Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026: Never Miss a Detail Again

The average professional spends roughly 31 hours every month in meetings, and a staggering amount of what gets discussed simply evaporates. Action items fall through the cracks, decisions go unrecorded, and the person furiously scribbling notes misses half the conversation.

That is exactly the problem the best AI meeting assistant tools were built to solve. In 2026, the market has matured significantly. These tools no longer just transcribe words. They generate structured summaries, extract action items, coach sales teams, and push insights directly into your CRM. Some even work without joining the call as a visible bot participant, which means fewer awkward “Who is Fireflies.ai Notetaker?” moments. If you’re exploring options, check out our guide to AI meeting assistants in 2026.

I spent the past several weeks testing and comparing seven leading AI meeting assistants across real work scenarios: team stand-ups, client calls, sales demos, and cross-timezone check-ins. This guide breaks down exactly what each tool does well, where it falls short, and which one fits your workflow.

TL;DR: Quick Picks

• Best overall for individuals: Fathom — Genuinely free unlimited recording with fast AI summaries
• Best for sales teams: Avoma — Deep conversation intelligence with CRM-native workflows
• Best free plan for teams: tl;dv — Unlimited transcription in 30+ languages on the free tier
• Best for integrations: Fireflies.ai — 5,000+ app connections and a powerful search API
• Best for audio quality: Krisp — AI noise cancellation built into every plan
• Best for collaboration: Grain — Shareable highlight clips that fit naturally into Slack and Notion
• Best minute-by-minute value: Otter.ai — 6,000 minutes on the Business plan with rock-solid transcription

What to Look For in an AI Meeting Assistant

Before diving into individual reviews, here are the criteria that actually matter when choosing a tool:

• Transcription accuracy: Anything below 90% creates more work than it saves. All tools here clear that bar, though performance varies with accents and background noise.
• Summary quality: A raw transcript is almost as useless as no notes at all. The best tools produce structured summaries with headers, action items, and decisions clearly separated.
• Platform support: At minimum, you need Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. Some tools cover Webex and others.
• Integration depth: Pushing notes into Slack, your CRM, or a AI for project management tool matters more than most people realize when they first sign up.
• Privacy and security: SOC 2, GDPR compliance, and options for local processing or private hosting.
• Bot visibility: Some tools join calls as a named participant. Others work silently in the background. Depending on your meeting culture, this can be a dealbreaker.

The 7 Best AI Meeting Assistants Reviewed

1. Otter.ai — The Transcription Pioneer

Best for: Professionals who need high-volume, high-accuracy transcription with a proven track record.

Otter.ai has been in the transcription game longer than most competitors on this list, and the experience shows. Transcription accuracy consistently lands in the 93-96% range for clear English audio, and the real-time transcription during live meetings is genuinely impressive. If you’re exploring options, check out our guide to Otter AI alternatives.

The standout feature in 2026 is OtterPilot, which joins your meetings automatically when you are double-booked, captures everything, and delivers AI-generated summaries with action items. For anyone juggling overlapping calls, this alone justifies the subscription.

Where Otter falls behind is flexibility. The minute-cap system is rigid. When you hit your monthly limit, the service simply stops. There are no overage charges, no rollover, and no way to buy a few extra minutes. You either upgrade or wait for the next billing cycle.

Pricing:

• Free: 300 minutes/month, 30 min per conversation
• Pro: $16.99/month (or $8.33/month billed annually) — 1,200 minutes
• Business: $30/month (or $20/month annually) — 6,000 minutes
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Verdict: Otter is a reliable workhorse for transcription-heavy workflows. If your primary need is accurate meeting records at scale, the Business plan delivers strong value at 6,000 minutes per month. Just keep an eye on that minute counter.

2. Fireflies.ai — The Integration Powerhouse

Best for: Teams that need their meeting data flowing into every tool in their stack.

Fireflies has built what is arguably the most connected AI meeting assistant available. With over 5,000 integrations through native connectors and Zapier, your meeting notes can automatically land in Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Notion, Asana, and practically anything else your team uses.

A notable 2026 addition is the “Talk to Fireflies” feature, powered by Perplexity AI. It lets you ask questions and get web search results during meetings, functioning like a research assistant sitting alongside you in the call. Fireflies also now generates bullet-point notes during the call itself, not just after, so you can see key points being captured in real time.

The pricing structure has a quirk worth knowing about. AI features run on a credit system that is surprisingly limited even on paid plans. The Pro plan includes only 20 AI credits per month, which can run dry fast if you rely heavily on the AskFred AI assistant or advanced summaries. Extra credits cost $5 for 50.

