Pick a Supernormal alternative by what happens after your meetings. Sales teams want notes that update the CRM. Consultants want action items and follow-ups ready for clients. Internal teams want searchable notes everyone can find later. Whichever you choose, keep the full transcript alongside the summary, because summaries leave things out.
AI note takers have become one of those tools everyone has and nobody compares. They join your call, write a summary and send it round. The difference between them shows up later, when you need to find what a client said three weeks ago.
Here are nine options in no particular order, A to Z. Each description is based on the vendor's own website, so test them on your own calls before you decide.
Do you make AI meeting note software? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
Nine AI note takers
Avoma
Best for: Revenue teams that want note-taking, scheduling, call coaching and CRM updates handled by one AI platform.
Circleback
Best for: Consultants who need notes, action items and searchable knowledge from virtual and in-person meetings, in many languages.
Fathom
Best for: Individuals and teams who want calls on Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams captured, transcribed and summarised, with CRM updates for teams.
Grain
Best for: Growing teams that want meeting summaries along with account insights and coaching suggestions in an easy-to-use product.
Notta
Best for: People who want transcripts, summaries and action plans from meetings, interviews and uploaded recordings alike.
Otter
Best for: Anyone who wants real-time transcription, live chat, automated summaries and action items while the meeting is still running.
Read AI
Best for: Teams spread across Teams, Meet, Zoom and mobile apps that want one notetaker working across all of them.
Sembly
Best for: Consultants and agencies who want meeting notes with tasks and key decisions, plus help preparing client proposals.
tl;dv
Best for: Teams that want Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls recorded, transcribed and summarised automatically.
Quick reference
| Tool | Type | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Avoma | AI meeting platform | Notes, scheduling and call coaching together |
| Circleback | AI meeting notes | Virtual and in-person meetings |
| Fathom | AI note taker | Zoom, Meet and Teams call summaries |
| Grain | Meeting insights | Growing teams wanting coaching suggestions |
| Notta | AI note taker | Meetings, interviews and recordings |
| Otter | AI meeting agent | Real-time transcription during calls |
| Read AI | Meeting notetaker | Notes wherever you already work |
| Sembly | AI meeting agent | Turning meetings into client proposals |
| tl;dv | AI meeting notes | Recorded calls turned into insights |
Picking by the job your meetings do
Sales and client calls
If most of your meetings are with prospects, look for CRM updates and coaching. Notes that land in the right deal record save you twenty minutes after every call.
Consulting and agency work
If you bill clients for your thinking, action items and decisions matter more than the transcript. Some tools here go further and help draft follow-ups or proposals from the meeting itself.
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Internal team meetings
For your own team, searchability wins. You want anyone to be able to find what was agreed, without asking the person who ran the meeting. And if you'd like a simple structure for the notes your team writes by hand, my meeting notes template is a good starting point.
Keep the transcript, not just the summary
A summary is the AI's opinion of what mattered. The transcript is the record. W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative says the main purpose of a transcript is to provide the information to people who cannot get it from the audio and/or video.
That's a good reason in itself, and there's a practical one too: when a summary misses a point a client raised, the transcript is where you'll find it. So check that each tool keeps the full transcript, lets you search it and lets you export it. If you record on Zoom, my guide to Zoom cloud recording explains where those files go.
Questions to ask on a trial
- Does it join calls on every platform you use, or only one or two?
- Can it take notes from in-person meetings as well as video calls?
- Where do the summaries go: email, your CRM, a shared workspace?
- Can you edit a summary before it's shared with everyone on the call?
- How easy is it to switch off for a sensitive conversation?
That last one matters more than people think. Some calls shouldn't be recorded at all, such as a delicate staff conversation or a client sharing something in confidence. You want a tool you can stop with one click, without digging through settings mid-meeting.
Habits that make AI notes useful
- Tell people at the start that a note taker is on the call. It's courteous, and people relax when they know.
- Read the summary within an hour, while you still remember the meeting, and fix anything it got wrong.
- Move action items into the place your team works, rather than leaving them in the notes app.
- Delete recordings you don't need. Less clutter makes the useful ones easier to find.
Where the notes end up matters more than the notes
A brilliant summary sitting in an app nobody opens is worth nothing. Before you choose, decide where meeting notes should live in your business: the CRM, a shared drive, a project tool or a client folder. Then favour the note taker that sends them there without anyone copying and pasting. When notes land where work already happens, people read them, and the action items get done instead of forgotten.
It's also worth agreeing a simple naming habit, such as client name and date, so a search a month later finds the right call first time.
The advice I give consultants
Run two tools on the same three meetings for a week, then compare the summaries side by side. You'll quickly see which one catches the details your clients care about and which one writes pleasant, vague paragraphs. Pick the one whose notes you'd send to a client without editing. That's the test that matters.
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Frequently asked questions
Do AI note takers record the whole meeting?
Most of the tools here record or transcribe the call and then produce a summary. Check each vendor's site for what it keeps and for how long.
Should I tell people an AI note taker is on the call?
Yes. Let everyone know at the start. It's polite, and it gives people the chance to say if they'd rather it wasn't used.
Is a summary enough, or do I need the transcript?
Keep both. The summary saves time, and the transcript is the full record when you need to check exactly what was said.
Can an AI note taker work for in-person meetings?
Some can. Circleback, for one, says it records both virtual and in-person meetings. Check how each vendor describes it, then test it in a real room with real background noise.
Are these note takers ranked?
No. They're in no particular order, A to Z, and every description comes from the vendor's own website.
