AI meeting notetaker pricing compared (Oct 2026)

Otter.ai Pro is the cheapest paid plan on annual billing at $8.33 per user per month ($16.99 monthly). On monthly billing, Granola Business at $14 per user per month is the cheapest, and it also costs less than Circleback Pro, which is $15 per user per month billed annually or $18 monthly. All prices are as of Oct 2026. Circleback is the better value if you want a free plan with no meeting or minute caps, or Salesforce, HubSpot, Notion and webhook automations on the first paid plan.

This post comes from Circleback, so weigh what it says about Circleback with that in mind. Every detail about another tool comes from that company's own pricing page or help center. Anything that couldn't be confirmed there is left out.

How much does each AI meeting notetaker cost?

Per user per month, in USD, as of Oct 2026.

The table hides two caveats. Granola's help center says Business is billed monthly, so its $14 lines up with the other monthly prices. Otter's monthly Business plan also showed $24 for first-time buyers. That price is a "20% off for 3 months" promo, and the list price is $30.

Circleback is not the cheapest option here. Otter Pro costs less on both annual and monthly billing. Granola Business at $14 is $1 under Circleback Pro's annual price and $4 under its monthly price. Against tl;dv, Circleback costs less on both the entry plan and the team plan, on both billing periods.

What does "free" actually get you at each tool?

Every tool here has a free plan, but the limits sit in different places. Some cap minutes, some cap how much history you can see, and some cap how many meetings get AI notes.

Circleback Free has unlimited meetings and unlimited members, with no minute or meeting caps. The limit is history. Meetings older than 30 days, imports included, get locked. They are not deleted, and upgrading to Pro unlocks them. Recordings on Free follow the default 1-year recording retention, the same as Pro, even after the meeting itself is locked. Free also has limited automations, no webhook integration, up to 2 teams, and access to the API, MCP and CLI.

Here is what the other free plans include, according to each company's pricing page as of Oct 2026:

• Granola Basic includes 30 days of meeting history, bot-free capture from device audio, and desktop, iOS, Android and Apple Watch apps. Notion, Zapier and HubSpot integrations and API access start on Business. MCP on Basic covers your personal notes from the last 30 days, without transcripts.
• Otter.ai Basic includes 300 transcription minutes per month (about five hours) and 3 lifetime file imports.
• tl;dv Free includes unlimited recordings and transcripts, automatic AI notes on your first 10 meetings and then on only the first 10 minutes of each meeting, and recordings stored for 3 months.
• Fireflies.ai Free includes unlimited transcription (marked with an asterisk on their page), limited AI summaries, and 400 minutes of storage per team.
• Fathom Free includes unlimited recordings and transcriptions, and a choice of bot-free capture (beta, Mac) or bot capture. Fathom lists advanced summaries as "limited use" on Free.

Two of these beat Circleback Free in specific ways. Fathom also lists unlimited recordings and transcriptions, so it matches Circleback on volume. tl;dv stores free recordings for 3 months, longer than Circleback's 30-day history window. On Otter's 300 minutes, if you have a few hour-long calls a week, you will hit it.

What does each paid plan unlock?

Circleback (as of Oct 2026)

• Pro ($15 per user per month annual, $18 monthly) adds unlimited meeting history and unlocks any Free meetings older than 30 days. It includes automations with all integrations, including Notion, HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio and webhooks, plus custom AI insights, 1 year of recording storage, and up to 5 teams.
• Business ($25 annual, $29 monthly) includes everything in Pro, plus admin and member roles, default and enforceable settings, a usage dashboard, unlimited teams, and 2 years of recording storage.
• Enterprise ($35, annual billing only) includes every Business admin control, plus SSO, SCIM and a HIPAA BAA.

