The best AI note taker depends on two decisions: whether you’re okay with a bot joining the call, and where the notes need to end up. For meetings in Spanish and English without a bot, Granola’s desktop app is the most complete option we verified. If your team already pays for Zoom, Google Workspace, or Microsoft 365, start with the note taker that’s already included. For a sales team that needs video and CRM, Fathom or Fireflies. In Spain or the European Union, with a Spanish-language interface, tl;dv.
This guide compares meeting note takers: tools that capture a call’s audio, transcribe it, and generate a summary. It leaves out general AI note-taking apps, like Mem, Reflect, or Apple Notes, which don’t capture meetings.
Bot-free capture is no longer exclusive to Granola. As of November 12, 2026, Fireflies (with its desktop app), Fathom (with version 3.0, mainly on Mac), Notion, and Zoom (with My Notes) also capture without a bot, each with its own conditions. The difference now lies in what each tool stores (audio, video, or just the transcript), what languages it works in, and under what privacy conditions.
Granola is a Postdigitalist partner: if you subscribe through our link, your first month on the paid plan is free (the Basic plan is already free; Business costs US$14 per user per month, with monthly billing only), and we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We use Granola to produce our interviews, and we still evaluated it using the same criteria as the rest. More details in Partners.
This guide is based on each tool’s pricing pages, documentation, and privacy policies, reviewed on November 12, 2026, and on news coverage cited by name. We did not run our own transcription-accuracy test, and we couldn’t find an independent, comparable benchmark in Spanish, so we don’t claim that one tool transcribes better than another. Within each group, the order is alphabetical.
How we evaluated them
We applied the same five criteria to all nine tools:
- Capture mode. Whether it uses a bot that joins the call, whether it captures without a bot from your own device, or whether it offers both, and what it stores: audio, video, or just the transcript.
- Spanish and bilingual meetings. Whether it transcribes and summarizes in Spanish, whether it supports two languages in the same meeting, and what language the interface is in.
- Privacy and control. Whether it trains models on your data (by default and with opt-out), what certifications it holds (SOC 2, HIPAA), where it hosts data, and how notes are shared by default.
- Integrations and team use. CRM, Notion, Slack, API, or MCP (Model Context Protocol, the standard that connects your data to assistants like Claude or ChatGPT) and team administration.
- Verifiable price. Whether the free plan is real, how much it costs per month and per year, and which prices are promotions.
Standalone apps
Fathom
A note taker with video recording and summaries, strong on the sales side: it syncs with CRMs and adds coaching scorecards on the Business plan. In its favor: the Free plan, which Fathom bills as “Free forever,” includes unlimited recordings and transcripts; it transcribes 38 languages, Spanish included, and lets you choose between bot-based and bot-free capture. It holds SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, and GDPR, with a DPA on request. Against it: bot-free capture in Fathom 3.0 is available “primarily on Mac,” requires macOS 14.2 or higher, and is being rolled out gradually; as of November 10, 2026, it worked in 20 languages, and on Windows it’s a limited alpha for Microsoft Teams. Data is stored in the United States, and Fathom uses de-identified customer data to improve its models, with an individual opt-out and, on Team, an organization-wide one. According to Fathom’s pricing page, Premium costs US$20 per user per month with monthly billing or US$16 with annual billing; Team, US$19 or US$15; Business, US$34 or US$25, both with a two-user minimum; Enterprise, US$35, annual only.
Fireflies
Fireflies.ai’s note taker joins calls with a bot called “Fred” and also has a desktop app; it’s built for teams and adds a lot of integrations. In its favor: its pricing page says English is the primary language and that Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, and “100+ other languages” are in beta. The help center lists Spanish and Latin American Spanish as supported, without that label, and reserves the “beta” tag for Multi-language Mode, which transcribes several languages in the same meeting and is available starting on the Business plan. On its security page, Fireflies states that it “does not use your meeting data to train AI models” and holds SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA-ready status on Enterprise with a BAA. Against it: the bot is the default mode. The desktop app for Windows and Mac records without a bot using system audio, but in that mode it doesn’t save audio or video, and speakers show up as “Speaker 1” and “Speaker 2”; to get names, Fireflies recommends using the bot. Free includes “unlimited” transcription (with an asterisk on its pricing page), limited AI summaries, and 400 minutes of storage per team; Pro costs US$10 per user per month with annual billing or US$18 monthly; Business, US$19 annual or US$29 monthly; Enterprise, US$39, annual only.
