{ "sym": "Mt", "updated": "2026-08-06", "verdict": "Granola, for the founder in back-to-back calls \u2014 the bot-less notepad became the category's momentum leader ($125M Series C at $1.5B, Mar 2026) and is turning meeting capture into an enterprise memory layer with Spaces, APIs, and an MCP server. Fathom wins when free-and-unlimited matters \u2014 its no-cost tier has no recording or transcription caps and it added a Granola-style bot-less mode in April 2026. Fireflies wins for org-wide automation \u2014 every call auto-filed into CRM and tasks across a claimed 1M+ companies. Otter remains the transcription workhorse at scale ($100M ARR, 25\u201335M users) but carries a 2025 consent lawsuit. Read AI wins when you want meeting intelligence following you into email and Slack. The 2026 subplot: capture itself is commoditizing \u2014 Google bundles Gemini notes into Workspace while Zoom repackaged its free AI Companion into credit-metered ZoomMate \u2014 so pick the vendor whose search-and-memory layer you actually trust.", "top5": [ { "rank": 1, "name": "Granola", "maker": "Granola", "url": "https://www.granola.ai", "docs": "https://docs.granola.ai", "pricing": "Basic free (limited history) \u00b7 Business $14/user/mo \u00b7 Enterprise $35/user/mo", "best_for": "Founders and product teams who refuse to send a bot \u2014 it captures system audio silently, enhances your own rough notes, and makes every past meeting chat-queryable.", "why": "The category's defining product bet \u2014 no bot in the room \u2014 became the standard everyone else copied (Fathom, Notion, Grain, Krisp all shipped bot-less modes by 2026). Raised $125M at a $1.5B valuation (Mar 25, 2026, Index leading; up 6x from $250M in May 2025) and is converting founder love into enterprise deals: Vanta, Gusto, Asana, Cursor, Lovable, Mistral AI. Business tier ships API access and MCP so agents can read your meeting memory.", "watch": "It won't attend meetings for you \u2014 no bot means no capture of calls you skip. No video recording, and the free tier's limited history is a deliberate squeeze. User and revenue numbers are undisclosed; the $1.5B price is a bet on trajectory, not reported ARR.", "evidence": [ { "stat": "$125M Series C at $1.5B valuation, led by Index Ventures; $192M total raised (Mar 25, 2026)", "src": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/25/granola-raises-125m-hits-1-5b-valuation-as-it-expands-from-meeting-notetaker-to-enterprise-ai-app/" }, { "stat": "Enterprise expansion: Spaces, personal + enterprise APIs, MCP server; customers incl. Vanta, Gusto, Asana, Cursor (Mar 2026)", "src": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/25/granola-raises-125m-hits-1-5b-valuation-as-it-expands-from-meeting-notetaker-to-enterprise-ai-app/" }, { "stat": "Business $14/user/mo incl. API + MCP; Apple Watch app shipped Jul 28, 2026", "src": "https://www.granola.ai/pricing" } ], "tile_note": "the founder favorite" }, { "rank": 2, "name": "Fathom", "maker": "Fathom Video", "url": "https://fathom.video", "docs": "https://help.fathom.video", "pricing": "Free (unlimited recording + transcription) \u00b7 Premium $15 \u00b7 Team $19 \u00b7 Team Pro $29/user/mo", "best_for": "Zero-budget teams that want unlimited capture \u2014 the most generous free tier in the category, with paid tiers only for team views, CRM sync, and compliance.", "why": "The free tier is genuinely unlimited \u2014 recordings, storage, transcription in 25 languages, AI summaries, action items \u2014 where every rival meters minutes or meetings. In April 2026 it answered Granola directly with a bot-less capture mode (video, audio-only, or transcript-only, with speaker diarization). The freemium wedge makes it the default 'just try one' recommendation.", "watch": "The company discloses almost nothing \u2014 no user counts, revenue, or funding since a $4.7M round in 2022 \u2014 so its scale is taken on faith. Advanced summary templates, team search, and