Productivity, Automation & Personal Life · verified 4 September 2026

Best AI for Note Taking

6 tools 6 with a free plan 4 built for this Prices verified 4 September 2026

The 6 that fit

Notion

By NotionSan Francisco, United States2 products across 2 categories

Built for this. Notes, tasks and documents in one workspace with AI that has the surrounding context rather than a blank slate.

Free plan
Yes
Free for individuals; a trial of Notion AI, basic forms and sites, Notion Calendar and databases
Month to month
$12/mo
Plus
Billed yearly
$10/mo
Plus plan −17%

Watch out: Only as good as how organised your workspace already is. It will not fix a mess for you.

All plans (4)
PlanPriceWhat you get
Free$0Free for individuals; a trial of Notion AI, basic forms and sites, Notion Calendar and databases
Plus$12/mo · $10/mo yearlycustom forms and sites, unlimited charts and collaborative blocks, a trial of Notion AI
Business$24/mo · $20/mo yearlyNotion Agent, AI meeting notes and enterprise search, so AI is included rather than an add-on
EnterpriseCustomzero data retention with LLM providers, SCIM provisioning, advanced security and an audit log
Open Notion Pricing and company Prices checked 4 September 2026

Otter.ai

By Otter.aiMountain View, United States1 product across 2 categories

Built for this. Joins meetings, transcribes them, and produces summaries and action items without anyone taking notes.

Free plan
Yes
3 lifetime file imports
Month to month
$16.99/mo
Pro
Billed yearly
$8.33/mo
Pro plan −51%

Watch out: Recording-consent rules vary by jurisdiction. Say it is running before it runs.

All plans (4)
PlanPriceWhat you get
Free$0Basic plan, free; Zoom, Teams and Meet, AI chat across meetings, live transcription, speaker identification, 3 lifetime file imports
Pro$16.99/mo · $8.33/mo yearly1,200 in-app recording minutes, advanced AI workflows, 10 file imports a month
Business$30/mo · $19.99/mo yearlyunlimited meetings and recordings, custom AI workflows, unlimited file imports
EnterpriseCustomunlimited custom workflows, Otter Sales Notetaker, CRM and dialler integrations
Open Otter.ai Pricing and company Prices checked 4 September 2026

Gemini Notebook

By Google DeepMindLondon, United Kingdom6 products across 6 categories

Built for this. You upload the sources and it answers only from them, linking every sentence to the passage it came from. The strongest verification pattern here.

Free plan
Yes
Free, and the core product is not gated: what a paid plan buys is headroom — a bigger notebook
Month to month
$4.99/mo
Google AI Plus
Billed yearly
$4.17/mo
$49.99 a year, Google AI Plus plan −16%

Watch out: Deliberately limited — it will not answer what your documents do not cover, and cannot tell you whether they are any good. Paid headroom comes from a Google AI subscription rather than a plan of its own.

All plans (4)
PlanPriceWhat you get
Free$0Free, and the core product is not gated: what a paid plan buys is headroom — a bigger notebook, more sources per notebook and higher limits on Audio and Video Overviews and Slides
Google AI Plus$4.99/mothe cheapest step that raises its limits, with more Gemini access, increased feature limits and a bigger notebook. Introductory offers were showing: $1.29/month for 3 months, or $44.99 for the first year
Google AI Pro$19.99/moexpanded Gemini access for complex research, expanded feature limits and a large notebook size. Introductory offers were showing: $4.99/month for 3 months, or $179.99 for the first year
Google AI Ultra$99.99/mothe highest Gemini access and the largest source limits, for working across several big notebooks
Open Gemini Notebook Pricing and company Prices checked 4 September 2026

Fathom

By FathomSan Francisco, United States1 product across 1 category

Built for this. Records, transcribes and summarises calls, then pushes action items where you keep them. Free tier covers unlimited recording.

Free plan
Yes
Free forever plan with unlimited recordings, instant call summaries and LLM integrations
Month to month
$19/mo
Team, sold to teams rather than to one person
Billed yearly
$15/mo
Team plan −21%

Watch out: Recording a call has consent implications that vary by jurisdiction, and that is on you rather than the tool.

