Free AI note takers: what you really get for $0
How we make money: Grey 59 Inc., the company that runs WhichNoteTaker, earns a commission when someone pays for Bluedot after following a link marked "(paid link)" on this page. It costs you nothing extra. Bluedot has no say in what we write or where it ranks. No other company on this page pays us, including Otter, Fireflies, Granola, Fathom, tl;dv, Notta, TurboScribe, Tactiq, Plaud, Pocket, Upheal, Mentalyc, Zoom, Google, Microsoft and Apple. More in our affiliate disclosure. We haven't tested these products hands-on. Prices and features come from each vendor's own pages, checked on the date shown in each row and linked in Sources.
"Free" means very different things across these apps. One gives you unlimited recordings. Another gives you 5 meetings, ever. Here's the catch for each, in plain words.
Free plan limits, side by side
Each cell is the vendor's own claim from the page in Sources, read on the date in the last column. "Not stated" or "Not checked" means we didn't find or read it.
| Tool | What's free | The catch | Paid from, billed annually | Same plan, billed monthly | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fathom | Unlimited recordings, transcription, call storage; instant summaries | Advanced summaries, action items, and the AI chat are Premium features | Premium $16/mo | $20/mo | 2026-10-27 |
| Fireflies | Unlimited transcription of meetings it auto-joins, limited AI summaries, 20 AI credits | 400 minutes of storage in total, pooled across the team (not per month). File uploads use sign-up credits (3 via the website, up to 150 minutes each). Downloads and video recording are Pro features per Fireflies | Pro $10/seat/mo | $18/seat/mo | 2026-10-27 |
| Otter | 300 transcription minutes a month, joins Zoom, Teams, Meet | 30 minutes max per conversation, only 3 file imports for the life of the account, and only your 25 most recent conversations are kept | Pro $8.33/user/mo | $16.99/user/mo | 2026-10-27 |
| Granola | AI meeting notes, bot-free, desktop and mobile apps | Only the last 30 days of notes show (Granola says older notes are kept, not deleted) | No annual option for Business (Granola's billing help says Monthly) | Business $14/user/mo | 2026-10-27 |
| Bluedot (paid link) | Bot-free recording, apps and integrations | 5 meetings for the lifetime of the account | Basic $14/user/mo | $18/user/mo | 2026-10-27 |
| Tactiq | 10 meeting transcripts and 5 AI credits a month. Tactiq's pages differ on what one AI credit covers: its pricing FAQ says "One AI credit covers a single AI action", while its help says "For most users and AI actions, each meeting uses a maximum of one AI credit". Chrome extension; Tactiq says it "transcribes from your browser, so nothing joins the meeting as a separate participant" | Tactiq's own pages describe this differently: its help says that after 10 meetings, new transcripts are "limited to preview access" (help, August 25, 2026), while its pricing FAQ says "Tactiq keeps transcribing, but AI features pause until your limit resets" and "Your existing transcripts always stay accessible". Check with Tactiq before relying on either. | Pro $8/user/mo (Team $16.67, Business $29.17 per user/mo) | Pro $12/mo | 2026-10-27 |
| tl;dv | Unlimited recordings and transcripts | Full AI notes only on your first 10 meetings for life (then first 10 min of each), recordings kept 3 months, 5 uploads, limits never reset | Pro $18/seat/mo | $29/seat/mo | Limits 2026-10-27 (help article dated November 24, 2025); prices 2026-10-27 |
| Notta | 120 transcription minutes a month, 50 file uploads, 10 AI summaries, no credit card | Each recording is capped at 3 minutes, which makes it work more like a trial for real meetings | Pro $8.17/mo ($97.99 billed annually) | $13.49/mo (read in a browser 2026-10-27) | 2026-10-27 |
| Zoom My Notes | Summaries for 3 hosted meetings a month on Zoom's free Basic | Free Zoom meetings cap at 40 minutes | My Notes plan $8.33/mo | $10/mo | 2026-10-27 |
| TurboScribe | 3 files a day, up to 30 minutes each | One upload at a time, lower priority | Unlimited $10/mo ($120 billed yearly) | $20/mo | 2026-10-27 |
| iPhone Notes | Record and transcribe in Notes | iPhone 12 or later, supported languages only | $0 | $0 | 2026-10-27 |
| Pocket (needs the device) | Unlimited standard transcription, summaries kept 30 days | You have to buy the device: Pocket (the AI recorder sold at heypocket.com, made by Open Vision Engineering, Inc.), $129 listed on Pocket's store (checked 2026-10-27); promos change often | Pro $19.99/mo billed yearly | Not checked | 2026-10-27 |
| Plaud (needs the device) | 300 transcription minutes a month | Minutes don't roll over; device from $159 | Pro $99.99/yr | Not checked | 2026-10-27 |
Deals change often; check the vendor's site.
