The Best AI Notetakers for The Third Sector

Author: Andrew Collins; Reading Time: 5 minutes
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For busy third-sector organisations in Wales, time is our most precious resource. This is where AI-powered notetaking tools can be a game-changer. These digital assistants join your online (and sometimes in-person) meetings, transcribing the conversation and automatically generating summaries, action points, and chapters.

But with so many options out there, which one is right for your organisation? Let’s break down some of the most popular tools, looking at their pros, cons, and costs.

1. Zoom AI Companion

Best for: Organisations already using a paid Zoom plan.

If your organisation has a paid Zoom subscription, you may already have access to a powerful AI notetaker without realising it. The Zoom AI Companion is built directly into the platform and can be enabled by your account admin, via the setting.

Pros:

No extra cost: It’s included with paid Zoom accounts (like Pro, Business, etc.).
Seamless integration: It’s part of the Zoom interface you already know. You can start it with a single click.
Good summaries: It automatically generates meeting summaries, smart chapters to help you navigate the recording, and a list of next steps.
Privacy-focused: Zoom states that they do not use any of your audio, video, or chat content to train their AI models without your consent.

Cons:

Paid plans only: This is the biggest barrier. If you’re using the free version of Zoom, you can’t access it.
Zoom-only: It only works for meetings held on Zoom, so it won’t help with Teams calls or in-person meetings.

2. Fathom

Best for: Organisations needing a high-quality free option.

Fathom is a popular video meeting assistant that records, transcribes, highlights, and summarises your meetings. Its biggest selling point is a surprising one: it’s free.

Pros:

Completely free: This is a huge advantage for organisations with tight budgets.
Privacy-first: A major plus. Fathom states that none of your audio, video, or transcript data is ever used to train their AI models. This is a crucial assurance for organisations handling sensitive information.
Excellent summaries: Fathom produces detailed, well-structured summaries that break down the conversation and pull out action items for each person.
Multi-platform: It works across Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet.
Easy sharing: You can easily create and share clips of key moments from the meeting.

Cons:

Visible to all: The Fathom notetaker joins the call as a separate participant. While this is great for transparency, it can feel a little strange for attendees who aren’t used to it.
No in-person option: Unlike some tools, it doesn’t have a mobile app for recording face-to-face meetings.

3. Otter.ai

Best for: High-quality transcriptions and recording in-person meetings.

Otter.ai has been a leader in AI transcription for a long time. It can connect to your online meetings or act as a standalone app on your phone to record and transcribe conversations in real-time.

Pros:

High accuracy: Otter is known for its very accurate transcriptions and ability to identify different speakers.
Mobile app: Its app is brilliant for capturing notes from in-person meetings, workshops, or events – something the other tools on this list can’t do.
Good free tier: The free plan offers a decent number of transcription minutes per month, which may be enough for individuals or small teams.
Integrates with major platforms: Connects easily with Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet.

Cons:

Limited free plan: The free plan has limits on the duration of each recording and the number of audio files you can import.
Recurring cost: The paid plans, which offer more minutes and features, are a recurring monthly or annual cost to factor into your budget.
Privacy: Be sure to check the privacy policy. Generally, paid business plans offer stronger data protection and assurances that your data won’t be used for training AI models.

4. The DIY Method: Microsoft Teams Transcription + ChatGPT / Co-Pilot

Best for: Organisations already using the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.

This isn’t a single tool, but a workaround. If your organisation uses Microsoft Teams, you can use its built-in transcription feature. Once the meeting is over, you can copy that transcript and paste it into an AI tool like ChatGPT, Claude, or Microsoft’s own Co-Pilot to create a summary.

Pros:

Uses existing tools: Many third-sector organisations already have a Microsoft 365 subscription that includes Teams transcription, so there’s no extra software cost.
Highly customisable: You are in complete control. You can prompt the AI to summarise the text in any format you like: “Create a bullet-point summary,” “Pull out all actions for Marco,” or “What were the key decisions made?”
Co-Pilot integration: If you have a paid Co-Pilot license, this process becomes much more streamlined and integrated within the Microsoft environment.
Good free tier: If you already have a paid AI subscription, you don’t need to pay for anything else.

Cons:

It’s a manual process: This method requires a few steps (running the transcription, copying the text, pasting it into another tool, and writing a prompt). It’s not a ‘one-click’ automated solution.
Privacy Risk: You should not paste sensitive or confidential meeting notes into the free, public version of ChatGPT or other AI models. Doing so could expose your organisation’s data. You should use a secure, paid version with data privacy controls enabled and have a clear policy on its use.

Need help navigating the world of AI?

Choosing the right tool depends on your budget, your existing software, and your team’s needs. It can feel like a lot to take in.

If you’re a third-sector organisation in Wales and want to explore how AI can save you time and boost your impact, we can help. Through our DigiCymru project, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, we offer up to 5 hours of free, one-to-one digital support.

We can help you choose the right tools, think through data privacy, and develop a simple AI policy for your team.

Book a DigiCymru session

Commissioned by Catalyst