Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026: Notes, Summaries & Action Items
Stop taking notes in meetings. These AI assistants record, transcribe, summarize, and extract action items automatically.
Meetings Without the Busywork
The average professional spends 31 hours/month in meetings. AI meeting assistants join your calls, transcribe everything, and generate summaries with action items — so you can actually participate instead of typing notes.
1. Otter.ai — Best Overall
Price: Free (300 minutes/month) / From $8.33/user/month
Otter joins Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams calls automatically. Real-time transcription, AI summary, action items, and searchable meeting history. The free plan is generous at 300 minutes/month.
Best for: Teams who want set-and-forget meeting transcription.
2. Fireflies.ai — Best for CRM Integration
Price: Free (800 minutes storage) / From $10/user/month
Fireflies transcribes meetings and auto-logs key points to your CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive). AI search across all past meetings. Topic tracking shows how much time you spend on different subjects.
Best for: Sales teams who need meeting intelligence piped into their CRM.
3. tl;dv — Best for Sharing Clips
Price: Free (unlimited recordings) / From $18/user/month
tl;dv records meetings and lets you clip highlights to share with teammates. Timestamp key moments during the call, then share clips instead of making people watch the whole recording.
Best for: Teams who need to share meeting highlights without forcing people to watch full recordings.
4. Fathom — Best Free Option
Price: Free (unlimited) / $19/user/month (team features)
Fathom offers unlimited free recording and transcription for individuals. AI generates summaries, action items, and follow-up emails. The most generous free tier for personal use.
Best for: Individuals who want full-featured meeting transcription at no cost.
5. Granola — Best for In-Person Meetings
Price: Free (25 meetings/month) / $10/month
Granola works by listening through your laptop microphone during in-person meetings. Take brief notes and Granola enhances them with full context from the conversation. Works without everyone installing an app.
Best for: People in hybrid or in-person meetings where bot-joining isn't an option.
Quick Comparison
| Tool | Price | Best For | Free Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otter.ai | Free / $8.33/user | Overall best | 300/month |
| Fireflies.ai | Free / $10/user | CRM integration | 800 min storage |
| tl;dv | Free / $18/user | Clip sharing | Unlimited recordings |
| Fathom | Free / $19/user | Best free | Unlimited |
| Granola | Free / $10/mo | In-person meetings | 25 meetings |