Read AI vs Sembly (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Read AI grades higher than Sembly: 2.6 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 4, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Read AI grades higher on ease of use and platforms. Sembly grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Read AI
Meeting notetaker with search across meetings, email and chat
Sembly
AI meeting agent that records, summarizes and drafts follow-ups
Which one is for you
Pick Read AI if
- Fits if you want one search across your meetings, email and chat, with sources cited
- Works for university staff and students with a .edu email, on the EDU plan at $60 a year
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free and sit in more than 5 meetings a month, the free plan's cap
- Pricey if all you want is notes, at $15 a user a month on the yearly plan and $19.75 monthly
- Skip it if you want to replay the recording, because playback and video highlights need Enterprise at $22.50
- Watch out: every license in a workspace must be on the same plan, and Enterprise+ needs at least 5
- Watch out: there are no refunds, so a canceled plan just runs to the end of the billing period
Pick Sembly if
- Fits if you want a bot that joins calls from your calendar
- Works for consultants who send follow-ups, status reports and decks to clients
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 1 meeting hour a month
- Watch out: Studio credits meter the deck and document work, and extra credits are sold separately
- Pricey if you want multi-meeting chat or custom templates, since those start at Pro, $20 a user a month
- Watch out: MAX needs at least 3 users and Enterprise at least 10
- Skip it if you use a platform beyond Zoom, Meet, Teams or Webex
How we grade them
| 2.6GPARead AIGood | 2.4GPASemblyFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DPro is $15 a user a month billed yearly and $19.75 month to month, so you're at the dear end of this category on the yearly plan and in its dearest tenth if you pay monthly. Pro works from transcripts only: playback waits for Enterprise at $22.50. No refunds, either. | C$10 a month on Basic, billed yearly, for one user, just above the cheaper quarter's $8.33. Pro is $20 a user and MAX $30. |
| Free plan and trial | C5 meeting transcripts a month, with summaries, unlimited search, the meeting coach, basic integrations and the desktop and phone apps, and no card asked for. Five is a handful, though — in calls most days and you're done by the second week. | CThe free plan covers 1 meeting hour a month, with a 7-day trial on paid plans. |
| Features | BIt covers the job: recaps, action items and highlights on Meet, Zoom and Teams, search that answers with citations across meetings, email and messaging, and a coach on how you speak. Playback and video highlights are Enterprise only. | BCalendar capture, transcripts in 45+ languages, tasks, decks and documents from meeting content, client folders and integrations. Nothing on the listing shows a gap in the core note-taking job. |
| Ease of use | B4.9 from about 970 App Store ratings, just short of the 1,000 an A needs. The free plan asks for no card, and the recap turns up without you taking a single note. | CNo store rating on record. You connect a calendar and set up clients and brand packages. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and a browser extension, working with Zoom, Meet, Teams, Gmail, Outlook and Slack, with premium links to Notion, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira and Zapier from Pro. There's an MCP server and an API as well. | BWeb only, with Slack, HubSpot, Jira, Asana, Salesforce, Zapier and MCP, but no desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | one search across meetings, email and chat | a notetaker that joins your calls and drafts follow-ups |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Read AI and Sembly. How we grade
Price against what you get
Read AI starts at $15 a month for each person and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Sembly starts at $10 a month and scores 2.7.
Read AI scores higher, and starts $5 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI meeting note takers on the chart, 6 score higher than Read AI for less, and 14 score higher than Sembly for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Read AI also covers AI search.
- Sembly also covers tasks.
At a glance
| Read AI | Sembly | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $15 per user / month, billed annually | $10 per month, billed annually ($14 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 5 meeting transcripts a month, with summaries, enterprise search, the meeting coach, basic integrations and the desktop and mobile apps. No credit card required. | 1 hour of meeting capture per month, transcripts, notes and summaries, tasks, basic AI chat and 750 Studio credits a month. |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial on Basic, Pro and MAX |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Read AI, Inc. | Sembly AI, Inc. |
| Price read from | read.ai | sembly.ai |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Read AI
- The Free plan covers 5 meeting transcripts a month.
- Audio and video playback and video highlights need Enterprise; the Pro plan does not include them.
- All licenses in a workspace must be on the same plan, and Enterprise+ requires at least 5 licenses.
- Read AI does not offer refunds; a canceled subscription runs to the end of the billing period.
Sembly
- The free plan covers 1 meeting hour a month; all other plans are unlimited for capture.
