribbl keeps the recording decision and the disclosure in your hands, which matters most on external calls.
• Can you delete it? Look for the ability to delete recordings and transcripts.

A 60-second framework for choosing a free AI notetaker

If you would rather not weigh seven tools, answer these two questions.

• Do any of your calls include clients, candidates, or anyone external? Pick a bot-free free plan so no surprise attendee appears. Scribbl is bot-free on Meet, Zoom, and Teams, with AI notes on every free meeting.
• Do you need a real AI summary on more than a handful of calls a month? Watch the summary meter, not the recording one: Scribbl includes notes on all 10 free meetings a month, while Fathom gives advanced summaries on only your first 5 calls a month and tl;dv gives AI notes on 10 meetings for the life of the account.

Answer yes to either, and Scribbl is the free plan to start with.

Pick your free notetaker by use case

If you do not want to read all seven, match your situation to one of these.

• Best free for most people: Scribbl. 10 meetings a month with AI notes, bot-free across Meet, Zoom, and Teams, no credit card.
• Best free with no bot in front of clients: Scribbl. Nothing joins the call, nothing is announced, and no email goes to other attendees.
• Best free across Google Meet, Zoom, and Teams at once: Scribbl, bot-free on all three, with the video, transcript and AI notes on every free meeting. See free AI notes for Google Meet and the best Zoom AI notetaker.
• Best for turning meetings into follow-up work: Scribbl. On Pro, you can ask Claude or ChatGPT about every meeting, Smart Collections narrow that to one group of meetings, and Automations draft the email, log notes in HubSpot or Pipedrive, or post to Slack or Teams, asking before they change anything by default.
• Best free for privacy-first teams: start bot-free with Scribbl. See private AI notetaker.

Each of the others comes with a catch on the free plan: Fathom puts a bot in the call by default and gives advanced AI summaries on only your first 5 calls a month, tl;dv's AI notes cover 10 meetings for the life of the account, Otter shows only the first 30 minutes of each conversation, and Fireflies is unlimited only if its bot auto-joins your meetings.

How to start your free notetaker in one session

You came here to pick and start today, not to read forever. Here is the fastest path.

1. 1

   Decide bot or bot-free

   If any of your calls are external, choose a bot-free free plan so no surprise attendee shows up. Scribbl is bot-free on Meet, Zoom, and Teams.

2. 2

   Check where free runs out

   Confirm the real meter on the pricing page: usually AI summaries, not recording minutes. Scribbl gives 10 meetings a month with notes, Fathom advanced summaries on 5 calls, Otter 300 minutes, tl;dv 10 summaries lifetime.

3. 3

   Install and connect

   Add the Chrome extension or desktop app and join your normal meeting. No credit card needed for a real free tier.

4. 4

   Review the notes and ship the follow-up

   After the call, read the AI summary and action items, then send the recap or push it into the AI you already use so the work actually gets done.

Our free AI notetaker pick: Scribbl free

For a free AI notetaker that gives you usable notes from day one, with no credit card and no bot in any call, Scribbl is the one we recommend. The free plan includes 10 meetings a month with AI notes and action items and never adds a participant to Google Meet, Zoom, or Teams. On Pro, you can ask Claude or ChatGPT about every meeting, so the notes become follow-up work rather than a transcript you never reopen. When you pass 10 meetings in a month, Pro lifts the limit, and teams can move to the Team plan for shared access and admin controls.

For the deeper field, see our best AI notetaker, compared and ranked and AI notetaker without a bot guides.

Free AI notetaker FAQ

What is the best free AI notetaker?

For most people the best free AI notetaker is Scribbl: the free plan includes 10 meetings a month with AI notes and action items, needs no credit card, and never puts a bot in your call across Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. The other well-known free plans cap the AI notes or add a bot: Fathom records unlimited calls but gives advanced AI summaries on only your first 5 calls a month, tl;dv gives 10 AI notes for the life of the account, and Otter stops at 300 transcription minutes a month with a bot joining by default. Verify the current numbers on each vendor pricing page, because free caps change quietly.