Built into your phone or meeting app: iPhone Notes records and transcribes for $0 on iPhone 12 and later in supported languages, and Google Meet and Zoom have their own built-in notes on some plans.
The cheapest way up, in order
On annual billing, from the table above (2026-10-27): Tactiq Pro $8, Notta Pro $8.17, Otter Pro $8.33, Fireflies Pro $10, TurboScribe Unlimited $10, Bluedot Basic $14, Fathom Premium $16, tl;dv Pro $18 (all per month). Granola Business is billed monthly only, per Granola's billing help. On monthly billing the order changes: Tactiq $12, Notta $13.49, Granola $14, Otter $16.99, Fireflies $18, Bluedot $18, TurboScribe $20, Fathom $20, tl;dv $29. These are list prices for one person. Cheapest isn't the same as best for you: check the limits that matter to you on the paid plan too.
Which limit hits you first
- You have lots of short meetings: watch counts. Bluedot Free covers 5 meetings in total. Notta Free cuts each conversation at 3 minutes, so it works more like a trial. Tactiq Free covers 10 meeting transcripts a month (Tactiq's help says meetings under five minutes don't use one).
- You have a few long meetings: watch length caps. Otter Free stops at 30 minutes per conversation, Fireflies Free at 2 hours, TurboScribe Free takes files up to 30 minutes.
- You want an archive: watch history and storage. Otter Free keeps your 25 most recent conversations, Granola Basic shows 30 days, tl;dv Free keeps recordings 3 months, and Fireflies Free has 400 minutes of storage for the whole team.
- You mainly want AI summaries: watch the AI allowance. tl;dv's full AI notes stop after your first 10 meetings, Notta Free gives 10 AI summaries a month, and Fireflies Free gives limited summaries and 20 AI credits. Tactiq Free gives 5 AI credits a month (its pages differ on what one credit covers; see the table).
- You record audio files, not live meetings: TurboScribe Free (3 files a day) or Notta Free (50 uploads a month, 3-minute cap per conversation).
Which free plan fits you
- You're on video calls a lot and want to pay nothing: Fathom Free. It describes recordings, transcription and storage all as unlimited on the free plan. tl;dv Free also records and transcribes without a cap, but its AI notes run out after 10 meetings.
- Notta Free: the 3-minute cap per recording makes it work more like a trial for real meetings.
- You want notes from the last few weeks, not an archive: Granola Free (30 days of history) or Fireflies Free (until the 400 minutes fill up).
- You only need a handful of short meetings: Otter Free gives 300 minutes a month, about 5 hours, with each conversation capped at 30 minutes.
- You have audio files to transcribe, not live meetings: TurboScribe Free for short files, or iPhone Notes if the recording is on your phone.
- Your meetings are on Zoom and you only need a few summaries: Zoom's free tier covers 3 hosted meetings a month.
- Bluedot Free works more like a trial: 5 meetings total.
