You're on a coaching call with a student who's finally having their breakthrough moment. They're sharing something vulnerable, asking the exact right question, and you're... furiously typing notes into a Google Doc.
Sound familiar?
The irony of coaching calls is brutal. The moments that matter most—the ones where you could offer transformative guidance—are often the ones you miss because you're too busy documenting them.
Here's the thing: you became a course creator or coach to help people, not to become a professional transcriptionist. And in 2026, you don't have to be.
AI meeting assistants have evolved from clunky experiments into genuinely useful tools that can capture every word, summarize key insights, and even create action items—all while you stay fully present with your students.
Let's explore how these tools can transform your coaching calls and office hours.
What AI Meeting Assistants Actually Do
At their core, AI meeting assistants are your invisible note-taker. They join your video calls (Zoom, Google Meet, Teams), record the conversation, and use AI to turn that recording into something useful.
But "useful" looks different depending on the tool. Most modern assistants offer:
- Real-time transcription with speaker identification
- Automatic summaries that capture the key points
- Action item extraction so nothing falls through the cracks
- Searchable archives of all your past conversations
- Shareable clips for highlights worth revisiting
The best part? They work in the background. Once set up, you can forget they exist until you need what they captured.
Top AI Meeting Assistants Compared
Not all meeting assistants are created equal. Here's how the leading options stack up for course creators and coaches:
Fireflies.ai
Best for: Teams and those who need robust integrations
Fireflies has become the enterprise favorite for good reason. It offers excellent transcription accuracy (even with technical jargon), integrates with virtually every CRM and project management tool, and provides detailed analytics on your conversations.
The AI-generated summaries are thorough, and the search functionality lets you find specific moments across hundreds of recordings. If you're running group coaching programs or have a team, Fireflies' collaboration features shine.
Otter.ai
Best for: Solo creators who want simplicity
Otter pioneered the AI transcription space and remains one of the most user-friendly options. The real-time transcription is exceptional, and you can follow along during the call to ensure nothing's missed.
What makes Otter special for coaches is its "OtterPilot" feature—an AI that joins meetings automatically based on your calendar. The free tier is generous enough for many solo creators to start without investment.
Fathom
Best for: Coaches who hate admin work
Fathom was built specifically for people who live in meetings—and it shows. The automatic action item detection is remarkably accurate, often catching commitments you didn't even realize you made.
The highlight feature lets you mark important moments during the call with a single click, making it easy to create summary emails for students afterward. Plus, it's completely free for individuals, which is hard to argue with.
Grain
Best for: Creating content from conversations
If you want to repurpose your coaching calls into marketing content, Grain is your answer. It makes clipping and sharing specific moments incredibly easy, with automatic captioning for social media.
The "Stories" feature lets you combine clips from multiple calls into highlight reels—perfect for testimonials or demonstrating your coaching methodology.
tl;dv
Best for: International coaches and multi-language support
Working with students across different countries? tl;dv offers transcription in 30+ languages with translation capabilities. The summaries adapt to your preferred format, and the timestamp-linked notes make reviewing specific moments effortless.
The Chrome extension approach means lighter setup, and the integration with Notion and other tools makes it easy to feed insights into your existing workflow.
Recording and Transcription: The Foundation
Every tool lives or dies by its transcription accuracy. Here's what to expect:
Modern AI transcription typically achieves 90-95% accuracy in ideal conditions—good audio, clear speech, minimal crosstalk. That drops with technical terms, accents, or multiple speakers talking over each other.
Pro tips for better transcriptions:
- Use a quality microphone (your laptop mic won't cut it)
- Ask participants to mute when not speaking
- Speak clearly during technical explanations
- Add custom vocabulary for industry-specific terms
Most tools now support automatic recording once you've connected your calendar. The AI joins as a participant (with names like "Fireflies Notetaker" or "Otter Assistant"), so students know they're being recorded.
Automatic Summaries and Action Items
This is where AI meeting assistants earn their keep.
Instead of scrolling through a 60-minute transcript, you get a condensed summary hitting the major topics discussed. Better tools organize this by:
- Key decisions made
- Action items (with assignees)
- Questions raised
- Follow-up topics
For coaches, the action item feature is gold. When a student says "I'll have the draft ready by Friday," the AI captures that commitment and can even add it to your task manager.
