tl;dv Alternatives in 2026: When the Free AI Notes Run Out

A tl;dv alternative is worth it when the free plan has run dry or the paid one doesn't fit. tl;dv gives full AI notes for your first 10 meetings only, and that allowance never resets. Fathom keeps summaries free with no cap, Fireflies reaches more languages and has phone apps, Granola costs less per seat, and Merlin follows up on Mac calls.

Maybe your summaries have shrunk to the first ten minutes of each call. Maybe you're weighing the paid plans, or rethinking your meeting recorder after tl;dv's security notice in August 2026. This page sets out what tl;dv does well, the specific limits written into its own help center and pricing, and which tool answers each one.

What tl;dv does well

tl;dv is a meeting recorder for Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams that turns calls into transcripts, AI notes and CRM updates. tl;dv's homepage says it transcribes in over 30 languages and dialects, logs call notes and outcomes into CRMs such as HubSpot, drafts follow-up emails and next-step tasks for you to review, and sends AI reports that pull trends, such as feature requests, out of many calls at once.

Three things stand out:

• Data kept in Europe. tl;dv's security page says "All our data centers are located in Europe," lets customers choose whether the AI runs in Europe or the US, states that tl;dv is GDPR compliant for all users and SOC 2 compliant, and says no customer data is used to train the AI. The company behind it is tldx Solutions GmbH.
• A recorder with or without a bot. tl;dv's desktop app has an Audio-only (WITHOUT BOT) mode that captures whatever your computer plays, which tl;dv says covers Slack Huddles, phone calls and in-person conversations as well as the big three meeting apps. The same post says this mode is included on the free plan.
• Sales coaching on the top plan. tl;dv's comparison with Otter lists playbook monitoring, objection handling, team analytics, recurring AI reports and detailed CRM field mapping on Business.

If you're a European sales or customer team on Zoom, Meet or Teams, and you'll pay for Pro or Business, tl;dv is a strong fit and switching may not be worth the effort.

Reasons to leave tl;dv

The reasons below come from tl;dv's own pages. Each one matters to some readers and not at all to others, so check which applies to you before moving.

The free AI notes run out after 10 meetings, for good

tl;dv's free plan records and transcribes without limit, but the AI layer is rationed. tl;dv's help article on Free plan limits says your first 10 meetings get full automatic AI notes; after that, only the first 10 minutes of each meeting do. You also get 10 free AI prompts, 10 free AI Reports and 5 file uploads, and these limits "are for the lifetime of the account, they do not renew monthly."

Storage is limited too. The same article says free recordings are kept for 3 months, move to archived storage after 3 days, and can only be downloaded in the 4 weeks before their scheduled deletion. Every plan caps a recorded or uploaded meeting at 3 hours.

Month-to-month billing costs much more than annual

tl;dv's pricing page puts Pro at €18 a seat each month on a yearly plan (€216 a year) or €29 paid monthly, and Business at €29 a seat each month yearly (€348 a year) or €39 monthly. tl;dv's English blog quotes the same figures in dollars. Paying monthly for Pro costs about 60% more than committing to a year, which stings if you only need a recorder for a short project.

Thirty-odd languages, and no HIPAA statement

Over 30 transcription languages covers most teams, but not every one. Fireflies lists 100+ languages in beta, for example. Healthcare teams should also note that tl;dv's security page covers GDPR, SOC 2 and AES-256 encryption but doesn't mention HIPAA or a business associate agreement (BAA).

No phone app of its own

tl;dv's FAQ says it "doesn't have a native mobile app yet," though auto-recording still works for Meet, Zoom and Teams calls you join from iOS or Android. If you record in-person conversations on your phone, look at Fathom, Fireflies or Granola, which all have one.

The August 2026 security notice

In August 2026 tl;dv published a statement about two access issues in the same part of its system. It says the exposed data "was strictly limited to metadata" (meeting IDs, Google Meet and Teams links, participant emails and domains), and that "no passwords, recordings, transcripts, AI-generated notes or account and billing data were accessible." tl;dv adds that transcripts or notes customers had chosen to make public could be reached through meeting IDs, and that in a few cases someone used leaked links to be admitted to live meetings. It says both routes are closed and that it is removing the database technology involved from its stack. Whether that changes your choice depends on your own risk rules; reading tl;dv's full statement is the fair starting point.

Fathom: unlimited free summaries

Fathom is the closest swap for someone who liked tl;dv's free plan and only lost the AI notes. On Fathom's pricing page, the free plan has no cap on recordings, transcripts or AI call summaries, and it includes clips, playlists, cross-call search and a choice of bot or bot-free capture (the bot-free option is a beta). The cheapest paid tier is Team at $15 a user monthly on yearly billing, for at least two users; Premium for one person is $16 a month on a yearly plan or $20 month to month.

