Alternatives to Microsoft 365 Copilot
Copilot alternatives for Teams meeting notes
Without a Copilot licence, Teams still records and transcribes your meetings, and the recap afterwards holds the recording and the transcript. AI notes and suggested tasks are the part you do not get: Microsoft’s intelligent recap needs Teams Premium or a Copilot licence, for each person who wants it.
Outside Microsoft there are two kinds of note taker for Teams. Otter, Fireflies, Fathom and Read AI send a notetaker into the call, which Teams now holds in the lobby by default until somebody admits it. Granola, Jamie and Dot listen from your own computer and add nobody to the call.
Last checked 29 September 2026. We make Dot, so read what we say about it with that in mind: everything we say about the others links to their own pages, as they stood that day. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it and say when.
Side by side
| Product | How it gets the Teams meeting | After the meeting | Asking during the meeting | Price per person, a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams Premium | Built into Teams, for each person with the licenceMicrosoft Learn, Teams Premium licensing → | Intelligent recap: AI notes, suggested tasks, and markers for when your name came upMicrosoft Learn, intelligent recap → | Asking Copilot in a meeting needs a Copilot licenceMicrosoft Support, Copilot in Teams → | £7.70, paid yearly, before VAT, on top of a Teams planMicrosoft, Teams Premium (UK) → |
| DotOurs | The Dot app on your computer listens in, and nothing joins the call unless your organisation has Dot’s bot switched on. Telling the call is up to you | Notes by topic, with next steps and who owns them, and the outcome in one line | Anybody Dot can hear may say “Hi Dot”; the answer shows on Dot’s screen, which the call sees when you present it | A free trial, then a paid seat: the price is on our home page |
| Otter.ai | Its AI Notetaker joins your Teams meetingsOtter, Microsoft Teams → | A summary with action items and an outlineOtter, pricing → | A voice agent, announced in March 2025 for Zoom first, with Teams to followOtter, the meeting agent announcement, March 2025 → | Free plan; Pro $8.33 billed yearly, or $16.99 monthlyOtter, pricing → |
| Fireflies.ai | Its notetaker joins from the calendar; its desktop app takes notes without oneFireflies, the notetaker → | A summary with an overview, notes in chapters, and action itemsFireflies guide, meeting summaries → | Anybody can say “Hey Fireflies”, and it replies by voice and in the chat, in Teams tooFireflies guide, Talk to Fireflies → | Free plan; Pro $10 billed yearly, or $18 monthlyFireflies, pricing → |
| Fathom | Its notetaker joins as an external participant; Teams is not part of its bot-free mode yetFathom help, Microsoft Teams → | A summary and action items, sent to your inboxFathom → | Ask Fathom, on the recording’s page after the callFathom help, Ask Fathom → | Free plan; Premium $16 billed yearly, or $20 monthlyFathom, pricing → |
| Read AI | Its assistant joins the call as a participantRead AI, the assistant → | A report with a summary, action items and key discussion pointsRead AI, meeting reports → | Ask Read, in its desktop app during a live meetingRead AI help, the desktop app → | Free plan; Pro $15 billed yearly, or $19.75 monthlyRead AI, pricing → |
| Granola | Listens through your computer; no bot joinsGranola, security → | Your own notes, written up from the transcriptGranola help, how your notes are made → | Its chat, privately, in the appGranola help, chatting with your meetings → | Free plan; Business $14Granola, pricing → |
| Jamie | Records on your device; no bot joinsJamie → | An executive summary, a summary by topic, and tasksJamie help, meeting notes → | Its help centre describes a private scratchpad during the callJamie help, the recorder → | Free plan; Plus €21 billed yearly, or €25 monthlyJamie, pricing → |
Who each one suits
Teams Premium
Organisations that want AI notes inside Teams and Microsoft 365, without adding another company.
