AI Note Taker Pricing in 2026: Otter vs Fireflies vs Fathom vs tl;dv vs Read AI
Short answer: Otter.ai has the cheapest paid entry plan at $8.33 per user/month billed annually, followed by Fireflies.ai at $10. Fathom has the most generous free plan, with unlimited recordings and transcripts. On monthly billing the gaps get much bigger: Otter.ai Pro jumps to $16.99 and tl;dv Pro to $29.
All prices below are USD per user per month, collected from recent published breakdowns of each vendor’s pricing page and last checked on November 14, 2026. Each tool page links to the official pricing page.
Entry paid plans side by side
| Tool | Entry paid plan | Annual billing | Monthly billing | Annual saving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otter.ai | Pro | $8.33 | $16.99 | 51% |
| Fireflies.ai | Pro | $10 | $18 | 44% |
| Fathom | Team (2-seat minimum) | $15 | $19 | 21% |
| Read AI | Pro | $15 | $19.75 | 24% |
| tl;dv | Pro | $18 | $29 | 38% |
Fathom’s Premium plan for a single person is $16 annually or $20 monthly; Team is the cheaper choice once you have two or more people.
What a 5-person team pays per year
Entry paid plan, five seats, twelve months:
| Tool | Annual billing | Monthly billing |
|---|---|---|
| Otter.ai | $499.80 | $1,019.40 |
| Fireflies.ai | $600 | $1,080 |
| Fathom (Team) | $900 | $1,140 |
| Read AI | $900 | $1,185 |
| tl;dv | $1,080 | $1,740 |
The takeaway: if you are sure about the tool, pay annually. On Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai, monthly billing almost doubles the bill.
The free plans are not equal
- Fathom: unlimited recordings and transcripts. The cap is on advanced AI summaries each month.
- tl;dv: unlimited recordings, with limited AI notes.
- Otter.ai: 300 transcription minutes a month and 30 minutes per conversation.
- Fireflies.ai: transcription and summaries with limited storage.
- Read AI: a limited number of meeting reports.
If you mainly want to record and search calls for free, Fathom or tl;dv go furthest. If you need live transcription during the call, Otter.ai’s free plan lets you try that, within its minute cap.
Costs that are easy to miss
- AI credits. Fireflies.ai’s AskFred assistant and AI apps draw on a separate pool of credits. Transcription and summaries do not.
- Seat minimums. Fathom Team and Business need two seats. Read AI Enterprise+ needs five.
- Enterprise security. HIPAA and SSO usually sit on the top tiers (Fireflies.ai Enterprise, Read AI Enterprise+, Otter.ai Enterprise).
Which one to pick
- Cheapest paid plan: Otter.ai Pro (annual).
- Best free plan: Fathom.
- Best for sending notes into a CRM: Fireflies.ai.
- Best for meetings plus email and chat summaries: Read AI.
- Best for summaries across many sales meetings: tl;dv.
See the full AI meeting note takers ranking for scores and the head-to-head comparisons.