10 Best Note Summarizers Powered by AI

Everyone takes notes. Whether we're in a meeting with a client or brainstorming ideas for any project, we take notes — and immediately forget they exist or, even worse, miss the important information discussed. Thankfully, there is a better way: AI note-taking and summarizing apps. 

There are many great note-taking and summarizing apps, but not all of them run well, nor do they provide the same output. Some only run on Windows (or Mac), for example, while others offer Chrome extensions to summarize notes on web pages. 

That's where the main problem arises: AI note summarizers that don't fit the workflow can waste time and lower productivity. I've considered the top 50+ AI note-takers, and after extensive testing, here are some of the best note summary applications. 

Best note summarizers: At a glance 

What makes a good note summarizer? 

I've been a technology writer for a decade, meaning I'm frequently interviewing experts and learning about new tools through blogs and articles. I would be lost — or flooded with information — without a good note-summarizing app. 

But I also know that note-taking and summarizing are immensely personal — an AI tool that serves my needs may not be ideal for yours. For this very reason, I decided to create a list of the best AI note summarizers that cater to different use cases. 

Here are a few things that I think a good AI note summarizer should have: 

• Ease of Use: One thing I kept in mind while shortlisting the best apps was how quick and easy it was. This sounds like an easy bar to clear, but you'd be surprised at how many AI tools fell short. My rule here was to find a note summarizer with a strong balance between a user-friendly interface and powerful features. 

• Exporting and Sharing Options: Whether you want to keep note summaries for later use or wish to share them with other team members, you'll probably need to export them to your device. With some great apps, you can export and save the summary in popular formats like DOCX, PDF, TXT, EXCEL, WORD, and SRT. 

• Productivity Boosters: Today, many great note summary apps offer certain great features like audio or video recording, link and media imports for transcription, real-time meeting transcription, and more. 

• Affordable Pricing: Finally, I evaluated the AI summary generators against the value-for-money test. I, too, love a good free app that can summarize notes — but with things such as digital notes and additional features like transcription, you'll need to invest in some paid apps. While you'll find some good free apps on this list, a few others charge a reasonable subscription price. 

List of the best note summarizers 

As a tech writer, I've always been taking notes of top AI tools and summarizing them. While you can take notes using just about any application — or even a piece of paper, for that matter, you'll need some help from great AI tools to summarize these notes and keep them safe for later reference. All of the note summarizers below meet strict criteria — and excel at many of them. 

#1 Notta: Best for recording, transcribing, and summarizing meeting notes

Notta is a top-ranked, full-featured note-taking and summarizing app among all I've tested previously and for this article. It's easy enough to use — open the Notta Web App and drop the files from the device or add links from Google Drive, YouTube, or Dropbox to transcribe and summarize the files. 

Most of Notta's features are free to use, including live screen recording, audio/video file transcription, screen recording, speaker identification, and online meetings live transcription. The more I use Notta, the more I find it great at recording, transcribing, and summarizing all my audio and video files. 

If you often take notes and extract the main points after meetings (just like I do), Notta can save you a lot of time. 

Key Features 

• Supports Various Languages: The AI note taker supports 58 transcription languages, such as German, English, Spanish, Hindi, and Portuguese — so you can make the content more accessible. 

• Integrations: It can connect with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Webex to transcribe and summarize live meetings. 

• Notta Chrome Extension: This feature helps you capture and transcribe the audio from any web page. Once you have the transcript ready, the Notta Web App will quickly generate a short summary. 

• New AI Templates: Simply select the template that best fits your needs, and watch as Notta transforms your raw notes into polished, concise summaries.

Pros 

• With the Notta Web App, you can record both camera and screen to generate transcripts and even summaries. 

• All summaries include an overview, different chapters, and action items — so you don't have to worry about listening to the media file or reading the entire transcript. 

• Notta integrates well with Outlook and Google Calendar to automatically transcribe and eventually summarize upcoming meeting events in real-time. 

