What is the best free AI meeting assistant?

It depends on which limit you can accept. Fathom has the most generous free recording plan, with unlimited recording and transcription but 5 advanced AI summaries a month. tl;dv offers unlimited recordings kept for 3 months, Otter gives 300 minutes a month, and HintMint gives 3 meetings a month with live AI help during the call.

Is there a free AI meeting assistant with unlimited meetings?

Fathom and tl;dv both allow unlimited recordings on their free plans, but each caps something else. Fathom limits advanced AI summaries to 5 a month, and tl;dv keeps recordings for 3 months and gives full AI notes for only the first 10 meetings.

Yes. Otter's Basic plan is free and includes 300 transcription minutes a month, a 30-minute limit per conversation, and 3 lifetime file imports. Paid plans start at $8.33 a month when billed annually.

Is Fathom really free?

Yes. Fathom has a free plan with unlimited recording and transcription. The limit is advanced AI summaries, capped at 5 calls a month, and paid plans start at about $15 a month billed annually.

Which free AI meeting assistants work without a bot joining the call?

Several tools now offer bot-free modes on some platforms, including tl;dv, Otter, Fathom, and Read AI on Google Meet, though availability depends on the plan and platform. HintMint runs quietly in the background on your computer. Check each tool's current options before you rely on it.

Yes. HintMint's free plan includes 3 meetings and 35 AI responses a month, and it is not a one-time trial. Pro costs $29.99 a month and adds unlimited meetings and responses. HintMint is available for Windows through the Microsoft Store, with macOS coming soon.

Do I need permission to use an AI meeting assistant?

Often yes. Recording and transcription rules differ by country and state, and some places require every participant's consent. Tell participants when you use any AI assistant, follow your company policy, and check local rules with a legal professional.

Do Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams include free AI notes?

Mostly on paid plans. Zoom's AI note-taking comes with paid Workplace plans, with limited use on the free Basic plan. Google Meet notes need a supported Workspace plan, and Teams Intelligent Recap needs Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot, so verify the current terms.

What is the best free AI meeting assistant?

It depends on which limit you can accept. Fathom has the most generous free recording plan, with unlimited recording and transcription but 5 advanced AI summaries a month. tl;dv offers unlimited recordings kept for 3 months, Otter gives 300 minutes a month, and HintMint gives 3 meetings a month with live AI help during the call.

Is there a free AI meeting assistant with unlimited meetings?

Fathom and tl;dv both allow unlimited recordings on their free plans, but each caps something else. Fathom limits advanced AI summaries to 5 a month, and tl;dv keeps recordings for 3 months and gives full AI notes for only the first 10 meetings (2026).

Yes. Otter's Basic plan is free and includes 300 transcription minutes a month, a 30-minute limit per conversation, and 3 lifetime file imports. Paid plans start at $8.33 a month when billed annually (2026).

Is Fathom really free?

Yes. Fathom has a free plan with unlimited recording and transcription. The limit is advanced AI summaries, capped at 5 calls a month, and paid plans start at about $15 a month billed annually (2026).

Which free AI meeting assistants work without a bot joining the call?

Several tools now offer bot-free modes on some platforms, including tl;dv, Otter, Fathom, and Read AI on Google Meet, though availability depends on the plan and platform. HintMint runs quietly in the background on your computer. Check each tool's current options before you rely on it.

Yes. HintMint's free plan includes 3 meetings and 35 AI responses a month, and it is not a one-time trial. Pro costs $29.99 a month and adds unlimited meetings and responses. HintMint is available for Windows through the Microsoft Store, with macOS coming soon.

Do I need permission to use an AI meeting assistant?

Often yes. Recording and transcription rules differ by country and state, and some places require every participant's consent. Tell participants when you use any AI assistant, follow your company policy, and check local rules with a legal professional.

Do Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams include free AI notes?

Mostly on paid plans. Zoom's AI note-taking comes with paid Workplace plans, with limited use on the free Basic plan. Google Meet notes need a supported Workspace plan, and Teams Intelligent Recap needs Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot, so verify the current terms.

Best Free AI Meeting Assistants: What You Really Get

The best free AI meeting assistant depends on which limit you can live with. Fathom has the most generous free plan for recording, tl;dv keeps unlimited recordings for 3 months, and HintMint gives live AI help during 3 free meetings a month.

This guide compares six tools side by side, with the real limits and the source and date for every number. It also gives you a simple checklist you can use on any free AI meeting assistant, not just the ones listed here.

What Is a Free AI Meeting Assistant?

A free AI meeting assistant listens to your meeting and turns the conversation into a written transcript. Most also create a summary and a list of action items.

