The short answer
AI meeting notes work well: a recording becomes a transcript, and from that comes a summary with decisions and actions. When choosing, check three things: whether the tool understands your language, whether it can record a conversation around a table, and where your recording is stored. For an ordinary meeting a note taking tool is enough. Once the outcome touches a client file or a commitment, you need a controlled workflow.
Making meeting notes with AI: three routes
| Route | What it does | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Built into your meeting tool | Teams, Google Meet and Zoom produce a transcript; an AI summary usually needs a higher plan or an extra licence | Works mainly inside that tool, and at a table conversation only with a separate app |
| A separate note taking tool | Records through your phone, laptop or a recorder, recognises speakers, returns decisions and actions | Stops at the document. What happens to the actions stays manual |
| A controlled workflow | Transcript, summary, then the actions routed to where they belong, with an owner and an approval step | Needs setting up and only pays off for meetings that recur weekly |
AI note takers compared: price and Dutch
Fourteen tools widely used in the Netherlands, with what they cost and whether they understand Dutch. The latter is no detail: a tool without Dutch support produces an unusable transcript of a Dutch meeting.
| Tool | Price | Dutch | Conversation at a table |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Teams (intelligent recap) | Teams Premium 8.70 euros excl. VAT, or a Copilot licence | Transcript yes | Through the Copilot app, with a Copilot licence |
| Google Meet (notes with Gemini) | From Workspace Business Standard, 13.60 euros excl. VAT | No | Yes, according to Google |
| Zoom (ZoomMate) | Free for 3 meetings a month; Pro 13.33 euros excl. VAT | Summary yes | Yes, with My Notes |
| ChatGPT (Record) | From Plus, 23 euros | Works best in English | Only in the Mac app |
| Fireflies | Free plan; Pro 10 dollars | Yes | Through the desktop app or Chrome extension |
| Fathom | Free plan; Premium 16 dollars | Yes | Bot-free in beta, on Mac |
| Jamie | Free plan; Plus 21 euros | Yes | Yes, without a bot; storage in Europe |
| Notta | Free plan; Pro 8.17 dollars | Yes | Through the desktop app |
| Bluedot | Free for 5 meetings; Basic 14 dollars | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Otter | Free plan; Pro 8.33 dollars | No | Not found |
| PLAUD Note (recorder) | Device 169.90 euros; plan free up to 300 minutes, Pro 9.20 euros | Yes | Yes, it is a recorder |
| Notuly (Dutch) | Free for 3 conversations; Pro 9.99 euros incl. VAT | Yes | Yes, phone app; servers in Amsterdam |
| Amberscript (Dutch) | From 19 euros a month | Yes | Recording app; mainly transcription |
| Notizy (Dutch) | 40 euros excl. VAT | Yes | Yes; aimed at healthcare, education and government |
Healthcare has specialised note takers, such as Juvoly (65 euros a month), which record consultations without keeping the audio. Prices change quickly; always check them with the vendor before you choose.
Can ChatGPT take meeting notes?
Yes, in two ways. ChatGPT has a recording feature, Record, but it is only in the Mac app, from the Plus plan, with at most four hours per session, and OpenAI itself says it works best in English. For Dutch meetings the second way works better: let a tool or your meeting software make the transcript and paste it into ChatGPT with the prompt below. For meetings about customers or staff, use at least ChatGPT Business, because of the data processing agreement.
Meeting notes with Copilot, also without Teams
In Teams, Copilot writes a summary with decisions and actions if you have a Copilot licence; with Teams Premium you get the automatic summary without the rest of Copilot. The transcript works in Dutch. For a conversation around a table you can record with the Copilot app on your phone, up to two hours, but that also needs a Copilot licence. What Copilot costs and when ChatGPT fits better is on Copilot vs ChatGPT.
A prompt for better minutes
Paste this into ChatGPT, Copilot or Claude and put the transcript below it. Fill in the names and the agenda, and the model makes far fewer mistakes about who said what.
- You are the minute taker of this meeting. Participants: [names and roles]. Agenda: [items].
- Write minutes with, per agenda item: what was discussed, what was decided, and what remains open.
- Below that, add an action list in a table: action, owner, deadline. Do not invent an owner or deadline that was not said; write "not agreed" instead.
- Distinguish a proposal from a decision. If something was not explicitly decided, put it under "open".