Cons 

• The Notta AI Summary Generator feature isn't available in the free plan. 

• You cannot summarize any text files. 

Pricing 

• Free Forever Plan 

• Pro Plan: $14.99 per user per month 

• Business Plan: $27.99 per user per month 

• Enterprise Plan: Contact Sales 

System Compatibility 

• Windows 

• macOS 

• Android

• iOS 

• Chrome Extension 

Effortlessly create meeting notes

With Notta, you can easily generate meeting minutes, turning spoken content into written records with 98.86% accuracy. Stay organized and capture every key detail in your meetings.

Try it Free

#2 Upword: Best for generating and summarizing AI notes

Upword isn't like any of the other apps in this list — and that's one reason why I like it. With this powerful AI note taker and summarizer, you can build your own summaries and add anything from links to images and even comments. 

The Chrome extension, which is absolutely free, helps you summarize a web page and even a YouTube video. One feature that I personally find helpful is sharing the notes and summaries directly with the Slack channels — in only one click. 

Key Features 

• Search & Ask Option: Upword is like a personalized ChatGPT that lets you search, retrieve, and surface the textual data — anytime you need. 

• Build Summary: The AI tool helps you build your own summary with highlights, simplified text, and translation. You can even attach links and images or add comments to the summary for quick sharing. 

• AI Notes from YouTube Videos: One feature of the Upword Chrome extension is its ability to extract notes directly from YouTube videos and save them. 

Pros 

• With the combination of AI Copilot and ChatGPT, Upword helps you generate AI-powered keynotes and summaries of the content. 

• It allows you to add links and images to the summaries — which can then be shared with others. 

• The AI assistant will give you a quick response to the questions. 

Cons 

• With the free Chrome extension, you can generate only 3 summaries per day. 

• The Upword web app does not come with a free plan — though there's a 7-day trial available. 

• It does not support multiple languages. 

Pricing 

• Free Chrome Extension 

• Monthly Plan: $15 per month 

• Yearly Plan: $12.5 per month 

System Compatibility 

• Windows 

• macOS 

• Chrome Extension 

#3 Fireflies: Best for automating & summarizing meeting notes 

Part of the reason AI note-taking apps are so popular is that they can do things a normal note app can't, like automatic transcriptions, sharing and collaboration features, and properly organized folders. 

Fireflies ai really shines at automating the meeting notes, which can be summarized into informative summaries. The drawback, however, is that most of the features are available only in the expensive paid plans. 

Key Features 

• Various Integrations: Fireflies ai is one such app that connects with CRM and Slack, so you can share meeting data directly with these platforms. 

• Detailed Summaries: The AI Super Summaries feature includes keywords, a meeting overview, a meeting outline, bullet point notes, and action items — meaning you can get all the information from the summary. 

• Customized Content: The new AI Apps feature helps you create customized summaries, content, notes, and automated soundbites from the meetings. 

Pros 

• Fireflies integrates well with popular video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams to automatically generate notes and summaries. 

• The meeting notes can be quickly shared on Slack, Notion, and Asana. 

• The AI app can integrate with your preferred CRM (like HubSpot). 

Cons 

• The free version is limited and does not include the AI Super Summaries feature. 

• It may not generate highly accurate transcripts for low-quality audio tracks. 

• Some integrations like Slack, Zapier, and CRM are only available in the expensive paid plan. 

Pricing 

• Free Forever Plan 

• Pro Plan: $18 per user per month 

• Business Plan: $29 per user per month 

• Enterprise Plan: Custom Pricing 

System Compatibility 

• Windows 

• macOS

• Android 

• iOS 

• Chrome Extension 

#4 Otter ai: Best for summarizing live meeting notes

At first glance, Otter.ai looks very similar to Notta — and, in some ways, it is. It comes with certain features that are available in Notta, like automating meeting notes, transcribing files, and then generating summaries (You can check my Notta vs Otter guide to know which is better and why).

