Sembly vs Votars (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Sembly and Votars share a 2.4 GPA, both have a free plan, and Votars starts cheaper, at $8 a month against $10 a month.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Sembly grades higher on features. Votars grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Sembly
AI meeting agent that records, summarizes and drafts follow-ups
Votars
Multilingual transcription and meeting notes with live translation
Which one is for you
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
Pick Votars if
- Fits if your meetings are in more than one language and you need them translated
- Works for one person on a Windows or Mac laptop who wants notes on the phone too
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 30 minutes per recording, 300 minutes a month and 20 summaries
- Pricey if you go for teams, as Business is $14.67 per seat on yearly billing with a seat selector
- Watch out: translation and downloadable transcripts are paid features
- Watch out: AI summaries are counted monthly on every plan below Enterprise
How we grade them
| 2.4GPASemblyFair | 2.4GPAVotarsFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | BPersonal is $8 a month on yearly billing, a little under the $8.33 that starts the cheaper quarter of meeting-note tools. Monthly billing is $11.99. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe free plan covers 1 meeting hour a month, with a 7-day trial on paid plans. | C300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per recording, 50 transcribed files and 20 AI summaries. A few meetings and you are at the edge. |
| Features | 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. | CLive transcription, translation, summaries, action items, recording and mind maps. Translation and downloads need Personal, and summaries are counted each month on every plan below Enterprise. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You connect a calendar and set up clients and brand packages. | CNo store rating on record. You connect Zoom, Teams or Meet and set up a workspace. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with Slack, HubSpot, Jira, Asana, Salesforce, Zapier and MCP, but no desktop or phone apps. | BWeb, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, with Zoom, Teams and Meet. Only three integrations are listed and no API. |
| Best for | a notetaker that joins your calls and drafts follow-ups | multilingual transcription and meeting notes |
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: Sembly and Votars. How we grade
Price against what you get
Sembly starts at $10 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Votars starts at $8 a month and scores 2.3.
Sembly scores higher, and starts $2 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI meeting note takers on the chart, 14 score higher than Sembly for less, and 7 score higher than Votars 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
- Sembly also covers chat assistant and tasks.
- Votars also covers reports.
At a glance
| Sembly | Votars | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $10 per month, billed annually ($14 billed monthly) | $8 per month, billed annually ($11.99 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 1 hour of meeting capture per month, transcripts, notes and summaries, tasks, basic AI chat and 750 Studio credits a month. | 300 minutes of recording a month, up to 30 minutes per recording, 50 transcribed files and 20 AI summaries. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial on Basic, Pro and MAX | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Sembly AI, Inc. | Votars |
| Price read from | sembly.ai | votars.ai |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Votars
- The free plan caps recordings at 30 minutes and 300 minutes a month.
- Translation and downloadable transcripts need Personal or higher.
- Business is priced per seat and the page shows a seat selector for adding people.
- AI summaries are counted per month on every plan below Enterprise.
Key features
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.
Votars
- Real-time transcription
- Transcribes a live microphone, web meetings, uploaded audio or video, and webpage audio, with speaker identification on every plan.
- Translation
- Transcript translation and real-time translation are available from the Personal plan; the site lists 74 languages.
- Summaries and action items
- AI summaries are capped per month: 20 on Free, 100 on Personal, 500 on Business and unlimited on Enterprise.
- Meeting recording
- Records and transcribes in Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, including on the free plan.
- Document and mind-map output
- The homepage lists Word, Excel, PowerPoint and mind-map output, plus one-click sharing of results.
- Workspace sharing
- Business adds shared workspaces with permission management for teams of up to 99 people.
Plans
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.
Votars
Free$0
300 recording minutes a month, 30 minutes per recording, speaker identification and Zoom, Teams and Meet recording.
Personal$8
per month, billed annually ($11.99 billed monthly)
1,800 minutes a month, 90 minutes per recording, 100 files, 100 AI summaries, translation and downloadable transcripts.
Business$14.67
per seat / month, billed annually ($21.99 billed monthly)
Unlimited minutes, 300 minutes per recording, 200 files, 500 AI summaries, workspace sharing; teams of up to 99 people.
EnterpriseCustom
For more than 99 seats: unlimited AI summaries, custom prompts and templates, security and compliance management.
Ways to pay less
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.
Votars
- Annual discount
Save 33% with annual billing
The pricing page shows Personal at $8 and Business at $14.67 a month when billed annually, marked 33% off the monthly price.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Sembly or Votars?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Votars is cheaper to start with: $8 a month, against $10 a month for Sembly. Sembly starts at $10 per month, billed annually ($14 billed monthly), and Votars starts at $8 per month, billed annually ($11.99 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Sembly or Votars?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Sembly and Votars have a free plan.
Which platforms do Sembly and Votars run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Votars lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. 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.