When free stops being worth it
A rough rule, not a test result: if you're deleting old meetings to make room, or retyping action items by hand every week, the cheapest paid plan (about $8 to $16 a month on annual billing in the table above) probably pays for itself. If you only record a couple of times a month, stay free.
Privacy and consent on free plans
Recording laws: tell people first. Federal law and most states let you record a conversation you're part of. About 11 states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Washington, generally require everyone's consent, and a few states mix the rules. Oregon, for example, requires that everyone in an in-person conversation be told it's being recorded, while phone calls need one person's consent (RCFP guide, ORS 165.540). If people are in different states, the stricter law may apply. Rules outside the US differ too, and many employers, schools and clinics have their own policies. A meeting bot showing up in the participant list is a notice, not consent. The same goes for a "this call may be recorded" greeting: it may not tell people that an AI service is transcribing or summarizing the call, so name the AI note taker when you ask. This is general information, not legal advice. If you're unsure, ask a lawyer where you live.
- Free doesn't mean private. Read the training setting. Granola's model-training help says "By default, Granola may use anonymized data to improve our services" and "You can opt out of model training at any time" (checked 2026-10-27). Fireflies' pages give different answers on training: its pricing page says "Your data is never used for AI training", while its security page also says "We don't train on it by default" (checked 2026-10-27). Check before uploading sensitive calls. Tactiq's help answers "Is my data used for LLM training?" with "No." and says its AI provider "will not use data submitted via their API to train or improve their models"; its pricing FAQ says the same about its provider but names the provider differently. Whether Tactiq trains any models of its own isn't stated on the pages we read (checked 2026-10-27). For others, check the privacy page before you record anything sensitive.
- Don't put patient or client health info in a free or standard plan. Per their own pages, Otter, Fireflies, Granola and Pocket offer a BAA only on Enterprise tiers. Clinical tools like Upheal and Mentalyc say they offer one at signup.
- Tactiq and HIPAA. Tactiq's homepage says it has "full GDPR and HIPAA compliance", and its pricing table marks "HIPAA Compliant" on every plan, including Free (checked 2026-10-27). The pages we read don't say whether Tactiq signs a business associate agreement (BAA), so ask Tactiq for a BAA before using it with patient information.
- Tactiq and the people in your meeting. Tactiq's pricing FAQ says "the transcription is only displayed for you, but you can notify everyone that you're transcribing during the meeting" (checked 2026-10-27). Others not seeing the transcript doesn't mean they know about it or agreed to it. Ask, and wait for a yes.
What we did and didn't do
We read the pricing pages and help articles below on 2026-10-23 and re-read most of them on 2026-10-27 (each row shows its date). We did not sign up for or test any free plan.
Sources (checked 2026-10-27 unless a line or table row says otherwise)
- Fathom pricing: https://www.fathom.ai/pricing
- Fireflies storage limits: https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/2631950139-learn-about-transcription-credits-storage-and-rate-limits-for-meetings
- Fireflies pricing page: https://fireflies.ai/pricing
- Fireflies security (training statements, checked 2026-10-27): https://fireflies.ai/security
- Otter pricing: https://otter.ai/pricing
- Otter HIPAA help article: https://help.otter.ai/hc/en-us/articles/33975072019991-HIPAA-Otter-ai
- Granola pricing: https://www.granola.ai/pricing
- Granola HIPAA help: https://docs.granola.ai/help-center/consent-security-privacy/is-granola-hipaa-compliant
- Upheal BAA: https://www.upheal.io/privacy-and-compliance/business-associate-agreement
