G2's Fall 2026 Grid: Teams Scores 88, but Fathom Wins Note-Taking

By James Calloway

Microsoft Teams leads G2's Fall 2026 AI Note-Taking Software Grid with a score of 88 — yet the tool that actually transcribes and summarizes best is a smaller vendor ranked lower overall. Fathom, sitting at a G2 Score of 77, posts 97% for summary generation, 96% for transcription, and 96% for action-item extraction, beating Teams on every note-taking-specific measure. That contradiction is the most useful fact in the entire report.

The review, authored by G2 SEO Content Specialist Harshita Tewari and published November 6, 2026, ranks five products by G2 Score. The underlying data draws on approved G2 reviews submitted between October 2025 and October 2026, with the Grid's satisfaction data window closing August 25, 2026. For Teams, Zoom, and Slack, Tewari weighted reviews discussing meeting notes and recaps over general communication feedback — a disclosed methodological choice that shapes the rankings.

What do the headline scores actually measure?

The G2 Score blends reviewer satisfaction with market presence — share, seller size, and social impact. That favors incumbents. Strip out market weight, and the picture shifts:

• Microsoft Teams — G2 Score 88; 91% summary generation, 90% speech-to-text, 94% ease of use against a 93% category average.
• Zoom Workplace — G2 Score 81; 94% meets-requirements, 93% ease of use. The Grid supplies no comparable note-taking feature scores; Tewari explicitly declines to infer them.
• Fathom — G2 Score 77; 97% summary generation, 96% transcription, 96% action items, 97% ease of use, and a 98 NPS.
• Krisp — 92% summary generation, 92% action-item extraction, 95% ease of setup versus a 93% category average.
• Slack — G2 Score 64; 96% transcription, 95% team-based access, 96% ease of use. Tewari notes these are category satisfaction ratings, not evidence Slack is a dedicated cross-platform recorder.

In short, the Grid rewards scale; the satisfaction percentages reward focus. Neither number alone tells a sales team which tool to buy.

What does each tool cost, and for which team?

Pricing runs from free to $23.50 per user per month, all annual billing:

• Teams: Essentials at $4/user/month; Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot at $23.50 — the ceiling here.
• Zoom Workplace: Basic free; Workplace Pro at $14.16/user/month.
• Fathom: Free plan; Premium $16, Team $15 (two-seat minimum).
• Krisp: Core $8, Advanced $15, Enterprise custom.
• Slack: Free; Pro $7.25; Business+ $15.

For a ten-person revenue team, the spread between Slack Pro and Teams-with-Copilot is roughly $1,950 per year — before confirming which AI features each tier actually includes. Tewari warns that AI features vary by eligibility and that buyers should verify entitlements and regional pricing before purchase.

Team-size data reinforces the segmentation: 73% of Fathom reviewers and 75% of Krisp reviewers come from small businesses, per the Fall 2026 Grid.

What do reviewers say breaks?

Every promise in this category carries a documented caveat.

Teams reviewers report transcripts needing correction and a resource-intensive desktop app. Zoom users find recaps that miss details and an interface that takes time to navigate; the Grid offers no feature-level note-taking scores to test the marketing claim against. Fathom reviewers flag speaker-name corrections and the assistant occasionally joining meetings uninvited. Krisp's 84% multi-language and accent support rating sits well below its 92% summary score — a material gap for any team selling across regions. Slack users report notification overload and huddle glitches.

Tewari's prescription is a short pilot on the meetings where missed follow-ups hurt most: recording, recap, owner assignment, search, and secure sharing, end to end. On security, she is blunt — Fathom's 93% and Slack's 92% access-control satisfaction ratings "are not security guarantees," and GDPR compliance depends on configuration, not a badge.

Her closing standard is the right one: the correct tool should make follow-through easier, not just generate more text. Whether vendors' fall releases meet that bar is what the Winter 2027 Grid will test.