Pricing:

• Free: 800 minutes storage, limited AI summaries
• Pro: $18/month (or $10/month annually) — Unlimited transcription, 8,000 min storage
• Business: $29/month (or $19/month annually) — Unlimited storage, video recording
• Enterprise: $39/user/month — SSO, HIPAA compliance, custom retention

Verdict: Fireflies is the right choice when integration breadth is your top priority. The Business plan unlocks video recording and conversation intelligence that competes with tools costing three times as much. Just budget for those extra AI credits if your team asks a lot of questions.

3. tl;dv — The Gong Alternative at a Fraction of the Price

Best for: Sales teams that want conversation intelligence without Gong’s price tag.

tl;dv has quietly become one of the most compelling options in the market by targeting the enormous gap between basic note-takers and enterprise conversation intelligence platforms. The Business plan at $59/month delivers roughly 80% of what Gong offers at $100-130/user/month.

The free tier is also notably generous. You get unlimited meetings, unlimited viewers, and transcription in over 30 languages. The catch is that AI-generated meeting notes are limited to 10 over the lifetime of a free account, which is really a trial rather than a sustainable free plan.

The Pro plan at $18/month is where the real value lives for most users. It unlocks unlimited meeting notes, multi-meeting reports, global transcript search, and over 5,000 integrations. For an individual or small team that needs comprehensive meeting intelligence, this hits a sweet spot that few competitors match.

Pricing:

• Free: Unlimited meetings and transcription, 10 AI meeting notes (lifetime)
• Pro: $18/month — Unlimited notes, uploads, integrations
• Business: $59/month — Full sales intelligence, deal insights, coaching
• Enterprise: Custom pricing — Private AI hosting, advanced admin

Verdict: tl;dv offers the best price-to-feature ratio for sales-oriented teams that have outgrown basic note-takers but cannot justify Gong-level spending. The Pro plan is a standout value. The jump to Business only makes sense if you genuinely need deal tracking and coaching analytics.

4. Fathom — The Best Free Meeting Assistant for Individuals

Best for: Individual professionals who want high-quality meeting notes without paying a cent.

Fathom takes a different approach to monetization than most competitors, and it works in the user’s favor. The free plan includes unlimited meeting recordings with no monthly minute caps. You get full transcripts, basic AI summaries, highlight clips, a personal meeting library, and even basic CRM sync with HubSpot and Salesforce. All for free.

The catch? You are limited to 5 AI-generated summaries per month on the free tier. For many professionals attending 4-5 important meetings a week, that means choosing which meetings get the full AI treatment. Still, unlimited raw recordings and transcripts is a remarkable offer.

Fathom’s AI summaries are delivered within 30 seconds of a meeting ending, which is noticeably faster than most competitors. The summaries themselves are well-structured, with clear sections for key topics, decisions, and action items. The tool is trusted by over 500,000 users, and its approach of being free for individuals while monetizing team features has built genuine loyalty.

Pricing:

• Free: Unlimited recordings, 5 AI summaries/month, basic CRM sync
• Premium: $19/month (or ~$15/month annually) — Unlimited AI summaries, Ask Fathom AI
• Team Edition: $29/month (or ~$19/month annually) — Shared libraries, keyword alerts, SSO
• Team Edition Pro: $39/month (or ~$25/month annually) — CRM sync, deal views, AI scorecards

Verdict: If you are an individual professional looking for the best AI meeting assistant that you can use right now without opening your wallet, Fathom is the answer. The free tier is genuinely useful, not a crippled demo. Team features require paid plans, but for personal meeting management, nothing else comes close at zero cost.

5. Krisp — The Audio-First Meeting Assistant

Best for: Remote workers in noisy environments who need clean audio and meeting notes in one tool.

Krisp carved out its niche with industry-leading AI noise cancellation, and it has expanded into a full meeting assistant without losing that core strength. Every plan, including the free tier, includes noise cancellation, background voice removal, and echo cancellation. This is the tool you want if you regularly take calls from coffee shops, co-working spaces, or a home office next to a construction site. If you’re exploring options, check out our guide to AI voice generators.

What makes Krisp unique is its bot-free approach. Rather than joining your meeting as a visible participant, Krisp works locally on your device. No one in the meeting sees a bot or gets a notification that recording has started (though you should always inform participants as a matter of courtesy and compliance). This makes it particularly appealing for client-facing calls where a recording bot might feel intrusive.

