UPDATED OCTOBER 31, 2026

The best free meeting note-taking apps in 2026.

We make FocusBae, so read this knowing that. We’ve tried to be fair: each app below is the best choice for someone, and we say where FocusBae falls short.

At a glance

App	Free plan	Bot in the call	Where audio is processed
FocusBae	Everything. No minute, meeting or history limits.	No bot	On your Mac
Granola	Unlimited meetings, 30 days of history.	No bot	Cloud
Fathom	Unlimited recordings, 5 AI summaries a month.	Bot joins most calls	Cloud
Otter	300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation.	Bot or desktop app	Cloud
Fireflies	Limited transcription and storage.	Bot or desktop app	Cloud
Meetily	Community edition is free and open source.	No bot	On your computer

FocusBae

Best for: Tracking who promised what across meetings, privately. Free and open source.

Free plan: Everything. No minute, meeting or history limits.

The catch: Mac only (Apple Silicon, macOS 26+). No AI summaries yet; you get the transcript and action items with the exact quote. English works best.

Get FocusBae for Mac

Granola

Best for: Polished AI notes that build on what you type.

Free plan: Unlimited meetings, 30 days of history.

The catch: Only the last 30 days are visible on the free plan. Audio goes to cloud transcription.

FocusBae vs Granola in detail

Fathom

Best for: Recording and sharing Zoom, Meet and Teams calls, with video.

Free plan: Unlimited recordings, 5 AI summaries a month.

The catch: A notetaker joins Zoom and Teams calls. Summaries and action items are capped on the free plan.

FocusBae vs Fathom in detail

Otter

Best for: Live transcription, and recording meetings you can’t attend.

Free plan: 300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation.

The catch: Tight free limits. Everything is transcribed and stored in Otter’s cloud.

FocusBae vs Otter in detail

Fireflies

Best for: Teams that want searchable meeting history and many integrations.

Free plan: Limited transcription and storage.

The catch: Most AI features need a paid plan. Everything is stored in Fireflies’ cloud.

FocusBae vs Fireflies in detail

Meetily

Best for: Local transcription with local AI summaries, on Mac or Windows.

Free plan: Community edition is free and open source.

The catch: You set up the AI models yourself; summaries need a local model (Ollama) or your own API key.

Visit Meetily

How to choose

You don’t want a bot in client calls: FocusBae, Granola or Meetily.
Audio must stay on your computer: FocusBae (Mac) or Meetily (Mac and Windows).
You want finished AI summaries for free: Fathom, or Meetily if you can run a local model.
You want to track what people promised, across meetings: FocusBae.
You need a recording of meetings you miss: Otter or Fireflies.

Prices and limits checked October 31, 2026; they change often, so confirm on each app’s own site. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. See also our detailed comparisons.