Dot and Read AI: what each does in your meetings
Read AI’s assistant joins Zoom, Teams and Google Meet calls as a participant, and shows everyone talk time, a meeting timer and a score. Its desktop app can record without it. Dot is the app on your computer: nothing joins the call, and when somebody says “Hi Dot” the answer appears on its screen.
Every row below was checked against Read AI’s own website and help centre, and links to the page it came from. Read AI offers an EU region that processes meetings there as well as storing them, which matters to the same people Dot’s regions are for, and it is in the table.
Every row below was checked against Read AI’s own documentation on 29 September 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it and say when.
The comparison
| Dot | Read AI | |
|---|---|---|
| How it hears the meeting | Through the Dot app on your computer. Nothing joins the call, unless your organisation has Dot’s meeting bot switched on, so telling the people in it is up to you | Its assistant joins the call as a participant, and shows everyone talk time, a meeting timer and a scoreRead AI, the assistant → |
| Computers it runs on | Mac, Windows and Ubuntu | Windows 10 or later and macOS 14 or laterRead AI, desktop app → |
| Phone apps | None. Dot is a desktop app | iPhone (iOS 17.5 or later) and Android 12 or later, for meetings in personRead AI, mobile apps → |
| Answers a question during the call | Yes. Anybody Dot can hear may say “Hi Dot” and ask. The answer appears on the screen of the person running Dot, and the whole call sees it when they present Dot’s window | Its desktop app lets you ask Ask Read during a live meeting, to catch up on what you missedRead AI help, the desktop app → |
| Answers from earlier meetings | Yes. It reads the notes of your last five meetings when it answers; presented to the call, only earlier meetings of the same series | Yes. Ask Read searches meetings, emails, chats and documents, with unlimited searches on the free planRead AI, Ask Read → |
| Keeps a recording | No. Dot keeps the transcript and the notes, not the audio | Playback of the meeting, and highlight reels, on its Enterprise planRead AI, meeting reports → |
| Where data is kept | In the region your organisation picks at sign-up: the UK (London), the EU (Frankfurt) or the US (Virginia) | In the United States by default. Deployments in the EU and Canada, which process meetings there too, are arranged through salesRead AI, data processing and storage outside the US, February 2026 → |
| Free plan | No. A free trial, then a paid seat | Yes, with five meeting transcripts a monthRead AI, pricing → |
A report on the meeting, or a hand in it
Read AI is strong on what comes after the call and on the shape of it: a report with the summary, action items and key points, a coaching report on how you spoke, and Ask Read, which searches your meetings, email, chat and documents together.
Dot is there for what is asked in the meeting itself. Somebody says “Hi Dot” and asks, and the answer appears on Dot’s screen, which the call reads when you present it. Nothing joins the call to do it.
If you want coaching and one search across your inbox as well as your meetings, Read AI is built for that. If you want the meeting itself to get its answers, or your meetings stored in the UK, look at Dot.
Where Read AI is the better choice
Be honest with yourself about this, because it is often the right answer.
Read AI adds a coaching report to each meeting, private to you. Dot has no coaching report.Read AI help, coaching →
Ask Read searches meetings, emails, chats and documents in one place. Dot answers from meetings, the documents you add and, on a paid plan, your organisation’s library.Read AI, Ask Read →
Read AI’s EU deployment keeps meeting data in the EU and runs its processing and AI there too, arranged through sales. Dot stores meetings in the EU or the UK, but the AI that writes its notes runs in the United States today.Read AI, data processing and storage outside the US, February 2026 →
Read AI’s free plan covers five meetings a month. Dot has a free trial, then a paid seat.Read AI, pricing →
Read AI is audited against SOC 2 Type II every year. Dot does not have a SOC 2 report yet.Read AI, privacy and security →
Questions
Does Read AI join the call as a bot?
Its assistant joins Zoom, Teams and Google Meet calls as a participant. Read AI’s desktop app records without a bot, audio only. Dot listens from your computer, and joins a call itself only where your organisation has its meeting bot switched on.Read AI, the assistant →Read AI help, the desktop app →
Can Read AI keep our meetings in Europe?
Read AI offers deployments in the EU and Canada, arranged through its sales team, with processing in the region as well as storage. Dot lets each organisation pick the UK, the EU or the US at sign-up.Read AI, data processing and storage outside the US, February 2026 →
Can I ask Read AI something mid-meeting?
Yes, through Ask Read in its desktop app during a live meeting. With Dot, anyone in the call can say “Hi Dot”, and the answer appears on Dot’s screen, which the call sees when you present it.Read AI help, the desktop app →