Quick Answer 💡
Best free options: tl;dv offers unlimited free recording, Otter.ai gives 300 minutes/month, and MeetGeek provides 5 hours monthly. Fireflies offers 800 minutes free. Most tools require upgrades for advanced AI features, integrations, and longer storage.
🔍 Detailed Free Plan Comparison
tl;dv
💰 Free Plan Limits
Unlimited Free
Monthly Minutes: Unlimited
👥 Best For
Distributed teams needing unlimited basic recording
✅ Free Features
- •Unlimited meeting recordings
- •Real-time transcription
- •Timestamped highlights
- •Meeting summaries
- •Zoom, Meet, Teams integration
- •Basic search functionality
- •Export to multiple formats
❌ Limitations
- •Limited AI insights in free plan
- •Basic summary templates only
- •No advanced analytics
- •Limited storage duration
💎 Upgrade Option
Pro $18/month
Advanced AI insights, custom templates, longer storage
View Full Review →
Otter.ai
💰 Free Plan Limits
300 minutes/month
Monthly Minutes: 300
👥 Best For
Individual users with light meeting schedules
✅ Free Features
- •Real-time transcription
- •Speaker identification
- •Basic keyword search
- •Meeting summaries
- •Zoom, Meet, Teams integration
- •Mobile app access
- •Export transcripts
❌ Limitations
- •40-minute limit per conversation
- •3 imports per month only
- •No advanced search
- •Limited collaboration features
- •Basic summary quality
MeetGeek
💰 Free Plan Limits
Free tier available
Monthly Minutes: 5 hours
👥 Best For
Small teams testing meeting AI capabilities
✅ Free Features
- •Meeting recording & transcription
- •AI-generated summaries
- •Action item detection
- •Meeting analytics
- •Team collaboration
- •Multiple platform support
- •Search functionality
❌ Limitations
- •Limited to 5 hours per month
- •Basic summary templates
- •Limited integrations
- •No advanced workflows
- •Reduced storage time
💎 Upgrade Option
Basic $19/month
Unlimited meetings, advanced workflows, integrations
View Full Review →
Fireflies
💰 Free Plan Limits
Free tier included
Monthly Minutes: 800 minutes
👥 Best For
Sales teams getting started with conversation intelligence
✅ Free Features
- •Meeting transcription
- •Basic AI notes
- •Speaker identification
- •Search conversations
- •CRM integration (basic)
- •Mobile app
- •Export options
❌ Limitations
- •Limited to 800 minutes monthly
- •Basic AI insights only
- •Limited storage (3 months)
- •No advanced analytics
- •Basic collaboration features
Grain
💰 Free Plan Limits
Free trial available
Monthly Minutes: Limited trial
👥 Best For
Sales teams evaluating video coaching tools
✅ Free Features
- •Meeting recording
- •Basic transcription
- •Video highlights
- •Simple sharing
- •CRM sync (basic)
- •Search functionality
❌ Limitations
- •Limited trial period only
- •Basic features in trial
- •No long-term free plan
- •Limited coaching analytics
- •Restricted video editing
💎 Upgrade Option
Starter $15/month
Full video editing, advanced analytics, unlimited storage
View Full Review →
Fellow
💰 Free Plan Limits
5 recaps/month free
Monthly Minutes: Limited recaps
👥 Best For
Managers testing structured meeting workflows
✅ Free Features
- •Meeting agenda templates
- •Basic action items
- •Meeting recaps
- •Calendar integration
- •Simple note-taking
- •Team collaboration
❌ Limitations
- •Only 5 AI recaps per month
- •Limited agenda templates
- •Basic integrations only
- •No advanced analytics
- •Restricted team features
🎯 When to Upgrade: Use Case Guide
Heavy Meeting Users (20+ hrs/month)
tl;dv Pro or Fireflies Pro
Unlimited or high-limit plans with advanced features
$10-18/month
Sales Teams
Grain or Fireflies Pro
Strong CRM integration and conversation intelligence
$10-15/month per user
Distributed Teams
tl;dv (stay free) or MeetGeek
Unlimited free or affordable team collaboration
$0-19/month
Individual Knowledge Workers
Otter.ai Pro or Fellow Pro
Perfect for 1-on-1s and personal productivity
$7-17/month
📊 Free vs Paid Feature Matrix
| Feature | Free Plans | Paid Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Minutes | 300-800 min (Unlimited for tl;dv) | Unlimited or 1,200+ min |
| AI Summaries | Basic templates only | Custom templates & advanced AI |
| Integrations | Basic Zoom/Meet/Teams | Full CRM, Slack, 50+ apps |
| Storage Duration | 3-6 months | Unlimited or 2+ years |
| Advanced Search | Basic keyword only | Semantic search, topic filters |
| Analytics & Insights | None or very basic | Team metrics, sentiment analysis |
| Video Editing | Basic highlights only | Full editing, clips, sharing |
| Support | Community/email | Priority support, phone, training |
💰 Free Plan Cost Analysis
⏰ Time Value Calculation
Free Plan Savings Per Month:
- • Manual note-taking: ~20-30 hours saved
- • Value at $50/hour:$1,000-1,500 saved
- • Meeting follow-up time: ~10 hours saved
- • Total value:$1,500-2,000/month
When Free Becomes Costly:
- • Hit monthly limits: Lost productivity
- • Manual workarounds: 5-10 hours/month
- • Opportunity cost:$250-500/month
- • ROI break-even:$10-20/month tools
💚 Stay Free If...
- • Under 10 hours of meetings/month
- • Basic transcription needs only
- • Individual user (not team)
- • Testing before team rollout
⚠️ Consider Upgrading If...
- • 15+ hours of meetings/month
- • Need CRM integration
- • Team collaboration required
- • Advanced search needed
🚨 Definitely Upgrade If...
- • 25+ hours of meetings/month
- • Sales team using for coaching
- • Enterprise compliance needs
- • Multiple team members
🚨 Hidden Costs & Free Plan Gotchas
⚠️ Common Free Plan Limitations
Time Restrictions:
- • Otter.ai: 40-min per conversation limit
- • Most tools: Monthly minute caps reset
- • No rollover of unused minutes
- • Meeting gets cut off at time limits
Feature Limitations:
- • Basic AI summaries only
- • Limited export options
- • No advanced search capabilities
- • Reduced storage duration
💡 Pro Tips for Maximizing Free Plans
Strategic Usage:
- • Use tl;dv for long meetings (unlimited)
- • Otter.ai for short, important calls
- • Record key meetings only
- • Export transcripts before storage expires
Workflow Optimization:
- • Batch similar meetings together
- • Use templates for consistent formats
- • Archive important meetings offline
- • Test multiple tools in parallel
🎯 Final Recommendations: Free Plan Champions
🥇 Best Overall Free
tl;dv
Unlimited free recording
Perfect for:Distributed teams
Upgrade when:Need advanced AI
Cost to upgrade:$18/month
🥈 Best Free for Individuals
Otter.ai
300 min + excellent UI
Perfect for:1-on-1s, interviews
Upgrade when:Hit monthly limit
Cost to upgrade:$17/month
🥉 Best Free for Teams
MeetGeek
5 hours + team features
Perfect for:Small team testing
Upgrade when:Need workflows
Cost to upgrade:$19/month
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