Granola
Granola is a notepad for meetings: you write your own notes during the call, and Granola fills them out with the transcript. It has apps for macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. In its favor: it captures without a bot and doesn’t join or record on its own (“it won’t auto-join or auto-record anything”): you start it yourself. On desktop it pulls audio from the device and works with Zoom, Meet, Teams, and any calling app. It transcribes 31 languages on desktop and 17 on mobile, Spanish included on both, and on desktop its Multi-language mode transcribes several languages in the same meeting. The summary language is configurable: with “English” it writes in English even if the meeting was in Spanish; with “Auto” it uses the majority language. By default it separates “Me” (your microphone) and “Them” (system audio); with speaker tags, set up before the meeting, it labels each participant by name in Google Meet, Zoom, and Teams. No plan has a daily transcription limit. It integrates with Slack on every plan; with Notion, HubSpot, Attio, Affinity, and Zapier starting on Business; with Salesforce on Enterprise, and it offers MCP and an API starting on Business. It has had SOC 2 Type 2 since July 2025, a DPA for GDPR, and HIPAA only on Enterprise.
Against it: Granola doesn’t record or store audio or video, only the transcript and the notes, and it doesn’t accept uploaded recordings for transcription, so you can’t go back and listen to a sentence to verify a quote. The interface is English-only. The mobile app is designed for in-person meetings: it doesn’t capture audio from video-calling apps and locks in one language per meeting, which can’t be changed afterward. Notes are stored in a private AWS cloud in the United States, indefinitely unless you delete them. Granola doesn’t let third parties like OpenAI or Anthropic train on your data, but it trains its own models on anonymized data by default, with a per-user opt-out; on Enterprise it’s off by default. Business is billed monthly only, with no annual discount.
The Verge, the tech outlet, reported on April 2, 2026 that Granola’s note links were visible to “anyone with the link” by default and that training was turned on by default outside of Enterprise. In that story, Sam Stephenson, Granola’s co-founder, responded that links aren’t indexed and that full transcripts are only visible if you share the note. Today, Granola’s help center lets you choose between “Anyone with the link,” “Only my company,” and “Private.” We didn’t verify what the current default is: check that setting before using Granola with clients.
At Postdigitalist we produce our interviews with Granola; that’s hands-on experience, not a comparative test. According to Granola’s pricing page, Basic costs US$0 and includes 30 days of history in the app; Business, US$14 per user per month, monthly only; Enterprise, starting at US$35 per user per month. The mobile apps are free.
Otter
Otter.ai is one of the best-known note takers: a bot that joins Zoom, Teams, and Meet, plus apps and a browser extension. In its favor: Basic is free, with 300 minutes of transcription per month and 30 minutes per conversation, and the audio recording stays available so you can listen back. Against it: it transcribes six languages (“English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Chinese”), fewer than everything else on this list. Its privacy policy includes “training our proprietary AI technology on de-identified audio recordings and on transcriptions (which may contain Personal Information).” Also, according to Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg’s legal news service, on August 14, 2026 Judge Eumi K. Lee, of the Northern District of California, rejected Otter’s attempt to dismiss a proposed class action alleging its tool functions as illegal wiretapping. Claims are proceeding under the ECPA (the federal U.S. law on intercepting communications), CIPA (California’s privacy law), BIPA (Illinois’s biometric data law), and California’s unfair competition law. These are allegations: there’s no ruling on the merits. According to Otter’s pricing page, Pro costs US$16.99 per user per month with monthly billing; the annual rate is listed at US$8.49 per month as a promotion for new subscribers only. Business costs US$30 per month, with a visible 20% promotion for three months (US$24). Enterprise is custom-quoted.
tl;dv
A Europe-based note taker that joins via bot and whose homepage promises a “no bot required” option. In its favor: it’s the only tool on this list with a Spanish-language interface we verified (it also offers English, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, and German), and it transcribes in more than 30 languages. On its security page, tl;dv describes itself as “Based in Europe,” with GDPR, SOC 2 Type II, and ISO 27001, and says it doesn’t use customer data to train AI and that its AI is hosted in Europe or the United States. Against it: we didn’t verify how its bot-free mode works or what it stores in that mode, and it charges in euros. According to tl;dv’s pricing page, Free costs €0; Pro, €29 per user per month with monthly billing or €18 with annual billing (€216 per year); Business, €39 monthly or €29 with annual billing (€348 per year).
