Best Free AI Note Takers for Meetings in 2026
The short answer: The best free AI note taker is the one whose free plan still gives you usable notes after the call ends. Meetbook's Free plan costs $0, needs no credit card and includes 300 recording minutes a month, a live transcript, a summary with action items and owners, and Ask AI across your meetings. Meetbook records from a Chrome tab with no bot in the call, works on Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex, and has an Android app for meetings in a room. Otter's free Basic plan also includes 300 transcription minutes a month. Tactiq's free plan covers 10 transcripts a month with no bot, and Read AI's free plan covers 5 meeting transcripts a month. Every plan and limit below was checked on the vendor's own site on 12 Nov 2026.
"Free" on an AI note taker never means free of limits. It means one meter is running somewhere: minutes, transcripts, AI credits or storage. The useful question is which meter you will hit first, and whether a bot shows up in your client's meeting while it runs.
The best free AI note takers at a glance
| Tool | Free plan (checked 12 Nov 2026) | How it records | Meeting platforms | Android app | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meetbook | $0, no card, 300 recording minutes a month | Chrome extension with no bot, or a calendar notetaker that joins | Google Meet, Zoom, Teams, Webex | Yes | Sales and client calls where you need the quote behind each point |
| Otter | $0 (Basic), 300 transcription minutes a month | Notetaker joins the call | Zoom, Teams, Google Meet | Yes | Live transcripts on the big three platforms |
| Fathom | $0, "free forever" for individuals | Bot, or bot-free capture in beta on Mac | Zoom, Google Meet, Teams | Not on Google Play | Solo users recording at a desktop |
| tl;dv | $0, 10 AI meeting notes a month | Bot; its desktop app records Google Meet without one | Google Meet, Zoom, Teams | Not on Google Play | Recording and sharing internal calls |
| Fireflies | $0, 20 AI credits a month, 400 minutes of storage | Bot joins the call | Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Webex | Yes | Teams already using its integrations |
| Tactiq | $0, no card, 10 transcripts a month | Chrome extension, no bot | Google Meet, Zoom, Teams | Not on Google Play | An occasional transcript without a bot |
| Read AI | $0, 5 meeting transcripts a month | Assistant joins the call | Zoom, Teams, Google Meet | Yes | Trying AI meeting reports on a few calls |
Sources: Otter pricing, Fathom pricing, Tactiq pricing, Read AI pricing, the Fireflies Free plan guide, tl;dv's own free AI note taker comparison (updated 18 Oct 2026), Meetbook pricing, and a Google Play search for each app, all on 12 Nov 2026.
What does "free" actually cover on an AI note taker?
A free AI note taker plan covers a fixed allowance of one resource, and each vendor picks a different one. The four meters you will meet:
- Recording minutes. Meetbook and Otter both give 300 minutes a month on their free plans. Minutes are the easiest meter to plan around because they map to your calendar: 300 minutes is ten half-hour calls.
- Transcript or meeting counts. Tactiq's free plan counts 10 transcripts a month and Read AI's counts 5. A count ignores length, so a 10-minute check-in and a long discovery call cost the same. If you take five calls a week, a 5-transcript month runs out in the first week.
- AI credits. Fireflies' free plan includes 20 AI credits a month, and Tactiq's includes 5. Credits are spent on AI summaries and questions, so the transcript can be free while the useful part, the notes, is rationed.
- AI notes. tl;dv's free plan includes 10 AI meeting notes a month, per tl;dv's own comparison page.
On Meetbook's Free plan the meter is recording minutes. Every meeting recorded inside those minutes gets its transcript, a summary and action items with owners, so the notes are not rationed separately from the recording.
The practical test before you pick: count last month's external calls, look at their length, and see which meter that pattern burns first. A rep with three discovery calls a day needs a different free plan from a manager with one weekly review.
Does a free AI note taker have to put a bot in your meeting?
No. Most free AI note takers join as a bot that appears in the participant list, but a few record without one.
Bot-based tools (Otter, Fireflies, Read AI, and Fathom and tl;dv by default) send an assistant into the meeting. It shows up as a named participant, and on a client call the host often has to admit it. Some buyers ask who the extra attendee is; some meetings block outside bots entirely.
Bot-free tools capture the meeting from your own device instead:
- Meetbook records the meeting tab through its Chrome extension, so no bot joins the call. Meetbook also has a calendar notetaker that joins as a participant, for meetings you can't attend or want covered automatically.
