How We Tested
Our team spent 100+ hours testing over 20 AI meeting assistants across multiple criteria. Following our proven jilo.ai methodology, we evaluated each tool based on:
Each tool was tested across 50+ real meetings including team standups, client calls, board meetings, and brainstorming sessions with varying audio quality and participant counts.
Best AI Meeting Assistants at a Glance
Detailed Reviews
1. Otter.ai — Best Overall Meeting Assistant
Rating: 9.3/10 Pricing: Free (300 min/month) / $17/month Pro / $30/month Business Best for: Accurate transcription with searchable meeting archive
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Our verdict: Otter.ai remains the gold standard for meeting transcription. The combination of accuracy, searchability, and automatic summaries makes it indispensable for anyone in frequent meetings. The free tier is generous enough to evaluate thoroughly.
2. Fireflies.ai — Best for Team Meeting Intelligence
Rating: 9.1/10 Pricing: Free tier / $19/month Pro / $39/month Business Best for: Team-wide meeting analytics and knowledge management
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Our verdict: Fireflies.ai excels for teams that need meeting intelligence, not just transcription. The CRM integration and team collaboration features make it the best choice for sales and customer success teams.
3. Grain — Best for Customer Meeting Highlights
Rating: 8.8/10 Pricing: Free tier / $19/month Business / $29/month Enterprise Best for: Creating and sharing meeting highlight clips
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Our verdict: Grain is the best tool for teams that need to share meeting moments. The ability to clip, tag, and share key customer insights with your team is uniquely valuable for product and customer success teams.
4. tl;dv — Best for Meeting Recording & Sharing
Rating: 8.5/10 Pricing: Free (unlimited recording) / $25/month Pro Best for: Recording meetings and generating shareable summaries
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Our verdict: tl;dv offers the most generous free tier for meeting recording. The unlimited free recording combined with solid AI summaries on the Pro plan makes it an excellent value proposition.
5. Avoma — Best for Revenue Teams
Rating: 8.3/10 Pricing: $24/month Starter / $59/month Plus / $79/month Business Best for: Sales and CS teams tracking customer conversations
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Our verdict: Avoma is purpose-built for revenue teams. The combination of conversation intelligence, coaching, and CRM integration makes it the most comprehensive solution for sales organizations.
6–10: Quick Reviews
Fellow (8.1/10) — Free / $9/month. Meeting management platform with AI notes, agendas, and action item tracking. Best for teams that want structured meetings with templates and accountability. The agenda and action item workflow is excellent.
Krisp (7.9/10) — Free / $12/month. AI noise cancellation plus meeting transcription and notes. Unique combination of audio enhancement and meeting intelligence. Best for users in noisy environments who also need meeting notes.
Fathom (7.8/10) — Free / $24/month. Surprisingly capable free meeting summaries for Zoom. The free tier includes AI summaries, action items, and highlights with no time limits. Best free option for individual users on Zoom.
Read.ai (7.5/10) — Free / $20/month. Meeting analytics including engagement scoring, talk-time analysis, and coaching suggestions. Best for managers who want to improve meeting culture and individual communication skills.
Tactiq (7.3/10) — Free / $12/month. Real-time captions and transcription as a Chrome extension. Works with Google Meet, Zoom, and Teams. Best for users who want live captions during meetings and quick post-meeting notes without a bot joining.
How to Choose the Right AI Meeting Assistant
By User Type
Individual Professionals: Otter.ai for accuracy, Fathom for free Zoom summaries, Tactiq for lightweight needs.
Sales Teams: Fireflies.ai for CRM integration, Avoma for revenue intelligence, Grain for customer highlight sharing.
Managers: Read.ai for meeting analytics, Fellow for meeting structure, Otter.ai for comprehensive records.
Remote Teams: tl;dv for recording, Fireflies.ai for team knowledge, Fellow for agenda management.
Budget-Conscious: Fathom (free), tl;dv free tier (unlimited recording), Otter.ai free (300 min/month).
Key Decision Factors
FAQ
Do AI meeting assistants record my meetings without consent?
Most AI meeting assistants notify participants when recording starts, either through a visible bot joining the meeting or an in-meeting notification. Many jurisdictions require consent for recording. Always check your local laws and inform meeting participants. Most tools provide customizable notification settings.
How accurate are AI meeting transcriptions?
In our testing, the best tools (Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai) achieve 90-95% accuracy in optimal conditions. Accuracy drops with poor audio quality, heavy accents, multiple overlapping speakers, and technical jargon. Custom vocabulary features can improve accuracy for specialized terms.
Can AI meeting assistants work with in-person meetings?
Yes, most tools can transcribe in-person meetings when used with a microphone. Otter.ai and Krisp work well with laptop or phone microphones. However, speaker identification and accuracy are reduced compared to virtual meetings where each speaker has their own audio feed.
Will my meeting data be secure?
Enterprise-grade tools (Otter.ai Business, Fireflies.ai Business, Avoma) offer SOC 2 compliance, encryption at rest and in transit, and data retention controls. Always review the security certifications and data handling policies. For sensitive meetings, consider tools that offer on-premise processing or data residency options.
Are AI meeting summaries good enough to skip meetings?
AI summaries capture key decisions and action items well, making them useful for catching up on meetings you missed. However, they don't capture nuance, body language, or the full context of discussions. For important meetings where you need to contribute, there's no substitute for attendance. Use summaries as a complement, not a replacement.