unlimited CRM sync all sit behind the $19\u201329 tiers, and the bot-less mode is barely four months old.", "evidence": [ { "stat": "Free tier: unlimited recordings, storage, and transcription; paid tiers $15/$19/$29 (verified Aug 6, 2026)", "src": "https://fathom.video/pricing" }, { "stat": "Bot-less meeting mode launched Apr 15, 2026 \u2014 video/audio/transcription options, aimed squarely at Granola", "src": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/15/fathom-adds-a-bot-less-meeting-mode-in-a-bid-to-take-on-granola/" } ], "tile_note": "unlimited free tier" }, { "rank": 3, "name": "Fireflies", "maker": "Fireflies.ai", "url": "https://fireflies.ai", "docs": "https://guide.fireflies.ai", "pricing": "Free \u00b7 Pro $10 \u00b7 Business $19 \u00b7 Enterprise $39/seat/mo (annual; $18/$29 monthly)", "best_for": "Teams that want every call auto-filed \u2014 transcripts into CRM, action items into task tools, analytics across the whole org, with the deepest integration catalog in the category.", "why": "The breadth play: claims usage across 1M+ companies and positions as 'the preferred platform for CIOs across the Fortune 500', with 138 documented integrations, AI skills, voice agents, and conversation analytics layered on top of capture. Unlimited transcription on every tier including free; enterprise tier adds HIPAA, SSO/SCIM, private storage, and a rules engine at a price ($39) below most rivals' equivalents.", "watch": "Vendor-claim-heavy \u2014 the 1M-companies and Fortune-500 numbers are its own marketing, and the widely reported $1B secondary-sale valuation (Sept 2025) has no primary source we could re-verify. 2026 pricing metered 'AI credits' (20\u201350/mo by tier) onto advanced AI features, and the bot-based capture model is exactly what Granola-style tools are eroding.", "evidence": [ { "stat": "'Used across 1M+ companies'; G2 4.8/5 (vendor claims, Aug 2026)", "src": "https://fireflies.ai/" }, { "stat": "Unlimited transcription on all tiers; AI credits metered 20/30/50 by tier (pricing verified Aug 6, 2026)", "src": "https://fireflies.ai/pricing" } ], "tile_note": "meeting automation at scale" }, { "rank": 4, "name": "Otter", "maker": "Otter.ai", "url": "https://otter.ai", "docs": "https://help.otter.ai", "pricing": "Free 300 min/mo \u00b7 Pro $8.33 \u00b7 Business $19.99/user/mo (annual; $16.99/$30 monthly) \u00b7 Enterprise custom", "best_for": "Raw transcription volume \u2014 live captions, interviews, lectures, and 4-hour meetings \u2014 from the oldest and largest pure-play in the category.", "why": "The scale incumbent: $100M ARR by March 2025 (up from $81M end-2024, per Sacra) and 25M+ users, with the company itself now claiming 35M users and 1B+ meetings transcribed. Nine years of transcription tuning still shows in live captioning and speaker ID, and 2026 additions (Live Assist real-time coaching, workplace analytics, a Notion connector) push it from notetaker toward what it calls a 'conversational knowledge engine.'", "watch": "A 2025 California class action alleges it recorded conversations without all-party consent for AI training, and UMass banned it under Massachusetts consent law \u2014 the category's consent risk made concrete. Growth (~23% YoY) is a fraction of Granola's trajectory, and its LLM-era summarization has lost the quality narrative to younger rivals.", "evidence": [ { "stat": "$100M ARR (Mar 2025), up from $81M end-2024; 25M+ users (2025)", "src": "https://sacra.com/c/otter/" }, { "stat": "Vendor claim: 35M+ users, 1B+ meetings transcribed (blog milestone, 2026, undated)", "src": "https://otter.ai/blog" }, { "stat": "2025 CA class action over consent for AI-training recordings; UMass ban under all-party-consent law", "src": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otter.ai" } ], "tile_note": "transcription workhorse" }, { "rank": 5, "name": "Read AI", "maker": "Read AI", "url": "https://www.read.ai", "docs": "https://support.read.ai", "pricing": "Free 