There are three common types. Bot-based tools join your call as a visible participant. Bot-free tools capture audio on your device. Built-in tools come from the meeting platform itself, such as Zoom. For the technology behind the transcript, see our guide to what speech to text is.

Why Free Plans Have Limits

Transcribing speech and writing AI summaries costs real money, so every vendor draws a line somewhere. The line is different for each tool.

Type of cap	Example	Who feels it first
Minutes	Otter: 300 minutes a month	People with long meetings
Meeting count	Read AI: 5 transcripts a month, HintMint: 3 meetings a month	People with many short meetings
AI usage	Fathom: 5 advanced summaries a month, Fireflies: 20 AI credits	People who read summaries more than transcripts
Storage and retention	tl;dv: recordings kept 3 months, Fireflies: 400 minutes of storage	People who need old recordings

Free AI Meeting Assistant Plans Compared

Tool	What the free plan includes	First limit you will hit	Paid plans from	Source and date
Fathom	Unlimited recording and transcription	5 advanced AI summaries a month	About $15 a month, billed annually	Fathom pricing via Capterra and Sonix, 2026
tl;dv	Unlimited recordings and transcripts	Recordings kept 3 months, full AI notes for the first 10 meetings only	$18 a month	tl;dv help center and Costbench, 2026
Otter.ai	300 transcription minutes a month	30 minutes per conversation, 3 lifetime file imports	$8.33 a month, billed annually	Otter pricing via Sonix and Castmagic, 2026
Fireflies.ai	Unlimited transcription	400 minutes of storage, 20 AI credits	$10 a month, billed annually	Castmagic, verified August 2026
Read AI	5 meeting transcripts a month	1 hour per meeting, 5 reports a month	$15 a month, billed annually	Anavem, Read AI pricing page, October 2026
HintMint	3 meetings and 35 AI responses a month	3 meetings a month	$29.99 a month (Pro, unlimited meetings)	HintMint pricing page, October 2026

Plans change often, and some older articles list different numbers. For example, Fireflies storage appears as 800 minutes in older sources and 400 minutes in an August 2026 check. Always confirm on the vendor's pricing page before you decide.

The Best Free AI Meeting Assistants: Honest Verdicts

1. Fathom

Fathom has the most generous free plan for recording. You get unlimited recording and transcription, and the free plan has no time limit. The catch is that advanced AI summaries are limited to 5 calls a month, after which you get a basic summary template.

Best for: People who want to record every call and read the transcript, and who can live with 5 advanced summaries.

2. tl;dv

tl;dv also gives unlimited recordings and transcripts. Its help center says free recordings are stored for 3 months and move to archive after 3 days, so you must unarchive a recording to watch it. The first 10 meetings get full AI notes, and after that notes cover only the first 10 minutes.

Best for: Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams users who want video clips and will save what matters within 3 months.

3. Otter.ai

Otter is built around live transcripts. The free Basic plan includes 300 minutes a month with a 30-minute limit per conversation. That works out to about ten 30-minute meetings.

Best for: Short meetings, lectures, and people who want to follow a live transcript.

4. Fireflies.ai

Fireflies does not meter transcription minutes. It limits storage (400 minutes of team storage in an August 2026 check) and AI credits (20 on the free plan). It has a wide set of integrations that matter once you upgrade.

Best for: People who expect to connect a CRM or other tools later and want to try the product first.

5. Read AI

Read AI gives 5 meeting transcripts and 5 reports a month, with meetings capped at 1 hour. It also includes search across past meetings, emails, and messages. Five meetings is enough to evaluate the tool but not enough for a busy calendar.

Best for: Occasional meeting attendees who want analytics and search.

6. HintMint

HintMint's free plan covers 3 meetings and 35 AI responses a month. It is built for live help during the call, which the note-takers above do not focus on. We explain where it fits in the next section.

Best for: People who want AI help during a few important calls each month.

Where HintMint's Free Plan Fits

HintMint is a real-time AI meeting assistant. It runs quietly in the background on your computer during calls on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, Slack Huddles, and WhatsApp Calls. You get live transcription, AI responses, speaker recognition, and memory that carries across meetings.

The free plan is not a one-time trial. You get 3 meetings and 35 AI responses a month, and Pro at $29.99 a month adds unlimited meetings and responses. HintMint is available for Windows through the Microsoft Store, and macOS is coming soon.

If you need to capture more than 3 meetings a month for free, Fathom or tl;dv will fit better. Pro also costs more than the entry plans of most note-takers in the table, because it includes live assistance. For a direct comparison, see our pages on Fathom vs HintMint, Otter.ai vs HintMint, Fireflies.ai vs HintMint, and tl;dv vs HintMint.

What About Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams Built-In AI?