All plans (4)
PlanPriceWhat you get
Free$0Free forever plan with unlimited recordings, instant call summaries and LLM integrations
Team$19/mo · $15/mo yearlyunlimited meetings, AI action items, conversational meeting assistant, 90-day guarantee
Business$34/mo · $25/mo yearlyCRM field sync, Deal View, coaching metrics and AI scorecards
Enterprise$35/mo yearly
Open Fathom Pricing and company Prices checked 4 September 2026

Notion AI

By NotionSan Francisco, United States2 products across 2 categories

Strong fit. Writes and summarises inside the workspace where your notes already live, so it has the surrounding context.

Free plan
Yes
Trial of Notion AI on the free and Plus plans
Month to month
$24/mo
Notion Business, sold to teams rather than to one person
Billed yearly
$20/mo
Notion Business plan −17%

Watch out: Only as good as how organised your Notion already is. Beyond the trial it is not sold on its own: the full AI features arrive with the Business plan.

All plans (3)
PlanPriceWhat you get
Free$0Trial of Notion AI on the free and Plus plans
Notion Business$24/mo · $20/mo yearlythe first plan with Notion AI in full, including Notion Agent, AI meeting notes and enterprise search
Notion EnterpriseCustomadds zero data retention with LLM providers and admin controls over AI. Notion AI is part of these plans rather than sold separately
Open Notion AI Pricing and company Prices checked 4 September 2026

Petal

By PetalCambridge, United States1 product across 1 category

Strong fit. A document library with AI built in rather than a chat window you paste into, so your sources stay organised between sessions.

Free plan
Yes
Free, with 1GB of cloud storage, one seat and three guests. Support is included rather than
Month to month
$4.25/mo
Plus
Billed yearly
$2.55/mo
Plus plan −40%

Watch out: You have to commit to keeping documents in it for the value to appear. The individual tiers are separated by storage rather than by features, and the two cheapest are priced for .edu addresses — without one they cost around two thirds more.

All plans (7)
PlanPriceWhat you get
Free$0Free, with 1GB of cloud storage, one seat and three guests. Support is included rather than priority
Plus$4.25/mo · $2.55/mo yearly$2.99 and $4.99 respectively month to month. 2GB of storage
Advanced$8.49/mo yearly$9.99 and $13.99 month to month. 10GB of storage and priority support
Premium$29.99/mo · $25.49/mo yearly
Teams Starter$59.99/mo · $50.99/mo yearly5 seats, 10 guests and 50GB
Teams Pro$119.99/mo · $101.99/mo yearly20 seats, 100 guests and 1TB
Teams EnterpriseCustom
Open Petal Pricing and company Prices checked 4 September 2026

Work and productivity pages

More specific “Best AI” pages for work and productivity-shaped work.

Best AI for Summarizing Documents

Long files, uploaded sources and answers that stay inside them

Best AI for Writing Emails

Drafting inside the inbox rather than another tab

Best AI for Excel

Formulas, cleanup and showing the working

Best AI for PowerPoint

Decks, and which of these produce a real .pptx

Best AI for Work

Meetings, documents, decks and the analysis between

Best AI for Productivity

Notes, scheduling, automation and recurring jobs

Best AI for Office Work

The AI already inside the suite you pay for

Best AI for Meetings

Recording, consent and the record of a call

Best AI Productivity Tools

Every tool in the category most of these come from.

Every AI tool we track

All 750 products, one page each.

How to read this list

Two things separate these and both are on every card.

Fit

Whether a tool is built for this job, a strong fit for it, or able to do it without that being its focus.

Free plan

Whether there is a tier you can keep using rather than a trial that expires.

The order

Fit first, then a free plan, then alphabetical. There is no score, no weighting we decline to publish, and nothing on this site a company can buy.

Questions

What is the best ai for note taking?

There is no single answer, which is why this page lists 6 rather than one: Notion, Otter.ai, Gemini Notebook, Fathom, Notion AI, Petal. 4 of them are built for this kind of work rather than able to do it. Start with a free one.

Which of these have a free plan?

6 of the 6: Notion, Otter.ai, Gemini Notebook, Fathom, Notion AI, Petal. Free means a real free tier you can keep using, not a trial that expires.

How was this list chosen?

By hand, from the 750 products this site tracks, and it is checked against the catalogue on every build — a product renamed or removed breaks the build rather than quietly disappearing from here. Nothing on this site can be paid for: no listing, no position, no wording.