5 meetings/mo \u00b7 Pro $15 \u00b7 Enterprise $22.50 \u00b7 Enterprise+ $29.75/user/mo (annual; +33% monthly)", "best_for": "Teams that want meeting intelligence to leave the meeting \u2014 summaries and coaching that follow you into email, Slack, and Teams, plus an email 'digital twin' that schedules for you.", "why": "The fastest-growing bot-based player: 5M+ monthly active users adding 50k signups a day (Feb 2026), on $81M raised including a $50M Series B (Oct 2024). Its Ada 'digital twin' (Feb 2026) answers email, negotiates meeting times, and drafts replies from your meeting history \u2014 the clearest articulation of where capture goes after notes.", "watch": "The stingiest free tier of the five (5 meetings/month). Its engagement-scoring roots \u2014 measuring who talks too much \u2014 still read as surveillance to some teams, and spreading across meetings, email, and messaging risks doing none of them best-in-class.", "evidence": [ { "stat": "5M+ MAU, ~50k signups/day, 60% of users outside the US (Feb 26, 2026)", "src": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/26/read-ai-launches-an-email-based-digital-twin-to-help-you-with-schedules-and-answers/" }, { "stat": "$81M+ total raised; $50M Series B (Oct 28, 2024)", "src": "https://techcrunch.com/tag/read-ai/" }, { "stat": "Ada email digital twin launched Feb 26, 2026; Slack/Teams expansion planned", "src": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/26/read-ai-launches-an-email-based-digital-twin-to-help-you-with-schedules-and-answers/" } ], "tile_note": "meetings, email, everywhere" } ], "matrix": { "cols": [ "Pricing", "Free tier", "Capture", "Platforms", "Beyond notes", "API / MCP", "Enterprise" ], "rows": [ [ "Granola", "Free \u00b7 $14 \u00b7 $35/user", "Yes, limited history", "Bot-less (system audio)", "Mac \u00b7 Windows \u00b7 iOS \u00b7 Watch", "Cross-meeting AI chat, Spaces", "API + MCP (Business)", "SSO, retention, admin analytics" ], [ "Fathom", "Free \u00b7 $15\u201329/user", "Unlimited recording + transcription", "Bot + bot-less (Apr 2026)", "Zoom \u00b7 Meet \u00b7 Teams", "14 summary types, coaching, clips", "Zapier, CRM sync", "SSO, retention (paid)" ], [ "Fireflies", "Free \u00b7 $10\u201339/seat", "Unlimited transcription, 400 min storage", "Bot + uploads", "Zoom \u00b7 Meet \u00b7 Teams \u00b7 Webex+", "AI skills, voice agents, analytics", "API, 138 integrations", "SSO/SCIM, HIPAA, private storage" ], [ "Otter", "Free \u00b7 $8.33\u201319.99/user", "300 min/mo", "Bot + in-app recording", "Zoom \u00b7 Meet \u00b7 Teams", "Live Assist coaching, workflows", "API (Enterprise)", "SSO/SCIM, HIPAA add-on" ], [ "Read AI", "Free \u00b7 $15\u201329.75/user", "5 meetings/mo", "Bot", "Zoom \u00b7 Meet \u00b7 Teams + email \u00b7 Slack", "Ada digital twin, coaching", "Premium integrations", "SAML/SCIM, HIPAA (Ent+)" ], [ "tl;dv", "Free \u00b7 paid tiers", "Unlimited recordings (claim)", "Bot", "Zoom \u00b7 Meet \u00b7 Teams", "Multi-meeting AI reports", "Integrations", "Team tiers" ], [ "Jamie", "Free tier \u00b7 paid EU tiers", "Credit-limited", "Bot-less, incl. offline/in-person", "Any (device audio)", "Action items, exec assistant", "Exports, integrations", "ISO 27001, EU hosting, SSO/SCIM" ], [ "ZoomMate (native)", "Credit-based add-on", "3 summaries + 20 queries/mo", "Native in Zoom", "Zoom + 3rd-party notes", "Custom agents, doc generation", "Zoom ecosystem", "Zoom admin controls" ] ] }, "rules": [ { "if": "You're a founder in back-to-back calls and refuse to send a bot into meetings", "then": "Granola \u2014 Business at $14 buys unlimited history plus API/MCP so agents can query your meetings. Accept that it can't attend calls you skip." }, { "if": "Budget is zero, or you're trialing capture across a whole team", "then": "Fathom free \u2014 the only unlimited no-cost tier (recording, storage, transcription). Pay only when you need team views, CRM sync, or compliance." }, { "if": "You want every call