Best AI notetaker for product managers (2026): 6 tools compared

Most AI notetakers transcribe a call well. A product manager needs more: the action item has to land in the issue tracker, and a customer's comment from three weeks ago has to be easy to find. I compared Circleback, Fireflies.ai, tl;dv, Granola, Fathom and Otter.ai on those two jobs, plus custom insights, bot-free capture and price, using each vendor's documented features, plans and prices.

My pick is Circleback. It has a native Linear automation step that creates one issue per action item, Ask Circleback connectors for Linear and Asana, cited search across meetings and connected email, and a bot-free desktop app that still saves audio and video. If your team tracks work in Jira, I'd pick Fireflies.ai or tl;dv instead, because both publish Jira integrations and Circleback has no built-in Jira integration.

What is the best AI notetaker for product managers?

Circleback is my pick for product managers who track work in Linear or Asana and need to search across customer calls. Fireflies.ai and tl;dv are my picks when Jira runs the backlog.

My picks:

• Circleback: best overall for Linear and Asana teams that want routing, cross-call search and bot-free capture
• Fireflies.ai: best for dedicated Linear, Jira and Asana integrations
• tl;dv: best for turning action items into Jira, Asana or ClickUp work
• Granola: best for solo, bot-free notes
• Fathom: best for a simple free plan and an Asana integration
• Otter.ai: lowest headline price of the six

I'd pick Circleback because its pieces connect. The Linear step creates one issue per action item in the team you choose. Ask Circleback has Linear and Asana connectors, and it answers questions across your meetings and connected Gmail or Outlook mail with cited answers. Custom insights pull feature requests into structured fields, and API, MCP and CLI access is on every plan, so an AI client can search meetings and update action items through MCP. The limits are real: no built-in Jira integration, a Linear step that picks a team rather than a project, and fewer native integrations than Fireflies.

What meetings do product managers need an AI notetaker for?

A PM's calendar mixes meeting types, and each one asks something different of a notetaker.

1. Customer and user interviews. These produce the feature requests. You need speaker-labeled transcripts and a way to find a quote later. Some of these calls run on a platform you don't control, which is where bot-free capture matters.
2. Sprint planning, backlog grooming and standups. Action items should become issues in Linear, Jira or Asana without retyping.
3. Design and roadmap reviews. The summary has to reach engineering and design in Slack or Notion.
4. Stakeholder and executive updates. You want decisions and owners captured, and searchable months later.
5. Slack huddles. Engineers settle a lot in huddles. Circleback's desktop app captures Slack huddles, because it records any call that uses the mic.
6. In-person and phone conversations. Circleback's mobile app and Apple Watch record in person (audio only), and phone calls come in as imported recordings.

AI notetakers for product managers compared

1. Circleback: best overall for product managers

Circleback turns conversations into speaker-labeled transcripts, notes, assigned action items, automations and searchable context. For a PM, the useful part is that those outputs route to the tools where work is tracked, and an AI client can read them too.

Key features:

• The Linear step: you pick a Linear team and it creates one issue per action item in that team, with toggles for issues assigned and not assigned to a Linear team member
• Ask Circleback connectors for Linear, Notion, Asana, HubSpot, PostHog, Attio, Ashby, Intercom and Plain. The Asana connector can create and update tasks, add comments and post project status updates
• Ask Circleback searches your meetings and connected Gmail or Outlook mail, with cited answers
• Custom insights start from a template or are fully custom, use custom fields to structure the output, and show in each meeting's Insights tab and on an Insights page across meetings
• Automation conditions can match tags, meeting title, participants, invitee emails, email domains and number of invitees, so customer interviews and internal standups can go to different places
• Bot capture for Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex with calendar auto-join, plus a bot-free desktop app for Mac and Windows that records with no bot and no visible participant in the call, saves the audio and video automatically, and can step in when a bot's join request is denied
• Mobile and Apple Watch capture for in-person meetings, audio only
• API, MCP and CLI on every plan. MCP tools read and write, and work with Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and Raycast

Where requests go: Linear through the automation step (a team, one issue per action item). Asana through Ask Circleback's connector. Slack channels through the Slack step, and Notion pages or database rows through the Notion step. Jira has no built-in integration and is reachable through Zapier or Make, or through Atlassian's remote MCP server added as a custom connector in Ask Circleback (an Atlassian org admin has to add Circleback's domain to the allowed list first). ClickUp has no built-in integration and is reachable through Zapier or Make.