The other five (from their pricing pages, as of Oct 2026)

• Granola Business adds unlimited history, Notion, Zapier and HubSpot integrations, and API access. Granola lists Salesforce, SSO, SCIM and HIPAA-compliant workspaces on Enterprise.
• Otter.ai Pro adds 10 file imports a month and Salesforce, HubSpot and Zapier integrations. Business adds unlimited imports. SSO and SCIM are on Enterprise with a 100-user minimum, and HIPAA is an Enterprise add-on.
• tl;dv's blog says its MCP server is available from Pro and is read-only. tl;dv's security page says SSO is available to all users.
• Fireflies.ai has four plans: Free, Pro, Business and Enterprise. Free has no integrations, and Pro adds all of them. Enterprise is billed annually and includes SSO, SCIM and HIPAA compliance.
• Fathom has Free and Premium plans for individuals. Its Team and Business plans for teams require at least 2 users. Business adds CRM field sync, and Enterprise, sold through sales, adds SSO and SCIM.

Salesforce is where entry plans differ most. Circleback includes Salesforce automations from Pro, and Granola lists Salesforce on Enterprise. If your sales team lives in Salesforce, that difference costs more than the gap between the two entry plans.

Which AI meeting notetaker is the best value?

It depends on which limit you hit first. Here is one way to decide, using prices as of Oct 2026:

• For the lowest paid price per seat, choose Otter.ai Pro at $8.33 per month billed annually, or Granola Business at $14 per month billed monthly.
• For a free plan with no meeting or minute caps, plus API, MCP and CLI access, choose Circleback Free.
• For CRM, Notion and webhook automations on the first paid plan, choose Circleback Pro at $15 annual or $18 monthly.
• For the longest free recording storage, choose Fathom Free, which lists unlimited recordings and call storage.

Fireflies.ai Pro, at $10 annual or $18 monthly, is the next cheapest after Otter on annual billing.

What 50 seats cost per year on each AI notetaker (Oct 2026)

Total for 50 seats over 12 months, in USD. Annual billing unless noted. These are list prices from each vendor's pricing page as of Oct 2026, before promos.

Otter.ai Pro ($4,998), Fireflies.ai Pro ($6,000) and Granola Business ($8,400, billed monthly) cost less than Circleback Pro ($9,000). The lowest total isn't the whole answer, though. The right pick for a 50-person company depends on whether it needs admin controls, SSO or CRM automations.

Circleback Enterprise uses transparent graduated volume pricing with no sales call: $35 per user per month for users 1 to 50, $30 for 51 to 100, $25 for 101 to 250, $20 for 251 to 1,000, $17.50 for 1,001 to 5,000, and $15 above 5,000. Each rate applies to the users in its band. At exactly 50 users nothing changes and the total stays $21,000. The 51st user is billed at $30, so 51 users cost $21,360 a year.

Circleback has no minute or meeting caps on any plan. Circleback Business and Enterprise include unlimited free viewers, so people who just read notes don't need paid seats. That can bring the real seat count below 50 and lower the total.

For admin controls, Circleback Business adds admin and member roles, default and enforceable settings, a usage dashboard and unlimited teams. Circleback Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM and a HIPAA BAA.

Other vendors have seat and billing terms to check, as of Oct 2026. Otter.ai lists SSO and SCIM with a 100-user minimum license, so a 50-person company that needs SSO should check that requirement. Fathom's Team and Business plans need at least 2 users. Granola Business is billed monthly, and annual billing is on Granola Enterprise contracts. Granola's help center lists SSO "for teams with 50+ users", and the Fireflies FAQ says "If you're buying a plan for more than 50 members, please contact us".

What should a startup or small business pay for?

Start with the free plans and upgrade when a limit actually blocks you. Prices below are as of Oct 2026.

Circleback Free lets a whole startup sign up with no member limit and no minute caps, organized into up to 2 teams. The first thing you will run into is the 30-day history window. Locked meetings come back when you move to Pro, so waiting costs you nothing.

For a small team watching every dollar, Granola Business at $14 per user per month and Otter Pro at $8.33 annual are both cheaper per seat than Circleback Pro. Fathom's team plans require at least 2 users.

When the company needs admin roles and enforceable settings, Circleback Business costs $25 per user per month annual or $29 monthly. When IT asks for SSO and SCIM, Circleback, Granola, Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai and Fathom put them on Enterprise. Circleback Enterprise is $35 per user per month and annual-only.

Which discounts can you get?

At Circleback, as of Oct 2026, nonprofits get 30% off, and a 50% discount is available for students, applied automatically to school email addresses. Enterprise volume discounts apply automatically, with no sales call required.

