The best tl;dv alternatives are Circleback, Fathom, Fireflies.ai, Otter.ai, Granola and Read AI. None of them lists a direct tl;dv import, so switching is two jobs: download your recordings from tl;dv, then upload them to a tool that takes files. Circleback, Fireflies.ai, Otter.ai and Read AI take uploads. Fathom and Granola don't.
What are the best alternatives to tl;dv?
- Pick Circleback if you want to upload your old tl;dv recordings and get new notes and action items from them, with video and audio saved on every plan.
- Pick Fathom if you want a free plan with unlimited recordings and can leave your old files behind.
- Pick Fireflies.ai if you want file uploads on a free plan and transcription in 100+ languages.
- Pick Otter.ai if price comes first. Pro is $8.33 per user per month, billed annually.
- Pick Granola if you only want notes, with no bot in the call and no recording kept.
- Pick Read AI if you want upload credits included with a paid plan and a desktop app that records without a bot.
How do the best tl;dv alternatives compare on price and features?
| Tool | Free plan | Paid from | Uploads old recordings | Records without a bot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circleback | Unlimited meetings | $15/user/mo, annual | Yes, up to 2 GB | Desktop app, Mac and Windows |
| Fathom | Unlimited recordings | $15/user/mo, annual, 2 users | No | Mac beta |
| Fireflies.ai | 400 minutes storage per team | $10/seat/mo, annual | Yes, on Free | Chrome extension, desktop app |
| Otter.ai | 300 minutes a month | $8.33/user/mo, annual | 3 lifetime on Basic | Desktop app, Mac and Windows |
| Granola | 30 days of history | $14/user/mo, monthly | No | Always, device audio |
| Read AI | 5 meetings a month | $15/user/mo, annual | Paid upload credits | Desktop app, Windows and Mac |
How do you download your tl;dv recordings before you switch?
How much of your library comes with you depends on tl;dv's own rules, so sort this out before you cancel.
- Check how long your recordings will last. tl;dv Free stores recordings for 3 months and then deletes them, and a Free recording can be downloaded only in the 4 weeks before its deletion date, after tl;dv emails you. On Pro, tl;dv keeps recordings for as long as you subscribe.
- Download recordings one at a time. tl;dv has no bulk download or export. Its download button needs both the recording's owner and the person downloading on Pro or Enterprise, and the downloader needs editor or admin rights on the meeting.
- Copy the transcripts you want to keep. They come out through a copy button on the transcript tab, on Pro or Enterprise. There is no bulk transcript export either.
- For a big library, use the API. tl;dv's API, on Pro or Business, has endpoints that download a meeting's recording and fetch its transcript. It is an alpha release, and its signed download links expire after 6 hours.
- Check what the files contain. tl;dv's bot-free desktop recordings are audio only, with no video or screen share, so there is no video in them to carry over.
- Upload the files to your new tool. Circleback, Fireflies.ai, Otter.ai and Read AI accept audio or video uploads, each with the limits below.
Circleback
Circleback turns conversations into speaker-labeled transcripts, notes, assigned action items, automations and searchable context. It records through a bot on Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex, and through a desktop app on Mac and Windows that records with no bot and no visible participant in the call. Mobile and Apple Watch apps cover in-person meetings. Circleback saves the full video, audio and transcript of your meetings on every plan, and the desktop app saves the meeting video and audio automatically. The mobile app saves audio only.
There is no tl;dv importer. Circleback imports directly only from Fathom, Fireflies, Granola and Read AI, so a tl;dv library comes in as files. You upload each recording (audio or video, up to 2 GB, in MP3, MP4, WAV, M4A, MOV and other common formats) on web, desktop or mobile, on any plan, and Circleback transcribes it and writes notes, action items and insights the same way it does for a live meeting.
If all you have is notes and transcripts, Circleback's import API creates a meeting from a name and Markdown notes, with the transcript optional. API imports keep their original notes and transcript and are searchable, but they get no new Circleback notes or action items. API, MCP and CLI access come with every plan, and every user can create API keys.
Pros
- Uploaded tl;dv recordings go through the same pipeline as live meetings and get new notes and action items
- Video, audio and transcript saved on every plan
- Bot, bot-free desktop app and mobile app in one tool
- API access on every plan, for importing notes and transcripts by script
Cons
- No tl;dv importer, so a library moves as uploaded files or through the API
- On Free, meetings older than 30 days are locked, not deleted, until you upgrade
- Recording files are deleted after 1 year on Free and Pro and after 2 years on Business; Enterprise has no default deletion
- Desktop recordings stop at 5 hours
- Desktop and mobile speaker names can stay "Participant N"
- Paid plans cost more than Otter.ai Pro
Pricing: Free; Pro $15 per user per month billed annually or $18 monthly; Business $25 or $29; Enterprise $35 per user per month, billed annually only. See Circleback pricing.
Best for: people and teams who want their old tl;dv recordings back as searchable meetings with fresh notes.
Fathom
Fathom Free lists unlimited recordings and transcriptions and instant AI call summaries. You choose bot or bot-free capture, and bot-free is a beta feature for Mac. Fathom can't take your tl;dv files, though. It records and transcribes only live Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams meetings and does not support uploaded calls, which it lists as on its roadmap.
Pros
- Unlimited recordings and transcriptions on Free
- Choice of bot or bot-free capture
Cons
- No uploads, so old tl;dv recordings stay outside Fathom
- Bot-free capture is a Mac beta
Pricing: Free; Premium $16 per user per month billed annually or $20 monthly; Team $15 or $19 with a 2-user minimum; Business $25 or $34 with a 2-user minimum; Enterprise through sales. See Fathom pricing.
