Meeting assistants record calls, transcribe them and write the summary, and the products differ more in how they are metered than in what the notes look like.
This guide ranks twelve of them on whether a bot is needed, what the free plan actually allows, where recordings are kept, and what readers cost once notes are shared.
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In short
What AI meeting assistants software does
AI meeting assistants record or listen to calls, convert speech to a transcript and generate summaries and action items that colleagues and managers can later search.
In this order: setup effort, what it really costs, how your data comes back out, whether
you can leave, and who each AI meeting assistants tool is built for. Why those five, and why there is no
score out of ten, is on the how we work page.
Teams already prepared to pay per seat for API access and analytics
Buyers who need limits spelled out before a trial
Country is where the vendor is headquartered or contracts from, which is a
different question from where your data is hosted. Where the two tell different stories, the
entry says so.
Bot-free note-taker from a German company, running on your device
Ranked #1 of 12 in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
Jamie captures audio on the device instead of sending a bot into Zoom, Teams or Google Meet, which keeps the participant list clean and works for meetings in a room. Notes and transcripts cover more than 99 languages.
The ladder is note-based: ten on the free plan, twenty on Plus, unlimited from Pro. If you attend only some meetings, a device-side tool cannot record the ones you miss.
What stands out
Bot-free
EU data centres
Monthly note caps
Where it costs you
Free plan stops at 10 notes a month and 30-minute meetings
Plus plan still caps notes at 20 a month, so heavy users must go to Pro
Right for
Individuals and small teams who want no visible recorder in the call
Wrong for
Teams that need a bot to record meetings they skip
GermanyFree plan with 10 notes a month; per-seat paid plans, published; Enterprise quoted
Meeting recorder with a bot, desktop app and a free hours allowance
Ranked #2 of 12 in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
The instance you register on decides the contracting company, the storage location and the governing law, which is unusual and worth reading before signing. Pro gives 20 hours of transcription with a charge for extra hours; Business removes the limit.
Licences are per user, and unlimited Basic seats can be mixed with paid ones. The bot appears as a participant, though the desktop app is the route if you want none.
What stands out
Free hours
Bot or desktop
Choice of instance
Where it costs you
Free plan allows only 3 hours of transcription a month
Pro is limited to 20 hours, with each extra hour billed separately
Right for
Teams who want to pick EU or US data storage at sign-up
Wrong for
People who dislike a named bot appearing in calls
RomaniaFree plan with 3 hours a month; per-user paid plans, published; Enterprise quoted
Transcript tool for Meet, Zoom and Teams with a free tier
Ranked #3 of 12 in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingAsia-Pacific
Tactiq charges per user and splits plans by team size: Team for one to twenty users, Business for twenty to two hundred, Enterprise beyond that. The free plan has no expiry, which suits occasional use.
AI credits, not transcripts, become the limit on paid plans below Team. The terms page gives no registered company name, so procurement teams will have to ask for it directly.
What stands out
Free tier
Transcripts first
Per-user billing
Where it costs you
Free plan holds 10 transcripts and 5 AI credits a month
The terms page names no legal entity or address
Right for
Individuals who mainly want a searchable transcript with AI summaries on top
Wrong for
Buyers who must see a named legal entity first
AustraliaFree plan with 10 transcripts a month; per-user paid plans, published; Enterprise quoted
Notepad that captures device audio, with no bot in the meeting
Ranked #4 of 12 in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Granola works as a notepad you type into while the app listens to device audio, so there is no participant to explain to clients. The policy says raw audio is not retained after transcription.
Basic is free with 30 days of history, Business is priced per user per month and adds unlimited notes, API access and MCP, and Enterprise adds SSO and HIPAA. Without a bot, an absent attendee cannot send it in their place.
What stands out
Bot-free
Device audio
30-day free history
Where it costs you
Free Basic plan shows only the last 30 days of meetings
SSO and HIPAA support sit on the Enterprise plan only
Right for
Individual professionals who want private notes without a visible recorder
Wrong for
Teams who want a bot to attend meetings in their place
United StatesFree plan with 30-day history; per-user monthly plans, published
Transcription service with minute allowances and a Singapore contracting entity
Ranked #5 of 12 in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingAsia-Pacific
The pricing page frames Notta around minutes and file uploads: 50 uploads a month on free, 100 on Pro, 200 on Business. Transcript translation starts at Pro, and every plan covers Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and Webex.
