Piotr Olszewski · updated October 12, 2026If you need to transcribe recordings, the cheapest and most accurate route is Whisper or OpenAI's newer transcription models through the API - from $0.003 per minute, so an hour of audio costs about $0.18. If you want a bot that joins Google Meet, Zoom or Teams on its own and sends you notes, start with the free plan of Fathom or tl;dv. Otter.ai is the best-known note taker, but per its pricing page it only transcribes 6 languages, so check that list if your meetings aren't in English.
Quick picks
- Best overall: Fireflies.ai - 100+ languages, lots of integrations, paid plans from $10/month.
- Best free: Fathom - unlimited recordings, transcripts and summaries on the Free plan, per its pricing page.
- Best for English meetings: Otter.ai - live transcription, chat with your recordings, mobile apps.
- Cheapest: OpenAI API - gpt-4o-mini-transcribe at $0.003/minute, about $0.18 per hour of audio.
- No bot in the call: Bluedot, Granola or Jamie.
AI transcription tools compared
| Tool | Starting price | Free plan | Languages | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whisper / OpenAI API | $0.003/min | no (paid API), local version free | many | file transcription, cheapest |
| Fathom | $16/mo (annual) | yes, unlimited recordings | not listed on pricing page | free meeting note taker |
| tl;dv | EUR 18/mo (annual) | yes | 30+ | Meet, Zoom, Teams notes |
| Fireflies.ai | $10/mo | yes, with limits | 100+ (some in beta) | teams, CRM integrations |
| Notta | $8.17/mo (annual) | yes, 120 min | many | recordings and files on a budget |
| Otter.ai | $8.33/mo (annual) | yes, 300 min | 6 | English meetings |
| Bluedot | $14/mo | 5 meetings | many | notes without a visible bot |
| HappyScribe | $8.50/mo | 10-minute trial | many | subtitles and file transcription |
| Granola | $14/mo | yes, 30-day history | not confirmed | desktop notes on Mac and Windows |
| Jamie | EUR 21/mo | 10 notes/month | not confirmed | bot-free notes, privacy |
Whisper and OpenAI transcription models - top accuracy for pennies
Whisper is OpenAI's speech recognition model. You can use it two ways: as free open-source code you run on your own computer, or through the paid API.
Per the API pricing page on October 12, 2026 (per minute of audio):
- gpt-4o-mini-transcribe - $0.003.
- gpt-transcribe - $0.0045.
- Whisper and gpt-4o-transcribe - $0.006.
- gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize (with speaker labels) - $0.006.
One hour on the cheapest model is $0.18. Running Whisper locally costs nothing, but you need a computer with a decent GPU and some comfort with the command line.
Who it's for: journalists, researchers, podcasters, anyone with lots of recordings or sensitive data (the local version never uploads your files).
Downsides: it's a model, not a meeting app - it won't join Zoom by itself or build an action item list. The basic version doesn't label speakers.
Fathom - the most generous free plan
Fathom records your meetings, transcribes them and writes a summary right after the call. Per its pricing page, the Free plan includes unlimited recordings, transcripts and AI summaries - the most generous free tier in this roundup.
Per the pricing page on October 12, 2026:
- Free - $0, unlimited recordings and transcripts, clips, instant summaries, bot or bot-free capture.
- Premium - $20/month or $16/month billed annually, advanced summaries, action items, meeting assistant.
- Team - $19/user/month or $15 annually, minimum 2 users.
- Business - $34/user/month or $25 annually, CRM field sync.
Who it's for: freelancers and small teams who want meeting notes without paying.
Downsides: the pricing page doesn't list supported languages - if your meetings aren't in English, test it on the free plan before moving your team over.
tl;dv - notes from Meet, Zoom and Teams
tl;dv joins your call as a bot, records, transcribes and writes notes from templates (for example for sales or recruiting calls). The vendor says it supports 30+ languages.
Per the vendor pricing page as of October 8, 2026:
- Free - EUR 0, free forever.
- Pro - EUR 29/month or EUR 18/month billed annually, per seat.
- Business - EUR 39/month or EUR 29/month billed annually, per seat.
Who it's for: sales and recruiting teams, companies that live in Google Meet.
Downsides: the pricing page doesn't spell out free plan limits, and the full AI features are on paid plans.
Fireflies.ai - built for teams and integrations
Fireflies is one of the biggest AI note takers. The vendor claims 100+ languages (some in beta), and it plugs into CRMs, Slack and task tools. Per its pricing page, the Free plan gives unlimited transcription, limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of storage per team and a 2-hour cap per recording. The cheapest paid plan is $10/month.
Who it's for: companies with lots of daily calls that want searchable call history and notes pushed to the CRM.
Downsides: the pricing page didn't show Business and Enterprise amounts when checked, and some languages are labeled beta.
Notta - cheap transcription for files and meetings
Notta transcribes online meetings and uploaded files and writes summaries.
Per the vendor pricing page as of October 8, 2026 (billed annually):
- Free - 120 minutes per month, 50 files, 10 AI summaries.
- Pro - $8.17/month ($97.99/year), 1,800 minutes, 100 files, 100 summaries.