- Studio credits meter the AI deliverable work; extra credits are sold separately on paid plans.
- MAX needs at least 3 users and Enterprise at least 10.
- The pricing page lists capture for Google Meet, Teams, Zoom and Webex only, and the dashboard runs in a browser.
Key features
Read AI
- Meeting recaps and transcripts
- Produces a recap, action items and highlights for each meeting on Google Meet, Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Free covers 5 transcripts a month; paid plans are unlimited.
- Search with cited answers
- Ask what was decided, who owns it and what is still open, and get answers that cite their source. Search is listed as unlimited on every plan.
- Email and messaging summaries
- Summaries are not limited to meetings: the plans also list summaries for email and messaging, with Gmail, Outlook and Slack among the connected services.
- Meeting coach
- A personalized coach gives feedback on how you speak and run meetings. It is included on every plan, including Free.
- Playback and video highlights
- Audio and video playback and video highlights are available on Enterprise and Enterprise+ only; Free and Pro work from transcripts and summaries.
- Integrations, MCP and API
- Premium integrations such as Notion, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Confluence and Zapier, plus webhooks, start on Pro. Read AI also offers an MCP server and an API.
Sembly
- Calendar-based meeting capture
- Records Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex meetings from a synced calendar, and can attend meetings you skip.
- Transcripts in 45+ languages
- Word-for-word transcripts with named speakers, plus notes with a summary, topics, decisions, risks and next steps.
- Tasks with owners and deadlines
- Commitments raised in a meeting become tasks that can be confirmed and then sent on to project management tools.
- Decks and documents from meetings
- Generates proposals, status reports and follow-up emails from meeting content, exported as editable PowerPoint and Word files.
- Clients and brand packages
- Organizes work by client and applies a brand package to generated files. Limits rise from 5 clients on Free to 500 on MAX.
- AI chat across meetings
- Free and Basic chat about a single meeting. Pro and above can ask questions across several meetings.
Plans
Read AI
Free$0
5 meeting transcripts a month, summaries, unlimited search, meeting coach and basic integrations.
Pro$15
per user / month, billed annually ($19.75 billed monthly)
Unlimited meeting transcripts, priority processing, 100 file upload credits a month and premium integrations.
Enterprise$22.50
per user / month, billed annually ($29.75 billed monthly)
Adds audio and video playback, video highlights, 200 file upload credits a month and premium support.
Enterprise+$29.75
per user / month, billed annually ($39.75 billed monthly)
Minimum 5 licenses. Adds HIPAA compliance, SAML and SCIM, domain capture and a custom data retention policy.
Sembly
Free$0
1 meeting hour a month, notes, tasks, basic AI chat, 1 month of meeting history and 750 Studio credits.
Basic$10
per month, billed annually ($14 billed monthly)
One user. Unlimited online meetings, 12 months of history, standard video, 2,500 Studio credits a month.
Pro$20
per user / month, billed annually ($29 billed monthly)
Up to 40 users. Adds custom note templates, multi-meeting AI chat, consent tracking, MCP and 3,000 credits.
MAX$30
per user / month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly)
3 to 500 users. Adds unlimited history, HIPAA compliance, custom SSO, audit log, HD video, 3,500 credits.
EnterpriseCustom
For 10 or more users or custom contracts and DPAs; adds a dedicated success manager and onboarding.
Ways to pay less
Read AI
- Annual discount
25% off with annual billing
Read AI's pricing page marks annual billing as -25%: Pro is $15 instead of $19.75 per user per month, Enterprise $22.50 instead of $29.75 and Enterprise+ $29.75 instead of $39.75.
- Education
EDU plan at $60 a year
Active students and staff at higher-education institutions who sign up with a .edu email can buy the EDU plan for $60 a year (30 meetings a month) or EDU + Video for $100 a year.
- Other savings
Volume discounts from 100 licenses
The pricing page lists volume discounts of 10% for 100 or more licenses, 15% for 500 or more and 20% for 1,000 or more.
Sembly
- Annual discount
Save 30% with annual billing
Sembly's pricing page shows annual billing at 30% off: Basic $10 instead of $14, Pro $20 instead of $29 and MAX $30 instead of $39 per month.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Read AI or Sembly?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Read AI starts at $15 per user / month, billed annually, and Sembly starts at $10 per month, billed annually ($14 billed monthly). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Read AI or Sembly?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Read AI and Sembly have a free plan.
Which platforms do Read AI and Sembly run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Read AI lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps and a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.