The 3 Best AI Notetakers for Zoom, In-Person, or Teams (Fathom vs. Otter vs. Fireflies)
Manual note-taking is dead weight. If you’re still scribbling during calls—or trying to remember what happened afterward—you’re leaving insights (and sales) on the table.
AI notetakers have become essential for anyone who runs meetings, trains teams, closes deals, or coaches clients. But here’s the problem: not all of them are built the same.
Some are great for Zoom. Others crush it in-person. Some are perfect for solo founders, while others shine in team workflows.
In this guide, I’ll break down the three most popular tools—Fathom, Otter, and Fireflies—and show you which one fits your workflow.
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What to Expect from a Modern AI Notetaker
Not all AI tools are worth your time, but a good notetaker can save you hours every week.
Here’s what the best ones do without you lifting a finger:
Auto-record your meetings (Zoom, Meet, Teams, phone, or in-person)
Transcribe conversations accurately and fast
Summarize key takeaways, action items, and next steps
Integrate with your tools like Notion, Slack, HubSpot, or your calendar
Let you search past calls like a knowledge base
And the best part? You stop scrambling to take notes during the meeting…and start showing up more present, prepared, and clear.
Tool #1: Fathom AI – Best for Zoom + Speed
If you live on Zoom or Google Meet, Fathom is a no-brainer.
It records your calls, transcribes the convo, and spits out a clean summary with action items - automatically. No manual cleanup. No need to copy/paste into ChatGPT.
What makes it stand out:
Auto-summaries within seconds of the call ending
Timestamped highlights you can click, clip, or send to Slack
Built-in integrations for HubSpot, Notion, email, and more
100% free (for now), with unlimited usage
Best for:
Coaches, consultants, founders with client-facing Zoom calls
Anyone who wants fast follow-ups or CRM-ready notes without extra tools
Limitations:
Doesn’t work for in-person or phone meetings
No live transcription during calls (post-call summary only)
Pro tip: After your Zoom call, click once to send the summary to Notion or Slack. Your team gets instant visibility without needing to attend.
Tool #2: Otter.ai – Best for In-Person + Live Capture
Fathom owns the Zoom game…but when you’re off-camera or in the room, Otter.ai takes over.
Otter’s strength is flexibility. It works on your phone, your laptop, even mid-conversation. Whether it’s a team retreat, a phone call, or a fireside chat, Otter captures it live.
What makes it stand out:
Live transcription as you speak. Great for phone calls, in-person meetings, interviews
Mobile app lets you record on the go and sync later
Editable transcripts with speaker IDs and search
New AI chat (OtterPilot) lets you ask questions post-meeting
Best for:
Real estate agents, event speakers, workshop hosts
Anyone who works offline or outside of Zoom
Limitations:
AI summaries are basic - often needs manual editing
Free plan has a 30-min recording limit per meeting and 300 min/month
Pro tip: Use Otter to record coaching retreats or mastermind sessions, then clip key moments to repurpose as social content or training assets.
Tool #3: Fireflies.ai – Best for Teams + Workflow Integration
Running a team? Managing multiple clients? Fireflies is built for the operational hustle.
It goes beyond transcripts. Fireflies gives you shared meeting visibility, action items, and integrations across your entire stack.
What makes it stand out:
Records Zoom, Meet, and even auto-joins calls you're not hosting
Generates action items, task summaries, and searchable transcripts
Syncs directly with tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, Notion, ClickUp
Shared team inbox and analytics across meetings
Best for:
Agencies, B2B service providers, internal sales/CS teams
Teams juggling multiple calendars and accounts
Limitations:
UI is heavier than Fathom or Otter
Free plan caps recordings and limits transcription minutes
Doesn’t do live transcription
Pro tip: Use Fireflies to tag keywords like “next steps” or “pricing” - then trigger automated follow-ups via Make.com or Zapier.
Side-by-Side Feature Comparison Table
Here’s how Fathom, Otter, and Fireflies stack up across the features that actually matter:
Which Tool Is Right for You? (Use Case Breakdown)
Still not sure which one to go with? Here’s the clear, no-fluff answer based on your workflow:
🧠 For Coaches & Consultants → Fathom AI
If you run Zoom or Meet calls with clients and want fast, structured notes without doing any cleanup - Fathom is your tool.
You’ll get instant summaries, action items, and CRM-ready highlights.
No need to open ChatGPT or write follow-up notes manually.
It’s free. It just works.
🏠 For Real Estate Agents, Trainers, and In-Person Pros → Otter.ai
You’re not always on Zoom. You’re in the car, on-site, or at events.
Otter captures live convos on your phone and gives you a usable transcript.
Great for workshops, walkthroughs, phone consults, or live interviews.
👥 For Agencies & B2B Teams → Fireflies.ai
You’ve got a team, multiple calendars, and clients to keep in sync.
Fireflies tracks everything, shares notes across users, and pipes data into Notion, ClickUp, HubSpot—whatever you use.
Ideal for CS teams, account managers, or ops leads who need full visibility.
Bottom line: Don’t just pick the tool with the most features. Pick the one that fits your flow.
Bonus: What About Manual Notes + ChatGPT?
A lot of founders ask this:
“Can’t I just record my meetings and paste the transcript into ChatGPT or Claude?”
Sure, you can. But here’s why that’s a slow, broken workflow:
You’re adding steps after every call
You have to clean up messy transcripts manually
You're relying on memory to prompt ChatGPT the right way
There’s no built-in context, no timestamps, no smart automation
Good AI notetakers do all that for you. Automatically.
Fathom, Otter, and Fireflies already summarize, highlight, tag, and structure your meetings. No extra prompt needed.
You should use ChatGPT to expand on insights or plan strategy…not to rescue your meeting notes.
Final Verdict: Which AI Notetaker Should You Use?
If you’re still taking notes manually, you’re burning time and brainpower.
Here’s the bottom line:
Use Fathom if you’re a coach, consultant, or founder who runs Zoom calls and wants the fastest, cleanest notes—without paying a cent.
Use Otter if your work happens off Zoom…in-person, on your phone, or live at events—and you need transcripts you can grab anywhere.
Use Fireflies if you’re managing a team, syncing across client calls, or piping insights into CRMs, Slack, or project tools.
Smart operators don’t just record meetings. They systemize them.