- Business - $16.67/month ($199.99/year), unlimited transcription.
Who it's for: students, journalists, small businesses with a moderate number of recordings.
Downsides: per the pricing page, the free plan caps a single conversation at 3 minutes, so it's no good for real meetings.
Otter.ai - great for English meetings
Otter pioneered AI meeting notes. It offers live transcription, chat with your recordings and mobile apps. Per its pricing page on October 12, 2026, it transcribes English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese.
- Basic - free, 300 minutes per month, up to 30 minutes per meeting.
- Pro - $16.99/month or $8.33/month billed annually, 1,200 minutes, up to 90 minutes per meeting.
- Business - $30/month or $19.99/month billed annually, up to 4 hours per meeting.
Who it's for: people who run meetings in English or one of the other five supported languages.
Downsides: if you speak any other language in your meetings, it's off the table.
Bluedot - notes without a bot
Bluedot records meetings through a Chrome extension and apps, without dropping a visible bot into the call. Per its pricing, you get 5 free meetings for the lifetime of the account, and paid plans start at $14/month.
Who it's for: people who don't want a bot sitting in on client calls, and multilingual teams.
Downsides: the free allowance is only enough for a test.
HappyScribe - file transcription and subtitles
HappyScribe started as a tool for transcribing files and making subtitles, and now records meetings too. Per its pricing, paid plans start at $8.50/month, and the free option gives you 10 minutes of trial transcription with watermarked exports.
Who it's for: video creators who need SRT subtitles, podcasters.
Downsides: small free allowance, some exports watermarked.
Granola and Jamie - notes without a bot
Granola and Jamie capture audio from your computer instead of sending a bot to the meeting. You jot down short notes and the AI fills them in from the transcript. Per their pricing pages, Granola has a free plan with meeting history limited to 30 days and paid plans from $14/month, while Jamie gives you 10 free notes per month (up to 30 minutes per meeting) and paid plans from EUR 21/month.
Who it's for: people who don't want a bot on client calls.
Downsides: language support isn't spelled out on the pages I checked, and the app has to be running during the meeting.
How to choose
- You have files to transcribe (interviews, podcasts, lectures) - Whisper or the OpenAI API.
- You want free meeting notes - Fathom.
- Your team works in Google Meet and wants note templates - tl;dv.
- You need CRM integrations and searchable history - Fireflies.ai.
- You don't want a bot on client calls - Bluedot, Granola or Jamie.
- You make subtitles for videos - HappyScribe.
- You only meet in English - Otter.ai.
Common mistakes
- Picking a tool without testing your own audio - a language list on a website is one thing, handling names, numbers and industry jargon is another. Test on a real recording.
- Recording without telling people - on client calls, tell participants you're recording and transcribing. Depending on where you are, consent may be legally required, and call data is personal data under GDPR.
- Trusting summaries blindly - AI can attribute a statement to the wrong person or skip a decision. Check key decisions against the transcript.
- A bad microphone - a laptop mic in an echoey room hurts quality more than your choice of tool.
- Paying a subscription for a few recordings a month - for a few hours a month, the OpenAI API at fractions of a cent per minute is cheaper than a subscription.
- Putting sensitive calls in the cloud - for medical or legal conversations, consider running Whisper locally.
FAQ
What is the most accurate AI transcription tool?
For files, Whisper and OpenAI's newer transcription models are the strongest value - accurate and as cheap as $0.003 per minute. For meetings, Fireflies.ai, Fathom and Otter.ai are the popular choices; test them on your own recordings.
Is there a free AI meeting note taker?
Yes. Per its pricing page, Fathom's Free plan includes unlimited recordings and transcripts, tl;dv has a free-forever plan, and Fireflies.ai offers free transcription with a storage limit. Running Whisper locally is completely free if your computer can handle it.
How much does it cost to transcribe an hour of audio?
Through the OpenAI API, from $0.18 (gpt-4o-mini-transcribe) to $0.36 (Whisper). In apps you pay a subscription, for example Notta Pro at $8.17/month for 1,800 minutes billed annually.
What languages does Otter.ai support?
Per its pricing page on October 12, 2026: English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese.
Can AI record and transcribe Zoom and Teams meetings?
Yes, Fathom, tl;dv, Fireflies.ai, Notta and Otter.ai connect to Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. Let participants know you're recording.
Is there an AI note taker that doesn't join the call as a bot?
Yes. Bluedot, Granola and Jamie record audio from your device instead of sending a bot, and Fathom offers a bot-free capture option too.
Sources
- OpenAI - API pricing - checked October 12, 2026
- Fathom - pricing - checked October 12, 2026
- Otter.ai - pricing - checked October 12, 2026
- tl;dv - pricing - checked October 8, 2026
- Fireflies.ai - pricing - checked October 8, 2026
- Notta - pricing - checked October 8, 2026
- Bluedot - vendor site - checked October 8, 2026
- HappyScribe - vendor site - checked October 8, 2026
- Granola - vendor site - checked October 8, 2026
- Jamie - vendor site - checked October 8, 2026