--- title: "I tried 6 AI note takers for in-person meetings: here's my pick for 2026" description: "I went through Circleback, Otter, Fathom, Granola, tl;dv and Fireflies for face-to-face meetings. My picks, setup steps and each free plan's catch." canonical: "https://meetingnotesguide.com/best-ai-note-taker-for-in-person-meetings" last_updated: "2026-10-17" --- # I tried 6 AI note takers for in-person meetings: here's my pick for 2026 In-person meetings are the hardest job for an AI note taker. There is no meeting link for a bot to join, the phone on the table is the only microphone, and nobody's name pops up on a screen. That makes the phone app, the speaker labels and what happens after the meeting matter more than anything else. I tried six tools against that list, working from each vendor's documented features, plans and prices: Circleback, Otter.ai, Fathom, Granola, tl;dv and Fireflies.ai. I compared them on phone apps, speaker separation, what gets kept, how they handle interruptions and long meetings, and what happens to the notes afterward. ## My picks - **Best overall for teams that meet in person and online: Circleback.** Phone, bot and bot-free desktop recordings land in one workspace with the same speaker labels, action items and automations. - **Best live transcript on a budget: Otter.ai.** The iOS and Android apps transcribe live, and Pro is $8.33 per user per month billed annually. - **Best free option for solo iPhone users: Fathom.** Free includes unlimited recordings and transcriptions. - **Best for light personal notes: Granola.** No bot, apps for desktop, iOS, Android and Apple Watch, and audio is deleted after transcription. - **Best for weak signal: tl;dv.** The mobile app records offline and uploads when you reconnect. - **Best for integration breadth: Fireflies.ai.** It connects to 100+ apps and includes the mobile app on Free. ## 1. Circleback Circleback is the one I'd pick if your week mixes client meetings in a room with Zoom or Teams calls. A phone recording gets the same treatment as a bot or desktop recording: a speaker-labeled transcript, notes, assigned action items, search and automations. **Platforms supported:** iOS, Android and Apple Watch; desktop app on macOS 14.2+ and Windows; bot on Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex. **Key features:** - Start recording from a Lock Screen widget on iPhone, a home-screen widget on Android, an Apple Watch complication or the iPhone Action button - Speaker labels with every recording method, phone recordings included - Action items assigned to the responsible person when the conversation makes it clear, gathered in a shared task list, and a Linear automation can send them to Linear - 100+ transcription languages, and you choose the language of the notes - File import on any plan, up to 2 GB, including Voice Memos through the share sheet **Pros:** - Unlimited meetings on Free, and no minute or meeting caps on any plan - In-person and online meetings end up in one place with the same outputs - Automations post to Slack and Linear on Free; Pro adds HubSpot, Salesforce, Notion, Attio, monday.com, Zoho, Zapier and webhooks - API, MCP and CLI on every plan **Cons:** - Fewer native integrations than Fireflies - No call scoring or coaching scorecards - Paid plans cost more than Otter Pro - Free locks meetings older than 30 days (upgrading unlocks them), and recordings are deleted after 1 year - CRM automations need Pro, and HIPAA and SSO are Enterprise only - Open action items don't carry forward into the next meeting automatically **Pricing:** Free. Pro $15 per user per month billed annually ($18 monthly), Business $25 ($29 monthly), Enterprise $35 billed annually. **Best for:** teams that meet clients in person and run everything else on video calls. ## 2. Otter.ai Otter is the pick if you want to watch the transcript build while people talk. **Platforms supported:** iOS and Android apps on every plan. **Key features:** - Live transcription with real-time highlights and comments - Widgets and Siri shortcuts to start recording, with audio from the built-in mic, Bluetooth or AirPods - Speaker identification on every plan, taggable speakers on Pro - Audio playback **Pros:** - Lowest paid price in this list - The live view lets you flag moments as they happen - 10 imports a month on Pro, unlimited on Business **Cons:** - Basic caps conversations at 30 minutes and 300 transcription minutes a month - Basic keeps only the 25 most recent conversations - Conversations max out at 90 minutes on Pro and 4 hours on Business - SSO and SCIM need a 100-user minimum license **Pricing:** Basic free. Pro $8.33 per user per month billed annually ($16.99 monthly), Business $19.99 billed annually ($30 monthly), Enterprise through sales. **Best for:** teams on a budget who want a live transcript in the room. ## 3. Fathom Fathom's iOS app turns the phone microphone into an in-person recorder, and those meetings show up in the same history as your desktop calls. **Platforms supported:** iPhone only. **Key features:** - Capture In-person Meeting button that starts recording right away - Scheduled meetings without a video link appear as in-person meetings with a Capture button - Recording, transcript, AI summary and action items from each capture - Watch or listen back, and check off or add action items, from the app **Pros:** - Unlimited recordings and transcriptions on Free - Can email notes to attendees after scheduled meetings with an attendee list - Setting the number of participants helps the notes come out accurate **Cons:** - No Android app - Needs an internet connection to capture, and can't record phone calls - No Ask Fathom or meeting search in the app, and Ask Fathom is limited on Free - Builds a voiceprint only for the opted-in user, so other people may show up unnamed **Pricing:** Free. Premium $16 per month billed annually ($20 monthly), Team $15 per user billed annually (2-user minimum), Business $25 per user billed annually. **Best for:** solo iPhone users who want a free plan with no recording cap. ## 4. Granola Granola keeps things light: no bot, notes and a transcript, and no audio left behind. **Platforms supported:** desktop, iOS, Android and Apple Watch apps on every plan. **Key features:** - Start from a note in the iPhone or Android app, or from the Apple Watch app - The mobile