Granola
CE 96 free tierThe solo consultant or founder who takes their own notes and wants them cleaned, not replaced by a generic summary.
Entry plan$14 / seat
× 6 seats$84
Against your $114 ceiling−$30
Team cost$84 / mo
Verified
Reviewed by
Oleh Kem
Oleh KemPlans checked18 / 4 vendors
“Contact sales”1/18
Median entry$19.38/mo
Entry range$14-29
Free tier3/4
Leader96 Granola
AI note-takers compared: pricing, CRM sync and meeting minutes
Pick an AI note-taker by what it really costs once the meetings pile up, not by the free-plan headline. Every price here was pulled from the vendor's current page, with the free-tier ceilings and the seat minimums that force an upgrade flagged.
What does an AI note-taker cost, and where does free end?
The median paid note-taker across these 4 runs about $19.38 monthly, checked July 29, 2026, and paid entry starts near $14. A free tier runs on 3 of the 4, but each one stops on a limit that has nothing to do with minutes.
- Free tiers cover 3 of the 4 here, so the choice is rarely whether to pay but how long the free plan lasts.
- The limits that bite are counts, not minutes. One free tier stops at a lifetime meeting count. The cheapest team plans set a seat minimum. Paid tiers meter file uploads by the month.
- Sealed prices are rare here: One of 18 plans, with everything else published to the last tier. That openness is unusual for tools this deep into sales work.
- The tool that covers the most of our seven capability columns is also the only one of the 4 with no free tier. The fullest option is the one you cannot try for nothing.
- A standalone note-taker now competes with the AI baked into the call itself. Zoom and Microsoft Teams summarize meetings inside plans many buyers already hold, which changes what a separate seat is worth.
Ranked by a transparency score: pricing transparency 60%, user satisfaction 40%. Capability is not scored. It is the condition grid below. Prices are read from vendor pricing pages and re-checked per product on the dates shown. ComparEdge sells no AI note-takers and takes no payment for placement. How the score is built.
01 / 07
AI note-takers ranked: pricing transparency, CRM sync and templates
Rows rank by how much of the price each vendor shows, not by the price itself. Price sits on a single shared axis, so an entry further along it genuinely costs more per seat. The seven capability columns beside it are a free tier, full price disclosure, CRM sync, custom templates, MS Teams, share clips and coaching. Each cell shows granted, conditional, or blank.
Sorted by transparency scorePriced tiers 17 / 18Full disclosure 3 / 4
How to read this table
Reading the console
A gap in a row is not a verdict. It means the vendor did not list that capability on the checked date, which is not proof it lacks the feature. The heavier caveat sits off the grid. These tools join a call as a visible bot and record what is said, and whether that is allowed is a question for your legal team, not your budget. On external calls especially, consent decides this before price does.
- Price axis
- One shared logarithmic axis, $14 to $39.75. A tick further right is genuinely dearer. The tall tick is the cheapest paid tier.
- Granted
- Listed on the vendor’s own pages on the verify date.
- Conditional
- Present, but some tiers carry no published price.
- Not on the record
- Absent from the recorded feature set. It means unlisted, not incapable.
01GranolaFree tierAll tiers pricedCRM sync not on the recordCustom templates listedMS Teams not on the recordShare clips not on the recordCoaching not on the record$14/u96Alternatives to Granola
02AvomaNo free tierAll tiers pricedCRM sync listedCustom templates listedMS Teams listedShare clips listedCoaching listed$29/u94Alternatives to Avoma
03Read AIFree tierAll tiers pricedCRM sync listedCustom templates not on the recordMS Teams listedShare clips not on the recordCoaching listed$19.75/u91Alternatives to Read AI
04FathomFree tier1 of 5 tiers unpricedCRM sync listedCustom templates listedMS Teams listedShare clips listedCoaching not on the record$19/u87Alternatives to Fathom
GrantedSome tiers sealedNot on the recordCheapest paid seatScore ranks pricing transparency and user ratings, not capability. Capability is the grid.
4 vendorsMedian entry $19.38Coverage span 5 → 1 of fiveSealed tiers 1 / 18
Scroll the console sideways to reach the remaining conditions.
02 / 07
Shortlist an AI note-taker by team size and what it really costs
The shortlist ranks by what the plan actually costs your team, not by list price. Flat plans are folded into a per-team number so they compare like for like. Only vendors rated 85 and up are eligible.
