Best of · Updated October 2026
The best free AI note taker, and what "free" really means
Fathom has the most generous free AI note taker plan among cloud services: unlimited recordings with AI summaries. If you'd rather keep everything on your own computer, Hark gives you unlimited recording, transcription and speaker names for free, with AI notes as a paid add-on.
Why free plans are hard to compare
Almost every AI note taker has a "free" button on its pricing page. What sits behind it varies a lot. Some limit minutes per month, some limit how many meetings get an AI summary, some hide older meetings, and some only let you try the product for a week. Running speech recognition and AI on servers costs money, so cloud tools have to cap something.
Below is what each free plan includes, taken from each company's own site in October 2026. Limits change, so check before you commit.
Free plans side by side
| Tool | Recording / transcription | AI summaries | Main catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hark | Unlimited, on your computer | 2-day preview, then $12/month | No free AI notes after the preview; English only |
| Fathom | Unlimited recordings and storage | Instant summaries included | Some AI extras limited; bot-free mode is a Mac beta |
| Otter.ai | 300 min/month, 30 min per conversation | Included; AI chat 20 questions/month | Only 25 most recent conversations; 3 imports ever |
| tl;dv | Unlimited recordings | 10 meetings/month | AI cap; limited uploads |
| Fireflies.ai | Limited credits; 400 min storage per seat | Included, small AI credit allowance | Delete old meetings when storage fills; no transcript downloads |
| Granola | No stated meeting cap | Included | Notes older than 30 days are locked |
| Jamie | 10 meetings/month, 30 min each | Within those meetings | Short meetings only |
| Read.ai | 5 meetings/month, up to 1 hour | Within those meetings | Low meeting count |
| Krisp | 7-day trial only | During the trial | No ongoing free plan |
As of October 2026, from each vendor's pricing and help pages.
The free plans in detail
Fathom: the most generous free AI summaries
Fathom's free plan is "free forever" with unlimited recordings, transcription and storage and instant AI summaries. Action items and Ask Fathom are marked as limited use. It joins Zoom, Meet and Teams as a bot, with a bot-free option in beta on Mac. Your audio is processed in the cloud. If you mainly want free AI summaries and don't mind a bot, Fathom is hard to beat.
Hark: free forever for everything that runs on your computer
Hark takes a different approach. Because recording and transcription happen on your own computer, they cost nothing to run, so they're free with no limits. That includes:
- Unlimited recording of your microphone and computer audio, in any meeting app, with no bot
- Unlimited transcription on your computer, live and then a more accurate pass afterwards
- Speaker recognition that remembers people across meetings
- Importing recordings (m4a, mp3, wav, mp4 and more), editing transcripts, your own notes, export
- Connecting Claude Desktop or Claude Code, so your own Claude subscription can read your meetings
What isn't free: AI meeting notes, automatic titles, live AI notes, AI proofreading and sync are part of the $12/month subscription. Every new account gets a 2-day preview of all of it, with no card needed. After that, you keep the full transcript and your own notes for free, but Claude doesn't write notes for you unless you subscribe.
Also worth knowing: Hark is English only, has no mobile app, and on a Mac records the microphone only.
Otter.ai: free live transcription with a monthly cap
Otter's Basic plan gives 300 minutes a month with a 30-minute limit per conversation, summaries, 20 AI chat questions a month, and access to your 25 most recent conversations. You can import only 3 files over the life of the account. It's a good way to try live transcription on your phone or laptop for short calls.
tl;dv: unlimited recording, capped AI notes
tl;dv's free plan records and transcribes without a limit and writes AI notes for 10 meetings a month. Its desktop app can record audio without a bot. Good for people with a few important calls each week.
Fireflies.ai: free summaries, tight storage
Fireflies' free plan includes summaries, but storage is limited to 400 minutes per seat, so you'll need to delete older meetings as you go. Downloading transcripts requires a paid plan. Its strength is language support: more than 100 languages.
Granola, Jamie and Read.ai
Granola's free plan writes notes without a bot but locks notes older than 30 days. Jamie's free plan covers 10 meetings a month of up to 30 minutes each. Read.ai's covers 5 meetings a month of up to an hour. Krisp has no free plan, only a 7-day trial.
Unlimited recording and transcription, free
Hark has no minute caps and no meeting limits, because it runs on your computer. Get a 2-day preview of Claude-written meeting notes too.
Free options you may already have
- Zoom: the free Basic plan includes limited AI Companion use (summaries for 3 hosted meetings a month as of October 2026). Paid plans include more.
- Microsoft Teams (free): live captions on your screen, but they aren't saved. Saved transcripts need a work or school account.
- Mac: Voice Memos and Notes can transcribe recordings on Apple silicon Macs running macOS 15 or later.
- Google Meet: "Take notes for me" is part of paid Workspace and Google AI plans, not free accounts.
These are great when you're the host and everyone is on the same platform. Our guides show how to record a Zoom meeting and transcribe a Teams meeting step by step.
How to get the most from a free AI note taker
- Count your meetings. Ten 30-minute calls a week is about 1,300 minutes a month, well past most minute caps.
- Check history limits. If you need to look back at a call from three months ago, a 30-day or 25-meeting window will hurt.
- Check exports. Make sure you can download your transcripts in case you switch tools.
- Mix and match. A free local recorder for every call plus AI notes only when you need them can cost less than one big plan.
- Get consent. Recording laws vary, and some places require everyone's agreement.
Want the full picture, including paid plans? Read our roundup of the best AI note takers, or see Otter.ai alternatives if you've hit Otter's limits.
Related
- Best AI note takers An honest roundup of AI note takers, with what each does best.
- Best AI meeting assistants Meeting assistants compared: notes, summaries, privacy and price.
- Best AI note takers for Microsoft Teams Options for Teams meetings, from Copilot to desktop recorders.
- Best meeting notes apps Apps for taking, organizing and sharing meeting notes.
- Otter.ai alternatives Why people switch from Otter and what to use instead.
- Granola alternatives Bot-free note takers like Granola, on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free AI note taker? +
For unlimited AI summaries at no cost, Fathom has the most generous free plan among cloud tools. For unlimited recording and transcription that stays on your own computer, Hark is free with no limits, though its AI notes need a subscription after a 2-day preview. Otter, tl;dv, Jamie and Read.ai have free plans capped by minutes or meetings.
Is Fathom AI note taker free? +
Yes. As of October 2026, Fathom's free plan includes unlimited recordings, transcription and storage, plus instant AI summaries. Some features such as action items and Ask Fathom are marked as limited use on the free plan. Paid plans add more AI features and team tools.
Does Hark have free AI notes? +
Not after the preview. Hark's free plan covers unlimited recording, transcription on your computer, speaker recognition, your own notes, editing, import and export. AI meeting notes written by Claude, automatic titles, live notes and sync are part of the $12/month subscription, and every new account gets a 2-day preview of them.
Is there a free AI note taker with no time limit? +
Fathom advertises unlimited recordings on its free plan, and tl;dv advertises unlimited recordings with AI notes for a limited number of meetings. Hark has no time or minute limits on recording and transcription because they run on your computer. Otter's free plan caps each conversation at 30 minutes.
Are free AI note takers safe to use? +
Free cloud note takers upload your meeting audio to their servers, the same as paid plans, so check the privacy policy and your company's rules. If you want audio to stay on your computer, use a tool that transcribes locally. Always tell people on the call that you are recording.
Record, transcribe and remember every meeting
Hark records your calls on your own computer, transcribes them privately, and learns who is speaking. Free forever, with a 2-day preview of AI meeting notes.