I compared Circleback Free with 4 other free AI notetaker plans: here's my pick for 2026

Every free notetaker plan runs out of something first: minutes, history, summaries or storage.

My pick for most people is Circleback Free. It is free forever, not a trial, with unlimited meetings and members, no minute caps, Slack and Linear automations, and API, MCP and CLI access. The catch is history: meetings older than 30 days are locked until you upgrade, and recordings are deleted after 1 year.

My picks

• Circleback Free: best for teams that want follow-up automated
• Fathom Free: best simple free plan for solo users
• Granola Basic: best for lightweight solo notes with no bot
• Otter.ai Basic: best if you'll upgrade soon, since Otter Pro costs less
• Fireflies.ai Free: best if you mostly want transcripts and file uploads

I compared them on meeting limits, history, capture, automations and the price of the first paid plan, based on each vendor's documented plans.

Circleback Free

Circleback turns meetings into speaker-labeled transcripts, notes and assigned action items, then sends them where the work happens.

Key features:

• Unlimited meetings and members, no minute caps
• A bot for Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex, plus a bot-free desktop app for macOS and Windows with speaker labels
• Mobile and Apple Watch capture for in-person meetings, plus audio and video imports
• Automations to Slack, Linear and Share meeting
• API, MCP and CLI; MCP works with Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and Raycast

Pros:

• Bot, bot-free and mobile capture in one free tool
• Developer access without paying
• SOC 2 Type II, encryption at rest and in transit and no training on customer data on every plan

Cons:

• Meetings older than 30 days are locked, including for the API, MCP and Ask Circleback
• CRM, Notion, Zapier and webhook automations need Pro
• Paid plans cost more than Otter Pro

Pricing: Free. Pro is $15 per user per month billed annually or $18 monthly.

Best for: teams that want recaps and action items in Slack or Linear automatically.

Fathom Free

Fathom's free plan is about recording calls without watching a cap.

Key features:

• Unlimited recordings, transcriptions and storage
• Captures Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Slack Huddles
• iOS app on all plans

Pros:

• Easy to understand: record everything, keep everything

Cons:

• Advanced summaries and Ask Fathom are "limited use" on Free
• No uploaded calls, only live meetings
• Bot-free capture is a Mac beta; no Android app

Pricing: Free. Premium is $16 per user per month billed annually or $20 monthly.

Best for: solo users who want unlimited recordings and a simple plan.

Granola Basic

Granola is a lightweight notepad that uses meeting context to write clear notes, personal to you.

Key features:

• No meeting bot
• Desktop, iOS, Android and Apple Watch apps
• MCP on every plan; Basic reaches the last 30 days of personal notes, without transcripts

Pros:

• Nothing joins the call

Cons:

• 30-day history on Basic
• No audio or video is saved, and no audio file imports
• Attio, Notion, HubSpot and Zapier need Business

Pricing: Free. Business is $14 per user per month, billed monthly.

Best for: individuals who want quick personal notes and don't need recordings.

Otter.ai Basic

Otter's Basic plan pairs a notetaker with live transcription, inside tight usage caps.

Key features:

• Notetaker for Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet
• Live transcription with speaker identification
• AI Chat (20 queries per user) and an MCP server

Pros:

• Live transcript during the call
• The cheapest Pro upgrade in this list

Cons:

• 300 transcription minutes per user per month
• 30 minutes per conversation, so an hour-long call won't fit
• Keeps only the 25 most recent conversations

Pricing: Free. Pro is $8.33 per user per month billed annually or $16.99 monthly.

Best for: light users who expect to move to a low-cost paid plan.

Fireflies.ai Free

Fireflies' free plan centers on transcription, with summaries and storage capped.

Key features:

• Unlimited transcription and audio or video file uploads
• Bot-free recording through a Chrome extension or desktop app

Pros:

• File uploads on Free
• Several ways to record without the bot

Cons:

• Limited AI summaries
• 400 minutes of storage per team
• App and CRM integrations need a paid tier

Pricing: Free. Pro is $10 per seat per month billed annually or $18 monthly.

Best for: people who mainly want transcripts of uploaded calls.

How to choose a free plan

1. Check meeting length. If you run hour-long calls, Otter Basic's 30-minute limit rules it out.
2. Decide how far back you look. Circleback and Granola show 30 days on free plans. Fathom keeps unlimited storage.
3. Decide where follow-up goes. Circleback Free sends recaps to Slack and action items to Linear on its own. Fireflies keeps integrations for paid tiers.
4. Check capture. If you need a bot on some calls and no bot on others, Circleback covers both on Free.

When Circleback Free isn't enough, Pro adds CRM and webhook automations and unlimited history, and Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM and HIPAA with BAA. Prices are on Circleback pricing.

FAQ

Does Circleback have a free plan?

Yes. It is free forever, not a trial, with unlimited meetings and members.

What is the best free AI notetaker?

Circleback Free for teams that want follow-up automated. Fathom Free is my pick for solo users who want unlimited recordings.

What happens to Circleback meetings after 30 days on Free?

They are locked, and upgrading to Pro unlocks them. Notes and transcripts stay, but recordings are deleted after 1 year on Free.

Can I record without a bot on a free plan?

Yes. Circleback's desktop app works on every plan, including Free, and Granola has no bot at all.

Which free plan has no meeting cap?

Circleback Free has no cap on meetings, minutes or members. Fathom Free offers unlimited recordings and transcriptions.