Seats
6
Budget / seat
For 6 seats at $19 per seat, start with these
Ranked by monthly team cost, vendors rated 85 and up · Your ceiling for this team: $114 / mo
Fathom
CE 87 free tierRecording every call and getting a clean summary without a purchase order or a credit card.
Entry plan$19 / seat
× 6 seats$114
Against your $114 ceiling−$0
Team cost$114 / mo
Not sure what to weigh? Five questions narrow it faster than the grid.Answer 5 questions
03 / 07
Every note-taker's plans, verdicts and the date we checked each price
Four products is a narrow field, and the reason is the split. Some here are built for revenue teams, with CRM write-back and coaching scorecards; others are lighter note-takers aimed at one person. Each card expands to every plan a vendor sells, dated to our last check. The order tracks pricing transparency, not popularity or headline price.
Transparency scorePricing transparency 60%User satisfaction 40%
The solo consultant or founder who takes their own notes and wants them cleaned, not replaced by a generic summary. Granola writes over your notes instead of joining the call as a bot, and it runs on Mac only. The free tier keeps only your last twenty-five meetings in history.
Critical gapThe software requires active internet connectivity for real-time transcript synchronization.
Plan table and expert take
Granola: expert take
The free plan's real limit is history: it keeps your last twenty-five meetings visible, and older notes fall out of view. Granola runs on Mac only, with no Windows or web app. The draw is that it cleans up your own notes instead of joining the call as a bot.
Where Granola holds up
- Enhances your notes instead of replacing them with generic AI summaries
- Preserves your personal voice and note-taking style
- Works offline, syncing AI enhancements when you reconnect
- Native macOS app offers superior performance and OS integration
- Private by design; AI processes your notes, not the full transcript
4.9CE scoreG2 4.8 · 32 reviewsFounded 2023Verified July 8, 2026
| Plan | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | Free |
| Business | $14 | $14 |
| Enterprise | $35 | $35 |
The revenue team that has outgrown standalone note-taking and wants recording, CRM write-back and coaching from one vendor. Avoma charges for the breadth: the full toolkit means three separate paid add-ons stacked over the base plan, and there is nothing free to trial on.
Critical gapAvoma is not an outbound prospecting database, and meeting-volume gains depend on its Lead Router and scheduling add-ons.
Plan table and expert take
Avoma: expert take
The full toolkit hides above the base plan, in three paid add-ons: Conversation Intelligence, Revenue Intelligence and Lead Router. Taking all three earns a small bundle discount. Enterprise then locks you to ten recorder seats, billed yearly only.
Where Avoma holds up
- Combines meeting assistant and revenue intelligence in one platform
- AI Scorecards automatically grade reps on key talk tracks
- Collaborative note-taking syncs directly to your CRM fields
- Detailed topic and keyword trend analysis across all meetings
- Agenda templates enforce consistency for sales and CS calls
4.7CE scoreG2 4.6 · 1,362 reviewsCapterra 4.8Founded 2017Verified July 16, 2026
| Plan | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Startup | $29 | $19 |
| Organization | $39 | $29 |
| Enterprise | $39 | $39 |
| Conversation Intelligence (Add-on) | $29 / user/mo (annual) | Not published |
| Revenue Intelligence (Add-on) | $29 / user/mo (annual) | Not published |
| Lead Router (Add-on) | $19 / user/mo (annual) | Not published |
Tracking talk-time, sentiment and engagement across a sales team's whole week rather than any single transcript. Read AI leans on cross-meeting analytics and coaching scores. Its bot joining external calls uninvited is the recurring complaint, so check it against your consent policy before rolling it out.
Critical gapThe platform necessitates extensive Microsoft 365 tenant permission configurations that trigger internal privacy security reviews.
Plan table and expert take
Read AI: expert take
The recurring complaint is its bot joining external calls uninvited, which trips privacy reviews and gets it blocked. Sentiment and engagement scores can read as arbitrary too. What you pay for sits at the other end: cross-meeting analytics and coaching built on patterns, not any single transcript.
