Best AI Meeting Assistants 2026: 6 Tools Compared
TL;DR
The best AI meeting assistants in 2026 can transcribe, summarize, and extract action items from your meetings automatically. Otter.ai leads for real-time transcription accuracy, Fireflies.ai excels at CRM integration and team collaboration, and tl;dv offers the best free tier for individuals getting started with AI meeting notes.
The average professional spends over 15 hours per week in meetings, yet studies show that 70% of meeting content is forgotten within 24 hours. AI meeting assistants solve this problem by automatically recording, transcribing, and summarizing your meetings, so you can focus on the conversation instead of taking notes.
We tested the top AI meeting assistant tools available in 2026, evaluating transcription accuracy, summarization quality, integrations, collaboration features, and pricing. Here’s our comprehensive comparison to help you choose the right tool for your team.
What Do AI Meeting Assistants Do?
Modern AI meeting assistants go far beyond simple transcription. Here’s what the best tools can do:
- Real-time transcription with speaker identification
- Automatic meeting summaries with key topics and decisions
- Action item extraction and task assignment
- Searchable meeting archives across all your meetings
- CRM integration to auto-update deal notes and contacts
- Coaching insights for sales calls (talk-to-listen ratio, filler words)
- Multi-language support for global teams
Top 6 AI Meeting Assistants Compared
| Tool | Best For | Free Plan | Starting Price | Languages | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otter.ai | Real-time transcription | 300 min/mo | $16.99/mo | English primary | 9.1/10 |
| Fireflies.ai | Team collaboration | Unlimited (limited) | $18/mo | 60+ languages | 9.0/10 |
| tl;dv | Free tier generosity | Unlimited recordings | $18/mo | 30+ languages | 8.8/10 |
| Fathom | Free unlimited use | Unlimited | $19/mo (Team) | 28 languages | 8.7/10 |
| Avoma | Revenue teams | Limited free | $19/mo | 20+ languages | 8.5/10 |
| Krisp | Noise cancellation + notes | 60 min/day | $8/mo | English primary | 8.4/10 |
1. Otter.ai – Best for Real-Time Transcription
Otter.ai pioneered AI-powered meeting transcription and continues to lead in real-time transcription accuracy. Its OtterPilot feature automatically joins your Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams meetings, generating live transcripts that participants can view and highlight during the meeting.
Key Features
- Real-time transcription with 95%+ accuracy for clear audio
- OtterPilot auto-joins meetings from your calendar
- AI-generated meeting summaries and action items
- Live chat during meetings with AI Q&A
- Speaker identification and attribution
- Integration with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams
- Slide capture from screen shares
- Search across all past meeting transcripts
Pricing
Free plan: 300 transcription minutes per month, 30 minutes per conversation. Pro: $16.99/month (1,200 minutes). Business: $30/user/month (6,000 minutes). Enterprise: custom pricing.
Pros & Cons
Pros: Excellent real-time accuracy, great live collaboration features, slide capture is unique, strong search functionality, affordable pro tier.
Cons: English-centric (limited multilingual support), free tier restrictions, accuracy drops with poor audio quality, limited CRM integrations compared to Fireflies.
2. Fireflies.ai – Best for Team Collaboration
Fireflies.ai excels at turning meeting conversations into actionable team knowledge. Beyond transcription and summarization, Fireflies offers powerful collaboration features like topic tracking, sentiment analysis, and deep CRM integrations that make it the top choice for sales and customer success teams.
Key Features
- Automatic transcription across 60+ languages
- AI-powered meeting summaries with custom formats
- Topic tracking and conversation intelligence
- Sentiment analysis and speaker analytics
- CRM auto-update (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive)
- AskFred AI chatbot to query past meetings
- Custom vocabulary for industry-specific terms
- Channels for organizing and sharing meeting clips
Pricing
Free plan: unlimited transcription with limited AI summaries. Pro: $18/user/month. Business: $29/user/month. Enterprise: $39/user/month.
Pros & Cons
Pros: Outstanding 60+ language support, best CRM integrations, AskFred AI search is powerful, comprehensive analytics, generous free tier.
Cons: Can feel overwhelming with features, AI summary quality varies by language, higher cost for full feature access, mobile app could be improved.
3. tl;dv – Best Free Tier
tl;dv has quickly become a favorite for individuals and small teams thanks to its remarkably generous free plan. You get unlimited meeting recordings and transcriptions, with AI summaries included at no cost. It’s particularly popular among product managers and UX researchers for its clip-sharing features.
Key Features
- Unlimited free meeting recordings and transcription
- AI meeting summaries with key moments
- Timestamped highlights and clips
- Multi-meeting intelligence reports
- Supports Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams
- CRM and project management integrations
- Custom meeting note templates
- 30+ language transcription
Pricing
Free: unlimited recordings and AI notes. Pro: $18/user/month (advanced AI features, CRM integration). Business: $59/user/month (multi-meeting intelligence, custom workflows). Enterprise: custom.
