Records meetings with a bot or bot-free desktop capture, then turns them into AI notes, shareable clips and highlight reels. The Free plan covers unlimited meetings up to 45 minutes.
AI meeting recorder and summarizer with CRM sync. Generous free tier with unlimited recordings. Multi-language transcription and cross-meeting AI reports.
Grain trails tl;dv most on Pricing sanity: 9/15 vs 11/15.
What drives this decision
Pricing sanity favors tl;dv by 2 points.
UX polish favors tl;dv by 2 points.
Outcome fit favors tl;dv by 1 points.
Decision shortcuts
Which one fits your practice
Choose Grain if
Best fit: Consultants managing recurring client delivery and reporting
Trust & support matters most to you: Grain scores 8/10 vs 7/10 for tl;dv.
You want the lower paid entry: Starter at $15 vs $18 for tl;dv.
You need Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Desktop capture without a bot, which the tl;dv pricing page does not list.
Choose tl;dv if
Best fit: Consultants who want meeting notes to flow into sales and delivery systems
Pricing sanity matters most to you: tl;dv scores 11/15 vs 9/15 for Grain.
UX polish matters most to you: tl;dv scores 13/15 vs 11/15 for Grain.
You need iOS app, Android app, which the Grain pricing page does not list.
Client-ready brief
Get this comparison decision brief
Send a concise summary of winner, trade-offs, and rollout recommendation.
Grain: 71/100
tl;dv: 75/100
tl;dv leads by 4 points (close call).
Best fit
Who each tool is for
Grain
Strong Choice
Best for: Consultants managing recurring client delivery and reporting.
Why pick it: Records meetings with a bot or bot-free desktop capture, then turns them into AI notes, shareable clips and highlight reels. The Free plan covers unlimited meetings up to 45 minutes.
Watch for: Skip it if you only need written summaries of long calls: the Free plan stops at 45 minutes per meeting and keeps 30 days of history, and paid seats start at $15/month billed annually ($19 monthly).
tl;dv
Strong Choice
Best for: Consultants who want meeting notes to flow into sales and delivery systems.
Why pick it: Unlimited free recordings set it apart. CRM sync means meeting insights update your pipeline automatically without manual data entry.
Watch for: Paid tier is needed for advanced features like cross-meeting reports. If you need those on day one, Otter or Fathom may deliver faster.
Swipe sideways to compare all columns.
Grain
tl;dv
Quick facts
Pricing sanity
Free, paid from $15/mo
Free, paid from $18/mo
Setup speed
5 min setup
30 min setup
Integrations
3+
3+
Score breakdown
Outcome fit
19/25
20/25
Setup speed
14/20
14/20
Pricing sanity
9/15
11/15
Integrations
10/15
10/15
UX polish
11/15
13/15
Trust & support
8/10
7/10
Summary
Best for
Consultants managing recurring client delivery and reporting.
Consultants who want meeting notes to flow into sales and delivery systems.
Key strength
Strong on trust
Strong on UX quality
Main weakness
Weaker on pricing
Fewer integrations
Pricing
Plan-by-plan pricing
Grain
Plan
Price
Limits (vendor's wording)
Free
Free
Unlimited meetings up to 45 minutes each; 30-day meeting history
Starter
$15 per seat / month, billed annually$19 per seat / month, billed monthly
Unlimited meeting length and history; custom AI prompts; Slack and personal Zapier
Business
$29 per seat / month, billed annually$39 per seat / month, billed monthly
HubSpot and Salesforce integrations; AI coaching; unlimited uploads
Cheapest plan that fits: Starter, $15 per seat or user
tl;dv
$18 per month · $216 per year
Cheapest plan that fits: Pro, $18 per seat or user
Uses list prices from each vendor's pricing page, before tax and discounts. Free plans and custom-quote plans are left out.
Platforms
Where each tool runs
Platform
Grain
tl;dv
Zoom
Listed
Not listed on vendor pricing page
Google Meet
Listed
Not listed on vendor pricing page
Microsoft Teams
Listed
Not listed on vendor pricing page
Desktop capture without a bot
Listed
Not listed on vendor pricing page
iOS app
Not listed on vendor pricing page
Listed
Android app
Not listed on vendor pricing page
Listed
Based only on what each vendor's pricing page states. A platform that is not listed there may still be supported.
Method
How we checked
Scores: Curalo rates each tool out of 100 on six consultant criteria (outcome fit, setup speed, pricing, integrations, UX, trust and support). See the scoring method
Grain: prices checked October 21, 2026 on the vendor's pricing page: grain.com
tl;dv: prices checked October 21, 2026 on the vendor's pricing page: tldv.io
Plans, limits and platforms are copied from each vendor's pricing page in the vendor's own terms.
Anything a vendor does not publish is shown as not listed rather than guessed. Prices change, so confirm on the vendor's page before buying.
Common questions
Questions consultants ask before choosing
Which is better for consultants, Grain or tl;dv?
tl;dv scores 75/100 and Grain scores 71/100 on Curalo's consultant rubric. The biggest gap is Pricing sanity: tl;dv 11/15 vs 9/15.
Is Grain or tl;dv cheaper?
Grain's cheapest paid plan is Starter at $15 per seat / month, billed annually. tl;dv's cheapest paid plan is Pro at $18 per seat / month, billed annually.
Do Grain and tl;dv have a free plan?
Grain has a free plan: Unlimited meetings up to 45 minutes each; 30-day meeting history. tl;dv has a free plan: Unlimited recordings; AI notes for 10 meetings.
What would one user pay for Grain or tl;dv?
Grain: $15 a month on Starter. tl;dv: $18 a month on Pro. Annual list prices where available, before tax.
When is Grain the wrong choice?
Skip it if you only need written summaries of long calls: the Free plan stops at 45 minutes per meeting and keeps 30 days of history, and paid seats start at $15/month billed annually ($19 monthly).
When is tl;dv the wrong choice?
Paid tier is needed for advanced features like cross-meeting reports. If you need those on day one, Otter or Fathom may deliver faster.