The best AI notetaker for Zoom may already be inside Zoom.

Best native choice: Zoom AI Companion

Meeting Summary with AI Companion is available to licensed users on eligible paid Zoom Workplace plans. Hosts or co-hosts control the feature, and summaries can be delivered by email and made available through Zoom Chat or Hub.

The native approach avoids adding a third-party participant. Its limits include no Meeting Summary inside breakout rooms, plan eligibility requirements, and a workflow centered on Zoom rather than a mixed meeting stack.

Best workflow choice: Fireflies

Fireflies can detect Zoom links in calendar events and join as a participant. Its optional Zoom integration is designed to make joining more automatic, while host permission and Zoom security settings still shape whether recording can start.

Fireflies makes the most sense when the resulting transcript must join a searchable team library or flow into CRM and collaboration systems. For external meetings, notify hosts before the Notetaker requests entry.

Best cross-app and bot-free choices

• Krisp: desktop capture across conferencing apps, with noise cancellation and a bot-free transcription option.
• Fathom: unlimited core recording and transcription on the individual Free plan, with bot-free capture currently described as a beta feature for Mac.
• Fireflies Desktop: a bot-free path inside the Fireflies ecosystem when system-audio capture fits the meeting.

A five-call Zoom test

• One internal recurring meeting.
• One external customer or candidate call.
• One call with a waiting room and stricter host controls.
• One meeting with screen sharing and specialized terminology.
• One meeting where capture is stopped for a confidential segment.