Pros:

• A native Linear step plus Ask connectors for Linear and Asana
• Bot, bot-free desktop and mobile capture in one tool, with audio and video kept for desktop recordings
• Cited search across meetings and email
• MCP can create and update action items, so an agent can work from the same record you do

Cons:

• No built-in Jira integration. The Zapier and Make routes need a paid plan, and the Atlassian MCP connector route needs an Atlassian org admin to add Circleback's domain to the allowed list first
• The Linear step picks a team, not a project, and there is no per-item "send to Linear" button. Fireflies.ai's Linear page describes a selected team, project and status
• Fewer native integrations than Fireflies.ai: 12 automation step types and 9 built-in Ask connectors against Fireflies.ai's 100+ apps
• Meetings older than 30 days stay locked on the Free plan until you upgrade
• No Linux app or browser extension, and speaker names from the desktop and mobile apps can stay "Participant N"
• Pro costs more than Otter.ai Pro

Pricing: The Free plan includes unlimited meetings and members. Pro is $15 per user per month billed annually or $18 monthly. Circleback pricing

Best for: PMs whose engineers work in Linear or Asana and who want search across calls and a meeting record AI agents can read.

2. Fireflies.ai: best for Linear, Jira and Asana

Fireflies.ai covers Linear, Jira and Asana with dedicated integration pages, which suits teams that use more than one of them.

Key features:

• Linear: meeting insights become issues, and the integration page says summaries are pushed to the selected Linear team, project and status
• Jira: action items become tasks or issues in a chosen Jira project, with selectable issue types such as bug, task or feature request, and meeting details, timestamps and links included in the issue
• Asana: tasks from AI-generated action items or from voice commands during a meeting
• AskFred AI assistant and meeting search, upload of audio and video files, and a Chrome extension that records without the Fireflies bot
• 100+ integrations

Where requests go: Linear (team, project, status), Jira (project, issue type), Asana tasks, and other apps from its integration list.

Pros:

• All three major trackers have their own integration pages
• Jira issue types include feature request
• Linear targeting goes down to project and status
• Pro at $10 per seat is the second-lowest headline price of the six

Cons:

• The Free plan has limited AI summaries and 400 minutes of storage per team
• Much of the upper tier (conversation intelligence, team analytics for admins) targets sales leaders and managers more than PMs

Pricing: Free. Pro is $10 per seat per month billed annually ($18 monthly). Business is $19 billed annually ($29 monthly). Enterprise is $39, annual only.

Best for: PMs on Jira, or on a team that splits work between Linear and Jira.

3. tl;dv: best for Jira, Asana and ClickUp tickets

tl;dv leans toward project tools. Its integrations page features Jira, Asana, ClickUp, monday.com and Trello, with Zapier for 5000+ other apps.

Key features:

• Jira: meeting action items become Jira tickets, stories or epics, with AI summaries and recording links
• Asana: tasks created directly from Google Meet, Zoom or Teams calls
• Pro adds custom AI notes templates, AI action item assignment, global transcript search, an MCP server, API and webhooks
• Business adds unlimited multi-meeting AI insights, scheduled AI reports, and team-wide integrations and automations
• On its Google Meet page, tl;dv says its desktop app captures without a bot

Where requests go: Jira tickets, stories or epics. Asana tasks. ClickUp, monday.com and Trello. Anything else through Zapier.

Pros:

• Jira, Asana and ClickUp are all featured integrations
• A Free plan with unlimited recordings and unlimited transcription in 30+ languages
• Global transcript search on Pro

Cons:

• Free includes AI notes for up to 10 meetings
• Multi-meeting Ask AI is capped at 5 queries on Free and Pro, and unlimited on Business
• Pro at $18 per seat on annual billing costs more than the annual entry plans from Circleback, Fireflies.ai, Fathom and Otter.ai

Pricing: Free. Pro is $18 per seat per month billed annually. Business is $29 per seat per month billed annually. Enterprise is custom.

Best for: PMs on Jira or ClickUp who want tickets created straight from calls.

