Best AI meeting notetakers
Recording, transcription and summary tools for sales calls, compared on real per-seat cost and what the free tier actually covers.
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Fathom wins for a sales team specifically, because its Business tier is the only one of these four that names CRM field sync and a deal view as a built-in feature rather than something you wire up yourself. For a general-purpose team that just needs transcripts, Otter's free tier goes further before you have to pay.
The short answer
- Fathom's free individual plan includes unlimited recordings and transcriptions with basic AI summaries; its paid Team tier starts at $19/user/month (annual: $15), per fathom.ai/pricing.
- Otter's Pro tier runs $16.99/user/month monthly or $8.33/user/month billed annually, with a Business tier at $30/user/month for unlimited meetings and custom AI workflows, per otter.ai/pricing.
- Grain separates paid seats, which record meetings, from free viewer seats, which only watch, so a team can give wide access without paying for every viewer; its Starter tier is $19/seat/month annually, per grain.com/pricing.
AI meeting notetakers compared
| Tool | Starting price | Free tier | CRM sync | Best for | Not for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fathom | $19/user/mo (Team, annual $15) | Unlimited recordings, basic summaries | Named feature on Business tier: field sync, deal view | A sales team that wants notes to reach the CRM automatically | A team that specifically needs advanced AI workflows on the free tier |
| Otter | $16.99/user/mo (Pro, monthly) | Free Basic tier, capped features | Not named as a built-in feature; integrations vary | A general-purpose team wanting the deepest free tier | A sales team that wants notes native to a CRM without extra wiring |
| Grain | $19/seat/mo (Starter, annual) | Free tier, capped at 20 meetings | Not detailed on the pricing page; check integration list | A team that wants to give free view-only access to non-recorders | A team that needs unlimited meetings on the free tier |
| Fireflies | Not verified: pricing page renders no dollar figures without JavaScript | Free tier exists per plan names shown | Not verified | Check fireflies.ai directly for current pricing before deciding | Cannot be recommended over the others until pricing is confirmed |
Figures checked on fathom.ai/pricing, otter.ai/pricing and grain.com/pricing, September 2026. Fireflies.ai's own pricing page returned plan names with no dollar amounts at fetch time and is included above without a price rather than a guessed one.
How the three verified tools differ
Fathom
The only one of these built with an explicit sales angle: its Business tier ($34/user/month, annual $25) adds CRM field sync, a deal view, and coaching metrics on top of what Team includes. The free individual plan is genuinely unlimited on recording and transcription, which makes it a reasonable way to test the product before paying for a team. Not for: a team that wants coaching metrics without moving to the Business tier.
Otter
The deepest free tier of the three by reputation, and a Business plan at $30/user/month, or $19.99 annually, aimed at teams wanting unlimited meetings and custom AI workflows. Otter is built for general meeting capture across a company, not specifically for a sales pipeline. Not for: a team that wants deal-stage or CRM-native features without adding an integration.
Grain
Splits cost between paid seats, for people who record, and free viewer seats, for people who just need to watch or search past calls, which controls cost for a team where only a few people run meetings. The free tier caps at 20 meetings, which is enough to trial but not to run on indefinitely. Not for: a team past 20 meetings a month trying to stay on the free tier.
How to choose
Choose Fathom if you want call notes to reach your CRM fields without extra wiring. Choose Otter if you need the deepest free tier for general meetings. Choose Grain if only a few people record and many more just watch. A paid notetaker pays off most once searching and summing up across many calls saves you real time each week.
Disclosure: SalesCrew is our product. It is the CRM these notetakers feed: a Calendly booking becomes a meeting on the contact, and the outcome you enter sits on the timeline. Pairing one of the tools above with a CRM's timeline is a normal setup.
Questions
- Is there a genuinely free AI notetaker?
- Fathom's free individual plan includes unlimited recordings and transcriptions with basic AI summaries, per fathom.ai/pricing. Otter and Grain both offer free tiers too, capped on meeting count or feature depth rather than fully unlimited.
- Do these tools sync notes into a CRM automatically?
- Fathom's Business tier specifically advertises CRM field sync and a deal view, per fathom.ai/pricing. Otter, Grain and Fireflies generally rely on a Zapier-style integration or manual export rather than native two-way CRM sync at the entry tiers; check the specific integration list before assuming it is built in.
- Which one is cheapest for a small sales team?
- Fathom's Team plan at $19/month per user (annual: $15) is the least expensive named per-seat price among the vendor pages checked here. Grain's Starter plan at $19/seat/month, billed annually, is comparable.
- Can I use a meeting notetaker instead of a CRM?
- No. A notetaker records and summarizes a conversation; it does not track a pipeline, a deal stage or a follow-up sequence over weeks. The two solve different problems and most teams that need one eventually need the other.