- Tactiq transcribes in Chrome "in real-time with no bot", per its pricing page.
- Fathom offers bot-free capture as a beta on Mac, per its pricing page.
- tl;dv records Google Meet without a bot through its desktop app, per its own comparison page.
Bot or no bot is a choice about the meeting, not the tool's quality. For a deeper comparison of the two ways of recording, see meeting bot vs botless recorder.
What does each free plan include?
What does Meetbook's free plan include?
Meetbook's Free plan costs $0 and needs no credit card. It includes 300 recording minutes a month, a live transcript word by word in about 50 languages with auto-detect, and a summary, outline and action items with owners when the call ends. Every point in a Meetbook summary carries the quote it came from, with the speaker and timestamp, so "they said budget is approved" can be checked in one click instead of argued about.
During the call, Meetbook's Ask AI answers questions like "Catch me up" or "Summarize so far" while the meeting is still running. After it, you can search and ask across your past meetings. On sales calls, Meetbook writes sales notes: Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline, Objections, Next steps and a deal-risk level, each with its evidence.
Meetbook works on Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex. The Chrome extension records with no bot; the calendar notetaker joins as a participant when you prefer that. The Meetbook Android app records meetings that happen in a room: tap record, lay the phone on the table, and it keeps recording with the screen off. The Free plan also includes three file uploads a month, for a voice memo or a recording you already have. Plans and limits are on Meetbook's pricing page, and the Meetbook pricing explainer walks through each plan.
Is Otter free, and what does Otter Basic include?
Yes. Otter's Basic plan is $0 and includes 300 transcription minutes a month, AI Chat within and across meetings (20 queries a month), and three audio or video file imports for the life of the account, per Otter's pricing page on 12 Nov 2026. Otter works on Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, and has an Android app.
Otter and Meetbook give the same 300 monthly minutes on their free plans. The differences show up elsewhere: Meetbook's free uploads reset every month where Otter's three imports are lifetime, and Meetbook can record without a bot through its Chrome extension. If you're weighing a switch, Otter alternatives compares the options in more detail.
Is Fathom free?
Yes. Fathom has a Free plan it calls "free forever" for individuals, covering Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, per Fathom's pricing page on 12 Nov 2026. Fathom records with a bot, or without one through a bot-free capture mode that is in beta on Mac. Ask Fathom, its question feature, is marked "limited use" on the pricing page.
Fathom runs at a desktop; a Google Play search on 12 Nov 2026 found no Fathom app. For meetings away from a laptop, Meetbook's Android app covers the room. The head-to-head is in Fathom vs Meetbook.
What does tl;dv's free plan include?
tl;dv's free plan includes recording on Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams and 10 AI meeting notes a month, per tl;dv's own comparison page (updated 18 Oct 2026). The same page says free recordings are archived after 3 days, that Webex is not supported, and that bot-based recording needs host approval, with a desktop app that records Google Meet without a bot.
Meetbook also records Webex calls, keeps a summary for every recorded meeting rather than a monthly count, and records the meeting tab from Chrome with no bot. More on that comparison in tl;dv alternative.
What does Fireflies' free plan include?
Fireflies' free plan includes 20 AI credits a month, 400 minutes of storage per seat, and file uploads up to 100 MB, per the Fireflies Free plan guide on 12 Nov 2026. When storage fills, older meetings have to be deleted before new ones can be added. Fireflies joins as a bot on Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex, and has an Android app.
The meter to watch on Fireflies is AI credits: the transcript is not where the value is, the summary is. Meetbook writes a summary and action items for every meeting recorded inside its 300 free minutes. See Fireflies alternatives for the full field.
What does Tactiq's free plan include?
Tactiq's free plan includes 10 transcripts a month and 5 AI credits, needs no credit card, and works through a Chrome extension on Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams with no bot, per Tactiq's pricing page on 12 Nov 2026. Tactiq gives you a transcript rather than an audio or video recording of the call.
Tactiq and Meetbook share the bot-free Chrome approach and the no-card free plan. Meetbook adds a summary with action items and owners on every recorded meeting, each point backed by its quote, plus Webex and an Android app for in-person meetings.
What does Read AI's free plan include?