Krisp now transcribes and summarizes meetings in over 16 languages and includes an AI accent conversion feature that makes non-native speakers easier to understand. It is a thoughtful addition for globally distributed teams. The workspace model is flexible too. You can create multiple teams within one workspace, each on a different plan.

Pricing:

• Free: 60 min/day noise cancellation, unlimited transcription, 2 AI notes/day
• Pro: $16/month (or $8/month annually) — Unlimited everything, video recording, AI co-pilot
• Business: $30/user/month — SSO, admin controls, usage analytics, premium support
• Enterprise: Custom pricing — Dedicated account management, SOC 2

Verdict: Krisp is the best choice for anyone who values audio quality as much as note-taking. The noise cancellation alone justifies the Pro plan for remote workers in imperfect environments. The meeting assistant features have matured into a solid offering, even if they do not quite match dedicated note-takers on summary depth. If you are already interested in tools that work across different media, check out what is available for AI for podcasting as well.

6. Avoma — The Enterprise Revenue Intelligence Platform

Best for: Revenue teams that need meeting intelligence deeply integrated with their sales process.

Avoma is the most full-featured tool on this list, and its pricing reflects that ambition. While every other tool here is primarily a meeting recorder that has added intelligence features, Avoma was built from the ground up as an end-to-end platform for customer-facing teams. It covers the entire meeting lifecycle: preparation, recording, transcription, analysis, and follow-up.

The Starter plan at $19/user/month includes unlimited AI meeting assistant capabilities and a 1:1 scheduler. The real power unlocks at higher tiers. The Business plan ($79/user/month) brings AI deal risk analysis, sales methodology tracking, win/loss analysis, and forecasting. These are features that compete directly with Gong and Chorus.

One major advantage is the collaborator model. Only users who record and transcribe meetings need a paid seat. Listeners and collaborators use Avoma for free, which can significantly reduce per-team costs compared to tools that charge for every user.

Pricing:

• Free: Basic recording, transcription, and collaborative note-taking
• Starter: $19/user/month (annually) — Unlimited AI meeting assistant, scheduler
• Plus: $49/user/month (annually) — Conversation intelligence, advanced AI notes
• Business: $79/user/month (annually) — Revenue intelligence, deal tracking, forecasting
• Enterprise: $149/user/month (annually) — Custom onboarding, quarterly reviews, 10-seat min

Verdict: Avoma is not a casual purchase. It is a strategic investment for revenue teams that want their meeting data working harder across the entire sales pipeline. The Starter plan is competitively priced for basic meeting assistance. The higher tiers justify their cost only if your team will actively use the conversation and revenue intelligence features. A 14-day unrestricted trial with no credit card required makes it easy to test.

7. Grain — The Collaboration-First Note Taker

Best for: Teams that share meeting highlights frequently and want clips integrated into their workflow tools.

Grain takes a different angle than most tools on this list. Rather than competing on transcription volume or conversation intelligence depth, Grain focuses on making meeting moments shareable and actionable. The clip-and-share workflow is genuinely well designed. You can highlight a moment during a meeting and instantly create a shareable clip that embeds neatly in Slack, Notion, or your CRM.

The free plan allows up to 20 recorded meetings, which is more generous than many competitors that limit free users to a handful of sessions or impose heavy time restrictions. Paid plans start at $15/month for the Starter tier, which already includes unlimited recordings.

A notable recent addition is Grain’s MCP server, which lets you connect your meeting data directly to AI tools like Claude and Cursor. This is a forward-thinking feature for teams building AI-augmented workflows where meeting context needs to flow into development, writing, or analysis tools.

Where Grain falls short is on deeper analytics. It does not offer the deal intelligence, revenue forecasting, or coaching features that Avoma or tl;dv provide. For teams primarily focused on sharing and acting on meeting highlights rather than analyzing sales performance, that trade-off makes perfect sense.

