tl;dv Cut Your Notes to 10 Minutes? 9 tl;dv Alternatives

tl;dv's free plan says "Free forever" on the button. Its AI notes run out, though.

• Your first 10 meetings get full AI notes.
• After that, only the first 10 minutes of each meeting do.
• The limit lasts for the life of the account. It never resets.

Then there's the 2026 security report. GIGAZINE wrote in August 2026 that a researcher could read metadata from 181,874 tl;dv meetings.

tl;dv says these were two separate flaws, and both are fixed.

Best for most people: Granola

For most people leaving tl;dv, I'd pick Granola. It's the most polished no-bot app here.

• Apps for Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android.
• Business is $168 a year, $48 (22.2%) less than tl;dv Pro.
• Downside: notes sit in Granola's US cloud, and it trains on your data by default.

Best for confidential calls: Voibe Work

Voibe Work is the meeting-notes plan of Voibe (the app we build).

• No bot joins, and no video is recorded.
• The audio is deleted once processing completes.
• The transcript and summary are saved on your computer. They're never used for training.

Voibe reminds you to tell everyone you're taking notes when recording starts. Following recording-consent rules is up to you.

The price, in plain numbers

• vs tl;dv Pro: Voibe Work costs $149 a year. That's $67 (31.0%) less than Pro billed annually ($216).
• vs Business: $199 (57.2%) less than Business billed annually ($348).
• Monthly: $19 against Pro's $29, so $10 (34.5%) less.
• Four picks cost less than Voibe Work: Krisp Core ($96), Notta Pro ($97.99), Otter Pro ($99.96) and Fireflies Pro ($120).
• What Voibe Work adds for the higher price: a dictation app, and notes kept on your computer.
• tl;dv Free costs $0. Stay on it if transcripts are enough.

Every tl;dv plan, cap and fee is in our tl;dv pricing guide. Training, storage and the 2026 exposure are in Is tl;dv safe?

The ranking

1. Granola: best overall. No bot, on every device.
2. Voibe Work: best for confidential calls. Notes stay on your computer.
3. Fathom: best free plan, if a bot is fine.
4. Fireflies: Pro for $120 a year, and a no-bot mode that tells people it's there.
5. Jamie: keeps meetings in the EU.
6. Otter: the big-brand bot for less than half of tl;dv Pro.
7. Krisp: bot-free notes plus noise cancellation, $96 a year.
8. Circleback: automations, an API and MCP.
9. Notta: 5-hour recordings for the money.

Key takeaways

tl;dv is a meeting recorder made by tldx Solutions GmbH in Aachen, Germany. By default, its bot joins Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

The bot carries your first name, followed by "AI Notetaker". It records video, transcribes and writes AI notes.

• 4.6/5 on the Chrome Web Store from 601 ratings, with 400,000 users.
• 2.1/5 on Trustpilot from 10 reviews.

I checked both on November 2, 2026. Most reasons to leave come from tl;dv's own pages.

1. The free AI notes run out for good

tl;dv's help center sets the Free plan limits:

• Full AI notes on your first 10 meetings.
• After that, AI notes on the first 10 minutes of each meeting.
• The limits apply for the life of the account. They don't renew monthly.
• Free recordings are deleted after 3 months.

2. Pro costs $216 a year

• Pro is $18 a month billed annually, or $29 billed monthly.
• Business is $29 a month annually ($348 a year), or $39 monthly.
• The billing toggle promises up to 40% off. Pro's real annual saving is 37.9%.

Month to month, Pro's $29 is more than these rivals charge:

• Otter Pro: $16.99.
• Fireflies Pro: $18.
• Fathom Premium: $20.

3. The bot-free mode is audio only, with no notice

tl;dv's desktop app can record with no bot. Its help center says this mode captures audio only.

• No video.
• No screen sharing.
• No chat messages.
• No automatic notice to the room. tl;dv says informing people is your job.

4. The bot gets flagged in Google Meet

tl;dv's help center warns that Meet may mark its bot in red as a potential security risk.

Its desktop page adds that Google denies such bots entry by default.

5. A 2026 exposure of meeting metadata

In 2026 a researcher found a flaw in tl;dv. Any logged-in account could read other customers' meeting metadata.

• It covered 181,874 meetings, including organizer emails and join links.
• tl;dv says recordings, transcripts and notes of private meetings were never exposed.
• It closed the last path on August 5, 2026.
• It reported the incident to Japan's privacy regulator.

Our tl;dv safety review has both sides.

6. No refunds, and a 3-hour cap

tl;dv's Terms (effective May 18, 2026) say: "Unless otherwise agreed, all fees paid to tldx are non-refundable."

• I found no money-back guarantee on its pricing page or in its help center.
• Every plan, Enterprise included, stops a recording at 3 hours.