auto-filed into CRM, tasks, and org-wide analytics", "then": "Fireflies Business at $19/seat \u2014 the deepest integration catalog; watch the AI-credit meter on advanced features." }, { "if": "Your job is volume transcription \u2014 interviews, lectures, 4-hour calls, live captions", "then": "Otter Business ($19.99, unlimited meetings) \u2014 but check your state's consent law first; Otter's 2025 class action is the category's cautionary tale." }, { "if": "Your org lives in Google Workspace or Zoom and needs summaries, not memory", "then": "Try the native layer first \u2014 Gemini 'take notes for me' is bundled into eligible Workspace plans; Zoom's is now credit-metered ZoomMate. Graduate to a dedicated tool when you need cross-meeting search." } ], "field": [ { "name": "tl;dv", "maker": "tl;dv GmbH", "note": "Free-forever unlimited recordings, 2M+ users, 30+ languages; positions as the no-cost Gong alternative for global teams", "url": "https://tldv.io", "oss": false, "entry": "free \u00b7 paid tiers", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Krisp", "maker": "Krisp", "note": "Noise-cancellation leader turned bot-free notetaker \u2014 transcription in 16 languages, accent conversion, call-center AI", "url": "https://krisp.ai", "oss": false, "entry": "free tier \u00b7 paid", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Circleback", "maker": "Circleback (YC)", "note": "The quality darling \u2014 bot + in-person capture, 100+ languages, automations; customers incl. TikTok, Samsung, Deloitte", "url": "https://circleback.ai", "oss": false, "entry": "free tier \u00b7 paid", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Grain", "maker": "Grain Intelligence", "note": "Growing-teams notetaker with bot-less audio capture, MCP server, and a claimed 97% 12-month retention", "url": "https://grain.com", "oss": false, "entry": "free \u00b7 $15/user/mo", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Avoma", "maker": "Avoma", "note": "Modular meeting assistant ($19) + conversation-intelligence add-on ($29) \u2014 straddles capture and revenue intelligence", "url": "https://www.avoma.com", "oss": false, "entry": "$19/user/mo", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Fellow", "maker": "Fellow (now fellow.ai)", "note": "Meeting-management pioneer repositioned as the privacy-first notetaker for regulated industries \u2014 bot-less option, recording policies, redaction", "url": "https://fellow.ai", "oss": false, "entry": "free \u00b7 paid tiers", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Jamie", "maker": "Jamie (Germany)", "note": "Fully bot-less and works offline/in-person; EU-hosted, ISO 27001, no training on customer data \u2014 the GDPR-strict pick", "url": "https://www.meetjamie.ai", "oss": false, "entry": "free tier \u00b7 paid", "status": "active" }, { "name": "MeetGeek", "maker": "MeetGeek", "note": "50k+ teams; bot, desktop, mobile and 'Wave' in-person hardware capture plus meeting agents; Pro from $9.99/mo", "url": "https://meetgeek.ai", "oss": false, "entry": "free \u00b7 $9.99+/mo", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Sembly", "maker": "Sembly AI", "note": "Meetings into client-ready deliverables for professional services; 10k+ teams, 48 languages", "url": "https://www.sembly.ai", "oss": false, "entry": "free tier \u00b7 paid", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Notta", "maker": "Notta Inc. (Japan)", "note": "APAC-strong transcription suite, claimed 10M+ users, 58 languages; from $8.17/mo", "url": "https://www.notta.ai", "oss": false, "entry": "free \u00b7 $8.17+/mo", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Supernormal", "maker": "Supernormal", "note": "Pivoted from generic notetaker to 'AI agents for agencies' \u2014 meetings into decks, briefs, proposals; claims 700k+ orgs", "url": "https://supernormal.com", "oss": false, "entry": "free tier \u00b7 paid", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Spinach", "maker": "Spinach