Otter vs Fireflies vs Fathom vs Granola: which AI meeting note taker should you use?
Four popular AI note takers for Zoom, Google Meet and Teams calls. All four have a free plan and are rated Easy in our directory, but the free plans are very different: some cap minutes, some cap history, and one never sends a bot into your call. Here's how to pick, with what each free plan includes according to its official pricing page.
Plans checked on official pricing pages · last verified Oct 22, 2026
Quick answer
- Pick Otter.ai if you want live transcripts you can follow during a meeting, lecture or interview, and 300 free minutes a month is enough.
- Pick Fireflies.ai if you want notes pushed into the other apps you use (CRM, Slack, task tools) and are happy to pay once you rely on it.
- Pick Fathom if you want the most generous free plan: unlimited recordings and transcripts for one person.
- Pick Granola if you don't want a bot joining your calls and like jotting your own notes that AI then fills in.
Not sure? All four are free to try. Give two of them the same real task and keep the one you like.
Side by side
| Otter.ai | Fireflies.ai | Fathom | Granola | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Reliable live transcripts and summaries for meetings and lectures. | Records, transcribes and summarizes calls, then pushes notes to your other apps. | A free-for-individuals AI note taker for Zoom, Meet and Teams. | AI meeting notes without a bot joining your call — just a smart notepad. |
| Good at | transcription, meeting notes, Zoom/Meet/Teams | meeting notes, CRM updates, searchable calls | free note taker, call summaries | meeting notes, no bot, back-to-back calls |
| Free plan includes |
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| Price | Free plan Basic free forever; Pro $16.99/user/mo ($8.33 billed yearly) | Free plan Free plan; Pro $18/seat/mo ($10 yearly) | Free plan Free forever for individuals; Premium $20/mo ($16 yearly) | Free plan Free Basic plan; Business $14/user/mo |
| Beginner level | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy |
| Official site | otter.ai ↗ | fireflies.ai ↗ | fathom.ai ↗ | granola.ai ↗ |
Which one for what you want to do
| If you… | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| I just want free meeting notes and don't want to pay | Fathom | Its free plan for individuals has unlimited recordings, transcripts and AI summaries. |
| I don't want a bot showing up in my calls | Granola | Granola never joins the call; it listens through your computer or phone. Fathom also offers bot-free capture, in beta on Mac. |
| I need to follow along live in a lecture or interview | Otter.ai | Live transcription with speaker names is on the free plan (300 minutes a month). |
| I want call notes to land in my CRM or other apps | Fireflies.ai | Its paid plans include unlimited integrations, and it's built around sending notes to other tools. |
| I'm in back-to-back meetings and take my own notes | Granola | You type rough notes; Granola turns them into clean notes using the meeting audio. |
| I want to keep and search a long history of calls for free | Fathom | Unlimited recordings on Free. Granola's free plan only keeps 30 days and Fireflies' free storage is 400 minutes. |
Questions people ask
What is the best free AI note taker for meetings?
For one person, Fathom has the most generous free plan in this comparison: unlimited recordings, transcripts and AI summaries, according to its pricing page. Otter's free plan is capped at 300 minutes a month, Fireflies' at 400 minutes of storage, and Granola's free plan keeps only 30 days of meeting history.
Which AI note taker doesn't join the meeting as a bot?
Granola. It captures your device's audio instead of sending a bot into Zoom, Meet or Teams. Fathom also lets you choose bot-free capture, currently in beta on Mac. Otter and Fireflies normally join as a bot, though Fireflies also lets you record from its Chrome extension without the bot.
Do I need to tell people I'm recording the meeting?
Yes, you should. Recording laws differ by country and state, and some require everyone's consent. Tell people at the start of the call, whichever tool you use. Granola has a setting to let people know you're using it.
Is Otter or Fireflies better?
Pick Otter if you want live transcripts to read during the meeting. Pick Fireflies if you mainly want summaries sent to your other apps afterwards. Both have free plans, so try each on one real meeting and keep the one whose notes you'd actually use.
Free-plan details come from each tool's official pricing page on Oct 22, 2026. Limits and prices change often, so confirm before you buy.