- Use the spelling of names and terms from this list: [names, products, abbreviations].
- Keep it businesslike and short, one page at most.
You can make more ready-to-use instructions for your own work with the free prompt builder.
What goes well
Verbatim capture. Technology now beats the average note taker at this, certainly across an hour long conversation where nobody wants to type along. Summarising works well too: a model pulls out decisions and action points reasonably reliably, as long as they were actually spoken aloud in the meeting.
Where AI meeting notes go wrong
- Names and jargon. Client names, product names and abbreviations from your own world come out mangled unless you supply them beforehand.
- Who said what. Speaker recognition breaks as soon as people talk over each other or sit around one speakerphone.
- What was never said aloud. A decision made with a nod appears nowhere in the transcript.
- Tone. A model writes down hesitation as a decision, because it hears no difference between a proposal and an agreement.
- The action points afterwards. The document is finished, yet nobody received a task. That is where the real work sits.
Introducing AI meeting notes in five steps
- Decide where you meet: online in Teams, Meet or Zoom, around a table, or both. That determines the tool.
- Check whether the tool understands your language and where it stores the recording.
- Agree that you announce the recording at the start, and how long you keep recordings.
- Name someone per meeting who checks the summary before it circulates.
- Put the actions in one fixed place with an owner, not only in the minutes.
Recording is allowed, silently is another matter
Say that you are recording before the recording starts, say what the recording will be used for, and record that everyone agreed. Agree how long you keep it and delete it afterwards, because a year of meeting transcripts is a pile of personal data you have no use for. If clients or staff are discussed, check where the supplier stores the recording and whether you can sign a data processing agreement. This is no legal advice; what applies in your case depends on what you capture and about whom. More about data inside a chat window sits on the page about customer data in ChatGPT.
When a note taking tool is enough
At a weekly team meeting or an internal project. Notes are a memory aid there and nobody expects them to be complete. Buy a tool, agree who checks the summary, and leave it at that. Please do not ask me to build a workflow around it.
When you need to go further
As soon as the outcome lands somewhere it has to be correct: a client file, an advisory conversation you must be able to evidence, an intake that becomes the basis for a quote. The question is then no longer how you take notes, but how the decisions from that conversation reach the right system, with an employee approving before anything is final. That is a workflow rather than a tool. What sits inside one is described on case file preparation, and how the control is recorded on the page about control and security. Having such a workflow built costs 1,500 euros excluding VAT at Tamboer AI, see the prices.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI tool is best for meeting notes?
That depends on where you meet. If you already work in Teams, Google Meet or Zoom, first check what your plan can do: Teams Premium or Copilot, Workspace Business Standard or Zoom Pro. If you meet around a table or at client sites, you need a tool that records on a phone or recorder and understands your language, such as Jamie, Notuly or PLAUD.
Can ChatGPT take meeting notes?
Yes. The Record feature is only in the Mac app, from Plus, and according to OpenAI works best in English. For Dutch meetings it works better to have a transcript made and paste it into ChatGPT with a good prompt.
Is there a free app for AI meeting notes?
Yes, several tools have a free plan with limits, such as Fathom, Fireflies, Notta and Jamie. Notuly has a free plan for three conversations a month and Zoom makes free summaries of three meetings a month. Always check whether the free plan supports your language.
Can I take notes of an in-person meeting with AI?
Yes. Use an app that records on your phone or laptop without a bot joining, such as Jamie or Notuly, or a recorder such as PLAUD. The Copilot app can also record, but only with a Copilot licence.
How reliable are notes written by AI?
The transcript is usually accurate, the summary is not always. A model sometimes writes a proposal down as a decision. Have someone who was present check decisions and actions before they circulate.
May I simply record a meeting?
Always say that you are recording, and why, before the recording starts, and record that everyone agreed. Agree a retention period and stick to it. This is no legal advice.
Can AI follow up the action points as well?
A note taking tool cannot: it stops at the document. A workflow can, by putting actions ready inside wherever your team tracks work, with an owner per action. An employee approves before anything is assigned.
About the author
I am Joost, AI specialist and founder of Tamboer AI. I have worked with AI daily since 2022. I tested and developed applications at one of the largest banks in the Netherlands and now build AI workflows for smaller businesses, with a person who checks every outcome. More about me.
