Judged on legal practice, not features
The best note taking tools for lawyers
For legal work the deciding factors are not features, they are who can see that you are recording, whether the output is defensible, and consent. A bot that appears in a client call is visible to the client and to opposing counsel. A device on the table is visible too, but as an object rather than an attendee. Nothing here produces a certified transcript, and none of it substitutes for a court reporter where one is required.
§Our bias, stated. We make an AI pen and we sell it to lawyers, so read this with that in mind. The consent section below is the part worth your time whichever tool you choose — it applies equally to all of them, and getting it wrong is a bar complaint rather than a bad review. Every price below was read off the vendor’s own pricing page on 15 September 2026. Prices change — check theirs before you buy, and tell us if anything here has gone out of date.
The ranking
4 tools, in order, and why.
01 / Scriben — ours
AI pen · $129 once · $0/mo Free plan; Pro $12.99/mo
- Best for — Visible as an object rather than an attendee, and it records to the device until you sync — which is a clearer answer to “where has this been” than a cloud upload.
- Captures — The room, offline. Needs: nothing running.
- Limits — No minute limits; 64GB, ~400 hours
- Against it — iOS app only today, so an Android-only user is not served yet. It does not join video calls and has no live-transcription view while you talk.
02 / Fireflies.ai
Meeting assistant · Free tier · Pro $18/mo ($10 annual); Business $29 ($19 annual); Enterprise $39
- Best for — Joins the call as a named participant, so the client and opposing counsel both see it. That is a disclosure you make every time, which some practitioners prefer.
- Captures — Joins the call as a notetaker. Needs: a signed-in device.
- Limits — Unlimited transcription on every tier; free storage 400 min per team
- Against it — The notetaker is visible in the participant list, which changes how some rooms talk, and some organisations block bots outright.
03 / Otter.ai
Meeting assistant · Free tier · Pro $16.99/mo ($8.33 annual); Business $30 ($19.99 annual)
- Best for — Same visibility as Fireflies, plus a live transcript. The metering is the practical constraint on a long deposition prep session.
- Captures — Joins the call. Needs: a signed-in device.
- Limits — Free 300 min/mo, 30 min per conversation; Business unlimited
- Against it — Metered on every tier below Business, and the free tier’s 30-minute conversation cap is shorter than most real meetings.
04 / Notta
Transcription app · Free tier · Pro $97.99/yr; Business $199.99/yr
- Best for — Cheapest way to transcribe files you already hold. The three-minute free cap makes it a paid tool for legal work in practice.
- Captures — Web meetings and uploads. Needs: a signed-in device.
- Limits — Free 120 min/mo with a 3-minute cap per conversation; Pro 1,800 min/mo
- Against it — Metered on every tier, and the free tier’s three-minute cap excludes most real meetings.
Side by side
The same facts, in a table.
- Scriben
- $129 once — $0/mo Free plan; Pro $12.99/mo. Visible as an object rather than an attendee, and it records to the device until you sync — which is a clearer answer to “where has this been” than a cloud upload. Source: scriben.ai
- Fireflies.ai
- Free tier — Pro $18/mo ($10 annual); Business $29 ($19 annual); Enterprise $39. Joins the call as a named participant, so the client and opposing counsel both see it. That is a disclosure you make every time, which some practitioners prefer. Source: fireflies.ai/pricing
- Otter.ai
- Free tier — Pro $16.99/mo ($8.33 annual); Business $30 ($19.99 annual). Same visibility as Fireflies, plus a live transcript. The metering is the practical constraint on a long deposition prep session. Source: otter.ai/pricing
- Notta
- Free tier — Pro $97.99/yr; Business $199.99/yr. Cheapest way to transcribe files you already hold. The three-minute free cap makes it a paid tool for legal work in practice. Source: notta.ai/en/pricing
All figures checked on 15 September 2026 against each vendor’s own published pricing page, in a browser — several of these pages render their prices in JavaScript and return nothing to a plain fetch. Third-party pricing round-ups were not used as sources; two of the ones we looked at disagreed with the vendor by $10 a seat.
Before any of them
Consent is the part that is not optional.
Fourteen US states require every party to a conversation to agree before it is recorded, and where you and the other person are in different states, assume the stricter rule. Professional conduct rules add more on top, and for a lawyer that is the layer with teeth. This applies identically to every tool on this page — the choice of software does not change the obligation. Our guide to recording people lawfully sets out which rule applies where you are and the sentence to ask with. It is general information, not legal advice.
Where this comes from
We make one of these.
Scriben is a real ballpoint pen that records the room to its own storage for up to 18 hours, with no phone and no network, then turns the conversation into a transcript, a summary and the work that follows. $129 once, with a $0 software plan. We have tried to rank this page as if we did not make it.