Pricing:

• Free: Up to 20 recorded meetings, basic AI features
• Starter: $15/user/month — Unlimited recordings, AI summaries
• Business: $29/user/month (annually) — Advanced features, CRM sync, team analytics
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Verdict: Grain is the ideal choice for teams where meeting highlights need to move quickly into conversations and workflows. The clip-sharing experience is best-in-class, and the MCP server integration shows Grain is thinking ahead. Teams needing heavy analytics should look elsewhere, but for collaboration-driven organizations, Grain is a natural fit.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Tool	Best For	Price/Month (from)	Free Plan	Rating
Otter.ai	High-volume transcription	$8.33 (annual)	Yes — 300 min/mo	4.3/5
Fireflies.ai	Integration-heavy workflows	$10 (annual)	Yes — 800 min storage	4.5/5
tl;dv	Affordable sales intelligence	$18	Yes — Unlimited transcription	4.6/5
Fathom	Individuals (free tier)	$15 (annual)	Yes — Unlimited recordings	4.7/5
Krisp	Audio quality + notes	$8 (annual)	Yes — 60 min/day	4.4/5
Avoma	Revenue teams / enterprise	$19 (annual)	Yes — Basic features	4.4/5
Grain	Team collaboration / clips	$15	Yes — 20 meetings	4.3/5

How to Choose the Right AI Meeting Assistant

With seven solid options on the table, the decision comes down to your specific situation:

If you are an individual professional who attends a moderate number of meetings and wants free, high-quality notes, start with Fathom. The free tier is genuinely useful, and you can always upgrade later.

If you lead a sales team and need conversation intelligence, deal tracking, or coaching analytics, your real decision is between tl;dv (affordable, covers most needs) and Avoma (comprehensive, built for revenue operations at scale).

If your team lives in Slack, Notion, and HubSpot and needs meeting data flowing everywhere automatically, Fireflies.ai has the broadest integration ecosystem.

If you frequently take calls from noisy environments, Krisp is the only tool that combines enterprise-grade noise cancellation with meeting transcription. The bot-free approach is a bonus for client-facing work.

If your team shares meeting moments constantly and values clips over comprehensive analytics, Grain was designed specifically for that workflow.

If you need maximum transcription minutes at a predictable cost and have been using Otter for years, Otter.ai’s Business plan remains a dependable choice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best free AI meeting assistant in 2026?

Fathom offers the most generous free plan for individuals in 2026, with unlimited meeting recordings on Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. tl;dv is another strong free option with unlimited transcription in 30+ languages. Both tools let you record and transcribe without paying, though AI-generated summaries are limited on free tiers.

Are AI meeting assistants safe to use with confidential meetings?

Most reputable AI meeting assistants comply with SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and offer end-to-end encryption. Tools like Krisp process audio locally on your device for noise cancellation, adding an extra layer of privacy. For highly sensitive meetings, look for enterprise plans that include private AI hosting (offered by tl;dv and Avoma), SSO, and custom data retention policies. Always review the vendor’s security documentation before recording confidential discussions.

Do AI meeting assistants work with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams?

Yes. All seven tools reviewed here support Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. Some tools like Fireflies also support additional platforms such as Webex and GoToMeeting. Integration depth varies by plan, so check each tool’s feature list for your specific conferencing platform.

Can AI meeting assistants replace a human note-taker?

For most standard business meetings, yes. Modern AI meeting assistants achieve 90-95% transcription accuracy and generate structured summaries with action items, key decisions, and follow-ups. However, they work best as a complement to human attention rather than a full replacement. Complex negotiations, highly technical discussions, or meetings with poor audio quality may still benefit from a human note-taker reviewing the AI-generated notes. We also cover this topic in our guide to AI tools for business.

How much does an AI meeting assistant cost per month in 2026?

Pricing ranges widely. Individual plans start at $8-19 per month (Krisp Pro at $8/month annually, Grain Starter at $15/month, Otter Pro at $8.33/month annually). Team and business plans typically run $19-39 per user per month. Enterprise-grade tools like Avoma’s Business plan cost $79/user/month. Every tool on this list offers a free tier or free trial, so you can test before committing.

Final Thoughts

The best AI meeting assistant is the one your team will actually use consistently. A tool packed with conversation intelligence features delivers zero value if your team just needs clean transcripts and shareable notes.

My recommendation: start with a free tier. Fathom and tl;dv both offer enough on their free plans to genuinely evaluate the experience across several weeks of real meetings. Once you understand how AI meeting notes change your workflow, you will have a much clearer picture of which paid features justify the upgrade.

The meeting assistant category has matured significantly in 2026. Competition has driven prices down while pushing quality up. Regardless of which tool you choose from this list, you will end up with better meeting records, fewer missed action items, and more mental bandwidth to actually participate in the conversation instead of frantically typing notes.

And if meetings are just one piece of your productivity puzzle, take a look at our guides on AI for project management and AI for podcasting for more tools that work alongside your meeting assistant. For more recommendations, see our list of AI productivity tools.