Best Read AI Alternatives for Meeting Notes (2026)

As remote and hybrid work continue to expand, organizations need reliable AI meeting note-taking tools to track priorities, decisions, and accountability across teams. While Read AI has gained attention for its meeting analytics and cross-channel capabilities, many users are actively searching for alternatives due to documented privacy concerns, complex permission structures, and limited enterprise governance features.

If you're evaluating AI meeting assistants that provide stronger data privacy policies, more flexible recording options, and clearer compliance credentials, this guide breaks down nine alternatives worth considering.

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Why do teams switch from Read AI?

Several institutions, including Chapman University and the University of Washington, have banned Read AI due to security and privacy risks. User reviews consistently highlight four pain points that drive teams to seek alternatives:

1. Privacy and consent issues: Multiple users report that Read AI joins meetings without explicit permission and begins recording automatically. Some describe the tool as "barg[ing] into virtual meetings without permission" after simply viewing shared notes.

2. Complex permissions: Setup requires navigating confusing permission structures, with delayed access emails and a difficult removal process.

3. Limited enterprise controls: Teams struggle to manage organization-wide policies for recording, retention, and access.

4. Unresponsive support: Many users cite slow or absent responses to support requests, making troubleshooting difficult.

For teams that need granular privacy controls and clear governance, these limitations create real risk.

What should you look for in a Read AI alternative?

The best AI meeting assistants for enterprise teams combine automatic transcription with organization-wide search and robust security. When evaluating alternatives, prioritize these capabilities:

Security and compliance credentials: Look for SOC 2 Type II certification, HIPAA and GDPR compliance, and a clear commitment not to train AI models on your data. Permission-based access aligned to organizational roles ensures only authorized team members can access specific recordings.

Flexible recording options: Some teams need visible meeting bots for structured calls. Others prefer bot-free recording for external meetings, ad-hoc conversations, and in-person discussions where a visible assistant would feel intrusive.

Cross-meeting intelligence: Basic transcription captures individual meetings. The most valuable alternatives let you query across your entire meeting history to surface patterns, track commitments, and find context without manually searching through recordings.

Deep integrations: Meetings only become actionable when they connect to your existing workflows. Look for native integrations with your CRM, project management tools, and communication platforms.

How do the top Read AI alternatives compare?

9 Read AI alternatives for 2026

1. Fellow

Fellow is a secure AI meeting notetaker that turns every meeting into shared, searchable intelligence. It stands out from other alternatives because of its advanced security architecture, flexible recording options, and organization-wide query capabilities.

Key capabilities:

• Ask Fellow: Query across all meetings you have access to with natural language questions like "Where are projects getting blocked?" or "What commitments did the sales team make this quarter?"

• Flexible capture: Record with or without visible bots, including support for in-person meetings and Slack huddles

• AI meeting notes: Automatic transcription, summaries, and action item extraction with owners and due dates

• Enterprise security: SOC 2 Type II certified, HIPAA and GDPR compliant, with a commitment to never train on customer data

• Recording library: Searchable archive with granular permission controls

• Deep integrations: 50+ native connections including Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Asana, Linear, Monday, and Notion, plus 8,000+ apps via Zapier and n8n

Best for: Organizations that need to query insights across multiple meetings while maintaining enterprise security standards. Teams at Shopify, HubSpot, Vidyard, and Motive use Fellow to make their meeting intelligence searchable and actionable. Fellow was also named the top pick by The New York Times Wirecutter for transcribing and summarizing meetings in 2025.

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $9/user/month.

If security concerns with Read AI brought you here, Fellow addresses them directly with verifiable compliance certifications and transparent data policies.

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2. Otter.ai

Otter.ai provides real-time transcription and collaborative note-taking, with a focus on live captioning during meetings.

Key capabilities:

• Live transcription with speaker identification

• Collaborative editing and highlighting

• Mobile app for on-the-go access

• Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams support

Limitations: Cross-meeting search is limited compared to enterprise alternatives. Some users report transcription accuracy issues in noisy environments.

Best for: Teams that prioritize live captioning and real-time collaboration over historical search.

Pricing: Free plan with limited minutes. Pro plans from $16.99/user/month.

3. Fireflies.ai

Fireflies.ai focuses on conversation intelligence with features designed for sales and customer success teams.

Key capabilities:

• AskFred AI assistant for searching across transcripts

• Sentiment analysis and talk-time tracking

• CRM integration with Salesforce and HubSpot

• 100+ language support

Limitations: Credit-based pricing can become expensive for high-volume users. Some users have raised concerns about data practices, and the bot always joins as a visible participant.

Best for: Sales teams that want conversation analytics with CRM automation.

Pricing: Free plan with limited features. Paid plans from $18/user/month.

4. Fathom

Fathom positions itself as a budget-friendly alternative to enterprise conversation intelligence platforms like Gong.

Key capabilities:

• Unlimited recordings and storage on free tier

• HubSpot and Salesforce integration

• Deal view summarizes insights across calls with the same prospect

• Automated CRM updates

Limitations: AI features capped at five meetings per month on free plan. No mobile app. Cross-meeting search only works within the same deal or prospect.

Best for: Sales teams that want Gong-like functionality without enterprise pricing.

Pricing: Free with unlimited recordings. Premium from $16/month.

5. tl;dv

tl;dv emphasizes quick summaries and highlights, with support for multiple languages.

Key capabilities:

• Instant meeting summaries

• Timestamped highlights and clips

• Multi-language transcription

• Slack and Notion integration

Limitations: Enterprise security features are less robust than alternatives like Fellow. Limited governance controls for organization-wide deployment.