Best for: individuals who want a free plan with no recording cap and will keep old tl;dv files in their own storage.
Fireflies.ai
Fireflies.ai Free lists unlimited transcription (with an asterisk), limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of storage per team and audio or video file upload. Pro adds video recording, downloads of transcripts, summaries and recordings, and 8,000 minutes of storage per seat. Business has unlimited storage. Transcription covers 100+ languages. Without its bot, Fireflies records through a Chrome extension, and its desktop app takes notes with no bot on the call.
Pros
- File uploads on the free plan
- Transcription in 100+ languages
- Pro starts at $10 per seat per month, billed annually
Cons
- 400 minutes of storage per team on Free fills up fast with a tl;dv library
- Video recording is listed from Pro
Pricing: Free; Pro $10 per seat per month billed annually or $18 monthly; Business $19 or $29; Enterprise $39 per seat per month, billed annually. See Fireflies.ai pricing.
Best for: multilingual teams that want to upload old files on a small budget.
Otter.ai
Otter.ai Basic includes 300 transcription minutes a month, caps each conversation at 30 minutes, shows your 25 most recent conversations and allows 3 audio or video file imports for the life of the account. Pro raises that to 10 imports a month and 90 minutes per meeting. Business has unlimited imports (with an asterisk) and meetings up to 4 hours. The desktop app records from Mac or Windows without a bot joining the call.
Pros
- Pro at $8.33 per user per month, billed annually
- Unlimited file imports on Business
- Bulk export on Business and Enterprise, if you ever move again
Cons
- 3 lifetime imports on Basic and 10 a month on Pro cap how much of a tl;dv library comes over
- 30-minute cap per conversation on Basic
Pricing: Basic free; Pro $8.33 per user per month billed annually or $16.99 monthly; Business $19.99 billed annually or $30 monthly. See Otter.ai pricing.
Best for: budget-first teams, and teams ready to move a large library on Business.
Granola
Granola has no meeting bot. It captures device audio from its desktop app on macOS or Windows or its mobile app on iPhone or Android. It does not record or save audio or video, and it does not support uploading pre-recorded audio files. Basic keeps 30 days of meeting history and Business has unlimited history. Notes export to a CSV with titles, summaries and transcripts.
Pros
- No bot in any meeting
- Business is $14 per user per month
Cons
- No recordings kept and no uploads, so a tl;dv video library has nowhere to go
- 30 days of history on Basic
Pricing: Basic free; Business $14 per user per month, billed monthly; Enterprise $35. See Granola pricing.
Best for: people who only need notes and are fine leaving their recordings behind.
Read AI
Read AI Free covers 5 meetings a month with summaries, transcription and search. Pro includes 100 file upload credits a month, and Enterprise adds audio and video playback and 200 credits a month. Extra upload credits cost $0.04 a minute, with a 200-minute minimum. Read AI's desktop app captures meetings with no bot, on Windows 10+ and macOS 14+.
Pros
- Upload credits included with paid plans
- Desktop capture with no bot
Cons
- 5 meetings a month on Free
- Audio and video playback starts at Enterprise
- Uploads beyond the monthly credits cost extra
Pricing: Free; Pro $15 per user per month billed annually or $19.75 monthly; Enterprise $22.50 or $29.75; Enterprise+ $29.75 or $39.75 with 5 or more licenses. See Read AI pricing.
Best for: teams that want upload reports included in a paid plan.
How to choose a tl;dv alternative
- If your old recordings have to keep working, pick a tool that accepts uploads (Circleback, Fireflies.ai, Otter.ai or Read AI) and check its import limits against the size of your library.
- If you want the video and not just the transcript, Circleback saves video on every plan, Fireflies.ai lists video recording from Pro, and Read AI lists playback from Enterprise. Granola keeps no recording.
- If price decides it, Otter.ai Pro lists $8.33 per user per month billed annually and Fireflies.ai Pro lists $10 per seat per month billed annually.
- If you never want a bot in the call, Granola has none, and Circleback, Otter.ai and Read AI all have desktop apps that record without one.
FAQ
Can you import tl;dv recordings into another notetaker?
Not directly. None of the tools here lists a direct tl;dv import. Download your recordings from tl;dv, then upload them to Circleback, Fireflies.ai, Otter.ai or Read AI. Fathom and Granola don't accept uploaded recordings.
How do you download all your tl;dv recordings at once?
You can't in the app: tl;dv has no bulk download or export. Recordings download one at a time, with both the owner and the downloader on Pro or Enterprise, or you can script it through tl;dv's API on Pro or Business.
What happens to recordings on tl;dv's free plan?
tl;dv stores them for 3 months and then deletes them. You can download them only in the 4 weeks before deletion, after tl;dv emails you.
What is the best free alternative to tl;dv?
For unlimited recordings, Fathom Free. Circleback Free has unlimited meetings, with meetings older than 30 days locked, not deleted. Fireflies.ai Free accepts uploads but stores 400 minutes per team.
Which tl;dv alternatives record without a bot?
Granola never uses a bot. Circleback, Otter.ai and Read AI have desktop apps that record without one, Fireflies.ai has a Chrome extension and a desktop app, and Fathom's bot-free capture is a Mac beta.
Which tl;dv alternative keeps the video?
Circleback saves video and audio on every plan. Fireflies.ai lists video recording from Pro, Read AI lists audio and video playback from Enterprise, and Granola keeps no recording.