Some tools let you customize summary formats. You might want bullet points for quick reference or paragraph form for sending to students as call recaps.
Searchable Meeting Archives: Your Second Brain
After six months of coaching calls, you've accumulated hundreds of hours of conversations. Without organization, that's just digital hoarding.
AI meeting assistants turn this archive into a searchable knowledge base. Need to find that brilliant framework you explained to a student last March? Search for keywords and jump directly to that moment.
This becomes invaluable for:
- Revisiting student progress before follow-up calls
- Finding your best explanations of common concepts
- Tracking recurring questions that might become course content
- Creating FAQ documentation from actual student conversations
Creating Content From Coaching Calls
Your coaching calls are a content goldmine waiting to be mined.
Every question a student asks represents a question hundreds of others have. Every explanation you give is potential blog post, email, or course module material.
Here's a workflow that works:
- Mark highlights during calls when you explain something well
- Review summaries weekly to identify recurring themes
- Export clips of your best explanations
- Repurpose into content using AI writing tools
Some creators have built entire courses from their coaching call archives. The content is already proven—students literally asked for it.
Privacy and Consent: The Non-Negotiables
Before you hit record, let's talk ethics.
Recording without consent is illegal in many jurisdictions and always unethical. Here's the baseline:
- Always notify participants before recording starts
- Get explicit consent, preferably in writing (your onboarding process should include this)
- Explain how recordings will be used and stored
- Offer opt-out options for sensitive conversations
Most AI assistants announce themselves when joining, but don't rely on that. Include recording consent in your coaching agreement and verbally confirm at the start of each call.
For data security, review where your recordings are stored, who has access, and how long they're retained. GDPR and similar regulations may require specific data handling procedures depending on where your students are located.
Integration With Your Existing Tools
AI meeting assistants become exponentially more valuable when they feed into your existing systems.
Common integrations include:
- Calendars (Google, Outlook) for automatic meeting joins
- CRMs (HubSpot, Salesforce) to attach transcripts to student records
- Project management (Notion, Asana, Monday) for action items
- Communication (Slack, Teams) for sharing summaries
- Storage (Google Drive, Dropbox) for backup and organization
Before choosing a tool, map out your current workflow. The best assistant for you is the one that integrates seamlessly with what you're already using.
Pricing Comparison
Here's what you'll pay in 2026:
| Tool | Free Tier | Paid Plans | |------|-----------|------------| | Fireflies | 800 mins/month | $10-29/user/month | | Otter | 300 mins/month | $8-20/user/month | | Fathom | Unlimited (individual) | $15-29/user/month for teams | | Grain | 5 meetings/month | $15-29/user/month | | tl;dv | Unlimited recording | $18-29/user/month for AI features |
For most solo course creators, Fathom's free tier or Otter's basic plan provides enough functionality. Scale to paid plans when you need team features, more storage, or advanced integrations.
Choosing the Right Tool for Your Needs
Still not sure which to pick? Here's the quick guide:
Choose Fireflies if: You need CRM integration and team collaboration Choose Otter if: You want the simplest setup with real-time transcription Choose Fathom if: You're solo and want powerful features for free Choose Grain if: Content repurposing is a priority Choose tl;dv if: You work with international students in multiple languages
My recommendation? Start with Fathom's free plan for individual coaching. It's genuinely unlimited and gives you a taste of what's possible. Upgrade when you hit its limitations—which many coaches never do.
Your Next Steps
Ready to stop scribbling notes and start being present? Here's your action plan:
- Pick one tool from this list and sign up today
- Connect your calendar for automatic meeting joins
- Run a test call to experience the transcription quality
- Set up one integration with a tool you already use
- Review your first AI summary and see what you think
The goal isn't to find the perfect tool—it's to stop losing valuable insights to forgotten notes and divided attention. Any of these options beats the alternative.
Your students deserve a coach who's fully present. And you deserve to actually enjoy your calls instead of dreading the note-taking.
Next Step
Want to create more content from your coaching insights? Learn how to turn your expertise into a comprehensive course curriculum that addresses exactly what your students are asking about.