4. Granola: best for solo, bot-free notes

Granola is the lightweight option. Bot-free, device-audio capture is on every plan, with desktop, iOS, Android and Apple Watch apps.

Key features:

• AI chat within and across meetings, custom note templates and Recipes on every plan
• Business adds advanced integrations with Attio, Notion, HubSpot, Affinity and Zapier, API access, and unlimited notes and history. MCP is on every plan
• Its Zapier guide describes triggers for a note added to a folder or a note you share to Zapier, and the payload carries the title, attendees, your private notes, the summary, the transcript and a link
• The Zapier guide lists Linear, Asana, Trello and Monday for tracking actions, and calls out product teams capturing feature requests
• Pre-meeting briefs and follow-up emails are listed on Business and Enterprise

Where requests go: Linear, Asana, Trello or Monday through Zapier. Notion, Attio, HubSpot and Affinity from its integration list.

Pros:

• Bot-free capture on every plan
• A clean solo workflow with AI chat across meetings
• Custom note templates on the free plan

Cons:

• Basic shows 30 days of meeting history
• Zapier is for paid users on the desktop apps
• Audio is deleted after transcription, so there is no recording to replay when a customer quote needs a second listen

Pricing: Basic is $0. Business is $14 per user per month. Enterprise is $35 per user per month.

Best for: A solo PM who wants bot-free notes with light routing.

5. Fathom: best for a simple free plan and Asana

Fathom is the simplest start. The Free plan has unlimited recordings and transcription, instant AI call summaries, and a choice of bot-free capture (in beta, on Mac) or bot capture.

Key features:

• Asana: Fathom's integrations page says action items become trackable Asana tasks in one click
• Zapier, Make and other automation integrations, a Slack integration, and Notion
• Claude and ChatGPT integrations on every plan, plus a public API and MCP
• Clips, playlists and search across calls on Free, global search across calls on Team, and account-wide Ask Fathom for all calls as a beta feature
• Trackers that flag moments such as feature requests in future calls and route them to Slack, email or in-app
• A customer view that shows one customer's meetings, summaries and highlights in one place
• Business adds custom summaries, CRM field sync and coaching metrics

Where requests go: Asana tasks, Slack, Notion, and other tools through Zapier or Make.

Pros:

• A simple free plan
• Trackers aimed at feature requests
• A customer view that suits interview-heavy PMs

Cons:

• Bot-free capture is a beta feature on Mac
• Custom summaries sit on Business
• Team plans have a two-user minimum

Pricing: Free. Premium is $16 per user per month billed annually ($20 monthly). Team is $15 billed annually ($19 monthly) with a two-user minimum. Business is $25 billed annually ($34 monthly).

Best for: A solo PM who wants a free start and tracks work in Asana.

6. Otter.ai: best for the lowest price

Otter.ai has the lowest headline price of the six. Capture works two ways: a bot that joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, or a desktop app for Mac and Windows that records without a bot joining. For tickets, I'd route through Zapier.

Key features:

• AI Chat within and across meetings, capped at 20 queries per user per month on Basic, 50 on Pro and 200 on Business
• Pro adds Salesforce, HubSpot and Zapier integrations, advanced search, export and playback, and 90 minutes per meeting
• Business adds custom AI workflows and up to 4 hours per meeting
• An Otter MCP server, and API and webhooks on Enterprise

Where requests go: Zapier from Pro. API and webhooks on Enterprise.

Pros:

• The lowest headline price of the six
• AI Chat across meetings on the free plan
• MCP server

Cons:

• Basic has 300 transcription minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation and the 25 most recent conversations
• Task routing depends on Zapier
• Custom AI workflows sit on Business

Pricing: Basic is free. Pro is $8.33 per user per month billed annually ($16.99 monthly). Business is $19.99 per user per month billed annually ($30 monthly). Enterprise is by demo.

Best for: A PM on a tight budget who wants basic notes and cross-meeting chat.

Which AI notetaker sends action items to Linear, Jira and Asana?

How to set up an AI notetaker as a product manager

This is how I'd set up Circleback for a PM week.