7. Support and lockout complaints

• Eight of the 10 Trustpilot reviews are 1-star.
• Several describe account lockouts.
• A US customer in June 2026 paid $432 a year for two seats. They say they were locked out of their recordings for two weeks.
• A German reviewer in March 2026 says billing kept going after a formal cancellation. They cancelled on March 5 and were charged on March 13.

What tl;dv does well

• No training. Its privacy policy says it doesn't train AI on customer content. The homepage promises the same.
• EU hosting on Google Cloud, Hetzner and Wasabi, in Germany and Finland.
• A consent gate. Consent Collection swaps your calendar link for a consent link. If a guest declines, the bot doesn't record.
• Video, clips, and a phone app for in-person meetings on iPhone and Android.
• Free viewers. You pay only for the people who record.

Staying is reasonable if you need video and CRM sync at Pro's price.

tl;dv has its own no-bot options. If the bot tile is your only complaint, try them before you switch.

Two ways tl;dv records a meeting

• The bot, by default. With auto-recording on, it joins scheduled calls as a visible participant named after you. It records video and audio.
• The desktop app, no bot. Your computer records audio only. There's no video, screen share or chat, and no notice to the room.

Both end up in tl;dv's cloud:

• EU-hosted on Google Cloud, Hetzner and Wasabi, in Germany and Finland.
• Free recordings are deleted after 3 months. Paid ones stay until you delete them.
• AI features use Anthropic models, in the EU or US region you pick.

What tl;dv offers without a bot

• Desktop app (Mac and Windows): records your mic and system audio. tl;dv says it works on Zoom, Meet, Teams, Slack huddles and Discord calls.
• Chrome extension: background recording in Google Meet, with no bot.
• Mobile app: records in-person meetings on iPhone and Android.

What it doesn't fix

• No video, screen share or chat.
• No notice. Telling people is your job.
• The bot comes back if auto-recording is on. tl;dv's help center says it "will still attempt to send bots to your meetings."
• Same cloud, same free-plan caps.

Where Voibe Work differs

• No bot, ever. It records from your Mac or Windows PC.
• Zero-retention providers process the audio, then delete it.
• The transcript and summary are saved on your computer, not on Voibe's servers.
• Where tl;dv is ahead: its bot records video. Consent Collection can also keep the bot out when a guest says no. Voibe Work has neither.

Voibe reminds you to tell everyone you're taking notes when recording starts. Following recording-consent rules is up to you.

Most tools here can record from your computer now. They differ in what happens to your notes afterwards.

Bot, storage and training, tool by tool

What the table tells you

• tl;dv doesn't train, and it stores in the EU. Granola, Fathom and Otter train by default.
• tl;dv's weak spot is storage time. Paid recordings stay until you delete the account.
• With auto-recording on, its bot joins every scheduled call.
• Only Voibe Work keeps notes on your computer.
• Voibe Work's meeting notes still need internet. Open-source models on zero-retention cloud providers process the audio.

Our AI Privacy Tracker scores meeting tools tier by tier. Our zero data retention explainer covers what the term does and doesn't promise.

Answer these six before you compare prices.

1. What does the free plan cover? tl;dv Free stops full AI notes after 10 meetings. Check each plan's caps on meetings, minutes, summaries and history.
2. Do you need video? tl;dv's bot records video and clips. Most no-bot apps don't, Voibe Work included.
3. Who gets told? A bot shows in the participant list. A no-bot app doesn't, so check what notice it gives.
4. Where do notes live, and for how long? tl;dv keeps paid recordings until you delete the account. Voibe Work saves notes on your computer. The rest use their own cloud.
5. Does it train on your meetings? tl;dv doesn't. Granola, Fathom and Otter do by default.
6. Cost and call length. Compare a year against tl;dv Pro ($216). Then check the cap: tl;dv stops at 3 hours, Otter Pro at 90 minutes, Notta Pro at 5 hours.

I haven't used tl;dv hands-on. I read its pricing, privacy, terms and help pages on November 2, 2026.

The researcher's post and tl;dv's statements are linked where I cite them.

• For the nine alternatives, I read each vendor's pricing, security, privacy and help pages.
• Store ratings were pulled on November 2, 2026.
• I also haven't used Krisp or Notta hands-on. Their entries rely on their own pages too.

What I judged, in order

1. Capture. No bot on Mac and Windows, or a bot only when you choose. A notice for the room counts in a tool's favour.
2. The free plan and caps: AI notes, minutes, meeting length and history.
3. The notes: where they're stored, for how long, and whether they train AI.
4. Cost: a year against tl;dv Pro ($216) and Business ($348), refunds included.

