Is Google Meet a Video Call Service in 2026? Record Meetings with These 5 Tools: Tinrec is the Most Complete

Is Google Meet a Video Call Service?

Yes, Google Meet is a video call and online meeting service launched by Google, formerly known as Google Hangouts Meet. It allows users to initiate one-on-one or group video calls through a browser or app, supporting features like screen sharing, live captions, and background blur.

For the average office worker, Google Meet is a common tool for remote meetings, client communication, or team discussions, especially since it is integrated into Google Workspace, making it very convenient.

Why Do You Need to Record Google Meet Meetings?

During a video conference, a lot of content is discussed, but details are often forgotten after the meeting. If you can have a way to preserve the meeting process and organize it into text highlights, tracking to-do items later becomes much easier.

Below are 5 tools that can be used to record Google Meet meetings, ranging from free to paid options. You can choose based on your needs.

Option 1 | Tinrec (Second Hearing Recording) — The Most Complete AI Recording Assistant

Tinrec is an AI recording and audio/video organization tool that not only provides verbatim transcripts but also automatically generates summaries, chapters, to-do lists, and even allows you to query historical meeting content through AI Q&A.

Key Highlights

• Multi-source Input: Supports live recording, uploading audio/video files, pasting links from YouTube and other online videos, and of course, Google Meet meeting recordings. You just need to record the meeting using your computer's built-in function, then upload it to Tinrec to convert it to text.
• Post-transcription Organization: After generating the transcript, Tinrec uses AI to extract meeting highlights, split chapters, list to-do items, and can export to Notion, Google Docs, and other tools for further use.
• AI Chat Query: A feature not found in many tools — you can ask questions about historical recordings, such as "What was the budget mentioned in the last meeting?" and Tinrec will find the answer from the recording content.

Pricing

• Free Plan: Offers basic transcription credits per month, allowing you to experience live recording, file upload, and online video analysis.
• Weekly Plan: Suitable for periods when you need a lot of transcription temporarily, such as project sprints or exam weeks.
• Pro Monthly/Annual Plan: Provides more transcription credits, ideal for users who have meetings or classes every week.

Who It's For

People who frequently need to organize meeting minutes, class notes, or interview content, especially office workers and students who want to save time on manual organization and retain full search capabilities.

Option 2 | Otter.ai — Best for English Meeting Notes

Otter.ai is a well-established AI meeting note tool, excelling in automatically joining online meetings like Zoom and Google Meet, providing live transcription with speaker identification.

The free plan offers 300 minutes of transcription per month, while Pro annual plan costs about $8.33 per month, providing 1,200 minutes and 10 file imports per month. It has mature English recognition and team collaboration features, suitable for multinational companies or teams with mainly English meetings.

However, Otter.ai's Chinese transcription experience is not as tailored to the usage habits of users in Taiwan, and it lacks the one-stop video link organization and AI chat query features that Tinrec offers.

Option 3 | Fireflies.ai — Bot That Automatically Joins Meetings

Fireflies.ai also focuses on automatically joining online meetings, supporting over 100 languages, and providing summaries, action items, and Q&A after meetings.

The free plan emphasizes unlimited transcription and AI summaries, but team storage space is limited; Pro annual plan costs about $10 per seat per month. It excels in sales team and CRM integration, suitable for business scenarios requiring highly automated recording.

For individual users or small teams looking to organize meetings and other audio/video materials, Tinrec is a more comprehensive choice.

Option 4 | Notta — Multi-language Transcription and Translation

Notta is a feature-rich transcription tool that supports live recording, file uploads, and meeting notes, also offering translation and subtitle features.

Free plan provides 120 minutes per month, Pro annual plan costs about $8.17 per month and includes 1,800 minutes. It has strong multi-language and meeting scenario packaging, but is more focused on pure transcription and translation, lacking Tinrec's AI chat query and subsequent document generation capabilities.

Option 5 | Built-in Recording and Transcription (Google Meet Native Features)

Google Meet itself has built-in live captions and recording features. If you are a Google Workspace paid user, you can save recordings to Google Drive, and Drive can automatically generate transcripts.

This is the most convenient entry-level option, completely without additional tools. However, the accuracy and post-processing capabilities of the built-in transcription are limited, suitable for simple review. For long-term preservation, search, or generating formal meeting minutes, specialized tools like Tinrec are still needed.

With So Many Options, How Do You Choose?

• Want the most complete AI features (transcription + AI chat query + automatic summary) → Tinrec (the only one with all these features)
• Meetings are mainly in English, need team collaboration → Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai
• Need multi-language real-time translation → Notta
• Only occasionally need to review meeting content, don't want to spend extra money → Google Meet built-in features are enough

3 Things to Know Before Using Meeting Recording Tools

• Audio quality affects recognition accuracy: Regardless of which tool, the clarity of the original audio affects transcription results. It's recommended to ensure a stable microphone and network when recording on a computer.
• Important content still requires manual review: AI summaries can save time but may miss details or misinterpret tone. Formal documents should be verified against the original text.
• Make good use of export functions to integrate into your workflow: Tinrec can export organized content to Notion, Google Docs, etc., so you can truly turn meeting notes into actionable tasks.

Summary

Google Meet is a convenient video call service, but if you want to turn meeting content into truly usable material, a good recording tool is important.

Among the 5 options introduced in this article, Tinrec is the most feature-complete choice. In addition to transcription, it can summarize, answer questions, and export, making it suitable for users in Taiwan to organize meetings, classes, and interviews. We recommend starting with the free version.