Every AI notetaker makes the same promise: stop typing, stay present, get perfect notes. Most of them keep it the same way — a bot joins your meeting, records everything, and emails you a transcript with a summary when it's over.

That helps you remember the meeting. It does nothing to help you in it. The moment a hard technical question lands, an objection comes up on a sales call, or an interviewer asks something you half-remember — the transcript arrives hours too late.

Two kinds of AI notetaker

Bot-based notetakers (Otter.ai, Fireflies, Fathom) send a recording bot into your meeting as a visible participant. You get transcripts, speaker labels, and often video replay — at the cost of a bot on the guest list and per-platform integrations.

On-device notetakers (Cluely, Granola) capture audio directly from your computer. Nothing joins the call, so they work with any meeting app — Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Slack calls — with nothing visible to other participants.

Cluely combines the on-device approach with something rare in either group: it's built around real-time help. It watches the conversation and your screen, and when you need it, suggests what to say next — in a translucent overlay only you can see. Notes, action items, and an AI-drafted follow-up email are generated automatically, so the paperwork still takes care of itself.

What to look for in an AI notetaker

  • When it helps: after the meeting (transcripts, summaries) or during it (live answers). Only the second changes the outcome of the call.
  • How it captures audio: a visible bot participant vs on-device capture that works with every meeting app.
  • Context depth: audio-only, or audio plus what's on your screen.
  • The aftermath: automatic notes, action items, follow-up email drafts, and searchable history across meetings.
  • Honest free tier: enough real usage to evaluate it on actual calls before paying.

Compare the field