Circleback

Overview

Circleback is a meeting assistant for people who want notes and follow-up across online calls and in-person conversations, with a searchable record of past meetings. Its standout advantage is the choice of bot, local-app, and uploaded-file recording; the trade-off is that archive depth and team controls depend on the plan.

For individuals or teams that need meeting capture across several conferencing services and a broad integration set, it is a strong fit. Buyers needing long-term recording retention, formal administration, or HIPAA compliance should look closely at the higher tiers.

Key features

• Flexible recording: Circleback can join Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or Webex as a bot, record locally through desktop or mobile apps, or process an uploaded audio or video recording. Local recording is useful when a bot is not the right fit; mobile capture also covers in-person meetings.
• Notes and follow-through: It generates AI meeting notes and summaries, identifies speakers by name in transcripts, and automatically captures, assigns, and organizes action items. That combination is more useful for teams tracking ownership than a transcript alone.
• Search and assistant tools: Meeting records form a searchable archive. Ask Circleback and email viewing and drafting extend the assistant beyond the transcript, though the available facts do not establish the scope of those functions.
• Language and integrations: Circleback lists 110 transcription languages and calendar integrations. Its integrations include Google Calendar, Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Notion, Linear, HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio, Asana, PostHog, Ashby, Intercom, Zoho, Monday, Zapier, and Make. API, MCP, CLI, and webhook access will matter most to teams connecting meeting workflows to other systems.
• Security: Circleback says it is SOC 2 Type II and EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework-certified, encrypts data in transit and at rest, and does not train models on customer data. HIPAA compliance is included with Enterprise, making that tier the relevant option for customers who need it.

Pricing

The Free plan costs nothing and includes AI meeting notes, action items, online and in-person meetings, unlimited meetings, automatic tagging and sharing, limited automations, two teams, and 30 days of meeting and recording history. It also includes limited API/MCP/CLI access. This is a generous way to try the capture and follow-up workflow without a meeting-count cap, but a 30-day history window makes it a poor fit for anyone who needs an enduring archive.

Pro costs $15 a month, billed at $15/user/month. It adds unlimited meeting history, one year of recording storage, all integrations, custom AI insights, and five teams. It suits individuals and smaller teams that need a longer archive or the full integration set; it does not provide the Business tier's stated administration controls or unlimited teams.

Business costs $25 a month, billed at $25/user/month. It adds admin and member roles, unlimited free viewers, custom retention, settings controls, unlimited teams, a usage dashboard, and two years of recording storage. This is the more fitting choice for organizations managing access and retention across a larger group, though recording storage is still time-limited.

Enterprise costs $35 a month, billed at $35/user/month with volume pricing. It adds SAML/OIDC SSO, SCIM, invoice or PO billing, unlimited recording storage, priority support, and HIPAA compliance. It is aimed at organizations with those compliance, identity, or procurement requirements rather than buyers seeking only extra retention. A free trial is available.

Platforms

Circleback is available on web, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, with API access; it also offers desktop, mobile, and Apple Watch apps. The mix supports capture from a computer, phone, or supported online meeting platform, rather than limiting use to scheduled video calls.

Who it's for

Circleback is best suited to people and teams that want meeting records converted into assigned actions, need capture for both online and in-person conversations, or rely on integrations and developer access to connect follow-up workflows. Its Free plan can suit light users who accept a short history window. Teams needing admin roles, custom retention, SSO, SCIM, unlimited recording storage, or HIPAA compliance have clearer reasons to pay for Business or Enterprise.

It is less compelling for someone who only needs occasional transcription and has no use for automated follow-up or integrations, or for a team unwilling to pay once its archive needs exceed 30 days. Customers should also note that the terms authorize use for their own internal business purposes.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Three capture routes—bot, local app, and upload—cover more situations than bot-only meeting capture.
• Pro: Unlimited meetings on Free make it practical to evaluate regular use without a monthly meeting quota, while automatic tagging and sharing support collaboration.
• Pro: Named speaker identification and automatically assigned action items make the output more actionable than notes alone.
• Con: Free history lasts only 30 days, so keeping a useful archive requires moving to a paid plan.
• Con: Pro recording storage lasts one year and Business storage two years; only Enterprise includes unlimited recording storage.
• Con: Free limits automations and offers only two teams, which may constrain users trying to build repeatable workflows without upgrading.

Alternatives

Choose Bluedot if a free option with five lifetime meetings and a Chrome extension better matches a small trial or occasional-use need. Notta is an alternative for a user who can work within one seat and 120 transcription minutes per month on its free plan. Laxis may suit someone looking for a free tier capped at 300 transcription minutes per month, 30 days of conversation history, and 45 minutes per recording.

Read AI is worth considering if a five-meetings-per-month free plan and 20+ languages better fit the expected volume. Wudpecker offers a different free allowance: 10 meetings per month with its notetaker bot and three Ask AI questions per recording. Avoma may be a better fit for buyers comparing its Startup plan at $19 a month, billed annually, with up to 25 paid seats and unlimited free view-only seats.

Colibri.ai is an option for a user whose needs fit its free allowance of one user, five transcription hours per month, and a 40-minute recording limit. Fathom is an alternative if unlimited recordings and transcriptions, bot or bot-free capture, instant AI call summaries, and searchable clips and playlists on its free plan are the deciding factors.

Verdict

Circleback is a strong choice for individuals and teams who want flexible meeting capture, searchable notes, and automatic action-item ownership in one workflow. Its free plan removes meeting-volume pressure, while Pro is the practical step up for unlimited history and full integrations. Look elsewhere if a 30-day free archive is too short and paid recording retention is not enough for your needs, or if you need enterprise identity and compliance features without the Enterprise price.