Why Granola is first and Voibe Work second

• Granola does best on criteria 1, 2 and 4. It has no bot on four platforms and costs $48 a year less than tl;dv Pro.
• It also has the top App Store rating here: 4.96/5 from 14,652 ratings.
• Voibe Work wins criterion 3: notes on your computer, audio deleted, never trained on.
• It has no mobile app, no video and no free meeting-notes plan. That keeps it second.

Why Fathom is third

tl;dv's free plan is the most common reason to leave. Fathom Free fixes that best, with unlimited recordings, transcripts and storage.

Its bot works much like tl;dv's.

tl;dv sits in the first row for reference. Ratings are from the App Store unless noted, checked November 2, 2026.

Side by side, with tl;dv as the baseline

What only Voibe Work combines

• It's the only pick that saves notes on your computer.
• It's the only one that includes a dictation app.
• It's also the only one with neither video nor a phone app.
• It has no free meeting-notes plan. Voibe Free covers dictation only, with 2,000 cloud words a week.

tl;dv Free is $0. It gives unlimited recordings and full AI notes on 10 meetings in total.

Other free plans are in our meeting note taker pricing guide.

tl;dv's paid plans

From tl;dv's pricing page on November 2, 2026:

• Pro: $216 a year ($18 a seat a month, billed annually). Monthly billing is $29, or $348 a year. You get unlimited AI notes, custom templates, CRM sync, an API and an MCP server.
• Business: $348 a year ($29 a month, billed annually). Monthly billing is $39, or $468 a year. It adds custom vocabulary, multi-meeting AI insights and team-wide automations.
• Enterprise: custom pricing, with SSO, SCIM and privately hosted AI.

Paying annually saves $132 (37.9%) on Pro and $120 (25.6%) on Business. You pay only for seats that record.

What each alternative costs per year

The cheapest plan for regular meeting notes, billed annually where offered:

Where Voibe Work is not the cheapest

• tl;dv Free, Fathom Free, Fireflies Free and Granola Basic cost nothing.
• Fireflies Pro ($120): Voibe Work costs $29 (24.2%) more a year.
• Krisp Core ($96) is $53 cheaper. Voibe Work costs 55.2% more.
• Notta Pro ($97.99) is $51.01 cheaper. Voibe Work costs 52.1% more.
• Otter Pro ($99.96) is $49.04 cheaper. Voibe Work costs 49.1% more.

If you only need notes in a vendor's cloud, those are better buys.

Voibe Work vs tl;dv, every way you can pay

• Monthly: Voibe Work is $19. That's $10 (34.5%) less than Pro ($29) and $20 (51.3%) less than Business ($39).
• A year of Pro paid monthly costs $348. Voibe Work annual is $199 (57.2%) less.
• Team of 5, annual: tl;dv Pro costs $1,080. Five Voibe Work seats cost $745, which is $335 (31.0%) less.
• If only part of your team records, tl;dv charges for fewer seats.
• Lifetime: Voibe Work is $399 once. Three years of Pro billed annually cost $648, so lifetime saves $249 (38.4%).
• Lifetime breaks even after about 1.85 years, at today's list prices.

Our pricing hub collects every meeting and dictation price. Our Fireflies pricing and Fathom pricing guides go plan by plan.

tl;dv covers meetings only. If you also dictate emails, notes or prompts, you're paying for two subscriptions.

What two apps cost vs one

• tl;dv Pro + Wispr Flow Pro: $216 + $144 = $360 a year. Voibe Work covers both for $149, $211 (58.6%) less.
• tl;dv Business + Wispr Flow Pro: $348 + $144 = $492. Voibe Work is $343 (69.7%) less.
• Granola Business + Wispr Flow Pro: $168 + $144 = $312. Voibe Work is $163 (52.2%) less.
• Fireflies is the exception. Its Fireflies Talk dictation is free and unlimited on every plan. Fireflies Pro ($120) covers both jobs, and Voibe Work costs $29 (24.2%) more.

What the Voibe side includes

• Push-to-talk (hold Fn), Hands-Free Mode, and Live Dictation on Mac.
• A Dictionary for names and jargon.
• Smart Formatting that cleans up text without rewriting what you said.
• On-device dictation on Apple Silicon Macs, with no internet.
• Or Voibe's zero-retention cloud, where audio is deleted the moment transcription completes.

On-device is for dictation only. Voibe Work's meeting notes go through the zero-retention cloud and need internet.

Wispr Flow's plans are in our Wispr Flow pricing guide. Our October update post covers Windows meeting notes and 4-hour meetings.

Granola is the no-bot note taker the others get measured against. It's my pick for most people leaving tl;dv.

It records your mic and system audio. You jot rough notes, and Granola fills them in afterwards.

Why it's my top pick

• No bot joins, so Meet has nothing to flag.
• Apps for Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android.
• The free plan has no 10-meeting ceiling on AI notes. Basic shows your last 30 days.
• 4.96/5 on the App Store from 14,652 ratings, the best here.

