Every AI note taker promises perfect meeting notes. The real differences are less glamorous — whether a bot joins your call, whether your conversations train their AI, and what you pay. Here’s the evidence.
Evidence review of each vendor’s pricing and privacy pages, institutional evaluations and court filings, checked 14 Oct 2026. Hyptor Lab’s test of all five on the same recorded meetings is scheduled. No affiliate links. How we test
The short answer
No independent test shows any of these is more accurate than the others. So choose on what you can verify: Fireflies and Notion say they don’t train on your data; Granola and Notion need no bot; Fathom has the most generous free plan.
Most generous free plan: Fathom · No bot in your calls: Granola, Notion · No training on your data: Fireflies, Notion · Already on Teams/Zoom/Meet? Try the built-in AI first · Confidence: Medium on prices and policies, Low on accuracy.
How the five compare
| Tool | Free plan | Cheapest paid | Bot joins the call? | Trains on your data? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otter | 300 min/month; 30 min per meeting [1] | $8.33/mo annual; $16.99 monthly [1] | Bot or bot-free desktop app [2] | Yes de-identified [3] |
| Fireflies | 400 min storage; 20 AI credits/month [4] | $10/seat/mo annual; $18 monthly [13] | Bot or bot-free desktop app [14] | No “never used for AI training” [5] |
| Fathom | “Unlimited recordings + transcriptions” [6] | $16/mo annual; $20 monthly [6] | Bot or bot-free (beta) [6] | Yes de-identified, opt-out [9] |
| Granola | Limited (30-day) history [15] | Business $14/user/mo [15] | No bot — device audio [7] | Yes anonymised, opt-out [8] |
| Notion AI Meeting Notes | Limited trial [17] | Business plan, $20/seat/mo [17] | No bot [17] | No by default [11] |
Why this matters
These tools record other people, not just you. That raises three questions you can actually check before buying: who is being recorded, where the recording goes, and whether it trains someone’s AI. Accuracy matters too — but, as we found, nobody has independently measured it across these products.
How we built this verdict
We read each vendor’s homepage, pricing and privacy documentation [1–17], a UK government evaluation of AI meeting summaries [16], academic research on transcription errors [30], US consent law [33][34] and filings in two lawsuits [20–22]. Claims we couldn’t verify on an official page were left out.
No one has proven which is most accurate
Finding: we found no independent study comparing these five products. The closest evidence: a UK Department for Business and Trade pilot of Microsoft 365 Copilot found outputs “mostly accurate, but hallucinations do occur”, with 22% of users reporting one [16]. A test of note takers for financial advisers, reported by Kitces.com, found action-item accuracy between 62% and 87% [32].
In practice: whichever you choose, check the action items before you send them on.
The real differences: bots and training
Finding: Granola “uses your computer audio, so doesn’t invite a bot” [7], and Notion also records on your device [10]. Otter, Fireflies and Fathom offer both a bot and a bot-free mode [2][6][14]. On training, Fireflies says your data “is never used for AI training” [5] and Notion doesn’t train by default [11], while Otter, Fathom and Granola train on de-identified or anonymised data, with opt-outs at Fathom and Granola [3][8][9].
In practice: no bot doesn’t mean no recording. Consent rules still apply — Notion itself advises “always obtaining consent from all participants” [10].
The surprise: your video platform may already do this
Microsoft Teams (with Copilot), Zoom and Google Meet now include AI notes. Zoom says core AI features come at “no additional cost” on Workplace plans [26]; Microsoft says Copilot data “aren’t used to train foundation LLMs” [24]; Google says it doesn’t train on customer data without permission [29]. If your company already pays for one of these, test the built-in option before adding another tool.
Legal risk: two lawsuits and consent laws
Otter faces a class action alleging its bot recorded people without consent; a judge allowed key claims to proceed in August 2026 (see our Otter review) [20][21]. Fireflies faces an Illinois biometric-privacy suit over voiceprints [22]. Both are allegations. US federal law requires one party’s consent, but according to the Digital Media Law Project, eleven states require everyone’s consent [33][34] — check your local law.
Where each one genuinely shines
Otter: live transcription and wide integrations [2]. Fireflies: cheapest annual seat and a no-training promise [5][13]. Fathom: unlimited free recordings [6] (now owned by Superhuman [12]). Granola: bot-free capture on desktop and mobile [7]. Notion: notes land directly in your workspace, no bot, no default training [10][11].
Which note taker should you choose?
Freelancer on a budget: Fathom free. Privacy-sensitive team: Fireflies or Notion (no default training), with everyone’s consent. Hate bots in calls: Granola or Notion. Microsoft, Zoom or Google shop: start with the built-in AI.
Questions people ask
What is the best AI note taker for meetings?
There’s no independent accuracy ranking yet. Choose on verifiable factors: free limits, whether a bot joins, and whether your data trains their AI (see the table).
Is there a good free AI note taker?
Fathom advertises unlimited free recordings and transcriptions [6]; Otter’s free plan gives 300 minutes a month [1].
What’s the best AI note taker for Microsoft Teams?
Try Copilot in Teams first if your organisation has it — it uses the Teams transcript with no bot [19]. Copilot Business is listed at $21/user/month billed yearly, on top of Microsoft 365 [18].
Is Notion AI Meeting Notes free?
Only as a limited trial on Free and Plus; full use requires the Business plan at $20 per seat per month [17].
The verdict
The marketing competes on “smartest notes”; the evidence lets you compare only price, privacy and how recording works. The decision: pick on those, get consent from everyone you record, and always check the action items.
Change log
15 Oct 2026 — Published as an evidence review. Hyptor Lab hands-on test scheduled.
Sources
[1] Otter pricing · [2] Otter homepage · [3] Otter privacy policy · [4] Fireflies free plan · [5] Fireflies homepage · [6] Fathom pricing · [7] Granola homepage · [8] Granola security · [9] Fathom privacy policy · [10] Notion AI Meeting Notes help · [11] Notion AI security · [12] Superhuman acquires Fathom, 14 Sep 2026 · [13] Fireflies pricing blog · [14] Fireflies bot-free recording · [15] Granola pricing · [16] UK DBT Copilot evaluation, 28 Aug 2025 · [17] Notion pricing · [18] Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing · [19] Copilot in Teams · [20] Brewer v. Otter.ai complaint · [21] UC Today · [22] Epstein Becker Green on Fireflies suit · [24] Microsoft Copilot privacy · [26] Zoom AI · [29] Google Workspace AI privacy · [30] Koenecke et al., 2024 · [32] Kitces.com, 27 Aug 2025 · [33] 18 U.S.C. § 2511 · [34] Digital Media Law Project. All accessed 14 Oct 2026.
Right of reply
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