The best AI meeting assistants in 2026, compared.
Eight tools, compared on how they capture a meeting, what they do with it afterward, and who each one suits. We make one of them, and we say so where it matters.
- Short answer
- There is no single best AI meeting assistant. Choose by two questions: how do you want the meeting captured, and what should happen once it ends? The answers point to different tools.
Who wrote this, and how.
We make steer, which is on this list. It is listed first because it is ours; the rest are in alphabetical order. Everything said about the other products comes from their own public websites as checked in November 2026. This is a comparison of what each product says it does. We did not run a hands-on benchmark, and features and plans change, so confirm the details with each vendor.
How we compared them
Most roundups rank tools by a score. We have not, because the right choice depends on your meetings. A recruiter, a sales team and an engineering lead want different things. We looked at four points for each product.
- Capture: does a bot join the call, or does the tool record on your device?
- Coverage: online calls only, or in-person conversations as well?
- After the meeting: where do the summary and action items go?
- Free plan: can you try it on real meetings before paying?
If you are new to the category, start with what an AI meeting assistant is and how it works.
Quick comparison
| Tool | How it captures | Free plan | Stands out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| steer | Device audio; no bot | Free to download during the beta | Acting on the result across notes, to-dos, email and calendar |
| Fathom | Bot or bot-free | Yes | Summaries right after the call and CRM sync |
| Fireflies | Bot by default; desktop app and Chrome extension can record without one | Yes | Search, CRM integrations and 100+ languages |
| Granola | Device audio; no bot | Yes; older notes need an upgrade | Improving the notes you type yourself |
| Krisp | Device audio; optional bot | Free sign-up; limits not stated on the page we checked | Noise cancellation with notes on top |
| Otter | Meeting agent joins, or desktop recording without a bot | Yes | Live transcription and chat across your meetings |
| Read AI | Visible to everyone in the meeting; apps for in-person capture | Yes; 5 meetings a month | Search across meetings, email and messages |
| tl;dv | “No bot required,” per its site | Yes | Video recordings and reports across many meetings |
The eight tools
steer
- Best for
- People who want the meeting connected to the rest of their work.
- How it captures
- Records the microphone and speaker audio on your computer. No bot joins, and it works for in-person conversations.
- What it does well
- Live transcript with speakers identified by voice, optional prompts during the call, and a summary that stays linked to notes and to-dos. The same assistant can then draft the follow-up, check a ticket, or prepare you for the next meeting. See the AI meeting assistant page.
- What to check
- It is in beta, and the desktop app currently runs on macOS only. It is a broader work assistant, so it is more than you need if all you want is a transcript.
Fathom
- Best for
- Sales and customer teams that want fast summaries in their CRM.
- How it captures
- Its site offers capture “bot or no bot” and lists Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
- What it does well
- Summaries available right after the call, action items sent to your inbox, sync to Salesforce and HubSpot, and an “Ask Fathom” search across past meetings.
- What to check
- The site advertises a free-forever start; the limits of that plan are on its pricing page.
Fireflies
- Best for
- Teams that want every call searchable and logged in other systems.
- How it captures
- A notetaker joins when invited or by your auto-join settings, and shows in the participant list. The desktop app and Chrome extension can record without it.
- What it does well
- Search across conversations, CRM and project-tool integrations, transcription in 100+ languages, and a large library of automations it calls AI Skills. There is a mobile app for in-person conversations.
- What to check
- Its free plan covers transcription, summaries and search; the automations need a paid plan.
Granola
- Best for
- People who like taking their own notes and want them tidied up.
- How it captures
- Uses your computer audio and does not invite a bot. Its site lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android, and says it works for in-person meetings.
- What it does well
- You type rough notes during the meeting and Granola fills them out from the transcript. It also offers a pre-meeting brief and can draft follow-up emails.
- What to check
- The free plan allows unlimited notes, and notes older than 30 days need an upgrade.
Krisp
- Best for
- Noisy rooms, open offices and call centers.
- How it captures
- Works at the audio level on your device and records bot-free, with an optional bot for some platforms. Apps for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.
- What it does well
- Noise cancellation is its origin and strength, and transcription, summaries and action items sit on top. It also offers accent conversion and CRM integrations.
- What to check
- Language coverage is narrower than some rivals. Confirm the free-plan limits on its pricing page.
Otter
- Best for
- Live transcription you can read during the meeting.
- How it captures
- An AI meeting agent can join Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet automatically, or you can record from the Mac or Windows desktop app without a bot.
- What it does well
- Live transcription with speaker recognition, a chat that answers questions across your meetings, and automatic summaries and action items.
- What to check
- It has a free Basic plan; paid plans raise the transcription limits.
Read AI
- Best for
- People who want one search across meetings, email and messages.
- How it captures
- Works with Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams, and its site says everyone in the meeting knows it is there. Desktop and mobile apps cover in-person meetings.
- What it does well
- Recaps and action items after each meeting, plus a search that draws on meetings, emails and messages together.
- What to check
- The free plan covers five meetings a month.
tl;dv
- Best for
- Teams that want the video as well as the notes.
- How it captures
- Integrates with Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Its site says no bot is required; check how capture works for your setup.
- What it does well
- A video recording, a translatable transcript and a shareable summary for each meeting, support for 100+ languages, and reports that pull trends from many meetings.
- What to check
- There is no native mobile app, according to its FAQ.
What about the assistant built into your meeting app?
Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet each offer their own AI notes. If your organization holds nearly every meeting on one of them and already pays for the feature, try it before buying anything else. It needs no new vendor review and no extra participant in the call.
The limit is reach. A built-in assistant covers meetings on its own platform. It will not capture the call a customer hosts on a different one, or the conversation in the corridor, and its notes tend to stay inside that platform.
How to choose
- You do not want a bot in the call: steer, Granola and Krisp record on your device by default. Fathom, Fireflies and Otter offer a bot-free option alongside their bot.
- You need calls logged in a CRM: Fathom, Fireflies and tl;dv all advertise CRM integrations.
- You like writing your own notes: Granola is built around that.
- Your audio is the problem: Krisp, for its noise cancellation.
- You want the video: tl;dv.
- You work in many languages: Fireflies and tl;dv both advertise 100+.
- You want the meeting to turn into finished work: steer, because the assistant that takes the notes can also act on them.
Whichever you lean toward, run it on two or three real meetings before deciding, including one with poor audio and one with people talking over each other. That shows you more than any feature table.
Before you roll one out
- Decide how people will be told that meetings are recorded, especially with tools that do not join as a visible bot.
- Get each vendor’s answers on storage, retention, access and training use in writing.
- Agree who can see whose meetings. Default sharing settings vary widely.
- Pick one team to try it for a few weeks before buying seats for everyone.