Anyone can use Otter, though it's more geared towards live note-taking during video meetings. This AI app really shines at converting spoken words into text during virtual meetings. The accuracy is pretty good, considering you are okay with spending some time proofreading and editing it. 

Key Features 

• Automated Summary: With Otter, you can generate a summary of any live meeting — though it's not detailed enough to give you much detail. 

• Share via Link: Once Otter generates the summary, you can copy the link and share via any messaging channel. 

• Chat with Otter: What I really like about Otter is that you can chat with the bot and ask anything about the meeting. 

Pros 

• Otter comes with a free version — though it's limited. 

• You can access Otter anywhere — on desktop (Windows or macOS) and mobile devices (Android or iOS). 

• It lets you transcribe and summarize both live meetings and recorded files. 

Cons 

• You cannot export the summary via TXT, DOCX, or PDF file. 

• It may not work well for meetings where members speak different languages. 

• Though Otter's summary feature gets the job done, the summaries aren't detailed enough compared to other tools. 

Pricing 

• Basic Plan: Free

• Pro Plan: $16.99 per user per month 

• Business Plan: $35 per user per month 

• Enterprise Plan: Schedule a Demo

System Compatibility 

• Windows 

• macOS 

• Android 

• iOS 

• Chrome Extension 

• Otter for Slack 

• Otter for Zoom

Efficient, productive meetings with Notta

Let our AI do the heavy lifting - record, transcribe, and summarize meetings - so that you can focus on the conversations.

Start for Free

#5 Sembly: Best for generating automatic summaries in bullet points

Most meetings aren't meant for casual talk with team members — they serve a purpose. They're meant to discuss ideas, share projects, collaborate with team members, and come up with the best possible outcomes. 

Often, these things require you to thoroughly take notes during meetings — and that's where Sembly comes in. It's a great option with reasonable web, iOS, and Android versions — and even a handy Chrome extension for quick note-taking. 

Key Features 

• Collaboration: Sembly generates a summary of the meeting in different bulleted sections, which can be quickly shared with team members. 

• Integrations: You can automatically send the meeting notes and summaries to different channels like Slack, Todo Apps, and Trello. 

• Sembly Bot: If you find yourself struggling with back-to-back meetings, Sembly can attend the meeting on your behalf and capture the important notes. 

Pros 

• You can upload previously recorded files or summarize any live meeting using Sembly. 

• It integrates well with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams for live note-taking and summarizing. 

• Sembly offers deep insights on each meeting — all thanks to the advanced transcription and summarization features. 

Cons 

• The AI summary meeting feature is only available in the paid Sembly plan. 

• It takes way longer to provide the transcription and summary compared to other tools I tested — hence, it may not be ideal for lengthy discussions. 

• It cannot transcribe live Webex meetings — a feature where Notta excels. 

Pricing 

• Personal Plan: Free

• Professional Plan: $10 per month 

• Team Plan: $20 per user per month 

• Enterprise Plan: Contact Sales 

System Compatibility 

• Windows 

• macOS 

• Android 

• iOS 

• Chrome Extension 

#6 AI PDF Summarizer: Best for summarizing PDF notes 

HiPDF's AI PDF Summarizer is one such app that pays extra attention to PDF summarization. You can basically summarize any PDF or other document using only this app. 

The only downside is it cannot transcribe media files (audio or video), but it might be a good option for you if you're looking for an easy PDF note summarizer for your desktop. 

Key Features 

• Upload Documents: With HiPDF, you can directly drop files or upload documents to generate an informative summary. 

• Key Point Summary: With HiPDF note summarizer, you can convert long documents or PDFs to key points — and that too, in seconds. 

• Generate Abstract: This is one feature where HiPDF shines as the AI tool automatically generates abstracts and keywords from the given text. 

Pros 

• HiPDF comes with a pack of other tools like Chat with PDF, AI Read, and even an AI Detector. 

• It's completely free to use the AI PDF summarizer without any limits. 