Elsewhere, according to their pricing pages as of Oct 2026:

• tl;dv shows an "up to 40% off" badge on annual billing and lists no first-time offers.
• Otter.ai offers new customers 20% off monthly Business for 3 months.

How do plan changes and billing work at Circleback?

Upgrades and added seats are charged the prorated difference right away. Downgrades and seat removals take effect at the end of your current billing period, so you keep your current plan until then. Moving from Free to Pro also unlocks any meetings older than 30 days.

How do the alternatives compare on price?

If you're comparing alternatives to one of these tools, here are the price and limit differences to look at first (as of Oct 2026):

• Leaving Otter.ai: Otter Pro is the cheapest paid plan on annual billing and costs less than Circleback Pro on both billing periods, so a switch to Circleback costs more per seat. In return, Circleback has no minute or meeting caps on any plan, including Free.
• Leaving Granola: Granola Business is $14 per user per month, and Circleback Pro is $15 annual or $18 monthly. For the extra cost, Circleback Pro includes Salesforce automations and webhooks, and Granola puts Salesforce on Enterprise.
• Leaving tl;dv: Circleback Pro ($15 / $18) and Business ($25 / $29) both cost less than tl;dv Pro ($18 / $29) and Business ($29 / $39) on annual and monthly billing.
• Leaving Fireflies.ai: Fireflies Free caps storage at 400 minutes per team. Circleback Free has no minute cap but limits history to 30 days. Fireflies Pro is $10 annual or $18 monthly.
• Leaving Fathom: Fathom Free is generous on volume. Fathom's Team ($15 annual / $19 monthly) and Business ($25 / $34) plans need at least 2 users.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest AI meeting notetaker?
Otter.ai Pro is cheapest on annual billing at $8.33 per user per month, as of Oct 2026. On monthly billing, Granola Business is cheapest at $14, below Otter Pro at $16.99. Fireflies.ai Pro is next on annual billing at $10.

Is Circleback free?
Yes. Circleback Free has unlimited meetings and members, no minute or meeting caps, 30 days of meeting history, limited automations, and API, MCP and CLI access.

How much does Circleback Pro cost?
As of Oct 2026, Circleback Pro is $15 per user per month billed annually or $18 billed monthly. Business is $25 annual or $29 monthly, and Enterprise is $35 per user per month with annual billing only.

How much does Circleback cost for a 50-person team?
As of Oct 2026, 50 seats on annual billing cost $9,000 a year on Circleback Pro ($15 per user per month), $15,000 on Business ($25) and $21,000 on Enterprise ($35). Enterprise uses graduated volume pricing with no sales call, so users 51 to 100 are billed at $30 each, and 51 users cost $21,360 a year.

Is Granola cheaper than Circleback?
Yes. As of Oct 2026, Granola Business is $14 per user per month, and Circleback Pro is $15 annual or $18 monthly. Granola bills Business monthly.

Is Otter.ai cheaper than Circleback?
Yes. As of Oct 2026, Otter.ai Pro is $8.33 per user per month annual or $16.99 monthly, which is less than Circleback Pro on both billing periods.

What happens to my meetings after 30 days on Circleback Free?
Meetings older than 30 days, imports included, are locked but not deleted. Upgrading to Pro unlocks them. Recordings follow the default 1-year retention.

Can I pay for Circleback Enterprise monthly?
No. Circleback Enterprise is annual billing only, at $35 per user per month as of Oct 2026.

Does Circleback have nonprofit or education discounts?
Yes. Nonprofits get 30% off, and a 50% discount is available for students, applied automatically to school email addresses. Enterprise volume discounts apply automatically.

What happens if I downgrade my Circleback plan?
Downgrades and seat removals take effect at the end of your current billing period. Upgrades and added seats are charged the prorated difference right away.

Which AI notetakers include SSO?
Circleback, Granola, Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai and Fathom put SSO on their Enterprise plan. tl;dv's security page says SSO is available to all users. Circleback Enterprise also includes SCIM and a HIPAA BAA.

Compare all Circleback plans on the pricing page