Fathom supports transcripts in 38 languages. Its security article calls it HIPAA, GDPR and SOC 2 Type II compliant, and the pricing page lists a signed BAA. The trade-offs are the reverse of tl;dv's strengths. Fathom's security article puts all Fathom data on US servers, and says de-identified customer data improves its own models unless you opt out. Fathom's device guide limits recording to Zoom, Meet and Teams on Mac or Windows, with bot-free mode on Mac only for now, and an iOS app for in-person conversations.

Pick Fathom if your calls are on the big three apps, US storage is acceptable, and you want summaries every time without paying. Our Fathom compare page covers where it stops.

Fireflies: more languages, more meeting apps, phone apps

Fireflies goes wider than tl;dv on reach. Fireflies' pricing page names English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian and adds "100+ other languages in beta," has iOS and Android apps, accepts uploaded audio and video files, and offers a Chrome extension that records without the Fireflies bot. Its list of supported platforms adds Webex, GoToMeeting, Dialpad, Lifesize and Jitsi to Meet, Zoom and Teams.

It's also cheaper per seat than tl;dv. Fireflies' July 2026 pricing guide prices Pro at $10 a seat monthly on annual billing (or $18 paid monthly), Business at $19 (or $29), and Enterprise at $39, annual only. The free plan holds 400 minutes of meeting storage per team. On data, Fireflies' security policy says no AI model, Fireflies' own or a partner's, is trained on your audio, video, transcripts or summaries, and its pricing page puts a healthcare BAA on Enterprise with Private Storage. Fireflies doesn't name a storage region on that page, so ask before buying if EU hosting is a requirement.

Pick Fireflies if your team speaks languages tl;dv doesn't cover, takes calls on Webex or GoToMeeting, or records on phones. More on its own limits is on our Fireflies compare page.

Granola: a cheaper bot-free notepad

Granola is for people who want typed-and-enhanced notes rather than a video library. Granola's pricing page lists bot-free, device-audio capture on every plan, deletes audio after transcription, lets each user opt out of model training, and is SOC 2 Type II certified throughout. Granola's setup guide says it works with meetings "on any software," on macOS 14 or later, Windows, iOS and Android.

Granola Business, with unlimited meeting history, is listed at $14 a user monthly, below tl;dv Pro's lowest listed rate. On the free Basic plan you see only the last 30 days of meetings, and HIPAA-compliant workspaces need Enterprise, listed at $35 a user. Because the audio is deleted, there's no recording to replay or clip, which is a real loss if you share call highlights with your team today.

Pick Granola if you never watch the recordings back and want one notepad for every call app. Its own limits are on our Granola compare page.

Merlin: turning calls into follow-up on a Mac

We make Merlin, and it solves a different problem from tl;dv. Merlin, a Mac app, looks after your email, calendar, the people you work with and what you've promised them. Recording meetings is one part of it, so it suits someone whose trouble is what happens after the call rather than the call library.

Nothing joins the call: Merlin captures audio on the Mac itself. A banner offers to record when Zoom or another call app starts a call, or roughly a minute before a calendar event that has guests, and for anything else you press Start recording. The audio file never leaves the Mac on the free plan. Paid plans add speaker-labeled transcripts, notes shaped by a template (Sales call, 1:1, Interview and others), and a short chat message listing the commitments from the call, on both sides. In chat you can question a single call or your whole history of them. Before a calendar event, the Meeting Brief routine can send background on who's attending and what came up with them last time.

Where Merlin falls short of tl;dv:

• macOS only, with no Windows or phone app.
• The free plan stops at audio. It records and plays back; transcripts and notes start on Pro, which costs $278 a year, or $29 month to month (Merlin's pricing).
• No sharing, clips or file uploads. Playback needs the Mac that recorded the call, and Copy transcript is the only way out.
• No language setting. Merlin works out which language a call is in by itself, with no way to pick one.

Pick Merlin when your calls happen on one Mac, in any mix of apps, and you want each call's commitments waiting for you afterward.

tl;dv and four alternatives side by side

Which tl;dv alternative to choose

Start from the limit that made you search, not from the longest feature list.

• The free AI notes ran out and you won't pay: Fathom.
• Your calls are in a language tl;dv doesn't transcribe: Fireflies, after testing a few calls, since most of its languages are in beta.
• You need a healthcare BAA: Fathom, or Fireflies or Granola on Enterprise.
• You want notes, not video, at a lower price: Granola.
• Your problem is the follow-up, and your calls happen on a Mac: Merlin.
• Your data must stay in the EU and you'll pay for Pro: stay with tl;dv.

For a wider field that includes Otter and the AI built into Google Meet and Zoom, see our AI note-taking tools roundup.

Moving your recordings out of tl;dv

1. List the meetings worth keeping. Client calls, interviews and decisions you may need to quote later.
2. Download them from tl;dv before they're deleted, or unarchive older ones first, since free recordings move to archived storage after 3 days.
3. Run both tools for a week or two. Record the same calls in the new tool and compare the notes before you turn tl;dv's auto-record off.
4. Disconnect tl;dv from your calendar and CRM once you've switched, so its recorder stops joining and stops writing to your records.
5. Tell regular attendees that a different recorder (or none) will be on the call.