Pros & Cons
Pros: Best free tier available, unlimited recordings, great clip-sharing for stakeholders, intuitive interface, multi-meeting insights on paid plans.
Cons: Advanced AI features require paid plan, newer platform with fewer integrations, no native mobile app, limited phone call support.
4. Fathom – Best Free Unlimited AI Notetaker
Fathom offers a completely free AI meeting assistant for individual users with no recording limits. It provides high-quality meeting summaries, action items, and a clean interface that makes reviewing meetings fast and efficient. The paid Team plan adds collaboration and CRM features.
Key Features
- Free unlimited recording and transcription for individuals
- AI-generated summaries in multiple formats
- One-click action item extraction
- Highlight and clip important moments
- Quick sync to CRM (paid plan)
- Works with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams
- 28 language transcription support
Pricing
Free: unlimited for individual use. Fathom Team: $19/user/month. Fathom for Sales Teams: $29/user/month with CRM sync and coaching features.
5. Avoma – Best for Revenue Teams
Avoma positions itself as a complete meeting lifecycle assistant, covering scheduling, preparation, transcription, analysis, and follow-up. It’s particularly strong for revenue teams that need conversation intelligence, deal tracking, and coaching insights tied to their meetings.
Key Features
- Meeting preparation with agenda templates
- AI transcription and smart summaries
- Conversation intelligence with topic detection
- Revenue intelligence and deal tracking
- Coaching scorecards for sales managers
- Automatic CRM updates
- Meeting scheduling built-in
Pricing
Starter: Free (limited). Plus: $19/user/month. Business: $49/user/month (conversation intelligence). Enterprise: $79/user/month.
6. Krisp – Best for Noise Cancellation + Meeting Notes
Krisp started as an AI noise cancellation tool and has evolved into a full meeting assistant. What makes Krisp unique is that it works across any meeting platform (not just Zoom, Meet, and Teams) because it operates at the system audio level. It’s ideal for remote workers in noisy environments who also want meeting notes.
Key Features
- AI noise cancellation for voice and background
- Works with any conferencing platform
- Meeting transcription and AI summaries
- Action items and key decisions extraction
- Echo cancellation
- No bot joins the meeting (processes locally)
- Meeting time tracking and analytics
Pricing
Free: 60 minutes/day of noise cancellation and 1 meeting notes/day. Pro: $8/user/month. Business: $15/user/month. Enterprise: custom.
How to Choose the Right AI Meeting Assistant
Consider Your Primary Need
- Transcription accuracy: Otter.ai leads with real-time capabilities
- Team collaboration: Fireflies.ai offers the most comprehensive sharing and search
- Budget-conscious: tl;dv or Fathom for generous free tiers
- Sales teams: Avoma or Fireflies for CRM integration and coaching
- Noisy environments: Krisp combines noise cancellation with notes
Integration Requirements
Check which tools integrate with your existing stack. If you use Salesforce, Fireflies and Avoma have the deepest integrations. For HubSpot, Fireflies and Fathom work well. For Slack and project management tools, most options have good support.
Privacy and Compliance
All listed tools offer SOC 2 compliance and data encryption. However, recording consent laws vary by region. Make sure your chosen tool supports recording notifications and consent features for your jurisdiction. Krisp’s local processing approach is worth considering for maximum data privacy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do AI meeting assistants work with all video conferencing platforms?
Most AI meeting assistants support the three major platforms: Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. Some, like Krisp, work with any platform including Webex, GoToMeeting, and Discord because they process audio at the system level. Check each tool’s compatibility page for your specific platform before signing up.
Is it legal to record meetings with AI assistants?
Recording laws vary by jurisdiction. In many US states, only one party needs to consent (the person recording). However, some states and countries require all parties to consent. Most AI meeting assistants provide notification features that inform participants a recording is in progress. Always check your local laws and company policies before recording meetings.
How accurate are AI meeting transcriptions?
Leading AI meeting assistants achieve 90-97% accuracy for clear English audio in good conditions. Accuracy depends on audio quality, number of speakers, accents, background noise, and technical vocabulary. Tools like Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai let you add custom vocabulary to improve accuracy for industry-specific terms. Multi-language transcription typically has slightly lower accuracy than English.
Can AI meeting assistants join meetings without anyone knowing?
Most AI meeting bots appear as named participants in the meeting (e.g., “Otter.ai Notetaker”), making them visible to all attendees. Krisp is an exception as it processes audio locally without joining as a participant. Ethically and legally, you should always inform meeting participants that the session is being recorded, regardless of the tool’s visibility.
Last updated: February 2026. Pricing and features may change. Visit each tool’s website for the most current information.
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