Who this is for: founders and small teams who make decisions in meetings and lose the reasons afterwards. Skip it if your firm already licenses Microsoft 365 Copilot or Gemini and your calls all happen on one platform: start with what you have.
In short: Every notetaker now transcribes well. The difference is what happens next: whether it pulls out what was decided and why, whether you own and can export the record, and whether everyone on the call knew they were being recorded.
Key points
- Ranking weights: decision extraction 30%, ownership and export 25%, consent and security 25%, small-team price 20%.
- Granola records on your own machine with no bot, so you must tell other attendees yourself.
- Fathom added bot-free capture in April 2026; it says it holds SOC 2 Type II, but we could not review the report.
- Otter.ai was left out pending a proposed August 2025 class action alleging recording without consent.
- Say the decision and reason aloud before the call ends, then copy them into a decision record that day.
How we ranked
| Criterion | Weight | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Decision and action extraction | 30% | A transcript is evidence; a decision record is what you use next month. |
| Ownership and export | 25% | Your meeting history should not be trapped in a vendor. |
| Consent and security | 25% | Recording without clear consent is now a legal risk, not just a manners question. |
| Price for a small team | 20% | Most useful features sit behind the first paid tier. |
The list
1. Granola
- Best for: founders who want notes they edit, without a bot joining the call.
- Why it ranks first: it records on your own machine and drafts notes you correct, which is the draft-and-correct pattern that keeps capture fast. It deletes audio after transcription, holds SOC 2 Type II on every tier, and now offers an MCP server and APIs so notes can feed other tools. It raised $125 million at a $1.5 billion valuation in March 2026.
- Watch out for: because no bot joins, the other people on the call get no visible notice. You have to tell them. Integrations and unlimited history need the Business tier.
- Pricing: free (30-day history); Business $14 per user a month; Enterprise $35.
- What would change its rank: a built-in consent notice for other attendees.
2. Fireflies.ai
- Best for: teams that want summaries and action items pushed into a CRM.
- Why it ranks here: broad integrations, SOC 2 Type II, and a stated policy of not training on customer data. It reports more than 20 million users and has been profitable since 2023.
- Watch out for: recording and transcript downloads need a paid plan, and the free tier's summaries are limited.
- Pricing: free; Pro $10 a month billed annually; Business $19; Enterprise $39.
- What would change its rank: stronger decision extraction, not just action items.
3. Fathom
- Best for: teams that want the most useful free tier.
- Why it ranks here: generous free use, bot-free capture added in April 2026, and integrations with ChatGPT and Claude.
- Watch out for: AI action items start on Premium, CRM field sync needs Business, and it says it is SOC 2 Type II audited, but we could not review the report.
- Pricing: free; Premium $16 a month billed annually; Team $15 per seat (two-seat minimum); Business $25.
- What would change its rank: a SOC 2 report we can review.
4. Circleback
- Best for: technical teams that want to wire meeting outputs into their own systems.
- Why it ranks here: API, MCP and command-line access, plus automations, at a modest price.
- Watch out for: a small team behind it.
- Pricing: free (30-day history); Pro $15; Business $25 (custom retention); Enterprise $35.
- What would change its rank: evidence of scale.
5. Google Meet with Gemini notes
- Best for: teams that live in Google Workspace.
- Why it ranks here: notes land in Google Docs that you already own and can export, with no extra vendor.
- Watch out for: works on Meet calls only, and not on the cheapest Workspace plan.
- Pricing: included in Workspace Standard ($14 per user a month) and Plus ($22).
- What would change its rank: support for calls on other platforms.
Left out, and why
- Otter.ai. Large and capable, but a proposed class action filed in August 2025 alleges it records attendees without consent and trains on the recordings. Wait for that to resolve before recommending it for decision records.
- Read.ai. Its meeting "engagement scoring" can put attendees off, and enterprise security features sit on its top tier.
- tl;dv. We could not confirm current prices on its own site.
- Zoom AI Companion and Teams Copilot recap. Good if you are already on those platforms, but tied to one meeting tool, and Zoom's paid AI pricing is changing.
How to use any of them for decisions
- Say at the start of the call that it is being recorded, and why.
- Before the call ends, say the decision and the reason out loud. The notetaker will catch it.
- Copy the decision, reason and "what would change our mind" into your decision record the same day. The transcript is evidence; the record is what you use.
Common questions
What is the best AI notetaker for capturing decisions?
The list ranks Granola first for bot-free, draft-and-correct notes, followed by Fireflies.ai, Fathom, Circleback and Google Meet with Gemini notes.
Which AI notetaker has the best free tier?
Fathom, which offers generous free use, bot-free capture added in April 2026, and integrations with ChatGPT and Claude.
Why was Otter.ai left off the list?
A proposed class action filed in August 2025 alleges it records attendees without consent and trains on the recordings. The list suggests waiting for that to resolve before using it for decision records.
How do I use an AI notetaker to record decisions?
Announce the recording and why at the start, state the decision and reason aloud before the call ends, and copy the decision, reason and what would change your mind into a decision record the same day.
Disclosure: lowob has no commercial relationship with any vendor on this list. Prices checked 17 Oct 2026.