What it costs

• Basic: free. Only the last 30 days of notes are visible.
• Business: $14 a user a month, billed monthly only ($168 a year).
• That's $48 (22.2%) less than tl;dv Pro annual, and $180 (51.7%) less than Pro paid monthly ($348).
• Enterprise: $35 a user a month, with training off by default.

Where it's weaker than tl;dv

Granola fixes the free-plan cap and the bot. On training and storage, it's a step back.

• Training: its pricing page says "Granola trains on your anonymized data". Each user can opt out. tl;dv doesn't train at all.
• Storage: US-hosted on AWS, kept unless a retention policy is set. tl;dv stores in the EU.
• No video. Audio is deleted after transcription, so there's nothing to replay or clip.
• A lawsuit. Chamberlain v. Granola (July 2026) alleges wiretapping. Nothing is proven; see our Granola lawsuit explainer.

Granola vs Voibe Work

• Voibe Work is $19 (11.3%) a year cheaper than Granola Business.
• Voibe Work never trains, and it saves notes on your computer.
• Granola has phone apps and a free plan.

Best for: no-bot notes, if US cloud storage is fine. More in our Granola pricing guide and Is Granola safe?

If your meetings are the kind you'd never forward, this is the pick.

Voibe Work is Voibe's meeting-notes plan, and ours. I'd hand it to lawyers, financial advisors, clinicians, HR teams and anyone in deal talks.

Where your meeting goes

tl;dv already promises no training. Voibe Work changes where your meetings sit afterwards.

1. Capture: from your Mac or Windows PC, in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, Slack huddles or any other meeting app. No bot joins.
2. In person: it also records meetings in the room through your Mac or PC's mic.
3. Processing: open-source models on zero-retention cloud providers. No OpenAI, Google, Anthropic or Microsoft model is in the audio path.
4. Audio: deleted as soon as processing completes.
5. Notes: the transcript and summary are saved on your computer, not on Voibe's servers.
6. Training: never.
7. Internet: required for meeting notes, since processing happens in the cloud.

Every provider is listed on Voibe's cloud privacy page. The reasoning is in our Voibe Work launch post.

Voibe reminds you to tell everyone you're taking notes when recording starts. Following recording-consent rules is up to you.

tl;dv vs Voibe Work, side by side

What else you get

• Speaker labels with a time on every line. Click a name to rename that speaker, and the summary updates.
• Names don't come from your calendar.
• Summary templates for each kind of meeting, like client intake or investment committee. You can create your own template too.
• Chat with your meetings to ask what was agreed and who owns what. It runs on the same zero-retention cloud, and nothing you ask is stored.
• One-click copy and PDF export.
• The full Voibe dictation app on Mac and Windows.
• A BAA available on request.

If you use tl;dv's MCP server

tl;dv's MCP server (Pro and up) lets Claude or ChatGPT read your tl;dv meetings. Voibe Work has a Meeting MCP too.

• Click MCP on the Meetings page to connect Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT or Claude Code.
• One switch turns it off for every app at once.

The panel's privacy note reads: "What an app reads goes to the company behind its AI, for example Anthropic for Claude. None of it goes through Voibe's servers."

What it costs

• Voibe Work: $19 a seat a month, $149 a year, or $399 once for lifetime access.
• Voibe Dictation only: $9.90 a month, $99 a year, or $199 lifetime.
• Voibe Free: $0, with 2,000 cloud words a week on one device.
• Trial: 7 days of every Voibe Work feature. No credit card, no automatic charge.
• Refunds: a 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans. tl;dv's fees are non-refundable.
• Teams: up to 10 seats in one checkout, Enterprise above that.

Where it falls short

• It costs more than tl;dv Free. Fireflies Pro, Krisp Core, Notta Pro and Otter Pro are cheaper per year.
• No video, no clips, no phone app. tl;dv has all three.
• No consent gate. tl;dv's Consent Collection keeps the bot out when a guest declines. Voibe Work only reminds you to tell people.
• Nothing joins on its own. Voibe lists no calendar auto-join, CRM sync or team library.
• Every user needs a seat. tl;dv lets viewers stay free.

Best for

Confidential calls on Mac or Windows. We also have guides for lawyers and financial advisors.

7-day free trial of every Voibe Work feature. No credit card, no automatic charge, and a 30-day money-back guarantee if you buy. One seat covers Mac and Windows.

tl;dv Free stops full AI notes after 10 meetings. Fathom Free keeps unlimited recordings, transcripts and storage, with no expiry.

Its AI has a cap too, but it resets. Advanced summaries cover your first 5 calls each month. After that, you get the General/Enhanced template.