Where Read AI holds up
- Unique engagement and sentiment scores for each participant
- Cross-meeting analytics track team productivity trends
- Customizable AI prompts for tailored meeting summaries
- Automated coaching identifies talk-listen ratios for sales reps
- Generous free plan with unlimited transcriptions
4.7CE scoreG2 4.6 · 40 reviewsCapterra 4.5Founded 2021Verified July 16, 2026
| Plan | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free |
| Pro | $19.75 | $15 |
| Enterprise | $29.75 | $22.50 |
| Enterprise+ | $39.75 | $29.75 |
Recording every call and getting a clean summary without a purchase order or a credit card. Fathom's free tier is the genuinely generous one here, with unlimited recordings and transcripts. CRM field sync waits for the Business tier, not the cheaper Team plan.
Critical gapTranscription accuracy requires manual verification.
Plan table and expert take
Fathom: expert take
The limits are quiet ones. CRM field sync starts on Business, not the cheaper Team plan, and a HIPAA agreement waits for Enterprise. Team plans also need at least two users. Against that, Fathom's free tier is the widest in the category, roomy where the others meter.
Where Fathom holds up
- Free plan is genuinely excellent
- Best-in-class AI summaries
- Extremely high user ratings
- Smooth meeting-app integration
5.0CE scoreG2 5 · 6,811 reviewsCapterra 4.9Founded 2020Verified July 16, 2026
| Plan | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free |
| Premium | $20 | $16 |
| Team | $19 | $15 |
| Business | $34 | $25 |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | |
04 / 07
Compare any two AI note-takers: plans, limits and our score
vs
What the records say
Granola starts cheaper: $14 / seat against $29 from Avoma, 2.1× apart at the door.
For 6 seats, Granola bills $84 / mo and Avoma bills $174 / mo, $90 / mo between them.
Avoma carries 5 of the 5 capability columns on the record; Granola shows 1.
Users side with Granola: 4.8 on G2 against 4.6 for Avoma.
Granola runs a free tier to start on; Avoma does not.
Both publish every tier they sell.
Pick Granola for: The solo consultant or founder who takes their own notes and wants them cleaned, not replaced by a generic summary.
Pick Avoma for: The revenue team that has outgrown standalone note-taking and wants recording, CRM write-back and coaching from one vendor.
Granola
CE 96 · G2 4.8Published plans, US$/mo
BasicFree
Business$14
Enterprise$35
Team of 6$84 / mo
Verified July 8, 2026
Avoma
CE 94 · G2 4.6Published plans, US$/mo
Startup$29
Enterprise$39
Lead Router (Add-on)$19 / user/mo (annual)
Team of 6$174 / mo
Verified July 16, 2026
Both price lists on the category axis
Granola
Avoma
Where they differ
Only Granola has on the record
- $0 tier
Only Avoma has on the record
- CRM sync
- MS Teams
- Share clips
- Coaching
05 / 07
AI note-taker questions: free caps, team of five, meeting minutes
What happens when a free note-taker hits its cap?
The free plans here do not stop on minutes. Granola's free tier ends at twenty-five meetings for the life of the account, not per month, and the counter never resets. Read AI's free tier caps how many meetings it will transcribe each month. Fathom's free tier is the roomy exception, with no such ceiling. Cross a cap and you wait, delete, or upgrade to a paid seat.
Is a paid AI note-taker worth it for a solo user?
For one person who just wants clean notes, often not. The free tiers cover a lot, and Granola's whole pitch is tidying the notes you already take. A paid seat earns its keep once you need CRM write-back, coaching scorecards, or shared team history. Below that, a free plan usually holds for a single user.
What does an AI note-taker cost for a team of five?
Five seats cost more than the plan page implies, because seats have floors. Fathom's team plans need at least two users. Read AI's top tier sets a five-license minimum. Avoma's enterprise plan starts at ten seats and bills yearly only. Multiply the advertised rate by the minimum seats, not by your real headcount, to find the true entry price.
Which AI note-takers are actually free?
A free tier is on 3 of the 4: Fathom, Granola and Read AI, with Fathom's the most generous. Avoma is the holdout, offering a trial instead. Every free tier here trades away something, from a meeting count to file credits, so read the ceiling before you build a workflow on it.
Why pay for a note-taker when Zoom or Teams already has AI notes?
That is the real pressure on this category now. Zoom and Microsoft Teams summarize calls with AI inside plans many companies already buy, so a standalone seat has to earn the gap. The dedicated tools win on cross-platform reach, CRM write-back, and coaching the built-in summarizers skip. If your calls all sit in one suite, the bundled option may be enough.
