We Tested 5 AI Meeting Assistants: This One Actually Works

We’ve all been there. You're stuck in your fourth back-to-back Zoom call of the day, your eyes are glazing over, and you suddenly realize... you were supposed to be taking notes. "Zoom Fatigue" is real, and the administrative work that comes with meetings is often the worst part.

A comparison grid of the best AI meeting assistant logos, including Fireflies.ai, Otter.ai, and Fathom

But what if you had an assistant? One that could attend every meeting for you, take perfect notes, identify who said what, and email you a 5-minute summary at the end?

This is the promise of AI Meeting Assistants. These tools have exploded in popularity, but do they actually work, or are they just another complicated app?

We tested five of the most popular AI meeting assistants in real-world scenarios (messy audio, technical jargon, and all) to find the one that truly delivers on its promise.

What Is an AI Meeting Assistant, Anyway?

In simple terms, it's a software bot that you invite to your online meetings (on Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams).

Once in the meeting, it does four things:

Records the audio.
Transcribes the entire conversation into text.
Identifies the different speakers.
Summarizes the key topics, decisions, and action items using AI.

The goal is to free you up to actually participate in the conversation instead of just typing notes.

How We Tested Them

To find the best, we judged all five contenders on four key criteria:

Transcription Accuracy: How well did it handle different accents and technical terms?
Summary Quality: Was the summary actually short and useful, or just a long chunk of text?
Ease of Use: How easy was it to set up and invite to a meeting?
Price & Value: What do you get for free, and is the paid plan worth it?

The 5 Contenders: A Quick Review

Here’s a breakdown of the tools we put to the test.

1. Fireflies.ai

Fireflies is one of the biggest names in the game. It integrates with almost everything (Zoom, GMeet, Teams, Slack, Asana) and is built for team collaboration. Its summaries are decent, and it does a good job of pulling out key topics.

Best For: Teams and companies that need to sync meeting notes across multiple platforms.
Downside: The free tier is quite limited (only 3 transcriptions total), so you're quickly forced into a paid plan.

2. Otter.ai

Otter has been the "king of transcription" for years. Its speech-to-text accuracy is fantastic, making it a favorite for journalists and students. It’s great at identifying speakers and creating a very accurate, searchable script of your meeting.

Best For: Anyone who needs the most accurate transcription possible.
Downside: Its automatic summaries aren't as strong as others; they often feel more like a list of topics than a true, human-readable summary.

3. Fathom

Fathom is a newer player that has gained a massive following, and for good reason. It’s built primarily for Zoom and has an incredible free tier. It sits on the side of your Zoom call, and you can click buttons in real-time to "tag" important moments (like an action item or a decision). The summaries are fast, clean, and incredibly useful.

Best For: Solo users, freelancers, and small teams who primarily use Zoom.
Downside: It’s not as widely integrated as Fireflies and is less useful if you're a heavy Microsoft Teams user.

4. Sembly AI

Sembly AI is another strong, team-focused tool. Its main strength is a clean, easy-to-read "Glance View" summary that clearly shows key items, issues, and risks discussed. It’s very good at understanding who said what and what the next steps are.

Best For: Project managers and teams who need clear, structured summaries.
Downside: The transcription accuracy, while good, sometimes struggles with strong accents more than Otter or Fathom.

5. Read.ai

Read.ai takes a different approach. It doesn't just summarize your meeting; it rates it. It gives you metrics on "engagement," "sentiment," and who talked the most. It’s less of a note-taker and more of a "meeting coach."

Best For: Managers who want to improve the quality and inclusivity of their meetings.
Downside: If you just want a simple transcript and summary, this is overkill. The constant metrics can be distracting.

The Verdict: The One That Actually Works

So, which one should you get?

The Overall Winner: Fireflies.ai. If you work in a team, need to push notes to Slack, and have a budget, Fireflies is the most powerful and flexible tool. It's the "power user" choice.

The "This One Actually Works" Pick: Fathom.

For the average person (a freelancer, student, or employee) who is tired of taking notes, Fathom is the clear winner.

Why? Its free plan is truly free, offering unlimited meetings and transcriptions. It integrates perfectly with Zoom, and its real-time "tagging" feature is a game-changer. You end the meeting, and a perfect, shareable summary is ready almost instantly. It doesn't try to do 100 things; it just does the 3 most important things perfectly.

It’s the first tool we tested that felt like a true assistant, not just another app.

Conclusion

AI meeting assistants are no longer a gimmick. They've crossed the line from "tech demo" to "essential productivity tool."

While a power user on a large team will love Fireflies.ai, the one that "just works" for the rest of us is Fathom. It delivers on the promise of perfect notes and clear summaries, all without costing a dime.

Have you tried an AI meeting assistant? Which one do you think is the best? Let us know in the comments below!