Note takers already built into your suite
Google Meet: “Take notes for me”
A feature of Gemini, Google’s AI, that takes notes inside Meet. In its favor: it works in Spanish and doesn’t add another subscription if your Google Workspace edition already includes it. It requires an eligible edition or a Google AI plan; Google’s update on languages names Business Standard and Plus and Enterprise Standard and Plus. Against it: according to Meet’s help center, it handles one language per meeting (“Multiple languages spoken in the same meeting aren’t currently supported”), so it doesn’t work for meetings that mix Spanish and English; the “Decisions” section in Spanish is in beta, and it only works in Meet. Business Standard costs US$14 per user per month with a one-year commitment on the U.S. pricing page, with an introductory price of US$11.20 for new customers as a promotion.
Microsoft Teams: Intelligent recap
An AI meeting summary feature inside Teams. In its favor: the translated recap for multilingual meetings, in preview, supports Spanish among nine languages. Against it: it only works in Teams and needs an admin to turn on transcription. It requires Teams Premium, at US$10 per user per month with annual payment, or a Microsoft 365 Copilot license; on the Copilot pricing page, Microsoft 365 Copilot Business as an add-on is listed at US$18 per user per month with annual payment, marked as a discount from US$21.
Notion AI Meeting Notes
A block within Notion, the document-and-database workspace, that transcribes and summarizes meetings without a bot (“no bot needed”). In its favor: it keeps notes where your team already works and transcribes 16 languages, Spanish included. Against it: according to Notion’s help center, speaker labels only work in English, and there’s a limit of 10 hours per day per user. It’s included in Notion Business, at US$20 per member per month with annual billing or US$24 monthly; Free and Plus only offer a trial, and you pay for every member of the workspace.
Zoom AI Companion and My Notes
Zoom’s AI assistant summarizes meetings inside Zoom, and My Notes, according to Zoom, also works in Teams and Meet. In its favor: the summary supports more than 30 languages, Spanish included, and comes at no extra cost on paid Zoom Workplace plans, which Zoom lists starting at US$14.16 per user per month with annual billing; there’s also a standalone plan starting at US$8.33. Those figures come from Zoom’s comparison page. Against it: that same page, which compares Zoom with Granola, Otter, and Fathom, has outdated information: it says, for instance, that Granola has no Android app, and Granola now offers one. That’s why we don’t use comparison tables published by vendors themselves.
Circleback, Read AI, Avoma, Grain, and Krisp are all still active as of November 12, 2026, but we didn’t evaluate them against the five criteria, so they’re left out of this guide.
AI note taker comparison table
The table summarizes what we verified on each company’s official pages on November 12, 2026. Where it says “Not verified,” we couldn’t find published data.
| Tool | Capture | Spanish | Multiple languages in the same meeting | Trains on your data by default | Free plan | Starting paid price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fathom | Bot or bot-free (bot-free: Mac) | Yes (38 languages) | Not verified | Yes, de-identified, with opt-out | Yes | US$16/month, annual (Premium) |
| Fireflies | Bot or bot-free (desktop) | Yes (help center: supported; pricing page: beta) | Yes, on Business | No | Yes, limited | US$10/month, annual (Pro) |
| Granola | Bot-free | Yes (31 on desktop, 17 on mobile) | Yes, on desktop | Yes, anonymized, with opt-out | Yes, 30 days of history | US$14/month, monthly only |
| Otter | Bot | Yes (6 languages) | Not verified | Yes, de-identified | Yes, 300 min/month | US$16.99/month, monthly |
| tl;dv | Bot or bot-free (not verified) | Yes (more than 30), Spanish interface | Not verified | No, per tl;dv | Yes | €18/month, annual (Pro) |
| Gemini in Meet | Inside Meet | Yes | No | Not verified | No | Workspace Business Standard |
| Teams Intelligent recap | Inside Teams | Yes (translated recap, in preview) | Recap translation | No, per Microsoft | No | Teams Premium, US$10/month, annual |
| Notion AI Meeting Notes | Bot-free | Yes (16) | Not verified | Not verified | Trial | US$20/month, annual (Business) |
| Zoom AI Companion | Inside Zoom and My Notes | Yes (more than 30) | Summarizes in the majority language | No, per Zoom | No | Zoom Workplace, US$14.16/month, annual |
The best AI note taker for your situation
A founder or consultant who doesn’t want a bot on the call and has meetings in Spanish and English. Granola on desktop, with Multi-language mode turned on. You can start with Granola’s Basic plan and check the link-sharing privacy setting beforehand. If you use a Mac and want to record video, the alternative is Fathom 3.0.