Why it's third

• It's the closest free swap. A bot joins Zoom, Meet and Teams, much like tl;dv's.
• Fathom's pricing page lists a "90 day guarantee" on paid plans. tl;dv has none.
• 4.9/5 on the Chrome Web Store from 1.7K ratings and 500,000 users.

Paid plans

• Premium: $20 a month, or $16 billed annually ($192 a year). That's $24 (11.1%) less than tl;dv Pro and $156 (44.8%) less than Business.
• Team: $19, or $15 billed annually ($180 a year). 2-user minimum.
• Business: $34, or $25 billed annually ($300 a year). 2-user minimum, with CRM field sync.

Watch out for

• The bot is the default. Bot-free capture is a Mac-only beta.
• Training is on by default. Fathom trains in-house models on de-identified meeting data, and you can opt out in settings.
• US storage, kept until you delete it. Auto-delete is Enterprise-only.
• New owner: Fathom has been part of Superhuman since September 14, 2026.

More in our Fathom pricing guide and Is Fathom safe?

When Fathom Free beats Voibe Work

If basic notes with a bot are all you need, I'd take Fathom Free. It saves you $149 a year.

Best for: tl;dv Free users who hit the 10-meeting wall and are fine with a bot.

Fireflies has tl;dv's shape: a bot, CRM sync and integrations. It costs $96 a year less.

Its bot joins Zoom, Meet and Teams. A desktop Take Notes mode records without it, on Windows 10+ and macOS 12+.

Why it's fourth

• Its no-bot mode tells the room. A spoken notice plays about 10 seconds in.
• There's also a chat message on Mac and an "AI Taking Notes" camera watermark. All three are on by default.
• tl;dv's bot-free mode gives no notice at all.
• No training on personal information, per its privacy policy.
• Fireflies Talk: free, unlimited dictation on every plan.
• CRM autofill for HubSpot and Salesforce, plus phone-call capture.

What it costs

• Free: unlimited transcription, 400 minutes of storage, 2-hour meetings.
• Pro: $18 a month, or $10 billed annually ($120 a year). It includes 8,000 minutes of storage and 2-hour meetings.
• Pro is $96 (44.4%) less than tl;dv Pro.
• Business: $29, or $19 billed annually ($228 a year). Unlimited storage and 3-hour meetings.
• Business is $12 (5.6%) more than tl;dv Pro and $120 (34.5%) less than tl;dv Business.

Things to know first

• Pro meetings stop at 2 hours. tl;dv allows 3.
• No-bot mode labels people Speaker 1, Speaker 2, and saves no audio.
• Notes are stored in the US and other countries, outside the EU.
• Fricker v. Fireflies.AI Corp. is a biometric privacy (BIPA) class action. The CourtListener docket showed no ruling as of October 26, 2026. These are allegations, not findings.

Rated 4.82/5 on the App Store (5,437). See our Fireflies pricing guide and Is Fireflies safe?

Cheaper than Voibe Work. What $29 more gets you

• Notes on your computer, not in a US cloud.
• 4-hour meetings, against Fireflies Pro's 2.

Best for: tl;dv Pro users who want a bot and CRM sync for less, plus a no-bot mode people can hear.

Many people chose tl;dv for its German, EU-hosted setup. Jamie keeps the EU hosting and drops the bot.

• No bot. It captures on Mac and Windows, and has an iPhone app.
• Data stays in the EEA, Switzerland and the UK.
• Meeting audio is deleted after transcription. tl;dv keeps paid recordings until you delete the account.
• Never trains on your meetings, and neither do its model providers.

What it costs

• Free: 10 AI notes a month, 30-minute meetings. It resets monthly, unlike tl;dv's lifetime 10.
• Plus: $24 a month billed annually ($288 a year). 20 notes a month, 2-hour meetings.
• Plus is $72 (33.3%) more than tl;dv Pro and $60 (17.2%) less than Business.
• Pro: $46 a month billed annually. Unlimited notes, 5-hour meetings.

It costs more than tl;dv Pro. Your notes still sit in Jamie's cloud.

• No video and no Android app.
• Lists ISO 27001, with SOC 2 Type II pending.
• Rated 4.89/5 on the App Store (261).

Best for: European teams who want EU storage and no bot.

Otter works much like tl;dv. A bot joins Zoom, Meet and Teams.

Apps cover web, iPhone and Android. A Mac and Windows desktop app records without the bot.

What it costs

• Basic is free: 300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation.
• Pro is $16.99 a month, or $8.33 billed annually ($99.96 a year). You get 1,200 minutes a month.
• That's $116.04 (53.7%) less than tl;dv Pro.
• Business is $30 a month, or $19.99 billed annually ($239.88 a year), with 4-hour meetings.
• That's $23.88 (11.1%) more than tl;dv Pro.

Every plan is in our Otter pricing guide.

