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Best AI Meeting Assistants 2026: Notes, Summaries, and Action Items

We tested the leading AI meeting assistants to find the best tools for notes, summaries, and follow-ups.

Meetings generate a lot of information. The best AI meeting assistants in 2026 help you capture transcripts, extract action items, and share highlights without extra work.

Below are the top tools we recommend, plus what each one is best at.


1. Otter.ai - Best Overall for Teams

Otter remains the most balanced choice for teams. It offers strong transcription quality, searchable archives, and structured summaries. The free tier is useful, while Pro and Business plans expand limits and workflows.

  • Best for: Teams that need searchable, shareable notes
  • Price: Free; Pro from $16.99/user/mo (monthly) or $8.33/user/mo (annual)
Try Otter.ai Free

Read our full Otter.ai review

2. Fathom - Best Free Plan

Fathom offers an unusually generous free tier with unlimited recordings, making it a strong entry point for individuals. Paid plans add advanced summaries and collaboration.

  • Best for: Individuals and small teams
  • Price: Free; Premium from $20/user/mo
Try Fathom Free

Read our full Fathom review

3. Fireflies.ai - Best for Sales Workflows

Fireflies is strong for sales and revenue teams thanks to CRM integrations and conversation intelligence features. It also includes a solid free tier for testing.

  • Best for: Sales and CRM-heavy teams
  • Price: Free; Pro from $10/seat/mo (annual)

4. Meetily - Best Privacy-First Option

Meetily focuses on privacy-first workflows and local processing options. It is a good alternative if you need stricter data handling.

5. Zoom AI Companion / Microsoft Copilot - Best Native Integrations

If your company is locked into Zoom or Microsoft 365, native meeting assistants can be the most convenient choice with less setup.


How We Picked the Best

We focused on real-world meeting workflows:

  1. Transcription quality and speed
  2. Action-item extraction
  3. Search and sharing
  4. Pricing vs limits
  5. Ease of setup

Final Take

If you want the safest choice, Otter is still the best overall. For individuals, Fathom is a standout. For revenue teams, Fireflies is the specialist pick.

Last updated: March 2026.

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