Best for: Teams that want quick meeting highlights without complex setup.

Pricing: Free plan available. Pro from $20/user/month.

6. MeetGeek

MeetGeek offers meeting analytics alongside transcription, with a focus on productivity insights.

Key capabilities:

• Meeting analytics and engagement tracking

• Global search across transcripts

• Automated workflows and templates

• 30+ integrations

Limitations: Analytics features may feel excessive for teams that just need reliable transcription and search.

Best for: Teams that want detailed meeting analytics and productivity tracking.

Pricing: Free plan with 53 hours/month. Pro from $15/user/month.

7. Avoma

Avoma targets revenue teams with conversation intelligence features built around the sales cycle.

Key capabilities:

• Revenue intelligence and deal tracking

• Coaching scorecards

• CRM synchronization

• Topic and keyword tracking

Limitations: Heavily focused on sales use cases. Less suitable for general organizational meeting capture.

Best for: Revenue teams that need conversation intelligence integrated with sales workflows.

Pricing: Plans from $79/user/month.

See other Avoma alternatives

8. Jamie

Jamie offers bot-free recording by capturing audio directly from your device, making it popular for users who want a lightweight, private experience.

Key capabilities:

• No bot joins meetings (device-level capture)

• Works offline and in-person

• 100+ language support

• GDPR-compliant with EU data storage

Limitations: No cross-meeting search. Limited integrations (no API). Not designed for organization-wide deployment or governance.

Best for: Individual users who want simple, private transcription without enterprise features.

Pricing: Free plan available. Pro from €24/month.

9. Granola

Granola is a minimalist desktop app that enhances manual notes with AI context, rather than providing full transcription.

Key capabilities:

• Bot-free, device-level capture

• Clean, distraction-free interface

• AI-enhanced note completion

Limitations: No audio or video playback. No integrations or API. No cross-meeting search. Not built for teams or enterprise use.

Best for: Individual users who want AI assistance with their own notes rather than full meeting capture.

Pricing: Free tier available. Paid plans from $12/month.

See other Granola.ai alternatives

How do you choose the right Read AI alternative?

Selecting the right alternative depends on your specific priorities:

If security is your top concern: Fellow offers the strongest security posture with SOC 2 Type II certification, HIPAA and GDPR compliance, and a clear commitment to never train on customer data. Teams in regulated industries (healthcare, financial services, government) should prioritize these credentials.

If you need cross-meeting intelligence: Ask Fellow lets you query across your entire meeting history with natural language. This transforms meetings from isolated recordings into searchable organizational knowledge.

If you want recording flexibility: Fellow supports both bot-based recording (for structured meetings with video playback) and bot-free recording (for external calls, ad-hoc conversations, and in-person meetings). Most alternatives only offer one approach.

If integrations matter: Fellow connects to 50+ tools natively and 8,000+ apps via Zapier and n8n, including MCP Server and API access for custom workflows.

If you're on a tight budget: Otter.ai and Fathom offer generous free tiers, though with limitations on enterprise features and cross-meeting search.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Read AI alternative for enterprise teams?

Fellow is the best Read AI alternative for enterprise teams because it combines organization-wide meeting intelligence with verifiable security credentials. Unlike Read AI, Fellow is SOC 2 Type II certified, HIPAA and GDPR compliant, and explicitly commits to never training AI models on customer data. Ask Fellow lets teams query across all their meetings to surface insights, track commitments, and maintain accountability across the organization.

Can I record meetings without a bot joining?

Yes. Some AI meeting assistants like Fellow support bot-free recording that captures audio directly from your device. This works for Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack huddles, and in-person conversations. Bot-free recording is useful for external meetings, sensitive conversations, or situations where a visible AI assistant would be distracting.

Why are universities banning Read AI?

Multiple universities, including Chapman University and the University of Washington, have banned Read AI due to security and privacy concerns. Specific issues include the tool joining meetings without explicit user consent, automatically recording conversations, and complex permission structures that make it difficult to control data access. These institutions recommend alternatives with clearer governance controls.

How does Ask Fellow compare to Read AI's search?

Ask Fellow provides natural language querying across all meetings you have access to. You can ask questions like "What did we decide about the Q3 roadmap?" or "What commitments are at risk?" and get answers synthesized from your meeting history. Read AI's cross-channel approach pulls from emails and messages in addition to meetings, but this broader access has raised privacy concerns among users who prefer more controlled data scope.

Is AI meeting recording secure for regulated industries?

Enterprise-grade AI meeting assistants should be SOC 2 Type II certified, HIPAA compliant, and GDPR compliant. They should also commit to not training AI models on customer data. Fellow meets all these requirements and provides permission-based access aligned to organizational roles, making it suitable for healthcare, financial services, and other regulated industries.

What integrations should I look for in a Read AI alternative?

The most useful integrations connect meeting intelligence to your existing workflows. Look for native connections to your CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot), project management tools (Jira, Asana, Linear, Monday), collaboration platforms (Slack, Notion), and automation tools (Zapier, n8n). Fellow offers 50+ native integrations plus 8,000+ app connections via Zapier and n8n.

Start turning your meetings into searchable intelligence

Switching from Read AI doesn't have to mean sacrificing functionality for security. Fellow combines the meeting intelligence features you need with the enterprise-grade security and governance your organization requires.

Stop losing track of what was said in meetings. Fellow remembers everything so you don't have to.

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