1. Connect your calendar and set joining preferences. Choose External so customer calls get captured, and keep the desktop app installed for calls where a bot would be unwelcome. It records with no bot and no visible participant.
2. Tag customer interviews and build an automation around the tag. Conditions can match tags, meeting title, participants, invitee emails and domains, and number of invitees, so only the meetings you choose create issues.
3. Add the Linear step and pick your engineering team. You get one issue per action item in that team. If Jira is your tracker, use a Zapier or Make step instead, or add Atlassian's remote MCP server as a custom connector in Ask Circleback (an Atlassian org admin has to add Circleback's domain to the allowed list first).
4. Add a custom insight for feature requests. Give it custom fields for the request and the product area, then send it where design and engineering read: the Slack step posts the meeting name linked to the meeting plus the outcomes you select, and the Notion step can map insight fields to database properties.
5. Ask for the history when you need it. Ask Circleback answers questions across meetings and connected email with cited answers, and MCP lets Claude or ChatGPT read the same record.

How do you choose an AI notetaker as a product manager?

• Start with the tracker. Linear: Circleback or Fireflies.ai. Jira: Fireflies.ai or tl;dv. Asana: Fathom, Fireflies.ai, tl;dv or Circleback. ClickUp: tl;dv, or Circleback through Zapier or Make.
• Decide how you'll capture customer calls. For no bot and no visible participant, Circleback's desktop app also keeps audio and video. Granola is bot-free on every plan but deletes audio after transcription. Fathom's bot-free option is a Mac beta.
• Check how far back you can search. Circleback's Free plan locks meetings older than 30 days until you upgrade, and Granola's Basic plan shows 30 days of history. Otter.ai's Basic plan keeps the 25 most recent conversations.
• Price it per seat. Otter.ai Pro has the lowest headline price at $8.33 per user per month, Fireflies.ai Pro is $10, Granola Business is $14, Circleback Pro is $15 and Fathom Team is $15. tl;dv Pro is $18.
• Match the tool to your team size. Solo PMs can start on Granola or Fathom. A product team that wants shared routing and search should look at Circleback, Fireflies.ai or tl;dv.

FAQ: AI notetakers for product managers

Can an AI notetaker create Linear issues from meeting action items?

Yes. Circleback's Linear step creates one issue per action item in the Linear team you pick, with toggles for issues assigned and not assigned to a Linear team member. Fireflies.ai's Linear page describes pushing meeting insights into a selected Linear team, project and status, and Granola's Zapier guide lists Linear among the apps you can track actions in.

How do I track feature requests from customer calls with an AI notetaker?

Capture every customer call the same way, then structure what comes out. In Circleback I'd build a custom insight with custom fields for the request, send it to Slack or map its fields to a Notion database, and read the results on the Insights page across meetings. Fathom's pricing page lists Trackers that flag moments such as feature requests in future calls, and Granola's Zapier guide calls out product teams capturing feature requests.

Does Circleback integrate with Jira?

Circleback has no built-in Jira integration. Jira is reachable through Zapier or Make, and both need a paid plan. Ask Circleback also accepts remote MCP servers that use OAuth or no sign-in as custom connectors, and Atlassian publishes a remote MCP server for Jira, though an Atlassian org admin has to add Circleback's domain to the allowed list first. If Jira is central to your workflow, Fireflies.ai and tl;dv both have Jira integrations.

Which AI notetaker records customer calls without a bot?

Circleback's desktop app records with no bot and no visible participant in the call, and it saves the audio and video automatically. Granola captures device audio without a bot on every plan but deletes audio after transcription. Fathom offers bot-free capture in beta on Mac, and tl;dv says its desktop app captures Google Meet without a bot.

Can an AI notetaker search across all my customer calls?

Yes. Ask Circleback answers questions across meetings and connected email with cited answers. Granola and Otter.ai offer AI chat across meetings, tl;dv's Business plan lists unlimited multi-meeting Ask AI, and Fathom lists account-wide Ask Fathom as a beta feature. Check history limits before you rely on any of them.

Can I move my meetings from Fathom, Fireflies or Granola into Circleback?

Yes. Circleback imports directly from Fathom, Fireflies, Granola and Read AI. Imported meetings keep their original notes and transcript and are searchable in Ask Circleback, but they do not get new Circleback notes or action items. An automation can be run on them by hand if the import brought its notes over. Audio and video files you upload go through the normal recording pipeline instead.