• The AI tool also offers some PDF templates for beginners. 

Cons 

• HiPDF is a basic PDF note summarizer with no advanced features. 

• You cannot copy-paste the text for summarizing.

• There are no advanced features available like recording or transcribing files. 

Pricing 

• Free AI PDF Summarizer

• For additional features, HiPDF offers paid plans: 

  • Monthly Plan: $5.99 per month 

  • Yearly Plan: $3.33 per month 

System Compatibility 

• Windows 

• macOS 

• Android

• iOS 

#7 SciSummary: Best for summarizing scientific notes

SciSummary is a desktop note summarizer that uses GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 to summarize lengthy scientific and research papers. It supports many input formats like direct links, PDFs, text, and even email, so it probably works for most users. If other apps don't work for you, SciSummary is well worth a look — though you've to be ready to pay expensive prices. 

Key Features 

• Various Input Methods: With SciSummary, you can summarize files by sending an email, uploading an article with text, attaching a link, or even importing a PDF. 

• Advanced AI Models: The SciSummary tool uses GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 models to generate summaries. 

• Keyword Extraction: Right at the bottom of the summary, you'll find the most used keywords throughout the paper. 

Pros 

• This scientific paper summarizer is more geared towards students, teachers, and researchers. 

• It also offers a pay-as-you-go model with an average cost of $2 per document. 

• You can also import and summarize any scientific references with a click of a button. 

Cons 

• The free plan is very limited in terms of offerings. 

• Generally, I think the output generated by SciSummary is extremely lengthy. 

• It's ideal only if you want to summarize long research and scientific papers. 

Pricing 

• Free Forever Plan: 10,000 words per month

• Paid Plans

  • $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year: 1,000,000 words per month

  • $8.99 per month or $79.99 per year: 2,000,000 words per month 

  • Lifetime Plan: $299.99

System Compatibility 

• Windows 

• macOS 

#8 Sassbook AI Text Summarizer: Best for summarizing text like a human 

Sassbook AI Text Summarizer is an interesting note summarizer for people who want to generate human-like output. It's pretty easy to use: all you need to do is copy-paste the text in the given box and adjust the summary settings to generate the desired output. 

Key Features 

• Custom AI Summary Size: The Sassbook AI Text Summarizer lets you choose from the three available size targets — small, best, verbose, and custom. 

• Modern AI: It's powered by modern artificial intelligence technology that understands the content and rephrases it. 

• Flexible Output: With Sassbook, you can choose from a deep-AI mode (abstractive) to a more traditional extractive mode. 

Pros 

• Sassbook AI Text Summarizer can efficiently summarize notes in written formats like articles or blogs. 

• One main feature of Sassbook is its ability to generate summaries like humans. 

• It even generates a one-line summary of the short text — something which is not available in other apps. 

Cons 

• With the free Sassbook plan, you can summarize only 2.5 pages. 

• There's no option to share or export summaries from Sassbook to other platforms. 

• Sassbook generates summaries in paragraph format, and it may not be ideal for someone who loves customization. 

Pricing 

• Free Forever Plan 

• Standard Plan: $39 per month 

• Premium Plan: $59 per month 

System Compatibility 

• Windows 

• macOS 

• Android

• iOS

• Sassbook AI Text Summarizer API 

#9 SpeakNotes: Best for transcribing and summarizing voice notes on mobile

SpeakNotes is also among some AI summarizers I've tested that combine with a mobile app — a feature I expect we'll see a lot more of in other AI tools. This note summarizer comes with built-in transcription and editing capabilities, which are now the main selling point for the app — and in my testing, it worked really well. 

Key Features 

• Upload Existing Voice Notes: You can also export raw audio or video from any other platform and summarize it via SpeakNotes. 

• Combine Multiple Notes: One feature where SpeakNotes shines brighter than other apps in this list is combining two or more notes to create a single summary. 

