Notion Meeting Recorder receives mixed reviews from users who appreciate its integration with the Notion workspace but find it limited in functionality. Reviews indicate it operates as a lightweight feature rather than a comprehensive meeting assistant, primarily serving as a basic way to record conversations within the Notion ecosystem. Users note that while the integration is clever, it lacks the robust capabilities expected from dedicated meeting recording solutions.

Read.ai faces significant criticism from users, particularly regarding security and privacy concerns. Multiple reviews report that the service continues to join calls without user approval even after account deletion, raising serious trust issues among users. The platform maintains a low rating of 1.7 out of 5 based on user feedback, with many users reportedly leaving the service due to these persistent problems.

Readers can learn more about these tools through the following resources: 1, 2, 3.

Notion Meeting Recorder excels at seamless integration within the Notion ecosystem, allowing teams to capture, transcribe, and organize meeting notes directly in their existing workspace. The tool automatically generates summaries and action items that can be immediately converted into tasks and linked to project databases. However, it requires heavy Notion adoption to realize its full potential and may not suit teams using other productivity platforms.

Read.ai positions itself as a comprehensive meeting intelligence platform that goes beyond transcription to provide engagement analytics, sentiment analysis, and speaker balance metrics. It offers robust third-party integrations with CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce, plus real-time translation capabilities for global teams. The interface can feel cluttered with its extensive feature set, and the free tier's 5-meeting limit is restrictive compared to competitors.

Notion Meeting Recorder is best suited for teams already invested in the Notion ecosystem who want their meeting notes to seamlessly flow into their project management and documentation workflows. Read.ai appeals more to sales teams, consultants, and organizations that need detailed meeting analytics and broad integration capabilities across multiple business tools. Both tools lack the depth of workflow automation needed to truly transform meeting outputs into actionable business processes.

While each tool offers solid transcription and summarization features, neither provides comprehensive automation engines or sufficiently deep integrations to eliminate the manual work of turning meeting insights into concrete next steps. Users may find themselves still needing additional tools or manual processes to fully capitalize on their meeting intelligence.

Why users switch away from Notion Meeting Recorder or Read.ai

Users switch away from Notion Meeting Recorder because it requires full adoption of the Notion ecosystem to be effective. The tool assumes users manage tasks and notes in Notion, creating a learning curve for teams not already using Notion heavily. Users report falling into a "build your setup" trap where they need to configure Notion pages and databases to get the most from the meeting notes feature. This creates friction for organizations that use other productivity tools or have established workflows outside of Notion.

The additional cost structure drives users to seek alternatives. Notion AI Meeting Notes requires a $10 per member per month add-on (or $8/member/month annually) on top of existing Notion plan fees. Each user who wants to transcribe meetings needs this add-on, making it expensive for larger teams. Users find it difficult to justify this cost when compared to other meeting recording solutions that may offer more comprehensive features at different price points.

The limited integration capabilities with external systems cause users to look elsewhere. While Notion Meeting Recorder integrates deeply within Notion's own ecosystem, it lacks direct connections to third-party calendars or CRMs out-of-the-box. Users must rely on workarounds through Notion's API or tools like Zapier to route meeting notes to other systems. This contrasts with dedicated meeting tools that offer robust integrations with platforms like HubSpot, Salesforce, and other business applications that teams commonly use.

Users switch away from Read.ai due to significant limitations in the free tier, which only allows 5 meetings per month with full notes. This restriction is particularly problematic compared to competitors that offer more generous free allowances, making it difficult for users to properly evaluate the platform or use it consistently for regular meeting needs.

The user interface presents another barrier to adoption, with multiple users finding it complex and cluttered due to the abundance of features including notes, analytics, and search capabilities. The learning curve is notably higher than simpler alternatives, with some reviews describing the platform as "confusing" and not delivering the expected time-saving benefits, which defeats the primary purpose of using an AI meeting assistant.

Privacy and consent concerns also drive users away from the platform. Reddit discussions have highlighted issues with users joining others' meetings through Read.ai without proper consent, creating boundary problems in professional settings. Additionally, the pricing structure becomes expensive for full functionality, particularly the Enterprise tier at $29.75 per user per month, which can be cost-prohibitive for smaller teams seeking comprehensive meeting recording and analysis features.

FAQs

Would Notion Meeting Recorder work for in-person meetings? What about Read.ai?

Yes, both tools work for in-person meetings. Notion Meeting Recorder can capture in-person discussions using your device's microphone - you could set your phone or laptop in a conference room and have it transcribe the conversation. It even has a mobile app to record meetings on the go. Read.ai also works for in-person meetings through its iOS app, which can capture offline meetings with one tap.

Does either of these tools require a meeting bot to join the meeting?

No, neither tool requires a meeting bot. Notion Meeting Recorder captures audio locally from your computer or device without needing a bot participant - you just press "Start" in Notion and it listens to your device's audio. Read.ai also doesn't use meeting bots and can record virtual meetings via cloud or extension, and offline audio via mobile app.

What do users say about the quality of transcriptions?

Users report positive experiences with transcription quality for both tools. For Notion, early users say the AI does a good job extracting key points from dense conversations and making them accessible and actionable. For Read.ai, users appreciate that the summaries are considered "smart," effectively capturing questions asked and topics discussed during meetings.

Do these tools help a user follow up with action items from the meeting? How so?

Yes, both tools help with action item follow-up. Notion Meeting Recorder automatically generates a list of action items and next steps as soon as the meeting ends. These can be converted into checkboxes, assigned to owners, or moved into your task database within Notion with minimal manual effort. Read.ai generates reports with key points and action items after meetings, and can auto-sync notes to CRM systems for follow-up.

Do these tools integrate with software like Hubspot, Salesforce, or Linear?

Read.ai offers robust integrations including HubSpot, Salesforce, Confluence, Jira, Notion, and Slack. Notion Meeting Recorder focuses primarily on deep integration within the Notion ecosystem itself, allowing you to link action items to task boards and relate notes to projects. While you could potentially route Notion pages with meeting notes to other systems via Notion's API or tools like Zapier, it doesn't directly integrate with third-party CRMs out-of-the-box.

Another alternative: Circleback

Circleback provides best-in-class AI-powered meeting notes and automations. We support over 100 languages and automatic participant identification in both in-person and online meetings.

• Automatically-identified and assigned action items

• AI-enabled search across all meetings

• Automations with 100+ app integrations

• Industry-leading security with SOC 2 Type II, EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and HIPAA compliance

• Ability to capture both online and in-person meetings with desktop and mobile apps