Buying guide · Updated November 2026

How to choose an AI note taker: a requirements checklist

Answer in brief

Write down your requirements before you compare tools. Five questions cover most of it: which meetings you need notes for (online, in person, phone), which platforms they run on, which languages are spoken, where recordings may be stored, and which system the summary must reach. Mark each requirement as a must or a nice to have, then check every vendor against the must list using its official pages.

The tools in our comparison differ most in capture (a bot in the call or recording on your device), stated languages (6 for Otter, 100+ for Fireflies and tl;dv), data location (US, EU, Japan) and certifications. Our pick as publisher: for European teams that want notes on the contact who booked the meeting, meetergo AI Notes fits. If you need a SOC 2 report or HIPAA, Otter, Fireflies, Fathom or Read AI fit better, because meetergo states neither.

This comparison is published by meetergo GmbH, a German software company that sells an AI note taker and is one of the tools described here. Every fact about other vendors comes from their official websites as of 9 November 2026. We did not run long-term tests; “pick” is our editorial judgment for the use case named. How this guide is made.

Requirements→Shortlist→Vendor questions→Pilot

Write the brief in five parts

A requirements brief fits on one page and keeps the decision about your meetings, not feature lists. Write it with the people who will use the notes.

Meetings. Which meetings need notes: client calls, internal meetings, interviews, in-person visits? How many per week, and how long? Several plans cap the length of one recording.
Platforms. Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, phone or a meeting room? Which operating systems? May you install desktop apps?
Languages. Which languages are spoken, and do people switch languages within one meeting?
Privacy. Where may recordings and transcripts be stored? Do you need a DPA, a named sub-processor list, a SOC 2 report, ISO 27001 or HIPAA? Is a visible bot acceptable to your clients? See GDPR and EU hosting and bot-free note takers.
Integrations. Where must the summary land: CRM, project tool, Slack, Notion, e-mail?

Add the budget per user per year and who decides. The pricing comparison has yearly totals for 1, 5 and 20 users.

Requirements table to fill in

Copy these rows into a spreadsheet, fill in your own facts and mark each row as a must or a nice to have.

Requirement	What to write down	Must or nice to have	How to verify with the vendor
Meeting types	the meetings that need notes, with count per week and typical length	your decision	per-meeting and monthly caps on the pricing page
Meeting platforms	every video tool and phone system in use, internal and with clients	your decision	supported platforms on the product page
Capture method	whether a visible bot is acceptable, or recording must happen on the device	your decision	bot and desktop app pages; test both modes
In-person meetings	how often notes are needed away from a laptop	your decision	mobile app availability and in-person support
Languages	languages spoken, mixed-language meetings, summary language	your decision	language list in the help centre
Data location	regions where recordings, transcripts and summaries may be stored	your decision	security page, sub-processor list, DPA
Certifications	reports your security or compliance team asks for	your decision	security page; request the report itself
Integrations	the system each summary must reach and the field it fills	your decision	integrations list and the plan that includes them
Retention and deletion	how long recordings may be kept and who deletes them	your decision	retention settings and data processing terms
Budget and seats	number of users who record, billing period, currency	your decision	pricing page: minimums, caps, first-year prices

If a vendor answers a must requirement only in a call, ask for it in writing.

How the tools differ on paper

Vendor statements on official pages, checked 9 November 2026.

Tool	Capture	Languages stated	Data stored in	Certifications stated	Integrations named (examples)
meetergo AI Notes	cloud notetaker joins, or local desktop app with no bot	40+, auto-detected	Germany (Nuremberg); local mode stays on the device	GDPR, DPA; ISO 27001 for EU data storage; no SOC 2 or HIPAA stated	notes on the meetergo contact; dictation into Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Notion, Jira; API
Otter.ai	agent joins Zoom, Teams, Meet, or bot-free desktop recording	English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese	US (AWS West)	SOC 2 Type 2; HIPAA as add-on	Salesforce, HubSpot, Zapier, MCP, API
Fireflies.ai	bot joins; Chrome extension without the bot	100+	not stated; private storage on Enterprise	GDPR, SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, ISO 42001	CRM auto-fill, Slack, Greenhouse, Lever, Aircall, MCP
Fathom	bot or bot-free (Mac; Windows announced)	38 for transcripts, 7 for summaries	US	HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, GDPR; no ISO 27001	Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce, Notion, Asana, Zapier, API
tl;dv	bot, or desktop app without a bot	100+ languages and dialects	EU	GDPR, SOC 2 stated	CRMs, ticketing and knowledge tools
Granola	never joins; uses computer audio	31 on desktop, 17 on mobile	US (AWS)	SOC 2 Type 2; HIPAA on Enterprise	Attio, Affinity, HubSpot, Slack, Notion, Zapier; Salesforce on Enterprise
Read AI	assistant joins Zoom, Teams, Meet	20+ on the homepage, 16+ in the pricing table	US; EU and Canada on Enterprise+	SOC 2 Type II; BAA on request	Notion, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Zapier on paid tiers
Notta	bot joins, or on-device recording	58	Japan (Tokyo)	SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 stated on pricing page	Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Notion, Slack
jamie	always on the device, no bot	99+	EEA, Switzerland, UK	ISO 27001, GDPR, DORA; SOC 2 Type II pending	Google Docs, Notion, OneNote; CRMs on Pro and above

Read AI and Notta state languages or certifications differently on different pages; we report both. Sources are on the tool profiles and below.

Questions to ask every vendor

Send the same questions to each vendor on your shortlist.

Data

Where exactly are recordings, transcripts and summaries stored?

Ask for the region per data type. Granola and jamie state that audio is not stored.

Which sub-processors transcribe and summarise?

Ask for the named list and whether customer data trains models. Granola trains on anonymised data unless you opt out; Otter and jamie state they do not train on customer data.

Contract

Is a DPA available on our plan?

Some features depend on the tier: Read AI offers EU hosting only on Enterprise+.

Consent

How are participants told about the recording?

meetergo, for example, informs attendees beforehand and lets anyone type /stop in the meeting chat.

Workflow

Which plan includes the integration we need?

CRM sync is often limited by plan or user count. Otter notes that Salesforce and HubSpot are subject to user limits.

Exit

How do we export and delete our data when we leave?

Ask for the export format and how deletion is confirmed.

Questions and answers

What should I decide first when choosing an AI note taker?

Where recordings may be stored and whether a bot may join your calls. These two answers remove most tools before you look at features.

Which note takers state the most languages?

Fireflies and tl;dv state 100+, jamie 99+, Notta 58, meetergo 40+ and Fathom 38 for transcripts. Otter lists six languages. A list says nothing about accuracy, so test your own languages.

Which tools offer both a bot and bot-free recording?

Otter, Fathom (Mac), tl;dv, Notta and meetergo offer both. Granola and jamie never join with a bot. Fireflies uses a bot and offers a Chrome extension that records without it.

Does meetergo have SOC 2 or HIPAA?

meetergo states neither. It states GDPR compliance, a DPA and ISO 27001 for EU data storage. If your buyers require SOC 2 or HIPAA, Otter, Fireflies, Fathom, Read AI and Granola state them in some form.

How many tools should be on the shortlist?

Two or three that meet every must requirement on paper. Then test them with our two-week pilot plan.

Continue reading

Sources

All pages accessed 9 November 2026. The requirements table and vendor questions are our editorial guidance, not legal advice.

Cite this entry

Best AI Meeting Note Taker. “How to choose an AI note taker: a requirements checklist”. meetergo GmbH. Content reviewed 9 November 2026. https://bestaimeetingnotetaker.com/how-to-choose/