How to Use AI for Meeting Notes (Free Options and a Copy-Paste Prompt)
Nobody likes writing up meeting notes. AI can do most of it for you. It can record and transcribe the call, or it can take your rough notes or a transcript and turn them into a tidy summary with decisions and action items. Here's how to do both, mostly for free.
Two ways to do it
- Option 1: Let a note-taker app join the meeting. Tools like Otter, Fathom, Granola or Fireflies listen to the call, write a transcript and produce a summary when it ends. This is the most hands-off option.
- Option 2: Paste a transcript or your own notes into a chat assistant. If your meeting app already makes a transcript, or you jotted notes, paste it into Grok, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot or Claude with the prompt below. This works for any meeting, including in-person ones, and needs no extra app.
Free note-taker options (checked November 2026)
Free plans change often, so check the tool's own pricing page before you rely on these. Each one below was checked against the company's official pricing or help page.
- Otter.ai: The free Basic plan includes 300 transcription minutes a month, with a 30-minute limit per meeting. It can join Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet.
- Fathom: The free plan includes unlimited recordings and transcripts with instant AI summaries. Advanced summary templates are limited, and AI action items need a paid plan.
- Granola: The free Basic plan gives AI meeting notes without a bot joining the call, and keeps 30 days of meeting history.
- Fireflies.ai: Has a free plan with limited transcription and storage. Check its pricing page for the current allowance.
- Zoom: Zoom's free Basic plan includes AI meeting summaries for 3 meetings you host each month (free meetings are capped at 40 minutes).
- Microsoft Teams: Intelligent recap needs a work Microsoft 365 plan plus a Teams Premium or Microsoft Copilot license.
- Google Meet: "Take notes for me" needs a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription or an eligible Google Workspace business plan, and works in meetings you host.
Using AI for meeting notes in Teams or Zoom at work
If you're on a work account, check what your company already pays for first. Many workplaces include Copilot in Teams or Zoom's AI features, and those keep the recording inside your company's approved tools. Don't add an outside note-taker bot to a work call unless your employer allows it.
The copy-paste meeting notes prompt
Paste this, then paste your transcript or rough notes underneath:
Turn the meeting transcript below into notes I can send to the team. Include: (1) a 3-sentence summary, (2) decisions made, (3) action items as a table with owner and due date, and (4) open questions. Use only what's in the transcript. If an owner or date isn't stated, write "not stated" instead of guessing.
Summarize this meeting in 5 bullet points, then list who agreed to do what.
The second, shorter prompt works well for a quick check-in.
Check these three things before you send
- 1. Names and owners. AI sometimes assigns a task to the wrong person. Read the action items carefully.
- 2. Numbers and dates. Confirm any deadline, budget figure or quantity against the transcript.
- 3. Anything sensitive. Remove private details (HR issues, customer data, pricing) before sharing notes widely.
Ask permission before you record
Always tell people when a meeting is being recorded or transcribed, and follow your company's rules. In some places, recording without everyone's consent is against the law.
Get 50 more uses like this
Auto-transcribing meetings is one of the 50 uses in AI Tools for Everyday Work: 50 Practical Uses, alongside turning meetings into action plans, writing follow-up emails and summarizing long documents. You can test three real prompts from our guide right now, free. When you want more, the full guide gives you 50 ready-to-use prompts, five step-by-step workflows and a seven-day starter plan for $7.
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