Best Free AI Note-Takers of 2026
Compare Tools for Zoom, Meet & Privacy
The 7 Top Free AI Note-Taking Tools, Ranked
We tested each tool in real meetings. Here’s the deep dive on what each free AI meeting assistant truly offers.
tl;dv – Free AI Note-Taker with Unlimited Meetings & Video
- The Free Plan Verdict: The most capable free tier for active users. You get unlimited transcription and AI summaries for Zoom and Google Meet, which is exceptional.
- What’s Actually Free vs. Paid: The free plan includes smart chaptering and clip creation. The core limitation is that recorded videos are only kept for 3 days before archiving. For permanent video libraries and advanced analytics, you’d need Pro.
- Ideal User: Anyone with multiple weekly video calls who wants to capture key moments without worrying about a monthly minute counter.
Jamie – Bot-Free Free Plan for Privacy
- The Free Plan Verdict: A premium experience on a limited credit system. It offers superb, automatic notes without a bot joining your call, which many prefer.
- What’s Actually Free vs. Paid: You get 10 meeting credits monthly. Each meeting generates a full transcript, summary, and action items. The limit is strict, making it perfect for curating your most important client or strategy sessions, not all your meetings.
- Ideal User: Freelancers, consultants, and managers who handle confidential conversations and have a limited number of high-value meetings.
Fathom – Completely Free, No-Card Plan for Solo Users
- The Free Plan Verdict: Uniquely and completely free for individual use. There’s no credit card wall and no storage or minute limits for calls you host or join.
- What’s Actually Free vs. Paid: It’s fantastic for personal use. The “catch” is it’s designed for individuals—team features and some advanced AI insights are gated. It also requires you to be in the call; it can’t record meetings for you.
- Ideal User: A job seeker, student, or solo professional who wants a fantastic, zero-cost AI transcription tool for their own interview prep, lectures, or client calls.
Fireflies.ai – Free AI Meeting Assistant for Teams
- The Free Plan Verdict: Powerful for collaboration with an 800-minute storage bank. Its strength is weaving notes into your workflow via Slack, Notion, or Google Drive.
- What’s Actually Free vs. Paid: You get unlimited transcription, but all recordings draw from the 800-minute pool. Once full, you must delete old meetings. The free plan lacks video recording.
- Ideal User: A team that needs to centralize meeting intelligence and search across past conversations easily.
Otter.ai – Free Live Transcription for Lectures & Interviews
- The Free Plan Verdict: The pioneer, still excellent for real-time, voice-focused notes. Its mobile app is great for capturing in-person discussions.
- What’s Actually Free vs. Paid: The 300 monthly minutes and 30-minute per-session limit are the most restrictive caps. It’s easy to exhaust quickly in a busy month.
- Ideal User: Students, journalists, or attendees who need reliable live transcription for lectures, interviews, or in-person brainstorming.
Zoom AI Companion / Microsoft Teams Copilot – Free Native Options for Enterprises
- The Free Plan Verdict: The most convenient option if your organization already pays for it. These are not standalone free products for the public.
- What’s Actually Free vs. Paid: If your company has a qualifying Zoom or Microsoft 365 business plan, you likely have access to smart recaps, meeting summaries, and AI-generated meeting notes at no extra cost. Check with your IT department first.
- Ideal User: Employees at companies that have invested in these ecosystems.
Notion AI – Free Post-Meeting Synthesis for Notion Power Users
- The Free Plan Verdict: A powerful add-on for an existing workflow, but not a traditional note-taker. Notion has a free plan, but the AI is a separate paid subscription.
- What’s Actually Free vs. Paid: You can paste a meeting transcript from another tool into Notion and use AI to summarize it, extract action items, and translate text. However, you must provide the source text and pay the AI add-on fee.
- Ideal User: Teams that live in Notion and want to process and store meeting insights directly within their project pages.
