8 Best Read.ai Alternatives in 2026: Better Meeting Summaries, Notes & Follow-Ups

Read.ai is easy to like. It joins meetings, takes notes, and gives you a summary. For a while, that feels like progress.

But for many teams, that’s also where the value plateaus.

The notes exist, but nothing happens next. Action items still get lost. Follow-ups still rely on memory. And meetings still don’t reliably turn into momentum.

That’s when teams start looking for Read.ai alternatives. Not because Read.ai stopped working, but because their needs changed. Some want clearer summaries.

Others need better collaboration. Sales teams often need meetings to connect directly to execution and CRM workflows.

In this guide, we’ll break down:

• Why teams outgrow Read.ai and what usually triggers the switch
• The different upgrade paths beyond Read.ai (summaries, workflows, execution)
• The best Read.ai alternatives based on real-world use cases
• Free and paid options, with clear tradeoffs
• How to choose the right alternative for your team, not just the most popular tool

8 Best Read.ai Alternatives in 2026

Read.ai alternatives differ most in how well they turn meeting notes into follow-up and execution.

Below are the best options based on real-world usability and value, starting with tools built for teams that want meetings to actually move work forward.

1. Cirrus Insight

Read.ai gives you notes. Cirrus Insight gives sales teams a reason those notes matter.

Why choose this over Read.ai: If meetings are tied to pipeline, Cirrus Insight connects summaries to deals, follow-ups, and CRM updates, so notes don’t stall after the call.

How it differs from Read.ai: Instead of passive summaries, Cirrus Insight embeds meeting insights directly into Salesforce with pre-meeting context and post-meeting execution.

Key distinction: Meeting summaries are actionable and CRM-connected, not just informative.

Pros

• Pre-meeting AI prep improves the quality and relevance of summaries
• Post-meeting summaries surface clear next steps and follow-ups
• Automatic Salesforce logging eliminates manual admin work
• Conversation intelligence supports coaching and deal reviews

Cons

• Best suited for Salesforce-based teams
  
• Overkill if you only need personal notes
  

Pricing: Free trial available; paid plans are flexible so you only pay for the features you want

Best for: Sales teams that need meetings to drive execution, not just documentation

Schedule a demo to see how Cirrus Insight fits into your sales tech stack.

2. MeetJamie

MeetJamie is for teams that want summaries they can read once and move on.

• Why choose this over Read.ai: Its summaries are clearer and more readable out of the box, with less cleanup required
• How it differs from Read.ai: MeetJamie prioritizes human-sounding summaries over analytics or metrics
• Key distinction: Summaries optimized for clarity and shareability

Pros

• Clean, concise summaries that rarely need editing
• Easy to share externally with clients or stakeholders
• Minimal setup and fast onboarding

Cons

• Fewer integrations
• Limited customization for advanced workflows

Pricing: Free trial available; paid plans start around $24 per user/month

Best for: Teams that want ready-to-send meeting summaries

3. Fireflies.ai

Fireflies is built for teams juggling too many meetings to track manually.

• Why choose this over Read.ai: It makes it easier to search and compare conversations across many meetings.
• How it differs from Read.ai: Fireflies emphasizes cross-meeting visibility instead of individual meeting depth.
• Key distinction: Strong at pattern recognition across conversations.

Pros

• Powerful search across meetings and speakers
• Good integrations with Zoom, Meet, and Teams
• Useful topic and keyword tracking

Cons

• Summaries can feel generic for high-stakes meetings
• Action items often need manual refinement

Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start around $18 per user/month

Best for: Teams managing high meeting volume

4. tl;dv

tl;dv is for teams that want highlights, not transcripts.

• Why choose this over Read.ai: It’s much faster to review and share than text-heavy note tools
• How it differs from Read.ai: Summaries are paired with short video clips instead of long text blocks
• Key distinction: Designed for async review and sharing

Pros

• Skimmable summaries linked to video moments
• Generous free plan
• Easy sharing for remote teams

Cons

• Limited action-item structure
• Not built for tracking outcomes

Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start around $20 per user/month

Best for: Remote teams sharing meeting highlights

5. Avoma

Avoma is for teams that want insight, not just notes.

• Why choose this over Read.ai: It adds structure, analytics, and coaching signals to meeting summaries.
• How it differs from Read.ai: Summaries are organized around sales topics and performance metrics.
• Key distinction: Deep analysis and coaching layer.

Pros

• Structured summaries by topic and stage
• Strong value for managers and enablement teams
• Useful for call reviews and coaching

Cons

• Steeper learning curve
• Higher price point than summary-only tools

Pricing: Plans typically start around $24–$29 per user/month

Best for: Sales teams focused on performance analysis

6. Sembly AI

Sembly is built for teams that care about decisions and accountability.