What holds it back

• Pro stops at 90 minutes per conversation. tl;dv allows 3 hours on every plan.
• Otter trains its AI on de-identified audio and transcripts, per its privacy policy. I found no opt-out.
• In In re Otter.AI Privacy Litigation, wiretap, California privacy and BIPA claims survived an August 13, 2026 ruling. They're allegations, not findings. Our Is Otter safe? review covers the case.

Rated 4.79/5 on the App Store from 87,631 ratings, the biggest sample here.

Cheaper than Voibe Work. What $49.04 more gets you

• 4-hour meetings instead of a 90-minute cap.
• No training and no cloud archive.

Best for: a bot and phone apps from a big brand, for less. Pick it when calls are short and not confidential.

Krisp started as a noise-cancellation app. It now sells bot-free meeting notes in the same plan.

Nothing joins your call by default. From Core up, you can add a bot if you want one.

Why it's here

• Core: $96 a year ($8 a month billed annually, or $16 monthly). That's $120 (55.6%) less than tl;dv Pro.
• No minute cap on Core, and meetings up to 4 hours.
• Its pricing FAQ says "Your meeting data is never used to train Krisp's AI models."
• Noise cancellation on your mic, which tl;dv doesn't have.

Watch for

• No free plan. After the 7-day trial, the notes and the noise filter both stop.
• No refunds, except where its terms say so. Same as tl;dv.
• US cloud. Recordings and notes stay until you delete them.
• On-device transcription is Enterprise-only.
• A BAA needs Enterprise, for teams of 100+ seats.

Advanced is $30 a month, or $15 billed annually ($180 a year). Krisp is rated 4.73/5 on the App Store (271).

Voibe Work costs $53 (55.2%) more than Krisp Core. The extra gets you notes on your computer and a dictation app.

• Best for: noisy calls, with bot-free notes for less than half of tl;dv Pro.
• More in our Krisp pricing guide and Is Krisp safe?

Circleback suits people who use tl;dv's API, webhooks or MCP server. Its notes flow into other tools.

What it does

• A bot or the bot-free desktop app, on every plan, Free included.
• Sends notes to Notion, HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio, Linear and webhooks.
• Has an API and an MCP server.
• Doesn't train on customer data, and lists SOC 2 Type II.
• The desktop app records meeting video by default. That's closer to tl;dv than the audio-only apps.
• Rated 4.80/5 on the App Store (271).

What it costs

• Free: 30-day meeting and recording history.
• Pro: $18 a user a month, or $15 billed annually ($180 a year). Recordings are kept 1 year.
• Pro is $36 (16.7%) less than tl;dv Pro.
• Business: $29, or $25 billed annually ($300 a year), with 2 years of recording storage.

Limits

• The bot is the default. With joining preferences on, it tries the bot first.
• Its importer covers Read AI, Fireflies, Fathom and Granola, but not tl;dv.
• Notes live in Circleback's US cloud.
• Payments are non-refundable, as with tl;dv.

Circleback vs Voibe Work

• Voibe Work is $31 (17.2%) a year less than Circleback Pro.
• It keeps notes on your computer.
• It has no bot option and no integrations.

Best for: automations, plus a bot on some calls.

tl;dv stops every recording at 3 hours. Notta Pro records up to 5 hours, for under half the price.

• Free: 120 minutes a month, 3 minutes per conversation.
• Pro: $13.49 a month, or $8.17 billed annually ($97.99 a year), with 1,800 minutes a month.
• Pro is $118.01 (54.6%) less than tl;dv Pro.
• Business: $16.67 a month billed annually ($199.99 a year), with unlimited transcription.

It has a bot. Its bot-free desktop app for Mac and Windows is still in beta.

Before you buy

• The free plan is tiny: 3 minutes per conversation.
• Notta's help center says your data sits in a Tokyo data center. It's kept until you delete it.
• The no-training promise is an Enterprise feature. Pro and Business don't get it, while tl;dv's covers every plan.
• The 3-day web trial charges the annual fee when it ends.
• Web purchases are generally non-refundable.

Rated 4.07/5 on the App Store from 1,474 ratings, the lowest here. More in our Notta pricing guide and Is Notta safe?

Notta Pro vs Voibe Work

• Notta Pro is $51.01 a year cheaper.
• Voibe Work keeps notes on your computer and never trains on them.
• To lift Notta's minute cap, you need Business at $199.99. Voibe Work has no minute cap and costs $50.99 (25.5%) less.

Best for: long workshops or trainings that tl;dv cuts off at 3 hours.

Six more came close.

Built into your meeting app

• Zoom's built-in AI and Google Meet's "Take notes for me" add no third-party bot, so nothing gets flagged.
• Meet's notes need Business Standard or above.
• On Teams, see our Teams note taker guide.