- Mentalyc security page: https://www.mentalyc.com/security
- Bluedot pricing: https://www.bluedothq.com/pricing
- tl;dv pricing (US dollars, checked 2026-10-27): https://tldv.io/pricing/
- tl;dv free plan limits (November 24, 2025; read 2026-10-27): https://intercom.help/tldv/en/articles/8919450-what-are-the-limits-of-the-free-plan
- Notta pricing: https://www.notta.ai/en/pricing
- Notta plans: https://support.notta.ai/hc/en-us/articles/55339089140123-Understand-Notta-s-Plans-Pricing
- Zoom My Notes pricing: https://zoom.us/pricing/my-notes
- Zoom pricing (free Basic limits, checked 2026-10-27): https://zoom.us/pricing
- TurboScribe home page (free plan details): https://turboscribe.ai/
- TurboScribe pricing: https://turboscribe.ai/pricing
- Apple Notes recording: https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/record-and-transcribe-audio-iphbe11247b5/ios
- Pocket: https://heypocket.com/
- Plaud membership FAQ: https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/57724862694937-Plaud-AI-Membership-FAQ
- RCFP recording guide: https://www.rcfp.org/introduction-to-reporters-recording-guide/
- Oregon ORS 165.540: https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_165.540
- Granola model training help (checked 2026-10-27): https://docs.granola.ai/help-center/consent-security-privacy/model-training
- Granola subscriptions and billing (2026-10-27): https://docs.granola.ai/help-center/managing-your-account/subscriptions-and-billing
- Fireflies Free plan help (checked 2026-10-27): https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4027724828-learn-about-the-fireflies-free-plan
- Tactiq pricing (2026-10-27): https://tactiq.io/pricing
- Tactiq homepage (HIPAA line, 2026-10-27): https://tactiq.io/
- Tactiq help, What are meeting credits? (August 25, 2026; read 2026-10-27): https://help.tactiq.io/en/articles/9530978-what-are-meeting-credits
- Tactiq help, How Tactiq AI credits work (2026-10-27): https://help.tactiq.io/en/articles/9514873-how-tactiq-ai-credits-work
- Tactiq help, Large Language Models, GPT, OpenAI, Privacy and Tactiq (July 24, 2026; read 2026-10-27): https://help.tactiq.io/en/articles/7907775-large-language-models-gpt-openai-privacy-and-tactiq
- Tactiq help, How to use Tactiq with Zoom (no bot, 2026-10-27): https://help.tactiq.io/en/articles/9530151-how-to-use-tactiq-with-zoom
- Tactiq help, How to install the Tactiq extension (2026-10-27): https://help.tactiq.io/en/articles/10066236-how-to-install-the-tactiq-extension
Changes
- 2026-10-23: prices, plans and policies checked on the vendor pages in Sources.
- 2026-10-24: Review fixes. Granola training default, Granola history and monthly billing, Fireflies Free upload credits and pooled storage, Otter 25-conversation limit, Zoom My Notes called a plan.
- 2026-10-25: Pocket's $129 store listing date updated to 2026-10-24 (promos left off).
- 2026-10-25: Fireflies training line now shows both of Fireflies' statements.
- 2026-10-25: tl;dv prices now in US dollars as shown to a US reader (Pro $18/seat/mo annual or $29 monthly; Business $29 or $39), checked on tl;dv's pricing page.
- 2026-10-26: standard consent block now adds that a "this call may be recorded" greeting may not tell people an AI service is transcribing or summarizing the call.
- 2026-10-27: merged in a free-plans comparison: monthly prices, per-row checked dates, "The cheapest way up, in order" and "Which limit hits you first". Granola Business now shown as billed monthly only, and the Granola training line now uses Granola's own words. Fathom, Fireflies, Otter, Granola, Bluedot, Notta and TurboScribe prices re-read; Zoom free Basic limits re-read.
- 2026-10-27: Tactiq added: free limits, annual prices (monthly price not checked), Tactiq's own AI-credit and over-limit wording, a training line and a HIPAA/BAA line.
- 2026-10-27: ship-day re-read. Prices, plan limits and quoted vendor lines re-checked on the vendor pages in Sources; checked dates updated (promos left off).
- 2026-10-27: Tactiq monthly price added from Tactiq's pricing page.
- 2026-10-27: affiliate disclosure wording updated.
- 2026-10-27: Bluedot link is now a paid link, marked "(paid link)".