• Why choose this over Read.ai: It surfaces tasks and decisions more clearly than passive notes
• How it differs from Read.ai: Summaries are organized by decisions, risks, and action items
• Key distinction: Outcome-focused summaries

Pros

• Clear separation of tasks and decisions
• Useful for governance and compliance
• Multi-language support

Cons

• Interface can feel dense
• Requires tuning for best results

Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans from ~$10–$20 per user/month

Best for: Teams focused on follow-through

7. Supernormal

Supernormal is for teams that want speed over sophistication.

• Why choose this over Read.ai: It produces summaries almost instantly with minimal setup
• How it differs from Read.ai: Optimized for immediacy, not depth
• Key distinction: Fastest time-to-summary

Pros

• Immediate summaries after meetings
• Very easy to adopt
• Clean, simple formatting

Cons

• Shallow summaries for complex discussions
• Limited customization

Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start around $18 per user/month

Best for: Teams needing quick internal notes

8. Notion AI

Notion AI isn’t a meeting tool, but it’s where many summaries end up.

• Why choose this over Read.ai: You get full control over how summaries are structured and refined
• How it differs from Read.ai: Manual input, flexible output
• Key distinction: Maximum editing and formatting control

Pros

• Highly customizable summaries
• Fits existing documentation workflow
• Strong collaboration features

Cons

• Requires manual copy-paste
• No automatic meeting capture

Pricing: AI add-on from ~$10 per user/month

Best for: Teams refining summaries inside docs

Free Read.ai Alternatives

Free plans are often where teams start, but also where limitations show up fastest.

Several Read.ai alternatives offer free plans or trials, including Fireflies.ai, tl;dv, Supernormal, and Sembly AI. These usually include basic meeting recording and AI-generated summaries, with limits on meeting volume, storage, exports, or integrations.

When free plans work well:

• You’re testing AI note-taking for the first time
• You attend a small number of meetings per week
• Notes are for personal reference, not team workflows

When free plans stop making sense:

• You need to edit or customize summaries before sharing
• Multiple people rely on the same meeting notes
• Follow-ups, tasks, or CRM updates matter

Pro tip: Use free plans to compare summary quality, not feature count. If you find yourself rewriting summaries or copying action items manually, it’s usually a sign you’ve outgrown the free tier.

Read.ai vs Alternatives by Use Case

Read.ai works well for simple note capture. Where teams feel friction is when meetings need to lead to outcomes.

For Personal Meeting Notes

Read.ai is usually enough for individuals who want lightweight summaries for their own reference. Alternatives like Supernormal or MeetJamie often win here by producing cleaner, more readable summaries with less noise and less editing required.

Recommendation: Choose the tool whose summaries you’d actually reread a week later.

For Team Collaboration

Read.ai summaries can be shared, but collaboration is limited. Tools like Fireflies.ai or Notion AI work better when notes need to be reviewed, edited, commented on, or reused across teams and projects.

Recommendation: If notes live beyond the meeting, prioritize tools that fit naturally into shared docs or team workflows.

For Sales Calls

Read.ai captures what was said, but sales teams usually need context, follow-ups, and CRM visibility. Platforms like Cirrus Insight or Avoma are designed to connect meeting insights directly to pipeline activity.

Recommendation: If meetings influence deals, choose tools that reduce post-call admin instead of adding another review step.

For Action-Oriented Follow-Ups

When meetings are meant to produce tasks, decisions, or next steps, Read.ai can feel passive. Sembly AI and Cirrus Insight stand out by explicitly surfacing actions and tying them to workflows.

Recommendation: Look for tools that answer one question clearly after every meeting: “What happens next?”

How to Choose the Right Read.ai Alternative

Read.ai is enough when meetings are low-stakes and notes are mainly for reference. It becomes limiting when summaries don’t lead to action.

You’ve likely outgrown Read.ai if:

• You’re rewriting summaries before sharing them
• Action items regularly slip through the cracks
• Meetings aren’t connected to follow-ups or tools you already use

To test alternatives safely, run them alongside Read.ai for a short period and compare summary clarity, follow-through, and team adoption. Avoid piling on tools, choose one that replaces manual work instead of adding another review step.

The right alternative isn’t the most popular one. It’s the one that fits what you need meetings to accomplish next.

Why Teams Upgrade from Read.ai to Cirrus Insight

Read.ai helps teams capture meetings. Cirrus Insight helps them do something with them.

Where Read.ai focuses on summaries, Cirrus Insight focuses on execution, connecting meetings to follow-ups, CRM updates, and real pipeline movement inside Salesforce.

For sales teams, that difference matters because Cirrus Insight:

• Delivers AI-powered meeting prep so reps show up informed, not scrambling
• Turns conversations into clear next steps, not static notes
• Automatically updates Salesforce, reducing post-meeting admin
• Supports coaching and deal reviews with conversation intelligence, not just transcripts

If your team only needs meeting notes, Read.ai may be enough. But if meetings are part of how you generate revenue, Cirrus Insight is built for what happens next.

Try Cirrus Insight free and see how meetings turn into action, not just summaries.