📋 At-a-Glance: Free AI Note-Taker Comparison Table
| Rank | Tool & Logo | Best For / Core Strength | Key Free Plan Limits (2026) | Best For Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 |
tl;dv
|
Most Generous Free Tier: Unlimited transcriptions & AI summaries for Zoom/Meet. |
|
🏆 Best Overall Free Plan |
| #2 |
Jamie
|
Privacy-First & Bot-Free: Discreet, local recording with strong GDPR compliance. |
|
🔐 Best for Privacy |
| #3 |
Fathom
|
Truly Free for Individuals: Unlimited recordings for your own Zoom/Teams calls. |
|
🆓 Best No-Card-Free Plan |
| #4 |
Fireflies.ai
|
Teams & Integrations: Connects to Slack, CRM; great for collaboration. |
|
🤝 Best for Team Sharing |
| #5 |
Otter.ai
|
Live Transcription & Lectures: Reliable real-time notes for in-person chats. |
|
🎤 Best for Live Notes |
| #6 |
Zoom AI / Teams
|
Built-In for Enterprise Users: Native recap if your company pays for it. |
|
🏢 Best Native Option |
| #7 |
Notion AI
|
Post-Meeting Synthesis: For teams already using Notion for project docs. |
|
📝 Best for Notion Users |
Explore Ai Tools
Explore powerful AI tools designed to save time, boost productivity, and simplify your work.
Discover smarter ways to learn, create, and achieve more with the latest AI innovations.
🎯 Your Best Free AI Note-Taker by Use Case
👉 Still unsure?
Use our interactive tool finder to get a personalized recommendation in 60 seconds.
🔍 Find My Perfect Tool →⚡ Logos and star ratings will be added in the final published post.
🔑 Key Decision Guide: Privacy, Bots & Your Tech Stack
Your final choice hinges on these practical considerations
Bot-Free vs. Bot-Based
For sales calls or sensitive discussions, a bot-free tool like Jamie feels more professional — no extra participant, just discreet audio capture [3]. For large team meetings where reliability matters, a bot-based tool is often simpler and more automated [3].
📚 Resources
Privacy & Data Security
Always check the privacy policy. For high standards, tools like Jamie (GDPR‑focused, EU data residency) are built for this [3]. Look for AES‑256 encryption, zero‑knowledge architecture, and clear deletion policies [6].
Integrations Matter
If your team uses Slack for alerts or Salesforce for CRM notes, choose a tool like Fireflies that connects seamlessly [9][4]. For Google Meet or Zoom power users, tl;dv and Fathom offer deep native integration [5][10].
📚 Resources
📘 For more on building a privacy‑first tech stack, explore our guide on Ethical AI Productivity Tools →
I tested 12 free AI note-takers for 30 days so you don't have to. Here's the truth about which ones actually save time – and which ones waste it.
📱 Mobile App Availability: Can You Take Notes on the Go?
As someone who's constantly moving between lectures, coffee shops, and meetings, I know how crucial it is to have your AI note-taker on your phone. I tested every tool's mobile app (or lack thereof) so you know what to expect.
| Tool | iOS App | Android App | My Takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|
| tl;dv | 📱 iOS App | 📱 Android App | Great for reviewing past meetings and summaries on mobile. You can't record directly from the app, but you can watch recordings and share clips. Perfect for catching up during commute. |
| Jamie | 📱 iOS App | 📱 Android App | The mobile app is elegantly simple – you can view transcripts and summaries, and even start recordings from your phone (it joins the call as a participant). Privacy-focused design carries over. |
| Fathom | ❌ No native app | ❌ No native app | Fathom is desktop-only (browser extension). For mobile, you'll need to access the web dashboard – it's functional but not ideal. They're working on mobile, but no ETA yet. |
| Fireflies.ai | 📱 iOS App | 📱 Android App | Full-featured mobile app – you can record directly (using the phone's mic for in-person meetings), browse all transcripts, and share notes. Great for capturing impromptu discussions. |
| Otter.ai | 📱 iOS App | 📱 Android App | One of the best mobile experiences. Live transcription works flawlessly on both platforms, and you can record lectures or meetings on the go. The 300-minute limit applies, but the app itself is top-notch. |
| Zoom AI / Teams | 📱 iOS App (built into Zoom/Teams) | 📱 Android App (built into Zoom/Teams) | AI summaries are available inside the Zoom or Teams mobile apps if your organization has the feature. Very convenient, but depends on your company plan. |
| Notion AI | 📱 iOS App | 📱 Android App | You can use Notion AI on mobile to summarize pasted text, but it doesn't record meetings. It's great for processing notes after the fact, especially if you're a Notion power user. |
🧪 My Honest Take: If you're often on the move (like me), having a solid mobile app can be a game-changer. Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai offer the most complete mobile recording experiences. Jamie is also excellent if privacy is your priority. For tools without mobile apps, I usually just bookmark the web dashboard – it works, but it's not as smooth.
👉 Pro tip: Before committing, download the app and test it with a short meeting or lecture. See if the interface fits your workflow. I've swapped tools just because the mobile app felt clunky!