2025 Free Google Meet Meeting Note Solutions: 5 Tools at a Glance

Using Google Meet 2025 APK is fast, but writing meeting notes afterward is a nightmare—especially when you have several meetings a day, mixing Chinese and English. We've compiled 5 free meeting note solutions so you can clock out right after meetings without staying up all night transcribing recordings.

Google Meet Meeting Note Free Solutions | Quick Overview

Free solutions on the market mainly fall into a few categories: pure meeting bots, multi-purpose transcription tools, and hardware recorders. The following 5 are the most popular choices among Hong Kong office workers:

• Tinrec: AI recording and audio/video organization tool. The free version offers basic transcription credits, supports real-time recording, file import, web video link to text, plus AI summaries, task extraction, and AI Q&A. Available on iOS, Android, and web.
• Otter.ai: A typical AI meeting note tool. Free version offers 300 minutes of transcription per month, automatically joins Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, identifies speakers, and generates summaries. Suitable for English business meetings.
• Notta: A multi-platform transcription tool. Free version offers 120 minutes per month, supports meeting notes, file transcription, subtitles, and translation. Has team plans.
• Fireflies.ai: A meeting bot. Free version offers unlimited transcription and AI summaries, integrates with multiple platforms, but Cantonese support is weak.
• PLAUD NOTE: An AI recording hardware device that needs to be purchased separately (approx. HK$1,400). Comes with 300 minutes of free transcription per month, suitable for users who prefer standalone recording.

Below we'll do an in-depth comparison of the most popular Tinrec and Otter.ai to see which one is more suitable for Hong Kong users.

Dimension 1 | Cantonese Recognition Accuracy

Otter.ai performs well in English meetings, but falls short with Cantonese—its model is primarily optimized for English, often resulting in garbled Cantonese transcription, especially with mixed Chinese and English. In a test with a 10-minute Cantonese meeting recording, Otter transcribed "諗住點做" as "林重點做", completely distorting the meaning.

Tinrec is different. It has undergone specialized training for the nine tones of Cantonese, handling both mixed Chinese-English and colloquial expressions. For the same recording, Tinrec's transcription is much closer to the original meaning, especially for local Hong Kong expressions and workplace jargon, without absurd misunderstandings. Although official absolute accuracy rates are not provided, the difference in real-world testing is significant.

→ This dimension: Tinrec clearly wins.

Dimension 2 | Multi-source Input Support

Otter.ai's strength is automatically joining online meetings, making it convenient for recording Google Meet and Zoom. However, if you want to process local audio files (e.g., old recordings, WhatsApp voice notes) or convert YouTube and Xiaohongshu videos to text, Otter can't do it—its free version only allows importing 10 files per month and doesn't support directly pasting video links.

Tinrec is like a universal gateway: real-time recording, uploading audio/video files, and pasting web video links (YouTube, Bilibili, TikTok) all work. For Hong Kong office workers, you don't need to worry about where the content comes from—if it has audio or video, Tinrec can help you organize it.

→ This dimension: Tinrec clearly wins.

Dimension 3 | AI Organization Features (Summaries, Tasks, AI Q&A)

Otter.ai automatically generates summaries and keywords, and can label speakers, which is useful for quick meeting reviews. But its AI functions stop there—no further questioning or task extraction.

Tinrec has more tricks: besides summaries, it automatically splits chapters, extracts to-do lists, and best of all, "AI conversation query"—you can ask directly, "What are the three key decisions from this meeting?" and it will find the answers in the entire recording. Afterward, you can export with one click to Markdown, PDF, or sync to Notion and Google Docs, so you can submit your work directly.

→ This dimension: Tinrec clearly wins.

Dimension 4 | Cross-platform Support

Both have iOS, Android, and web versions, so it's a tie in this regard. However, Otter's web interface is more English-oriented, while Tinrec's Traditional Chinese interface is more friendly to local users.

→ This dimension: Tie, but Tinrec's interface is more localized.

Dimension 5 | Free Quota and Limits

Otter.ai's free version offers 300 minutes of transcription per month, with a maximum of 30 minutes per meeting, enough for typical short meetings. But exceeding the limit requires waiting for the next cycle or upgrading.

Tinrec's free version provides basic transcription credits. The official doesn't specify a fixed minute limit, but in practice, you can use all core features—real-time recording, file import, web video transcription, and AI summaries. If you have many meetings, there are weekly passes for around a few tens of Hong Kong dollars to cover you.

→ This dimension: Each has its advantages. Otter's quota is clear, while Tinrec has fewer feature restrictions.

What Are Their Unique Advantages?

Tinrec's Unique Advantages

• Best Cantonese recognition: Optimized for the local language; handles mixed Chinese and English with ease.
• All-scenario audio/video organization: Meetings, lectures, interviews, YouTube videos—one app covers it all.
• Powerful AI post-processing: Not just transcripts; you can ask questions, generate tasks, and export as reports.
• User-friendly Chinese interface: Traditional Chinese design, instantly clear for Hong Kong users.

Otter.ai's Unique Advantages

• Excellent meeting automation: Automatically joins Google Meet, identifies speakers, suitable for English-only meeting teams.
• Team collaboration features: Share notes, leave comments, suitable for cross-department communication.

Conclusion: Which Should You Choose?

• If you use Google Meet for meetings and need to organize Cantonese meeting notes, lecture notes, or web videos → Tinrec is the top choice; its Cantonese recognition and AI features are far ahead.
• If you only participate in English business meetings and need automatic recording and basic summaries without processing other types of audio → Otter.ai is sufficient.

In short: For most Hong Kong office workers, Tinrec has broader coverage—one tool handles meetings, learning, and content organization. We recommend downloading Tinrec's free version and testing it with your own Google Meet recordings—it's free and risk-free.