A sales team that needs video, coaching, and CRM. Fathom Business or Fireflies Business; Otter Business, if you already use it. If someone on your team is going to build the integration between calls and your CRM, factor in what we covered in Should you hire a GTM engineer?.
A team that already pays for Zoom, Google Workspace, or Microsoft 365. Start with the built-in feature before adding another subscription. On Meet, keep in mind the one-language-per-meeting limit.
A team that lives in Notion. Notion AI Meeting Notes, if Spanish-language speaker labels aren’t critical for you.
A team in Spain or the European Union, prioritizing European hosting and a Spanish-language interface. tl;dv.
Journalists or researchers who need to listen back to the audio to quote accurately. A tool that keeps the recording: Fathom, Otter, or Fireflies with the bot. Granola doesn’t store audio. The transcript helps you locate the sentence, but source verification is one of those decisions best left to humans, as we explain in what you shouldn’t automate in your content operations.
To compare another category using the same method, check out our guide to the best AI website builder.
Latin America and Spain
All the prices in this guide are charged in U.S. dollars, except for tl;dv, which bills in euros. The Google Workspace and Microsoft prices are the ones published for the United States; we didn’t verify regional pricing for Argentina or Spain, or the taxes added when paying by card from Argentina.
For teams in Spain and the European Union: Granola, Fathom, and Otter state that their data lives in the United States (Granola and Fathom say so explicitly); tl;dv presents itself as a European company with GDPR compliance.
Every tool in this guide transcribes Spanish. On Fireflies, the pricing page labels Spanish as beta, while the help center lists it as supported, along with Latin American Spanish, without that label. They differ on bilingual meetings (Granola on desktop and Fireflies Business support them; Meet doesn’t) and on interface language (tl;dv in Spanish, Granola in English only).
On consent: Fireflies notes that some U.S. states require consent from all participants, and Granola offers an automatic notice to participants at the start of each meeting. We didn’t carry out a legal analysis for Argentina or Spain, so this guide doesn’t say what the law requires in those countries.
Choosing a note taker today means deciding what you want to keep from each meeting. Bot-free tools that store only text leave less of a trail and no audio to verify; the ones that record leave audio behind and add a bot to the call. The lawsuit against Otter in California remains open: its outcome will show whether a bot that records a meeting can be treated as illegal wiretapping.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the best AI note taker?
The best AI note taker depends on whether you’re okay with a bot on the call and where the notes need to end up. According to Postdigitalist Research, for meetings in Spanish and English without a bot, Granola on desktop is the way to go; if you already pay for Zoom, Google, or Microsoft, start with the built-in feature; for sales with video or CRM, Fathom or Fireflies; in Spain or the European Union, with a Spanish-language interface, tl;dv.
What’s the best free AI note taker?
Three AI note takers have useful free plans, according to their pricing pages as of November 12, 2026. Fathom Free includes unlimited recordings and transcripts. Granola Basic has no daily transcription limit, but only keeps 30 days of history in the app. Otter Basic gives you 300 minutes of transcription per month, with a cap of 30 minutes per conversation.
Does Granola work in Spanish?
Yes. Granola transcribes 31 languages on desktop and 17 on mobile, Spanish included, and on desktop it has a Multi-language mode that transcribes several languages in the same meeting. Granola’s interface is English-only. On mobile it locks in a single language per meeting, which can’t be changed afterward, and it doesn’t capture audio from a video call, according to its help center.
Which note taker doesn’t put a bot in the meeting?
Granola never uses a bot. As of November 12, 2026, Fireflies also captures without a bot in its desktop app (without saving audio or video, and with speakers labeled “Speaker 1” and “Speaker 2”), as does Fathom 3.0, mainly on Mac, along with Notion AI Meeting Notes and Zoom My Notes, each with its own conditions. tl;dv’s bot-free mode hasn’t been verified in detail.
Do note takers train AI on my meetings?
Some do. Granola, Otter, and Fathom state that they train their models on anonymized or de-identified data; Granola and Fathom offer an opt-out. Fireflies says it doesn’t use meeting data to train models, and tl;dv says it doesn’t train on customer data, according to their security pages as of November 12, 2026. Check each tool’s current policy before recording meetings with clients.