AI note takers split into two kinds. Meeting recorders hear everyone on a call, follow your calendar, label speakers and sync to your CRM. Private note takers record what you say, keep it on your device, and stay out of other people's meetings. Pick the kind first, then the app.
Prices and features checked on each vendor's site, October 28, 2026.
Best For…
No single app is best at everything, so this isn't a ranking. Each job below names the app that does it best, then others worth a look.
Best for meetings with a bot
Otter.ai. Otter's notetaker joins calls from your calendar, identifies speakers by voice and syncs to Salesforce and HubSpot.
Wispr Flow Notetaker. Notetaker records mic and system audio and names the speaker on every line.
Best for Apple devices and AI agents
Monologue Notes. Monologue Notes records both sides of a call on your Mac and exposes notes through MCP, an API and a CLI.
What to Look For
Bot or no bot
Otter, Fireflies and tl;dv's browser extension send a bot that everyone on the call sees. Granola, Jamie, Monologue, Wispr Flow Notetaker and Retext record on your computer instead.
Does it hear both sides of a call?
Apps that capture system audio or send a bot hear everyone. Retext records your microphone only, so on a call with headphones it hears your side. That's fine for voice notes and in-person meetings, not for call records.
Where the audio goes
Most meeting recorders transcribe in the cloud. Retext transcribes and summarizes on your Mac; Apple Notes and Voice Memos mostly do too.
Calendar, speakers and CRM
If notes need to land in Salesforce or HubSpot with each speaker named, choose a meeting recorder. Retext has no calendar, speaker labels or CRM sync.
What happens after the meeting
Most tools give you a summary to share. Retext also turns a summary or a to-do list into a snippet you can type again with a ;trigger.
Every App, Pros and Cons
Apple Notes & Voice Memos
Best for phone calls
Free, mostly on-device, and it records phone and FaceTime calls on iPhone. No action items, speaker labels or calendar.
Price
Free, built into macOS and iOS
Free option
Included with your Mac and iPhone; transcription needs Apple silicon on Mac
Runs on
Mac and iPhone
Strengths
Free and already on your Mac and iPhone
Records phone and FaceTime audio calls, with transcripts in Notes
Most processing happens on the device
Search recordings by the words spoken
Weaknesses
Transcription needs Apple silicon and supports about ten languages
Doesn't capture Zoom, Meet or Teams calls
No speaker labels, calendar features or integrations described
Joins calls from your calendar, records with a bot or bot-free on paid plans, and connects to CRMs, Zapier and an API. Fireflies says it never trains on your data.
Price
Free, Pro, Business and Enterprise plans per seat; prices aren't shown on their pricing page
Free option
Free plan with fewer transcription credits than Pro; limits aren't shown on their pricing page
Runs on
Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and Web
Strengths
Joins calls on its own from your Google or Outlook calendar
Bot-free recording from the desktop app on Mac and Windows
Captures phone calls through FaceTime on Mac or Phone Link on Windows
CRM, app and Zapier integrations plus an API
Weaknesses
The bot is the default way it joins meetings
Bot-free recording needs a paid plan
Bot-free mode shows Speaker 1 and Speaker 2 instead of names
Free plan storage is 400 minutes for the whole team
Hears both sides of a call from your computer's audio, starts from your Google or Outlook calendar, tags speakers, and sends notes to Slack, Notion, HubSpot and more.
Price
Business $14/user/month; Enterprise $35/user/month
Free option
Basic plan with 30 days of meeting history, Slack integration and shared folders
Runs on
Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and Apple Watch
Strengths
No bot joins the call; it listens to your computer's audio
Captures both sides of a call, not just your microphone
Calendar sync with Google and Outlook, and briefs before external meetings
Turns your own rough notes into full notes with templates
Weaknesses
Transcription and summaries run in the cloud
Trains on anonymized data unless you opt out
Free plan shows 30 days of meeting history
CRM integrations need the Business or Enterprise plan
Records both sides of a call on your Mac without a bot, separates speakers, and exposes notes through MCP, an API and a CLI. Included with an Every subscription.
Price
Monologue Pro $15/month or $144/year; included with Every
Free option
Trial with 10 recorded notes
Runs on
Mac, iPhone, Apple Watch and Web
Strengths
Hears both sides of a call on Mac without a bot
Prompts you to record when a calling app starts
Separates speakers so you can name them
Notes available to AI tools through MCP, an API and a CLI
Weaknesses
Recordings are uploaded and stored in your account
Its notetaker joins calls from your calendar, identifies speakers by voice, exports to txt, pdf, docx and srt, and syncs with Salesforce and HubSpot. It runs on Mac, Windows, mobile and the web.