More note takers

• Read AI: a bot by default, plus a desktop app. Pro is $180 a year billed annually, $36 (16.7%) less than tl;dv Pro. AI training is opt-in. No refunds here either.
• Bluedot: bot-free by default, with an optional bot and an EU storage option. Basic is $14 a month billed annually ($168 a year). Its free plan covers 5 meetings in total, tighter than tl;dv's.
• Quill Meetings: records and transcribes on your computer with no bot, free. Lite is $83.88 a year. The Mac app needs Apple Silicon.
• Wispr Flow Notetaker: bot-free notes inside the Wispr Flow dictation app, on Mac and Windows. Notes sit in Wispr's US cloud. Training is on by default on Free and Pro. Unlimited use is $26 a month billed annually ($312 a year). See Wispr Flow Notetaker vs Voibe Work.

More no-bot options are in our best no-bot meeting note takers. The whole field is in our AI meeting note takers guide.

Every roundup is on our alternatives hub.

tl;dv deserves credit here. Its bot shows up by name.

Consent Collection can also keep the bot out of a meeting.

How tl;dv's consent gate works

• It replaces the meeting link in your calendar with a consent link.
• If a guest declines, tl;dv doesn't record. A bot that already joined leaves within a few seconds.
• It only covers meetings that record automatically. Ad-hoc meetings skip it.
• The organizer isn't asked for consent.
• Bot-free recording gives no notice at all. Telling people is on you.

What the others do

• Fireflies' no-bot mode plays a spoken notice and can show a camera watermark.
• Circleback's bot posts a chat notice you can't turn off.
• With the rest, telling people is your job.

Voibe Work has no bot and no consent gate.

Voibe reminds you to tell everyone you're taking notes when recording starts. Following recording-consent rules is up to you.

What the law asks

About a dozen US states generally need everyone's consent to record a private talk.

• They include California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Washington.
• Justia keeps a 50-state survey.
• In the EU, tl;dv's own Terms make you responsible for getting everyone's consent before you record.

A line you can use

"I'm using an AI note taker so I can focus. It doesn't join as a bot. Is everyone okay with that?"

• It takes five seconds.
• If anyone says no, turn it off.

This is general information, not legal advice. Our recording consent guide covers the rules state by state.

Six steps, in order. The first three save your meetings and stop the bot.

Before you cancel

1. Export what you need. tl;dv doesn't say what happens to paid-era recordings after a downgrade. Download recordings and copy notes while you still pay. Pro's API can export meetings, transcripts and notes.
2. Turn off auto-recording. If you don't, tl;dv keeps sending bots to your meetings. Then disconnect your calendar.
3. Turn off Consent Collection if you used it, so guests stop getting consent links.

When you cancel

4. Cancel in Stripe. Go to Account & Billing and click Manage subscription. On the Stripe page, click Cancel plan.
5. Time it right. Fees are non-refundable, so cancel before the renewal date. Removing a teammate doesn't stop billing for their seat. The seat has to come off the subscription too.

After you switch

6. Run both for a week, and tell people. Voibe Work's 7-day trial needs no credit card and doesn't charge automatically. Without a bot tile, nobody knows you're taking notes unless you say so.

Five questions, in order. Stop at your first yes.

1. Are your calls confidential?

• Yes: client, patient, HR or deal calls → Voibe Work. No bot, audio deleted, notes saved on your computer.
• No → question 2.

2. Do you need it free?

• Yes, and a bot is fine → Fathom Free, with unlimited recordings.
• Yes, and I only need transcripts → stay on tl;dv Free. Recordings and transcripts stay unlimited.
• No → question 3.

3. Do you still want a bot on some calls?

• Yes, with no training and a notice in no-bot mode → Fireflies.
• Yes, with automations, an API or MCP → Circleback.
• Yes, at the lowest price → Otter Pro ($99.96 a year), if your calls stay under 90 minutes.
• No → question 4.

4. Must your data stay in the EU?

• Yes → Jamie.
• No → question 5.

5. Do your meetings run past 3 hours?

• Yes → Notta Pro, with 5-hour recordings.
• No, but background noise is the bigger problem → Krisp.
• No → Granola, the best overall no-bot app, on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android.

If you already know your situation, find your row.

Privacy, platform and where your data lives

Budget, length and team needs

Basics

What is the best tl;dv alternative?

Granola, for most people. It has no bot on any of its four platforms.

• It has the top App Store rating here (4.96/5).
• Granola Business costs $168 a year, $48 less than tl;dv Pro annual.
• It trains on anonymized data by default.
• For confidential calls, pick Voibe Work ($149 a year). No bot, the audio is deleted, and notes stay on your computer.

Is there a tl;dv alternative without a bot?

Yes. Granola, Voibe Work and Jamie record from your computer with no bot. Krisp is bot-free by default.

