The US provider Circleback is opening its AI meeting assistant for the first time for free for unlimited transcriptions. Previously, the service cost at least around 20 dollars a month, and the cheapest paid plan now drops to 15 dollars. The company, which has eight employees, aims to attract new users without a marketing budget.
Free plan replaces the marketing budget
The new free plan allows for unlimited recorded and automatically transcribed meetings, but only the most recent thirty days are viewable. It also includes the mobile and Apple Watch app, the “Ask Circleback” feature for searching old protocols by question, integrations with Slack and Linear, as well as limited API and MCP access for up to two teams. Those who want to connect additional tools like Notion, HubSpot, or Salesforce, or manage more than two teams, still need a paid account.
Co-founder Ali Haghani justifies the move according to TechCrunch by stating that open access brings more people in contact with the product. The company, founded in 2023 by Haghani and Kevin Jacyna and funded by Y Combinator, claims to spend no money on Google or Meta advertising – the free plan instead takes on the role of the marketing budget. With eight employees, Circleback is profitable and generates around eight million dollars in annual revenue, independently unverified; the company, which has been equipped with 2.5 million dollars since 2024, is currently not seeking fresh capital.
Paid plan drops to 15 dollars, competition grows
The previous entry price of around 21 dollars a month is eliminated in favor of the new pricing structure. The cheapest paid plan, Pro, now costs 15 dollars per user per month, and with annual payment, the amount drops to 11 dollars, unlocking unlimited access to the meeting history, one year of recording storage, all integrations, as well as full API and MCP access. Above that, there is a Business plan for 25 dollars monthly with administrative roles and two years of storage duration, as well as an Enterprise plan for 35 dollars with single sign-on and HIPAA compliance for healthcare companies.
Access is available through the Circleback website, a desktop app for Mac and Windows, as well as mobile applications, optionally via a meeting bot or bot-free recording directly from the device. The interface currently lists only English as the language. The initiative responds to growing pressure in the AI meeting notes market: better-funded providers like Granola, Read AI, and Fireflies have reportedly already completed significantly larger funding rounds according to TechCrunch. Granola had introduced its own free plan months earlier, and two more providers, Wispr and Calendly, are also newly entering the market.
Established video conferencing suites are also upgrading their built-in tools: Google Meet now automatically creates protocols for in-person meetings, but only in paid Workspace accounts, while Microsoft offers comparable summaries through Teams Recap. Unlike these built-in functions in video conferencing suites, Circleback operates independently of the platform with practically any conferencing tool.
It will be crucial whether the open access actually brings in new paying customers or primarily attracts users who remain permanently on the free plan. With eight employees and no fresh capital, Circleback has significantly less financial leeway than billion-dollar funded competitors – the bet on organic growth through free access must therefore be sustained from ongoing business.
