Every small business runs on conversations. Sales calls, client check-ins, the Monday team huddle. The trouble is that nobody remembers the details a week later, and 'I'll send notes after' usually turns into nothing. AI meeting notes tools fix that. They join your call, transcribe every word, and hand you a tidy summary with action items before you've closed the tab.

Three names come up again and again: Otter, Fireflies, and Fathom. All three record, transcribe, and summarize. All three have a free plan. The differences are in price, accuracy, and where the notes end up afterward. We put them side by side for a small business that runs on Zoom, Google Meet, and the occasional in-person sit-down.

Short version: Otter has the best live transcript for in-room meetings. Fireflies is the one to pick if you live in a CRM and search old calls a lot. Fathom has the most generous free plan by a mile. Here's the detail, with June 2026 prices and a 'skip it if' for each.

How we compared them

We judged these on what an owner actually feels after a busy week, not a feature checklist. The lens below shapes everything that follows.

  • Transcript accuracy on real calls with crosstalk and accents
  • How readable the auto-summary is without editing
  • Where the notes go next: email, Slack, Notion, or your CRM
  • Real cost per user once you outgrow the free plan
  • How it behaves when a client asks why a bot joined the call

Otter.ai at a glance

Otter built its name on live transcription, and it still does that best. Words appear on screen as people talk, which makes it the only one of the three that genuinely helps during an in-person meeting on your phone. Its assistant joins Zoom, Meet, and Teams calls automatically, and the summary lands in your inbox minutes after you hang up. The chat feature lets you ask questions about the call, like 'what did we promise the client?', and get a straight answer.

Pricing as of June 2026: Free gives you 300 transcription minutes a month, capped at 30 minutes per conversation. Pro runs about $17/month, or closer to $8 a month if you pay yearly, and lifts the cap to 1,200 minutes. Business is around $30 per user a month and adds admin controls and more integrations. The free tier is fine for a few short calls a week.

Skip it if your meetings run long. That 30-minute-per-call limit on the free plan cuts off mid-sentence, and even Pro caps total minutes, so heavy users hit a wall. Also skip it if you need deep CRM links, because Otter pushes notes to email and Slack well but its Salesforce and HubSpot integrations trail Fireflies.

Fireflies.ai at a glance

Fireflies is built for people who treat past calls as a searchable database. Every meeting gets transcribed, tagged, and dropped into a library you can search by keyword, speaker, or topic. Ask it to find every time a client mentioned 'budget' and it pulls the clips. It pushes notes straight into HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Notion, and Slack, which makes it the natural pick for a sales-led business.

Pricing as of June 2026: Free covers unlimited transcription but limits AI summaries and storage to a few hundred minutes. Pro is about $10 per user a month billed yearly, or roughly $18 month-to-month, and unlocks unlimited summaries and most integrations. Business runs about $19 per user a month and adds team analytics. For a small sales team, Pro is the sweet spot.

Skip it if you mostly meet in person, because Fireflies needs a calendar invite with a video link to do its thing, and it adds nothing to a coffee-shop chat. Also skip it if a busy library sounds like clutter rather than a feature. The search power is real, but the interface asks more of you than Fathom's clean summary view.

Fathom at a glance

Fathom's pitch is simple: the free plan is unusually generous. You get unlimited recording, transcription, and AI summaries at no cost, where the others meter you. The summaries are clean and skimmable, with timestamped highlights you can click to jump to the moment. It copies notes into Slack, Notion, Google Docs, and the major CRMs in one click. For a solo owner or a tiny team, it often does the job without ever asking for a card.

Pricing as of June 2026: Free is the headline, and it's the real deal, with no minute caps. Premium is around $15/month and adds advanced AI questions and the ability to ask across several meetings at once. Team Edition runs about $19 per user a month and adds shared folders and coaching features for sales managers. Most one-person shops never need to pay.

Skip it if you need a live transcript during the meeting, because Fathom focuses on the after-call summary and doesn't show words in real time like Otter. Also skip it if you want phone-only, in-room capture, since Fathom lives inside Zoom, Meet, and Teams and won't record a face-to-face meeting on your phone.

What AI meeting notes really cost

Headline free plans hide the real cost, which only shows up once you record every meeting. Here's the honest picture for a single user paying yearly, as of June 2026.

  • Otter: free for 300 minutes a month; Pro about $8 to $17 a month for 1,200 minutes
  • Fireflies: free with limited summaries; Pro about $10 per user a month for unlimited
  • Fathom: free with no minute caps; Premium about $15 a month for cross-meeting AI
  • All three charge per user, so a 5-person team multiplies the monthly figure
  • Prices shift often, so check the current plan page before you commit

Accuracy, languages, and integrations

On a clean one-on-one call, all three transcribe at roughly 90% accuracy, which is good enough that you skim rather than read. Crosstalk and strong accents drag every tool down, and none is perfect. A few real differences are worth knowing.

  • Otter handles live, in-room audio best; the others need a video call
  • Fireflies supports the most languages, over 60, useful if you serve a mixed market
  • Fathom's summaries read the most naturally with the least editing
  • Fireflies has the deepest CRM links; Otter and Fathom cover the basics well
  • All three show a banner that a bot is recording, which keeps things honest

Which one should you pick

There's no single winner, because the right tool depends on how you meet. Match yourself to the closest case below.

  • Solo owner or tiny team on a budget: Fathom, for the free plan that doesn't quit
  • Sales team that lives in HubSpot or Salesforce: Fireflies Pro
  • Consultant who meets clients in person: Otter, for phone-based live capture
  • You just want clean summaries with zero fuss: Fathom Premium
  • You search old calls weekly to settle 'who said what': Fireflies

Three mistakes to avoid

  • Recording without telling people. In some states that's illegal, and it's always bad manners. Say a bot is joining, or turn it off.
  • Trusting the summary blindly. AI mishears numbers and names. Spend two minutes checking the action items before you send them on.
  • Paying for three tools. Pick one, learn it well, and cancel the trials you forgot about. Two of these will quietly bill you otherwise.

Frequently asked questions

Are AI meeting notes accurate enough to trust?

For the gist, yes. For exact figures, prices, and the spelling of names, no. Treat the transcript as a strong first draft. On a clear call you'll edit very little; on a noisy four-person call you'll fix more. Always read the action items before you act on them.

Is it legal to record meetings with these tools?

It depends where you and the other person are. Some US states require everyone on the call to consent, not just you. All three tools show a recording banner, which helps, but the safe move is to say out loud that you're recording and why. When in doubt, ask first.

Can I use the free plan forever?

With Fathom, often yes, since its free plan has no minute caps. Otter's free plan stops you at 300 minutes a month, and Fireflies limits summaries, so heavy users will hit a paywall within a few weeks. Start free, track how many meetings you actually record, then decide.

The bottom line

If you want one safe pick, start with Fathom. The free plan is generous enough that most small businesses never pay, the summaries are clean, and it pushes notes everywhere you'd want them. You can always move up later if your needs grow.

Choose Fireflies instead if your business runs on a CRM and you search old calls often. Choose Otter if you meet clients face to face and want live captions on your phone. All three beat scribbling notes you'll never read again, and all three have a free tier, so you can test the winner on next week's calls before spending a cent.