The free plan is too tight for real meetings because of the 3-minute cap per recording. Contracting runs through a Singapore entity for most users, with Singapore law and courts.
What stands out
Minute allowances
Translation
Singapore entity
Where it costs you
Free plan limits each meeting to 3 minutes
Enterprise needs a minimum of 51 seats
Right for
Individuals and small teams who transcribe in several languages
Wrong for
Anyone who needs full-length meetings on a free plan
SingaporeFree plan with 120 minutes a month; per-plan monthly or annual billing, published; Enterprise quoted
Meeting recorder with free viewer seats and no bot required
Ranked #6 of 12 in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Seats are the lever here. Recording, uploading and importing meetings needs a paid seat, but colleagues who only view shared meetings and AI notes use free viewer seats, which keeps costs down when notes circulate widely.
The free plan stops at 20 meetings. Transcript downloads and custom prompts are listed under Starter, and AI coaching under Business. Grain offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and no required contract.
What stands out
Free viewers
20-meeting free plan
No bot required
Where it costs you
Free plan stops at 20 meetings
Coaching and follow-up emails are in the Business tier
Right for
Sales and customer teams where many people read notes but few record
Wrong for
Teams that want transcript downloads without paying per seat
United StatesFree plan with 20 meetings; per-seat paid plans, published; Enterprise quoted
Credit-based meeting notes with a time-limited free trial
Ranked #7 of 12 in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Sembly ties usage to credits: 2,500 monthly on Basic, 3,000 on Pro, 3,500 on Max, plus bonus credits for new workspaces. Paid plans include unlimited capture on Meet, Teams, Zoom and Webex, so the credits meter AI features, not recordings.
Unused credits expire monthly on Basic and Pro. History runs from one year on Basic to unlimited on Max. A free trial exists, but it is not a standing free plan.
What stands out
Credit-based
Free trial
HIPAA on Max
Where it costs you
Unused credits expire every month on Basic and Pro
Max, the plan with HIPAA, needs at least three users
Right for
Teams that prefer a predictable monthly allowance over open-ended usage
Wrong for
Buyers who want a free plan with no time limit
United StatesFree trial; credit-based per-user plans, published; Enterprise quoted
Meeting notes tied to agendas, with a lifetime free allowance
Ranked #8 of 12 in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
The free allowance is a lifetime count, which makes it a trial in practice. Paid plans bill per user per month with annual discounts, and the workspace is billed for the number of active users at the start of each cycle.
Trials fall back to the free plan afterwards without a card. Business adds CRM integrations, sales templates and keyword tracking; org-wide analytics and domain control wait in Enterprise.
What stands out
Lifetime free limit
Agenda-linked
Canadian company
Where it costs you
Free plan allows 5 AI notes and 5 recordings per user in total
Salesforce and HubSpot integrations start at Business
Right for
Managers running recurring one-to-ones and team meetings with agendas
Wrong for
Occasional users hoping to stay on the free plan
CanadaFree plan with 5 AI notes per user; per-user plans billed annually, published; Enterprise from 10 users
Per-recorder seats with free viewers and sales add-ons on top
Ranked #9 of 12 in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
The seat model counts only people who record or transcribe, which suits teams where managers and colleagues just read. Every plan includes transcription in more than 70 languages, summaries and CRM integration.
The headline prices exclude the three add-ons, which carry further per-seat charges. The company is Avoma, Inc., and its terms apply California law. Trial access includes all add-ons for 14 days without a card.
What stands out
Recorder seats
Free viewers
Paid add-ons
Where it costs you
Conversation Intelligence, Revenue Intelligence and Lead Router are priced as add-ons
Enterprise is annual only, with a minimum of 10 seats
Right for
Sales teams where only a few people record and many read
Wrong for
Small teams wanting a free plan with no time limit
Noise cancellation maker that added notes, with a short trial
Ranked #10 of 12 in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Krisp bundles noise cancellation, accent conversion and AI notes, which makes sense for people on calls all day. The bundle shapes the limits: accent conversion is capped at one hour a day on Core and unlimited on Advanced.
