Best AI meeting note tools in 2026
Four tools that look alike in a feature list and behave very differently in practice. The deciding factors are usually whether a recording bot joins the call, how the transcript handles Japanese, and whether the notes have to reach a CRM.
Published · updated
How we ranked these
Stated before the list, so you can disagree with the weighting rather than the result.
The ranking
- 01
Fireflies.ai4.5From $10/mo
The veteran meeting recorder: CRM sync, speaker analytics and topic extraction for teams.
The first choice for organisations with sales or customer success teams. For personal use, Otter is enough.
- 02
Otter.ai4.5From $16.99/mo
Transcription wired into Zoom, Google Meet and Teams, with automatic summaries and action items.
The first choice for individuals and startups automating Zoom meeting notes. For organisational deployment, compare against Fireflies.
- 03
Granola4.7From $18/mo
Takes your rough notes during the meeting and completes them afterwards; processing stays on your device.
The first choice for founders, executives and independent consultants who need no recording bot and on-device processing. For a team-wide minutes platform use Otter or Fireflies; for maximum Japanese accuracy, Notta or CLOVA Note.
- 04
tl;dv4.5From $18/mo
Records, transcribes and summarises Zoom, Meet and Teams calls with shareable timestamps.
A good fit for Slack and Notion-centric remote teams that need meeting outcomes circulating quickly.
Editors' summary
Four meeting tools — official documentation plus reports from teams using them
| Tool | Japanese | Speaker ID | CRM | SOC 2 | Individual price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otter | Good — improving | Excellent | Good — Salesforce and others | Yes, Business | $16.99/moStrongest in English with Japanese now workable. Speaker identification is a step above the others, which matters in meetings with several participants. Business plans add SOC 2 and Salesforce integration. |
| Fireflies | Good | Excellent | Excellent — the differentiator | Yes, Business and above | From $10/seatCRM integration and topic extraction are designed around sales and customer success processes rather than bolted on, which is why it wins in organisations with those teams. |
| Granola | Good | Good | Limited | In progress | From $18/moNo recording bot joins the call, and processing can stay on an Apple Silicon Mac. That combination is the reason to choose it, and CRM integration is correspondingly weak. |
| tl;dv | Good | Good | Good | Yes, Business and above | Free tier, from $18/moThe free tier is generous and all three major meeting platforms are covered. Timestamped sharing is what makes it useful for telling people what they missed. |
- ※ Excellent = clearly ahead / Good = works in practice / Limited = narrow or situational
- ※ Japanese accuracy varies substantially with the number of speakers and ambient noise. Trial any of these on your own typical meeting for a week before committing.
- ※ Granola's no-bot design means the other participants are never asked to consent to a recording tool joining — which is sometimes the deciding factor rather than a feature.
Questions we get
- Which is best for a team?
- Fireflies if you have sales or customer success functions that need meeting data in a CRM. Otter if you mostly need accurate transcripts with good speaker identification.
- What if I do not want a bot joining the call?
- Granola. It completes notes you take during the meeting rather than sending a recorder, and on Apple Silicon Macs the processing can stay on the device.
- How good is Japanese transcription really?
- Usable for one-to-one and small meetings, noticeably less reliable as participants increase. If Japanese accuracy is the single most important factor, evaluate Notta or CLOVA Note alongside these.
- Do these clear a security review?
- Otter, Fireflies and tl;dv have SOC 2 on their business plans. Granola's certification is still in progress, which is worth knowing if that is a gating requirement.