• Fireflies, Otter, Circleback and Notta have desktop apps that skip their bots.
• tl;dv's own desktop app has no bot, but it records audio only and gives no notice.
• Whichever you pick, tell everyone. Voibe Work reminds you when recording starts.

What is the closest alternative to tl;dv?

Fireflies. Like tl;dv, it has a bot, a no-bot mode and CRM sync.

• It doesn't train on your data either.
• Fireflies Pro costs $120 a year, $96 (44.4%) less than tl;dv Pro.
• For a free plan with a bot, Fathom Free is closest.
• For video plus automations, Circleback is closest.

Privacy, training and the 2026 exposure

What is the most private tl;dv alternative?

Voibe Work.

• No bot joins, on Mac or Windows.
• Open-source models on zero-retention cloud providers process the audio, then delete it.
• The transcript and summary are saved on your computer and never trained on.
• A BAA is available on request.
• Meeting notes need internet.

For EU hosting, Jamie is the pick.

Which tl;dv alternative keeps meetings in the EU?

Jamie. It has no bot and stores data in the EEA, Switzerland and the UK.

• It deletes meeting audio after transcription and never trains on your meetings.
• Jamie Plus costs $288 a year billed annually.
• Bluedot has an EU storage option.
• Voibe Work saves the transcript and summary on your own computer instead of any vendor cloud.

Does tl;dv train AI on my meetings?

No, per its privacy policy (September 9, 2026). Neither tl;dv nor its AI providers use customer content to train generative AI models.

• Its homepage makes the same promise.
• Granola, Fathom and Otter train by default.
• Voibe Work, Jamie, Krisp, Fireflies and Circleback say they don't.

Pricing

Is Voibe Work cheaper than tl;dv?

Yes, against both paid plans. Voibe Work costs $149 a year:

• $67 (31.0%) less than tl;dv Pro annual ($216)
• $199 (57.2%) less than Business annual ($348)
• $19 a month against Pro's $29

tl;dv Free ($0) is cheaper if transcripts are enough. Four paid picks also cost less:

• Fireflies Pro, Krisp Core, Notta Pro and Otter Pro.

Is there a free tl;dv alternative?

• Fathom Free: unlimited recordings, transcripts and storage, with advanced summaries on 5 calls a month.
• Granola Basic: your last 30 days of notes.
• Jamie Free: 10 AI notes a month.
• Otter Basic: 300 minutes a month.

Voibe Work has a 7-day trial with no credit card. After it, Voibe Free keeps dictation at $0.

Switching

Can I get a refund from tl;dv?

Usually not. Its Terms say fees are non-refundable unless otherwise agreed.

• Cancel through Account & Billing and Stripe before your renewal date.
• Voibe Work's paid plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee.
• Fathom lists a 90-day guarantee.

How do I move my meetings out of tl;dv?

Export before you cancel. Paid plans can download recordings, and Pro's API exports meetings, transcripts and notes.

• tl;dv doesn't say what happens to paid-era recordings after a downgrade.
• Free-plan recordings are deleted after 3 months.
• You can only download them in the 4 weeks before deletion.

• Best overall: Granola ($168 a year). The most polished no-bot app, on every device. Notes sit in its US cloud, and it trains by default.
• Best for confidential work: Voibe Work ($149 a year or $399 lifetime). No bot, audio deleted, notes saved on your computer, never trained on.
• Voibe Work also labels speakers with a time on every line. A BAA is available on request.
• Best free: Fathom Free, if a bot is welcome.
• Cheapest with a bot: Notta Pro ($97.99), Otter Pro ($99.96) or Fireflies Pro ($120).
• Best for the EU: Jamie.

tl;dv gets a lot right:

• It doesn't train on your meetings.
• It hosts in the EU.
• It records video.
• Its consent gate beats most.

If you need those and Pro fits your budget, staying is fair.

Switching to Voibe Work

For confidential calls, Voibe Work fixes three tl;dv gaps:

• the cloud archive
• the audio-only bot-free mode
• the no-refund terms

Voibe reminds you to tell everyone you're taking notes when recording starts. Following recording-consent rules is up to you.

• Cancel tl;dv, then email the cancellation confirmation to hi@getvoibe.com.
• Voibe's switch offer gives you Voibe Work free for the time left on your tl;dv plan, plus a bonus month.
• The offer runs up to 12 months in total.

Try Voibe Work free for 7 days →

You get every feature. There's no credit card and no automatic charge.

Related reading

• tl;dv pricing: every plan, the free-plan caps and the no-refund terms
• Is tl;dv safe?: training, EU storage and the 2026 exposure
• Fireflies alternatives and Read AI alternatives
• Best no-bot meeting note takers and our privacy guides
• All alternatives roundups