AI (YC; Zoom & Atlassian-backed)", "note": "Agile-ceremony agent \u2014 summaries plus ticket creation in Jira/Asana across 100 languages", "url": "https://www.spinach.ai", "oss": false, "entry": "free tier \u00b7 paid", "status": "active" }, { "name": "ZoomMate", "maker": "Zoom", "note": "The native threat, repriced: free-with-paid-plans AI Companion rebranded ZoomMate in 2026 and moved to AI credits \u2014 Basic tier caps at 3 summaries/mo", "url": "https://www.zoom.com/en/ai-assistant/", "oss": false, "entry": "credits; basic free", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Gemini in Google Meet", "maker": "Google", "note": "'Take notes for me' \u2014 auto notes to Docs with decisions and action items, bundled into eligible Workspace/Gemini plans; the strongest bundling threat", "url": "https://support.google.com/meet/answer/14754931", "oss": false, "entry": "bundled w/ Workspace", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Microsoft 365 Copilot", "maker": "Microsoft", "note": "Teams meeting recap and notes inside the Copilot bundle \u2014 Copilot Business now $18/user/mo (annual), down from the $30 era", "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/business", "oss": false, "entry": "$18/user/mo (annual)", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Notion AI Meeting Notes", "maker": "Notion", "note": "Bot-less system-audio capture inside the wiki (Business/Enterprise plans, 10 h/day cap) \u2014 notes land where work lives; see Kw", "url": "https://www.notion.com/help/ai-meeting-notes", "oss": false, "entry": "bundled w/ Business plan", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Limitless / Rewind", "maker": "Limitless \u2192 Meta", "note": "Acquired by Meta; Pendant sales ended Dec 5, 2025, Rewind capture disabled Dec 19, 2025, existing users free through 2026 \u2014 personal always-on capture folds into Big Tech wearables", "url": "https://www.limitless.ai", "oss": false, "entry": "\u2014", "status": "acquired" }, { "name": "Bee", "maker": "Bee \u2192 Amazon", "note": "$50 always-listening wearable acquihired by Amazon (Jul 2025) \u2014 ambient capture moved adjacent to element Mm", "url": "https://www.bee.computer", "oss": false, "entry": "\u2014", "status": "acquired" }, { "name": "Airgram", "maker": "Airgram", "note": "Once a well-reviewed notetaker; wound down and domain unreachable by Aug 2026", "url": "https://airgram.io", "oss": false, "entry": "\u2014", "status": "dead" }, { "name": "timeOS", "maker": "timeOS", "note": "timeos.ai now redirects to timeless.day (observed Aug 2026) \u2014 rebrand/pivot; original product no longer marketed", "url": "https://www.timeless.day", "oss": false, "entry": "\u2014", "status": "renamed" }, { "name": "Rewatch", "maker": "Rewatch \u2192 Atlassian", "note": "Meeting-video hub acquired by Atlassian (2023) and folded into the Loom/Atlassian stack", "url": "https://rewatch.com", "oss": false, "entry": "\u2014", "status": "acquired" }, { "name": "Chorus.ai", "maker": "Chorus \u2192 ZoomInfo", "note": "Sales conversation intelligence, acquired by ZoomInfo for $575M (2021) \u2014 the category's first big exit; sales CI now lives in GTM tooling, not here", "url": "https://www.zoominfo.com", "oss": false, "entry": "\u2014", "status": "acquired" } ], "signals": [ { "fact": "Granola raised $125M at $1.5B (Mar 2026) \u2014 a 6x markup in ten months and the category's first pure-play unicorn round", "src": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/25/granola-raises-125m-hits-1-5b-valuation-as-it-expands-from-meeting-notetaker-to-enterprise-ai-app/" }, { "fact": "Otter hit $100M ARR (Mar 2025, up from $81M end-2024) with 25M+ users \u2014 proof the category supports nine-figure pure-play revenue", "src": "https://sacra.com/c/otter/" }, { "fact": "Read AI at 5M+ MAU adding ~50k signups/day (Feb 2026), 60% outside the US \u2014 capture demand is global, not a US SaaS