Read AI's free plan includes 5 meeting transcripts and 5 meeting reports a month, per Read AI's pricing page on 12 Nov 2026. Read AI's assistant joins Zoom, Teams and Google Meet calls, and Read AI has an Android app. Meeting uploads are not part of its free plan.
Five transcripts is a trial of the reports more than a month of notes. Meetbook's Free plan meters minutes instead, so a week of short calls does not use up the month.
Which free AI note taker is best for sales and client calls?
For sales and client calls, the best free AI note taker is one that stays out of the participant list and gives you notes you can defend. That points to two checks.
Who is in the room. A bot in a first call with a buyer is one more thing to explain. Meetbook's Chrome extension records the tab with no bot, so the buyer sees the people they invited.
Whether the notes hold up. A summary that says "the CFO approved the budget" is only as good as the sentence behind it. Every point in a Meetbook summary links to the quote, the speaker and the timestamp, so a rep can check it before it goes into the CRM, and a manager can read the exact words instead of the rep's memory. Meetbook's sales notes lay out Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline, Objections and Next steps, each with its evidence.
Picture this: a discovery call with James Reid, a VP at Globex. At minute 12 he says the pilot can start in January if legal signs off. Two weeks later, nobody remembers whether it was January or "early next year". With a quote-backed note, the answer is one click away, with his name and the minute on it.
Sales calls also don't all happen on a screen. A coffee with a buyer or a site visit has no meeting link to join. Meetbook's Android app records those, with a live transcript as people talk. The guide to the best AI note takers for in-person meetings covers that side in detail.
How do you make a free plan last the whole month?
You make a free AI note taker plan last by recording the calls that carry decisions and skipping the ones that don't.
- Record external calls first. Discovery, demos, renewals and client reviews are where a missed sentence costs money. A recurring internal standup rarely is.
- Turn off auto-join for meetings you don't need. Calendar notetakers that join every meeting spend the allowance on meetings nobody will reread.
- Upload what you already have. Meetbook's Free plan includes three uploads a month for a voice memo or a recording made elsewhere.
- Ask instead of rereading. Ask AI across past meetings ("what did Northwind say about pricing?") finds the answer without replaying anything.
- Check the meter mid-month. Every tool here shows usage in its settings. Knowing you have 120 minutes left on the 15th changes which calls you record.
Should you ask before a free AI note taker records?
Yes. Ask before you hit record, every time, whichever tool you use. A one-line script works: "Mind if I record this so I can focus on you instead of my notes?" Recording laws differ by country and US state, and some require every participant's consent, so the safe habit is to ask on the call and let the recording capture the yes. For the full picture, including whether note takers train AI on your meetings, see does Meetbook train AI on your meetings.
FAQ
Is there a completely free AI note taker with no limits?
No. Every free plan checked on 12 Nov 2026 meters something: minutes, transcripts, AI credits, AI notes or storage. Meetbook's Free plan meters recording minutes (300 a month) and includes a summary for every meeting recorded within them.
Is Otter AI free?
Yes. Otter's Basic plan is $0 and includes 300 transcription minutes a month, 20 AI Chat queries a month and three lifetime file imports, per Otter's pricing page on 12 Nov 2026.
Is Fathom free?
Yes. Fathom's Free plan is "free forever" for individuals on Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, per Fathom's pricing page on 12 Nov 2026.
Is there a free AI note taker that doesn't join the meeting as a bot?
Yes. Meetbook's Chrome extension records the meeting tab with no bot on Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex, and Tactiq's free Chrome extension transcribes without a bot too.
Do free AI note takers need a credit card?
No, not Meetbook or Tactiq: both state that their free plans need no card. Meetbook's paid Solo ($13.99 a month) and Business ($29.99 per seat a month) plans have a 14-day trial that does need a card.
Is there a free AI note taker for Android?
Yes. Meetbook, Otter, Fireflies and Read AI all have Android apps. The Meetbook Android app is free to start with no card and records in-person meetings with the screen off.
Is there a free AI note taker for Google Meet?
Yes. Meetbook, Tactiq, Otter, Fathom, tl;dv, Fireflies and Read AI all work with Google Meet on their free plans; Meetbook and Tactiq do it without a bot in the call.
Does Meetbook train AI on your meetings on the free plan?
No. Meetbook does not train AI on your meetings on any plan, free or paid, and the AI providers it uses are contractually barred from training on your data.