Is there a truly free AI notetaker, or is it just a trial?

Both exist, and the difference matters. A real free tier runs forever with a cap; a trial gives you full features for a few days then stops unless you pay. The trickier middle case is a lifetime cap dressed as free: tl;dv gives 10 AI summaries for the life of the account, so it feels like a trial once you hit the wall. Genuine forever-free monthly plans include Scribbl (10 meetings a month), Fathom (unlimited recordings, advanced AI summaries on your first 5 calls a month), Otter (300 minutes a month), Fireflies (unlimited only with calendar auto-join on, otherwise 3 meetings), and Read AI (5 meetings a month). Granola's free plan shows only notes from the last 30 days. Always check whether the page says per month or total before you commit.

Do free AI notetakers put a bot in my meeting?

Many do. On the free plans of Otter, Fireflies, Fathom, and tl;dv, a named bot joins your call by default and everyone can see it. Scribbl never adds a participant on Google Meet, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams. Granola is bot-free too, but it keeps no recording and its free plan shows only notes from the last 30 days, and Read AI is bot-free on Google Meet only. If you take external client or candidate calls, a bot-free free plan avoids a surprise attendee.

Which free AI notetaker is most accurate?

Good notetakers reach roughly 90 to 95 percent word accuracy on clear English audio with a decent mic, and the free tiers use the same transcription engine as the paid plans, so accuracy is rarely what the free plan limits. Accuracy drops with crosstalk, heavy accents, jargon, and poor audio for every tool. Speaker labels are less reliable than the words themselves, so spot-check names before sharing notes.

Are free AI notetakers safe and private?

The mainstream tools encrypt data in transit and at rest, but specifics differ by vendor and by plan, so check each tool's security page. The bigger free-plan privacy question is the bot: a bot is a visible third party recording everyone, and on external calls the other side did not necessarily agree to it. A bot-free tool keeps the disclosure in your hands. Recording-consent laws still apply either way.

What is the catch with free AI notetakers?

Free tiers are real, but they are metered, and the meter is usually AI summaries rather than recording. Fathom records unlimited calls but gives advanced AI summaries on only your first 5 calls a month. tl;dv gives unlimited recordings but only 10 AI summaries for the life of the account. Otter caps you at 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes per conversation. Scribbl includes AI notes and action items on all 10 free meetings a month, no credit card. The quieter catch on most free tools is the bot that joins your call by default.

Which free AI notetaker is best for Google Meet, Zoom, and Teams?

Scribbl. It is bot-free on all three on the free plan, so you get one tool across Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams with nothing in the participant list, and every meeting lands in one account. Otter and Fireflies cover all three on free but join as a visible bot. Read AI is bot-free on Meet only.

Where do free AI notetaker plans usually run out?

At a specific number you can look up. Otter caps free at 300 transcription minutes a month with a 30-minute-per-conversation limit and keeps only your 25 most recent transcripts. Fathom records unlimited calls but gives advanced AI summaries on only your first 5 calls a month. tl;dv gives 10 AI summaries for the life of the account. Fireflies stores 400 minutes of recordings in total and transcribes 3 meetings unless calendar auto-join is on. Granola shows only notes from the last 30 days. Scribbl includes AI notes and action items on 10 meetings a month with no credit card. Always confirm the current number on the vendor pricing page, because they change quietly.

Can I use a free AI notetaker on Zoom or Teams without a bot?

Yes, and Scribbl is the free pick for it: Scribbl Desktop is bot-free on Zoom and Teams, and the Chrome extension is bot-free on Google Meet, all on the free plan. Read AI is bot-free only on Google Meet and uses a visible assistant on Zoom and Teams. Otter, Fireflies, Fathom, and tl;dv send a named bot into Zoom and Teams by default.