How to test an AI note taker in two weeks
Run two or three tools side by side for two weeks on the same real meetings, with a small group and a scorecard written before you start. Score what matters after the call: are names and numbers right, are the action items complete, and does the summary land where your team works? Tell every participant about the recording, and end with a go or no-go decision on a fixed date.
Most tools can be tested without paying. Every tool in our comparison has a free plan; meetergo offers a 7-day trial of its paid plans without a credit card, Notta a 7-day Business trial, and Fathom a free trial of Premium, Team and Business whose length the pricing page does not state. Free-plan caps matter: Notta's free plan stops at 3 minutes per conversation, so test Notta with its Business trial instead.
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.
The two-week plan
Set up
- Pick two or three tools that meet your must requirements on paper. The requirements checklist helps.
- Choose three to five people who have the meetings you care about.
- Write the scorecard below and agree on who scores.
- Prepare the consent notice and check the data terms for client calls.
- Connect calendars and the target system (CRM, Slack, Notion) where the free plan or trial allows it.
Same meetings, every tool
Record the same meetings with each tool where you can, so the comparison is fair. Aim for a mix that matches your real week:
- an external client or sales call;
- an internal meeting with four or more people;
- a meeting in a second language, if you have one;
- an in-person meeting, if you have them;
- one meeting longer than an hour.
Daily use
Let each person use their preferred tool in normal work. Watch what happens without help: are summaries opened, edited and forwarded, or ignored? Note every time someone fixes a summary by hand and how long it took.
Decide
Meet for 30 minutes, go through the scores and apply the go or no-go rules below. Write the result down, including why the other tools lost. Cancel trials you do not continue.
What to compare
Score each meeting on a simple scale, for example 0 (wrong or missing), 1 (partly right) and 2 (right). Use the transcript or your own notes as the reference.
| Check | How to test it | What a pass looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Names | count people, companies and product names in the summary and check the spelling | every participant and client named correctly, speakers attributed |
| Numbers | list prices, dates, quantities and deadlines said in the call | every number in the summary matches what was said |
| Action items | compare the tool's tasks with the tasks the meeting owner wrote down | no task missing, each with an owner and a date where one was said |
| Where notes land | check the CRM record, channel or document after the call | the summary arrives in the right place without copying |
| Time to summary | note when the summary is available after the call ends | available before the follow-up is due |
| Languages | run one meeting in each language you need | transcript and summary readable without rework |
| Participant experience | ask two external participants how the recording felt | no complaints about the notice or the bot |
Keep scores per meeting, not per tool, so a single bad meeting does not decide the pilot.
Consent during the pilot
A pilot is still recording real people. Announce the recording at the start of every call, with or without a bot, and give participants a way to say no. Rules on consent differ by country and state, and some require every participant to agree. Check the law that applies to you and your participants.
- Use a standard sentence in the invite and at the start of the call.
- For client calls in the EU, have a DPA with each vendor in the pilot and know where data is stored. See GDPR and EU hosting.
- Bot-free capture is not consent-free. See bot-free note takers.
- Delete pilot recordings from the tools you do not choose, and confirm the deletion.
This section is general guidance, not legal advice.
Free plans and trials you can use
What each vendor's official pricing or product page says, checked 9 November 2026. “None stated” means the page describes no trial.
| Tool | Free plan | Trial of a paid plan | What limits a two-week test |
|---|---|---|---|
| meetergo AI Notes | local transcription on your device, unlimited; desktop app via a download link sent by e-mail | 7 days of Light, Suite and Premium, no credit card; 5 cloud recaps in the trial | the cloud notetaker gives 5 recaps in the trial; in-person use is not described |
| Otter.ai | 300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation | none stated | 30-minute cap per conversation |
| Fireflies.ai | unlimited transcription, limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of storage per team | none stated | storage cap and limited summaries |
| Fathom | unlimited recordings and transcriptions for individuals | free trial of Premium, Team (2+ users) and Business; length not stated | some AI features marked “Limited use” |
| tl;dv | unlimited recordings, AI notes for 10 meetings | none stated | 10 AI-noted meetings |
| Granola | Basic with 30 days of meeting history | none stated | no integrations on Basic |
| Read AI | 5 meetings a month, up to 1 hour, no credit card | none stated | 5 meetings and the 1-hour cap |
| Notta | 120 minutes a month, 3 minutes per conversation | 7-day Business trial | the free plan is too short for real meetings |
| jamie | 10 AI notes a month, up to 30 minutes | none stated | 30-minute cap per meeting |
Details of every free plan are on the free plans page. A 7-day trial covers only half of a two-week pilot: start it in week 2 or plan a paid month.
Go or no-go
Continue when
- Names, numbers and action items pass in most scored meetings.
- Summaries reach the target system without copying.
- The people in the pilot used it in week 2 without being reminded.
- The yearly cost for the full team fits the budget. See pricing.
Stop when
- A must requirement fails, such as data location or a language.
- Numbers in summaries are wrong more than once.
- Clients object to the bot or the notice.
- People fix every summary by hand.
When another tool fits better
If most of your pilot meetings are in person and recorded on a phone, a tool with a mobile app, such as Otter, Fireflies, Granola, jamie or Fathom (iOS), fits better than meetergo, whose AI Notes page does not describe in-person use. meetergo fits when the notes should land on the contact who booked the meeting in the meetergo suite.
Questions and answers
How many tools should I test at once?
Two or three. With more, scoring takes longer than the pilot is worth.
Can I run two note takers in the same meeting?
Often yes, for example one bot and one bot-free app. Tell participants that two tools are recording.
Is two weeks long enough?
Two weeks cover a typical meeting mix and show whether people keep using the tool. Week 2 matters most: novelty is gone and you see real habits.
Which tools offer a trial of a paid plan?
From the official pages: meetergo (7 days of Light, Suite and Premium, no credit card), Notta (7-day Business trial) and Fathom (free trial of Premium, Team and Business, length not stated). Otter, Fireflies, tl;dv, Granola, Read AI and jamie describe free plans but no trial on their pricing pages.
What happens when the meetergo trial ends?
meetergo says every new account starts with all Premium features for 7 days. After that it continues as Free, or you pick a plan, and nothing is charged automatically.
Continue reading
Sources
- meetergo pricing: 7-day trial
- meetergo AI Notes: free local app, trial recaps
- Otter pricing
- Fireflies pricing
- Fathom pricing
- Fathom overview: iOS app
- tl;dv pricing
- Granola pricing
- Granola home page: mobile apps
- Read AI pricing
- Notta pricing: Business trial
- jamie pricing
- jamie home page: in-person meetings
- Fireflies home page: mobile app
- Otter home page: mobile recording
All pages accessed 9 November 2026. The pilot plan and scorecard are our editorial guidance, not legal advice.
Cite this entry
Best AI Meeting Note Taker. “How to test an AI note taker in two weeks”. meetergo GmbH. Content reviewed 9 November 2026. https://bestaimeetingnotetaker.com/trial/