Can a note-taker join a call without everyone's consent?
Technically yes, and that is the friction. These tools enter as a visible bot and record what is said. On internal calls that is usually settled policy. On external calls it is not, and Read AI in particular draws complaints for bots that join uninvited. Clear consent with whoever owns the policy before you roll one out.
Does paying annually make a note-taker cheaper?
Usually, and by a lot. Fathom, Read AI and Avoma all discount annual billing, cutting the monthly rate by roughly a quarter to a third. Granola is the exception, with one flat price and no yearly toggle. Avoma also ties any add-on to the same yearly cycle, so you cannot pair a monthly add-on with an annual plan.
What add-ons drive up the price of a meeting assistant?
Avoma is the clearest case: its full feature set means paying for three separate add-ons, Conversation Intelligence, Revenue Intelligence and Lead Router, on top of the base plan. Take two and a small bundle discount applies, all three a slightly larger one. Fathom instead gates CRM sync and coaching to its Business tier rather than an add-on.
Which AI note-taker is best for a solo user versus a sales team?
Solo users are served well by Granola or Fathom's free tier, both built to tidy one person's notes without a purchase order. Sales teams that need CRM write-back, deal tracking and coaching lean toward Avoma or Read AI, where the price rises but so does the reporting. That split is why four products can serve one category without much overlap.
Where a free AI note-taker stops being free
The free tiers here are real, but each ends somewhere you would not think to look. Granola's is the clearest: it counts total meetings for the life of the account, so a busy quarter can exhaust a plan that never resets. Read AI's free tier caps monthly transcripts instead, and Fathom holds CRM sync back for a paid tier even while giving the notes away.
Read a free tier as a way to test the notes, not as a plan a team keeps. The day you need shared history, CRM write-back or coaching, the free ceiling is already behind you, and the upgrade is priced per seat with a minimum attached.
The seat minimum is the real floor, not the per-seat number
The figure a vendor prints is a seat price, which understates what the plan costs to switch on. Avoma is the sharp case: its enterprise plan begins at ten recorder seats and bills once a year, so the real entry is ten annual seats before anyone records a call. The advertised rate is a floor per seat, not the floor for the plan.
Work the entry cost from the minimum, not from your headcount. A tool that looks cheaper per seat can cost more to switch on, and a yearly-only plan turns a trial into a commitment before anyone has recorded a call.
The verdict on AI note-takersSigned review · Updated
Note-takers price like phone plans: a free allowance that ends mid-quarter, then a seat fee with the real limits in the footnotes. Read the caps first, minutes, history, recorder seats, because the caps decide when you upgrade, not the features.
This is a young market that still prints its prices. The score reflects that openness, and vendors that lock seats to annual terms wear it in the rank.
MethodEvery price on this page is read from the vendor's own pricing page: 18 plans across four vendors, last verified .
DisclosureCollection is tool-assisted; every verdict is written and signed by a human analyst.
06 / 07
Not sure which? Answer one, take a shortlist.Pick the line that sounds like your team. Each one opens the vendor built for it.
The solo consultant or founder who takes their own notes and wants them cleaned, not replaced by a generic summaryGranolaThe revenue team that has outgrown standalone note-taking and wants recording, CRM write-back and coaching from one vendorAvomaTracking talk-time, sentiment and engagement across a sales team's whole week rather than any single transcriptRead AIRecording every call and getting a clean summary without a purchase order or a credit cardFathomStill weighing it? Answer 5 questions, take a shortlist.
07 / 07
Read next: cost guides for AI note-takers, plus related categories
Cost guidesGranola cost guideAvoma cost guideRead AI cost guideFathom cost guideRelated categoriesProject ManagementCRMVideo ConferencingCustomer SupportEmail MarketingAnalytics & BICompare two vendorsGranola vs AvomaAvoma vs Read AIRead AI vs FathomStill unsureAnswer 5 questions → a shortlistAll categories
How this review is made. Prices are read from vendor pricing pages and re-checked on the dates shown against each product. Condition columns reflect the feature set recorded on the vendor’s own pages on that date. ComparEdge sells no AI note-takers and takes no vendor payment for placement. Where a vendor publishes nothing, this page says so rather than estimating. Ranking is by transparency score: pricing transparency 60%, user satisfaction 40%. What a product can do is shown in the condition columns and carries no weight in the number.