Best AI Note-Taking Tools in 2025: What to Use and When

Good notes save time. Great notes write themselves. The tools below can record your meetings, turn speech into text, pull out action items, and even summarize long docs. I’ve tested and compared the best options so you can pick fast, avoid privacy surprises, and get on with your work.

Quick picks

• Best “no-bot” meeting notes: Notion AI Meeting Notes transcribes from your device mic and gives summaries across Zoom, Meet, and Teams. No bot appears in the call.
• Best for teams that live in Docs/Drive/Meet: Google Meet “Take notes for me” puts summaries in a shared Google Doc, with “summary so far” during the call.
• Best free option with playback: Fathom records, transcribes, and summarizes for Zoom, Meet, and Teams, with a generous free tier.
• Best for integrations and action items: Fireflies.ai ties into 60+ apps and pushes tasks to your CRM or PM tool.
• Best for Microsoft shops: OneNote + Copilot can summarize sections and turn messy pages into to-dos.
• Best for personal capture on iPhone/iPad: Apple Notes + Apple Intelligence records, transcribes, and generates summaries right in Notes and Phone.
• Best for research reading: Readwise Reader lets you ask articles/PDFs questions and auto-summarize with Ghostreader.

How AI note taking works and where it fails

Short answer: An app records audio, transcribes speech to text, then a language model summarizes and extracts tasks. Expect solid summaries, but accents, crosstalk, and jargon can knock accuracy. Also, in many places you must tell participants you’re recording. Tools differ in how they join calls, where data is stored, and which compliance boxes they tick. See the privacy section for specifics and links to official policies.

Best for meetings auto transcription and summaries

Notion AI Meeting Notes

What it does: transcribes meetings from your device without inviting a bot, works across Zoom, Teams, and Meet, and produces a structured summary. Great if your notes already live in Notion.
Why it stands out: no bot to manage, notes and tasks live alongside your docs/wiki. Tech press flagged this as Notion’s push into the space in 2025.
Watch-outs: Requires Notion buy-in. Heavy workspaces may need process hygiene.

Otter.ai

What it does: live transcription, speaker identification, searchable transcripts, templates, and collaboration spaces. Pro and Business tiers increase minutes and features.
Good for: teams that want a dedicated meeting hub with comments and shared libraries.
Note: Otter publishes SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR info; still, confirm consent policies and enterprise terms for your region.

Fireflies.ai

What it does: joins calls, creates transcripts and “smart summaries,” detects action items, and pushes notes to 60+ integrations and CRMs.
Good for: sales and recruiting teams that need tasks to land in their CRM automatically.
Security posture: SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, with HIPAA available at enterprise.

Fathom

What it does: records, transcribes, and summarizes Meetings, with quick turnaround and a strong free tier.
Good for: creators, consultants, and small teams that want simple, fast summaries plus playback.

Google Meet + Gemini “Take notes for me”

What it does: automatically generates a meeting summary in a Google Doc and shares it, with a “summary so far” for late joiners. Recent updates add suggested action items and owners.
Good for: companies already on Workspace who want built-in, low-friction notes.
Limits: No full call playback unless the host records; formatting control is basic.

Best for personal notes & research

Apple Notes + Apple Intelligence

What it does: record in Notes or Phone, get a transcript and an AI summary right in the app on supported devices (iPhone 16 family, 15 Pro/Max; iPadOS 18 adds Pencil friendly features).
Good for: people deep in the Apple ecosystem who want private-by-design on-device features where available.

Microsoft OneNote + Copilot

What it does: summarize sections, pull out tasks, and answer questions about your notes; available with consumer or business Copilot plans.
Good for: Windows/Office users with lots of notes scattered across OneDrive.

Readwise Reader

What it does: lets you chat with long articles and PDFs, generate summaries, and resurface topical highlights via AI Themed Reviews. Great for research.

Evernote

What it does: AI Edit to summarize/clean up writing; AI Transcribe for turning audio into searchable notes.
Good for: users who still prefer Evernote’s organization model but want modern AI helpers.

Obsidian + AI plugins

What it does: local Markdown vault with optional AI plugins to summarize or chat with notes. Great control, steepish setup.

Privacy, compliance, and consent (read this before rollout)

• Otter: publishes SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR details; check your region’s consent law and your org’s retention policy.
• Fireflies: SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, HIPAA for enterprise; SOC 2 report is gated behind NDA.
• Notion AI: documents security and data handling; AI subprocessors are covered in their help center. Notion says it won’t train on your data unless you opt in.
• Consent: many tools require you to notify and obtain consent for recording; Otter’s terms call this out explicitly.

Mini case studies

• Startup sales team: Fireflies routes action items to HubSpot and logs call notes to deals. Result: less manual CRM entry, faster follow-ups.
• Solo consultant: Fathom’s free plan captures discovery calls and delivers instant summaries; the client-friendly highlights reduce recap emails.
• University student: Apple Notes with Apple Intelligence summarizes lecture recordings; Readwise Reader helps query long readings. Works offline-first on iPhone; research lives in Reader.

How to choose quick flow

1. Are you locked into an ecosystem?
   Apple → Apple Notes. Microsoft → OneNote + Copilot. Google → Meet “Take notes for me.”
2. Need CRM/PM integrations and action items? Fireflies.
3. Hate bots in calls? Notion AI Meeting Notes.
4. Want free playback + summaries? Fathom.
5. Research-heavy reading? Readwise Reader.

Checklist

• Verify device support and meeting platform compatibility
• Confirm SOC 2/GDPR stance and consent language
• Test with 2–3 real meetings and compare summaries
• Decide retention, access controls, and where tasks go
• Train the team on when not to record sensitive topics

Comparison table

Featured Snippet (Q → A)

What is the best AI note-taking app for meetings?
If you want built-in and simple, use Google Meet “Take notes for me.” For powerful summaries and integrations, choose Fireflies or Otter. If you dislike bots joining calls, use Notion AI Meeting Notes.

Can Apple Notes summarize recordings?
Yes. On supported devices, Apple Intelligence can generate summaries of transcripts recorded in Notes or the Phone app.

Is Otter AI free?
Otter has a free plan with live transcription and limited imports, plus paid tiers that add minutes and features.

Does OneNote have AI for notes?
Yes. Copilot in OneNote can summarize sections, create to dos, and help plan from your notes.

FAQ (6–10)

1. Is a bot required for AI meeting notes?
   Notion’s approach avoids bots; Google Meet’s feature is built-in. Most dedicated tools use a bot to join calls.
2. Will these tools identify speakers?
   Yes in many cases, but accuracy varies with audio and crosstalk. Test in your real environment.
3. Are they compliant with SOC 2/GDPR?
   Otter and Fireflies publish SOC 2/GDPR info. Always verify for your org.
4. Can they auto-create tasks in my CRM/PM?
   Fireflies offers wide integrations. Otter and others can push to popular apps or export.
5. Do I need to inform people I’m recording?
   Yes in many regions. Otter’s terms call out your responsibility to obtain consent.
6. What about summarizing long docs/PDFs?
   Readwise Reader and Notion AI can help. Reader is especially good for reading and Q&A.

Source: Microsoft Support | Apple | Otter.ai | Fireflies.ai | Notion