Zoom
Video meetings with native AI Companion.
why this verdict
Keep paying — OpenAI has not replaced it
OpenAI's version overlaps, but does not finish the voice & audio job, so this one still earns its $15/mo.
- A named launch, not a vibe named, unlinked
- AI notetakers and meeting bots. OpenAI, April 15, 2024 — no announcement link recorded yet.
- How much of the job it covers not the job editorial call
- Parts of it. The job still needs the tool to get finished.
- Is there a free way to do it? yes
- 3 of 3 listed replacements have a usable free tier: Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Fathom.
- What the call is worth $180/yr
- $15/mo at the entry paid tier — $180 a year per seat.
- Threatened by
- OpenAI
- Since
- April 15, 2024
- List price
- $15/mo
- Per year
- $180
The backstory
Zoom owns the meeting itself: the video call millions of teams default to, with reliable audio, recording, and a huge installed base. Third-party AI notetakers rose to summarize those calls, threatening to sit between Zoom and its value. Zoom survived by absorbing them, shipping AI Companion recaps and summaries for free inside the product, so there's little reason to add an outside bot to a meeting Zoom already hosts.
Escape hatches
Video meetings with AI notes, free tier
meet.google.com open_in_newMeetings plus Copilot recaps, free tier
microsoft.com open_in_newAI meeting notetaker, free tier
fathom.video open_in_new3 of 3 replacements have a usable free tier.