niche", "src": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/26/read-ai-launches-an-email-based-digital-twin-to-help-you-with-schedules-and-answers/" }, { "fact": "Bundling squeeze inverted in 2026: Google ships Gemini meeting notes inside Workspace, but Zoom moved the other way \u2014 AI Companion rebranded ZoomMate with credit-metered pricing (Basic: 3 summaries/mo)", "src": "https://www.zoom.com/en/ai-assistant/" }, { "fact": "Consolidation of ambient capture: Meta acquired Limitless (Pendant sales ended Dec 5, 2025; Rewind sunset Dec 19, 2025) after Amazon's Jul 2025 Bee acquihire", "src": "https://www.limitless.ai" }, { "fact": "Consent risk turned legal: 2025 California class action against Otter over recording for AI training; UMass banned it under all-party-consent law \u2014 bot-less capture is partly a legal-surface response", "src": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otter.ai" }, { "fact": "Broader AI-assistant market (incl. meeting transcription): $3.35B (2025) \u2192 $21.11B (2030), 44.5% CAGR \u2014 MarketsandMarkets; treat as directional, category is wider than notetakers", "src": "https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/ai-meeting-assistant-market-263544955.html" } ], "notes": "Ranking criteria: independently verifiable adoption/revenue, pricing verified on vendor pages Aug 6, 2026, product momentum in 2026, and privacy/consent posture; no affiliate consideration. Conflicts resolved: Otter user count \u2014 Sacra says 25M+ (2025), Otter's own undated 2026 blog claims 35M+; we cite Sacra as primary and flag the 35M as a vendor claim. Fireflies' widely reported ~$1B secondary-sale valuation (Sept 2025) could not be re-verified against a primary source and is excluded from evidence; its '1M+ companies' figure is vendor marketing. Fathom discloses no funding beyond $4.7M (2022, TechCrunch) \u2014 reported later rounds unverified, so omitted. tl;dv's paid-tier prices sit behind a robots-blocked app page and are left unstated. ChatGPT's macOS record mode (launched Jun 2025) is a real bundling vector we could not re-verify in OpenAI's 2026 release notes \u2014 treat as live but unconfirmed. Adjacent elements: sales conversation intelligence (Gong, Chorus, Avoma's CI add-on) belongs with GTM tooling, not Mt; always-on personal capture (Limitless, Bee) and agent memory \u2192 Mm \u00b7 Memory Layer; Notion AI Meeting Notes is really the wiki absorbing capture \u2192 Kw \u00b7 Knowledge Wiki; meeting-derived search/RAG infrastructure \u2192 Vd \u00b7 Vector Store.", "sources": [ "https://www.granola.ai/pricing", "https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/25/granola-raises-125m-hits-1-5b-valuation-as-it-expands-from-meeting-notetaker-to-enterprise-ai-app/", "https://techcrunch.com/tag/granola/", "https://otter.ai/pricing", "https://sacra.com/c/otter/", "https://otter.ai/blog", "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otter.ai", "https://fireflies.ai/pricing", "https://fireflies.ai/", "https://fathom.video/pricing", "https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/15/fathom-adds-a-bot-less-meeting-mode-in-a-bid-to-take-on-granola/", "https://www.read.ai/pricing", "https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/26/read-ai-launches-an-email-based-digital-twin-to-help-you-with-schedules-and-answers/", "https://techcrunch.com/tag/read-ai/", "https://www.zoom.com/en/ai-assistant/", "https://support.google.com/meet/answer/14754931", "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/business", "https://www.notion.com/help/ai-meeting-notes", "https://www.limitless.ai", "https://tldv.io", "https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/ai-meeting-assistant-market-263544955.html" ], "element": { "number": 17, "name": "Meeting Capture", "group": "Knowledge & Memory", "essential": true, "edition": "v2026.Q3", "revision": "r7", "license": "CC BY 4.0 \u2014 cite elems.ai", "url": "https://elems.ai/e/mt.html" } }