Storage grows from 10 GB to 60 GB, then unlimited on Enterprise. After the 7-day trial you must pay. Buyers wanting only notes pay for features they may not use.
What stands out
Noise cancellation
7-day trial
On-device option
Where it costs you
Core plan holds 10 GB of storage and one hour of daily accent conversion
On-device transcription is an Enterprise feature
Right for
Remote workers and call teams where audio quality matters as much as notes
Wrong for
Buyers wanting a free plan to test long-term
United States7-day trial only; per-user plans, published; Enterprise quoted
Meeting summaries and cross-app search, with a small free tier
Ranked #11 of 12 in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
The ladder is built from meeting length and playback: one hour on Free, four on Pro and Enterprise, eight on Enterprise+. Playback of audio and video starts at Enterprise, so Pro users keep summaries and transcripts only.
Upload credits grow from 100 to 300 minutes a month. HIPAA, SAML, SCIM and domain capture sit in Enterprise+ with a five-licence minimum. Billing is by card, monthly or annual.
What stands out
Free tier
Cross-app search
Tiered meeting length
Where it costs you
Free plan allows 5 transcripts a month and one-hour meetings
Audio and video playback is absent below the Enterprise plan
Right for
Teams who want meeting notes searchable alongside email and chat
Wrong for
Buyers who need recordings playable on a lower tier
United StatesFree plan with 5 transcripts a month; per-user plans, published
Four-tier note-taker with per-seat plans and no published Enterprise price
Ranked #12 of 12 in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Fireflies layers its plans clearly: Pro adds transcription credits, advanced exports and CRM integrations; Business adds API, analytics, private channels, video recording and team features; Enterprise adds dedicated support and an onboarding programme.
Seats are priced individually, with volume discounts at 50 or more members. The weakness is predictability. Enterprise has no published price, and the fetched pricing page did not show what Free includes.
What stands out
Per-seat plans
Business API
Quoted Enterprise
Where it costs you
API access and video recording are limited to Business and above
Enterprise pricing is not published
Right for
Teams already prepared to pay per seat for API access and analytics
Wrong for
Buyers who need limits spelled out before a trial
United StatesFree plan; per-seat paid plans; Enterprise quoted
AI meeting assistants record or listen to calls, convert speech to a transcript and generate summaries and action items that colleagues and managers can later search. The differences that matter are rarely in the feature list, so this is
the order we would work through them.
01
Decide whether you need a published price
12 of the 12 tools here publish what they cost; the other 0 quote per organisation. The ones you can compare without a sales call: Jamie, MeetGeek, Tactiq, Granola, Notta, Grain, Sembly, Fellow, Avoma, Krisp, Read AI, Fireflies.
02
Decide how much the jurisdiction matters
These 12 vendors are established in 6 countries across 3 regions (North America 8, Europe 2, Asia-Pacific 2). That decides whose disclosure law applies to what the vendor holds, wherever the servers are.
Does the AI meeting assistant join as a bot or listen on your device
The first choice in this category is how the recorder gets into the call. Jamie and Granola capture audio on your device, so nothing appears in the participant list, and Grain says no bot is required. MeetGeek sends a named bot into Zoom, Google Meet and Teams, though its desktop app records without one. Read AI joins meetings automatically.
A bot can record a meeting you cannot attend, but clients see it and may object. A device-side tool leaves the room unchanged but only records what you sit through. Settle that choice before comparing prices, because it decides which products remain on the shortlist and who has to explain the recorder to clients, guests and colleagues who never asked for it.
Ask whether the tool can record a meeting you do not attend.
Join a trial call with an external guest and note their reaction.
Check whether in-person meetings are covered from a laptop or phone.
How free plans in AI meeting assistants run out
Free tiers here are measured in different units, so they cannot be compared at face value. Fellow gives 5 AI notes and 5 recordings per user for life, not per month. Read AI allows 5 transcripts a month and one-hour meetings. Notta allows 120 minutes a month but caps each recording at 3 minutes. Tactiq allows 10 transcripts and 5 AI credits.
Sembly offers a trial rather than a plan. Jamie caps notes at 10 a month at 30 minutes each. Count how many meetings you hold in a normal week, then check which limit you hit first: number, length, minutes, or credits that expire. A plan that survives one busy week is a plan you can actually evaluate.