Price
Pro $16.99/user/month or $8.33 billed annually; Business $30/user/month (shown discounted to $24 on 2026-10-28) or $19.99 billed annually; Enterprise by quote
Free option
300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 file imports, your 25 most recent conversations
Runs on
Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and Web
Strengths
Notetaker joins Zoom, Teams and Meet calls on its own from your calendar
Strong speaker identification that learns voices
Salesforce, HubSpot and Zapier on paid plans
Exports to txt, pdf, docx and srt on paid plans
Weaknesses
Captures calls with a bot that other people see
Trains its AI on de-identified recordings and transcripts
Free plan caps conversations at 30 minutes
Free plan only keeps your 25 most recent conversations
Best on-device and privateBest if you also use snippets
No bot, and the transcript, summary and action items are all made on your Mac. Audio is deleted once the text is ready unless you keep it. Save as Snippet turns a summary into a ;trigger. It hears your microphone only, with no calendar, speaker labels or integrations.
Price
Recording, on-device transcription and summaries come with every plan. See the pricing page.
Free option
Notes on your Mac, plus 5 snippets
Runs on
Mac
Strengths
No bot joins the meeting; you click Record Note
Transcribed on your Mac with Apple's speech engine
Title, summary and action items written on your Mac
Save as Snippet turns a summary or a to-do list into a reusable snippet
Weaknesses
Records your microphone only, so on a call with headphones it hears your side
Records video with its bot or audio from a bot-free desktop app, follows your calendar, and sends notes to Slack, Notion and your CRM. Hosted in the EU.
Price
Pro €29/seat/month or €18 billed annually; Business €39/seat/month or €29 billed annually (listed in euros)
Free option
Unlimited recordings and transcriptions, AI notes for 10 meetings a month
Runs on
Mac, Windows and Web
Strengths
Free plan with unlimited recordings and transcripts
Choice of a bot with video, or bot-free audio from the desktop app
CRM and workflow integrations with Slack, Notion, HubSpot and Zapier
Hosted in the EU, and recordings aren't used to train AI
Weaknesses
Free plan has AI notes for only 10 meetings a month
Recording, on-device transcription and summaries come with every plan. See the pricing page.
Notes on your Mac, plus 5 snippets
Granola
Freemium
Business $14/user/month; Enterprise $35/user/month
Basic plan with 30 days of meeting history, Slack integration and shared folders
Otter.ai
Freemium
Pro $16.99/user/month or $8.33 billed annually; Business $30/user/month (shown discounted to $24 on 2026-10-28) or $19.99 billed annually; Enterprise by quote
300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 file imports, your 25 most recent conversations
Fathom
Freemium
Premium $20/user/month or $16 billed annually; Team $19 or $15 (2 users minimum); Business $34 or $25; Enterprise by quote
Unlimited recordings and transcriptions with instant AI summaries; some features have limited use
Fireflies.ai
Freemium
Free, Pro, Business and Enterprise plans per seat; prices aren't shown on their pricing page
Free plan with fewer transcription credits than Pro; limits aren't shown on their pricing page
Jamie
Freemium
Plus $24 (as listed); Pro $46/month billed annually; Team $37/seat/month billed annually; Enterprise custom
10 AI notes a month, meetings up to 30 minutes, 1 custom template
tl;dv
Freemium
Pro €29/seat/month or €18 billed annually; Business €39/seat/month or €29 billed annually (listed in euros)
Unlimited recordings and transcriptions, AI notes for 10 meetings a month
Wispr Flow Notetaker
Per Seat
Pro $15/user/month or $12 billed annually; Growth $23 or $18 billed annually, $33 or $26 with unlimited Notetaker; Enterprise custom
Notetaker with weekly meeting limits, 50 recordings a week by default
Monologue Notes
Flat Rate
Monologue Pro $15/month or $144/year; included with Every
Trial with 10 recorded notes
Apple Notes & Voice Memos
Free
Free, built into macOS and iOS
Included with your Mac and iPhone; transcription needs Apple silicon on Mac
For calls with other people, Granola, Jamie and Fathom record on your Mac without a bot and hear both sides. For calendar auto-join and CRM sync, Otter and Fireflies. For private voice notes that stay on your Mac and become snippets, Retext.
Which AI note takers don't use a bot?
Granola, Jamie, Monologue Notes, Wispr Flow Notetaker, Retext and Apple Notes never send a bot. Fathom is bot-free on Mac, and tl;dv's desktop app is bot-free; their browser and Windows options use a bot. Fireflies offers bot-free desktop recording on paid plans.
Which AI note taker is free?
Fathom's free plan has unlimited recordings. Apple Notes and Voice Memos are free and built in. Otter, Fireflies, Granola, tl;dv and Jamie have free plans with limits, and Retext's notes come with every plan.
Which AI note taker keeps audio on my Mac?
Retext transcribes and summarizes on your Mac and deletes the audio by default. Apple Notes and Voice Memos mostly process on the device. The others upload to the cloud for transcription or summaries.
Ready to try Retext?
Download Retext, turn on Notes in Settings, and click Record Note. Your transcript and summary are written on your Mac.