Meeting Recorder Without a Bot: Submind vs Otter, Granola and ScreenApp
Four ways to record a meeting, compared on whether a bot joins, where the audio goes, and what the free tier actually allows.
Last updated: November 2, 2026
| Tool | Recording | Free limits | Account | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Submind | A browser tab, on your device | 2 hours per recording, no count limit | None | Free |
| ScreenApp | Their servers | 45 minutes per recording, 2 transcriptions to try | Required | From $19/month billed annually |
| Otter | Their servers, bot joins the call | 300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation | Required | $16.99/user/month |
| Granola | Their desktop app, then their servers | 30 days of meeting history | Required, plus a desktop install | $14/user/month for unlimited history |
Limits and prices come from each vendor’s own pricing page, read on 2 November 2026. Otter and Granola price per user; ScreenApp is a single seat. Check the vendor before you buy — all three changed their free tiers during 2026.
Which one should you choose?
Use Submind when you want the audio and only the audio. Record here. No bot appears in the call, no account exists, and the file is built inside your browser. Two hours per recording, no count limit.
Use Otter when you want notes rather than a recording. It transcribes, labels speakers and writes summaries, and the free plan’s 300 minutes a month is enough to try it properly. The bot joining the call is the price of that automation.
Use Granola when you live in meetings all day. It captures device audio without a bot, works across desktop and mobile, and keeps notes rather than files. The free plan’s 30-day history is the limit to watch.
Use ScreenApp when you need the screen as well as the sound. It records video, webcam and audio together, which none of the others here do.
When a paid tool is the better choice
Otter and Granola win on what happens after the recording. A file is not notes. If the point of recording the meeting is to avoid writing the minutes, they finish that job and Submind does not.
They also win on desktop apps. A Zoom or Teams desktop meeting cannot be captured by a browser. Otter joins it; Granola hears it through the operating system. Submind needs the meeting to run in a tab.
Granola wins on portability. It has iOS, Android and an Apple Watch app. Submind is a desktop browser page and nothing else.
ScreenApp wins on video. It records the screen alongside the audio, which matters for demos, design reviews and anything where seeing the thing is half the point.
Submind is the wrong pick if you need a transcript, a summary, speaker labels, a mobile app, or a meeting that runs outside a browser. Those limits are real, and the page says so before you press record.
Free vs paid: what the limits actually mean
“300 minutes a month” on Otter sounds generous until you divide it: ten half-hour meetings, and each conversation is capped at 30 minutes on the free plan. A 50-minute meeting is truncated, not compressed.
“30 days of history” on Granola is a retention limit, not a recording limit. Your older notes do not disappear from your disk, but the app stops showing them. Ten weeks of meetings is the real shape of that free tier.
“45 minutes per recording” on ScreenApp is a hard stop mid-meeting. Most calls fit; the ones that matter often do not. The free plan also allows two transcriptions to try, which is a sample rather than a tier.
“2 hours per recording” on Submind is the longest free cap here, and it is bounded by memory in the tab rather than by a plan. There is no monthly count and no account to run out.
“No account” is the difference that is easy to miss. The other three need an identity before they record anything, which means the meeting is tied to an account from the first second.
Frequently asked questions
For the recording, yes. Submind records a browser meeting and your microphone into one audio file with no account and no upload. Otter does a different, larger job: it transcribes, identifies speakers, and writes summaries. If you want notes rather than audio, Otter is the right tool and Submind is not.