Most meeting platforms include AI notes, but mainly on paid plans. Zoom's AI note-taking comes with paid Zoom Workplace plans, and free Basic accounts get only limited use. Google Meet's Take notes for me needs a supported Google Workspace plan, and Teams Intelligent Recap needs Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot.

These tools also work only inside their own platform. If your week splits across Zoom, Meet, and Teams, a separate assistant keeps your notes in one place. Plan rules change, so check each platform's current terms.

What Free Plans Do Not Tell You

The headline number rarely tells the whole story. A plan can say unlimited and still limit the part you care about.

Summary limits: Unlimited recording does not mean unlimited AI summaries.
Retention: Recordings may be deleted or archived after a set time.
Meeting length: Some plans cap each meeting at 30 minutes or 1 hour.
How it joins: Some tools join as a visible bot, and others capture audio on your device. Several tools now offer bot-free modes on certain platforms.
Consent: Recording and transcription laws differ by country and state, and some places need everyone's consent. Tell participants when you use any AI assistant.

Enterprise Use Cases: Choosing by Situation

Freelancers and Consultants

Problem: You have many short client calls and no time to write notes.
Solution: Use a plan with unlimited recording, such as Fathom or tl;dv, and save key notes to your own files.
Outcome: Every call is captured without a monthly meeting cap getting in the way.

Sales Professionals

Problem: A handful of calls each month decide most of your results, and you want help in the moment.
Solution: Use HintMint's free plan for your most important calls, and a recording tool for routine ones.
Outcome: Live help where it matters most, and a searchable record for everything else.

Small Team Leads

Problem: You want shared notes, but free plans are built for individuals.
Solution: Use free plans to test two or three tools on real meetings, then move to a team plan for the one that fits.
Outcome: You pay only for a tool your team has already proven useful.

Decision Tree: Which Free AI Meeting Assistant Should You Try?

Code Snippetjavascript

[ START ]
  │
 ▼
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CRITERIA: Primary Meeting Workflow Requirement                         │
│ What capability is most critical for your current meeting setup?       │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
  │
  ├─── RECORD & TRANSCRIBE ───► [ SELECT RETENTION REQUIREMENT ]
  │    EVERY MEETING           Evaluate based on retention window:
  │                            • Long-term storage (>3 months): Fathom
  │                            • Short-term retention + video clips: tl;dv
  │
  ├─── LIVE TRANSCRIPTS ──────► [ OTTER.AI ]
  │    SHORT MEETINGS          Optimized for quick, real-time audio
  │                            transcription and instant notes.
  │
  ├─── TEAM PLAN & ───────────► [ FIREFLIES.AI ]
  │    INTEGRATIONS            Built for deep workspace integrations and
  │                            scalable multi-seat team management.
  │
  ├─── LIVE IN-CALL ──────────► [ HINTMINT ]
  │    AI ASSISTANCE           Device-level real-time guidance and answer
  │                            prompts during high-stakes calls.
  │
  └─── LIGHT ANALYTICS ───────► [ READ AI ]
       (~5 MEETINGS/MONTH)     Ideal for low-volume meeting intelligence,
                               sentiment tracking, and engagement metrics.

HintMint Free Plan Fit Framework v1.0

This framework works for any free AI meeting assistant, not only HintMint.

Step 1: Count your meetings. Write down how many meetings you have in a month and how long they usually run.

Step 2: Pick the cap you can accept. Choose which limit hurts least: minutes, meeting count, AI summaries, or storage.

Step 3: Decide when you need help. Notes after the call point to a recording tool. Help during the call points to a real-time assistant.

Step 4: Test on one real meeting. Run one live meeting before you rely on any tool, and check the transcript and summary quality yourself.

Outcome: A free plan that fits how you really work, instead of one you outgrow in the first week.

How to Evaluate Any Free AI Meeting Assistant: Checklist

Use this list for any tool, including the ones in this guide.

Caps: Which limit does the free plan set, and will it hit you in the first month?
Retention: How long are recordings and transcripts kept?
Platforms: Does it work on Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, and the apps you use?
How it joins: Does a bot appear in the call, or does it capture audio on your device?
Summary quality: Does the summary catch decisions and action items correctly?
Privacy: Where is data stored, and is your content used to train models?
Consent: Does your company policy and local law allow recording and transcription?
Upgrade cost: What does the first paid plan cost, and what does it add?

Final Take

If you want to record everything for free, start with Fathom or tl;dv. If you attend short meetings and want a live transcript, try Otter. If a few important calls matter most and you want AI help during them, try HintMint's free plan.

No free plan is unlimited in every way, so match the cap to your week. Test one meeting before you commit, and tell participants when an AI assistant is in use.

What Is the Best Free AI Meeting Assistant? What You Really Get on Free Plans