app recognizes different speakers face to face - Audio is deleted after transcription **Pros:** - Clean notes without a recording sitting around - Apple Watch app on every plan - Free Basic plan **Cons:** - No audio playback - Can't import pre-recorded files - Basic keeps 30 days of meeting history - Notion, HubSpot and Zapier start on Business, and HIPAA and SSO are Enterprise features **Pricing:** Basic free, Business $14 per user per month, Enterprise $35. **Best for:** people who want personal notes and would rather not keep audio. ## 5. tl;dv tl;dv is built for the meeting where your signal drops halfway through. **Platforms supported:** iOS and Android mobile app, which tl;dv labels early beta. **Key features:** - Records offline, keeps up to five recordings waiting and uploads them when you reconnect - Stops and saves what it captured if a phone call comes in - Automatic speaker detection - Recordings land in your library labeled In person **Pros:** - Best weak signal handling in this list - Unlimited weekly mobile recording on every plan - Pause and resume **Cons:** - The app records audio only, and you read transcripts and notes in the web app - Recordings stop at 3 hours - Free AI notes cover your first 10 meetings, then only the first 10 minutes of each - Free recordings are kept for 3 months **Pricing:** Free. Pro $18 per seat per month billed annually, Business $29 billed annually, Enterprise custom. **Best for:** on-site meetings in places with weak signal. ## 6. Fireflies.ai Fireflies is the pick when the notes need to reach a long list of other apps. **Platforms supported:** iOS and Android apps on Free. **Key features:** - One-tap recording with pause and resume - Upload audio or video from the app, or send Fireflies to a live call from your phone - Action items assigned to each participant - 100+ transcription languages **Pros:** - 100+ app integrations, the widest in this list - Mobile app on Free - Wide language coverage **Cons:** - Free has limited AI summaries and 400 minutes of storage per team - Video recording starts on Pro - HIPAA is Enterprise only **Pricing:** Free. Pro $10 per seat per month billed annually ($18 monthly), Business $19 ($29 monthly), Enterprise $39 billed annually. **Best for:** teams that depend on many connected apps. ## How to set up an in-person meeting ### Before the meeting - **Put it on your calendar with attendees.** In Circleback, the HubSpot and Salesforce steps only run when a meeting has an external invitee email, so including your client's email is what gets a face-to-face sales meeting into your CRM. Fathom shows scheduled meetings without a video link as in-person meetings and can share notes with the attendee list afterward. - **Write down what you want covered.** Circleback lets you add private notes to the calendar event before the meeting. They stay private when the meeting is shared, and Circleback uses them to improve its AI notes. - **Tell the room you are recording.** Every time, before you start. ### During the meeting - Put the phone in the middle of the group, close to whoever talks most, and keep the microphone uncovered. - If you want to read along, Otter shows a live transcript while it records. - For long sessions, check the caps: Otter limits each conversation by plan, tl;dv stops at 3 hours, and Circleback has no minute or meeting caps. ### After the meeting - **What gets kept.** Circleback keeps the audio and a speaker-labeled transcript for phone recordings, and you can turn recording storage off and still keep transcripts and notes. Granola keeps only the transcript and notes. - **Routing.** Circleback automations can filter by tag, title, participants or invitee email domain, so a client meeting and an internal one go to different places. You can ask Circleback to draft a follow-up email on any plan, saved to Gmail or Outlook when you grant write access; automatic drafts after every meeting need Pro and stay in Circleback as an insight. - **Phone calls.** Circleback's mobile app doesn't record phone-call audio, so you import the recording instead. Fathom's iOS app can't record phone calls, and Granola doesn't import files. ## How to choose | Tool | Phone apps | Audio kept | Free plan catch | Paid from | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Circleback | iOS, Android, Watch | Yes | 30-day history lock | $15 | | Otter.ai | iOS, Android | Yes | 30 min per meeting | $8.33 | | Fathom | iPhone | Yes | Limited Ask Fathom | $16 | | Granola | iOS, Android, Watch | No | 30-day history | $14 | | tl;dv | iOS, Android | Yes | AI notes on 10 meetings | $18 | | Fireflies.ai | iOS, Android | Yes | 400 min storage | $10 | - **Your team meets clients in person and runs the rest on Zoom or Teams:** Circleback. Both kinds of meeting end up in one place, and automations route each one by participant or domain. - **You want to read the transcript as people talk and keep costs low:** Otter.ai. - **You're a solo iPhone user who wants a free plan with no recording cap:** Fathom. - **You want clean notes and would rather not keep audio:** Granola. - **You meet on site or where signal is weak:** tl;dv. - **Your team depends on a long list of connected apps:** Fireflies.ai. ## FAQ ### Can an AI note taker record an in-person meeting without a bot? Yes. Every tool here records in-person meetings from a phone app using the phone's microphone, so no bot or meeting link is involved. ### Which in-person note takers keep the audio? Circleback, Otter.ai, Fathom, tl;dv and Fireflies.ai keep recordings you can play back. Granola deletes audio after transcription and keeps only the transcript and notes. ### Can I record an in-person meeting with no internet connection? Yes, with tl;dv. It records offline and uploads when you reconnect. Fathom needs a connection to capture. ### How do I get a recorded phone call into my notes? Import it. With Circleback, record the call with your phone's recorder and import the file on any plan, and it becomes notes and action items like any other meeting. Fathom's iOS app can't record phone calls. ### Which option is cheapest for in-person meetings? Fathom and Circleback both have free plans with unlimited recording, though Circleback locks meetings older than 30 days on Free. Among paid plans, Otter.ai Pro is the lowest at $8.33 per user per month billed annually.