It is per person: colleagues without it in the same meeting do not get its AI notes. Transcription has to be on for it to work.Microsoft Learn, Teams Premium licensing →Microsoft Learn, intelligent recap →
Dot · ours
Teams users who want notes without anything joining the call, and a meeting that can ask out loud and see the answer on a screen you present.
Dot is one more company on your list of processors, and the AI that writes its notes runs in the United States today, whichever region you pick.
Otter.ai
Teams who want the notetaker in every meeting from the calendar, audio to play back, and apps for phones as well as computers.
The notetaker is a participant, so Teams holds it in the lobby by default until somebody admits it.Microsoft Learn, external bots in meetings →
Fireflies.ai
Teams who want an assistant the whole meeting can hear, starting on a free plan.
Its notetaker is a participant, which Teams holds in the lobby by default until somebody admits it.Microsoft Learn, external bots in meetings →
Fathom
Anyone who wants every Teams call recorded for free, and small sales teams who sync notes to a CRM.
In Teams it always joins as a participant, which Teams holds in the lobby by default, and Fathom says all data is stored in the United States.Microsoft Learn, external bots in meetings →Fathom trust centre, questions →Fathom help, free and paid plans →
Read AI
People who want coaching on how they speak, and one search across meetings, email and chat.
Its assistant is a participant that shows everyone talk time and a score, and Teams holds it in the lobby by default until somebody admits it.Read AI, the assistant →Microsoft Learn, external bots in meetings →
Granola
People who like to write their own notes during the meeting and have them filled in afterwards.
Granola keeps notes on AWS in the United States, and says it does not offer EU or UK data residency.Granola help, security, privacy and data →
Jamie
Teams who want notes without a bot and their meetings hosted in Europe.
Its desktop apps are for Mac and Windows, and its prices are in euros.Jamie help, quickstart →Jamie, pricing →
Which one, then
If a record of the meeting is enough, Teams already gives you one: record or transcribe it, and the recap keeps both. If you want AI notes inside Microsoft 365, Teams Premium is the cheaper Microsoft route, at £7.70 a person against £23.10 for Copilot on Microsoft’s UK pages, and it adds no new company.
If you look beyond Microsoft, the question that matters in Teams is whether something joins the call. A notetaker from Otter, Fireflies, Fathom or Read AI is held in the lobby by default until somebody lets it in. Granola, Jamie and Dot add nobody.
If the meeting itself should be able to ask, Fireflies replies out loud in Teams, and Dot answers anybody who says “Hi Dot” on a screen you present, without joining. If you only need notes, Granola and Jamie are the quieter choices.
Questions
Does Teams take meeting notes without Copilot?
It records and transcribes on plans that include Teams, and the recap holds the recording and the transcript. AI notes and suggested tasks come with intelligent recap, which needs Teams Premium or a Copilot licence.Microsoft Support, recap in Teams →Microsoft Learn, intelligent recap →
How much is Teams Premium?
On Microsoft’s UK site, £7.70 a user a month, paid yearly and before VAT. It is an add-on to a Teams plan, and only the people who have it get its AI notes.Microsoft, Teams Premium (UK) →Microsoft Learn, Teams Premium licensing →
Will Teams let a note-taking bot into my meeting?
By default Teams now detects external bots and holds them in the lobby until somebody admits them, and an admin can change that policy. An app that listens from your computer, like Granola, Jamie or Dot, adds no participant, so nothing waits in the lobby.Microsoft Learn, external bots in meetings →
Can people in a Teams meeting ask questions out loud?
With Fireflies, anybody can say “Hey Fireflies” in a Teams meeting and get a reply by voice and in the chat. With Dot, anybody can say “Hi Dot”, and the answer appears on Dot’s screen, which the meeting sees when you present it. Copilot’s answers are private to each person who asks.Fireflies guide, Talk to Fireflies →Microsoft Learn, Facilitator in Teams →
Last checked 29 September 2026, by the people who make Dot.