Count your meetings per week and their average length.
Find which unit each free plan limits: notes, minutes, credits or length.
Check whether the allowance resets monthly or is a one-off.
Where a meeting assistant keeps audio and transcripts
Recordings of internal meetings are among the most sensitive files a company produces, and vendors differ in what they keep. Granola's privacy policy says recordings are captured only to create the transcript and are not retained afterwards. Jamie states that production data sits in data centres in the European Union.
MeetGeek lets you register on an EU or a US instance, which decides the contracting company, storage location and governing law. Krisp lists private on-device transcription under Enterprise only. Ask for the retention period of transcripts and audio, and whether your data is used to train models, before the first customer call is recorded, because changing vendors later does not delete what the first one holds.
Ask how long audio and transcripts are kept after the call.
Check whether you can choose the storage region at sign-up.
Confirm in writing whether recordings are used for model training.
Who pays for colleagues who only read meeting notes
Seat rules decide the bill once notes are shared around the company. Avoma charges only recorder seats, and viewers who watch recordings and comment are free. Grain works the same way with free viewer seats that cannot record. MeetGeek lets unlimited Basic licences sit alongside paid ones.
Fireflies bills per seat, with volume discounts from 50 members, and Fellow bills for active users at the start of each cycle. Count the people who will actually record, then those who only read, and price both groups separately. A tool that looks cheap per seat can cost twice as much if every reader needs a paid licence, and a pricier one can be cheaper if readers are free.
Split your headcount into recorders and readers before asking for a quote.
Ask what counts as an active user when billing starts.
Check whether add-ons are charged per seat or per workspace.
What goes wrong most often when buying AI meeting assistants software
Choosing on the free plan alone, then finding it limits notes per month, meeting length or a one-off lifetime count.
Forgetting to tell external guests that a bot or recorder is capturing the call, which is a consent problem as much as a software one.
Pricing the headline seat cost without the sales add-ons, such as those Avoma sells for conversation and revenue intelligence.
Assuming recordings stay private by default without reading how long audio and transcripts are retained and where they are stored.
07
Frequently asked questions
6 answers
What is the best AI meeting assistants in 2026?
Jamie leads our ranking of 12. Jamie runs on your own device, so no bot joins the call and the same app covers in-person meetings from a laptop or phone.
The operator is wespond UG, a German company, and production data sits in EU data centres. The catch is the metering: the free plan allows 10 notes of 30 minutes, and Plus caps notes at 20. Unlimited notes start at Pro.
Which AI meeting assistants tools publish their pricing?
12 of the 12, with the pricing model each one publishes:
Jamie: Free plan with 10 notes a month; per-seat paid plans, published; Enterprise quoted.
MeetGeek: Free plan with 3 hours a month; per-user paid plans, published; Enterprise quoted.
Tactiq: Free plan with 10 transcripts a month; per-user paid plans, published; Enterprise quoted.
Granola: Free plan with 30-day history; per-user monthly plans, published.
Notta: Free plan with 120 minutes a month; per-plan monthly or annual billing, published; Enterprise quoted.
Grain: Free plan with 20 meetings; per-seat paid plans, published; Enterprise quoted.
Jamie, MeetGeek, Tactiq, Granola, Notta, Grain, Fellow, Read AI, Fireflies offer a free tier or a free self-hosted edition.
Where are these AI meeting assistants vendors established?
In 6 countries across 3 regions: North America 8, Europe 2, Asia-Pacific 2.
Jamie: Germany.
MeetGeek: Romania.
Tactiq: Australia.
Granola: United States.
Notta: Singapore.
Grain: United States.
Sembly: United States.
Fellow: Canada.
Avoma: United States.
Krisp: United States.
Read AI: United States.
Fireflies: United States.
What should you use instead of Jamie?
MeetGeek and Tactiq are the next two on this page. MeetGeek is for teams who want to pick EU or US data storage at sign-up; Tactiq is for Individuals who mainly want a searchable transcript with AI summaries on top.
Who should not buy Jamie?
Teams that need a bot to record meetings they skip. Free plan stops at 10 notes a month and 30-minute meetings.
If your AI meeting assistants product belongs among these 12, tell us what it does and who it is for. Inclusion is an editorial call; what a listing is and is not is set out under software advice.