• In-app Editing Capabilities: With the SpeakNotes editor, you can make edits to the transcripts and fine-tune them for maximum accuracy. 

Pros 

• SpeakNotes can also combine multiple notes — which can then be summarized into text. 

• The summarized voice note can be quickly shared as a beautiful image. 

• With SpeakNotes, you can transcribe and summarize voice notes in many languages. 

Cons 

• SpeakNotes is only available on mobile devices (both Android and iOS). 

• The voice-to-text transcription feature may not work with 100% accuracy. 

• Certain features like in-app editing and uploading existing audio/video files are available only in the paid plan. 

Pricing 

• Free Forever Plan 

• Pro Plan: $6.99 per month or $59.99 per year 

System Compatibility 

• Android 

• iOS 

#10 ScreenApp: Best for summarizing with key points and timestamps

SreenApp AI Video Summarizer, at first glance, is an online video note summary generator out there. It works a little differently than most: all the summaries come with timestamps and key points for improved clarity. 

The accuracy is pretty good, considering you're summarizing some complex videos with many speakers. The only reason why I feel ScreenApp might not be ideal for anyone is the limited free plan. 

Key Features 

• Timestamped Summaries: What I really liked about the AI note summarizer is its ability to display a complete timestamped video summary. 

• Sharing and Collaboration: You can easily copy and paste the summary to share it with friends or coworkers. 

• Easy to Use: ScreenApp's note summarizer is extremely easy to use: simply paste the video meeting URL or screen recording and then hit the 'Summarize' button. 

Pros 

• ScreenApp's AI Video Summarizer identifies different speakers while summarizing the content. 

• The output generally includes every important piece of information with key points, a summary, and even highlights. 

• If you wish to extract action items and knowledge or even write notes, just give the right prompt to Ask AI and watch how it works. 

Cons 

• The video summarization feature is available only in an expensive paid plan. 

• There's a steep learning curve for beginners. 

• You won't find any advanced video editing features in ScreenApp. 

Pricing 

• Starter Plan: Free

• Business Plan: $19 per user per month 

• Ultimate Plan: Contact Sales 

System Compatibility 

• Windows 

• macOS 

• Android 

• iOS 

Key takeaways 

It's hard to choose an AI note summarizer when there are so many options available out there. The truth is that you have to test AI tools to see what works best for you. I believe the 10 options above are some of the best choices for most people. You can give these ones a whirl and see which one can meet your needs. 

Notes are intensely personal, and I understand you don't want to trust a company that has its own agenda. Notta is the most robust AI note-taker and summarizer I tested, and there's support for importing files directly from the device or from third-party platforms like Dropbox, Google Drive, and even YouTube.

FAQs 

What is the app that summarizes notes for you? 

If you want an AI note-taking and summarizing app that feels at home on Windows or macOS, offers a generous free plan, and has just about any additional feature you can imagine, it's hard to top Notta Web App. 

It's very easy to record voice notes, generate real-time transcripts, and summarize — and that too, all three at a central place. The real highlight here, though, is the multi-language support that lets you transcribe the audio or video files into 58 languages. 

You can even record, transcribe, and summarize Zoom, Google Meet, Webex, and Microsoft Teams meetings — so you never have to worry about manual note-taking or summarizing your next video meeting. 

Does Grammarly have a summarizer? 

Yes, Grammarly comes with a free and basic summarizing tool where you can transform complex, lengthy notes into clear, concise summaries. With Grammarly's free summarizer, you can achieve the right formality, length, and tone — with just a few clicks. 

How to get ChatGPT to summarize long text? 

ChatGPT's ability to summarize any article, book, or research paper is a hit or miss. You'll have to spend time modifying and refining the prompts to ensure the output summary is short, sweet, and informative. 

Here's how to summarize meeting notes or a long text via ChatGPT: 

1. Copy the text you want to summarize and log in to chat.openai.com. 

2. All you need to do is paste the text in the message box and ask ChatGPT to generate a summary.