No assistant on the attendee list
Read's own site says its assistant "joins your meetings, records, and delivers a recap." That works for many teams. It is the wrong model for a candid 1:1, an interview, a client who does not want a bot, or a meeting that is not on a computer.
Nothing joins the call
Your side of the call is captured in your browser. No new participant, no join request for the host to approve, no "who is that?" moment.
Nothing to install
No desktop app, no Chrome extension, no calendar connection. Open a tab and press Start. It works on a work laptop where you cannot add software.
Works in the room
A phone on the table or a laptop microphone captures an in-person meeting, a lecture or an interview. No app download first.
Keeps the audio
The recording is saved with the transcript so you can hear the exact moment. Replay is on Pro and Max.
Capturing a meeting with nothing joining it
Open a tab
Go to meetingsidekick.ai in Chrome or Edge on a desktop, or any browser on a phone. Sign in free, or use the 5-minute trial with no account.
Press Start
Tick the consent box, press Start, allow the microphone. On a desktop call, choose your meeting tab or screen in the share dialog and tick the audio box so the other side is heard.
Tell the room
Say you are taking notes. Since nothing joined, nobody was notified for you. Then listen; the live transcript runs in the tab.
Stop and ask
Press Stop for a summary with decisions and action items, an email recap, and a chat box scoped to that meeting. Every meeting is saved to your account.
MeetingSidekick vs. Read AI
Only rows we could confirm on Read's own website on the date below. No pricing, because theirs changes.
| MeetingSidekick | Read AI | |
|---|---|---|
| No bot on the attendee list | Yes, always | Its assistant joins the meeting |
| Nothing to install | Browser tab | Desktop apps, Chrome extension, mobile apps |
| In-person meetings | Phone or laptop browser | Yes, via its mobile app |
| Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams | Any call, via tab audio | Yes |
| Search across all your meetings | Pro and Max | Yes, plus email and chat |
| Replay the recording | Audio, Pro and Max | Yes |
| Sentiment, engagement and talk-time analytics | No | Yes |
| Chat with a meeting afterwards | Yes, every plan | Yes |
Read AI rows reflect read.ai and read.ai/meetings as read on 2 September 2026. Features change, so check their current docs. Read AI is a trademark of its owner. MeetingSidekick is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. See the full comparison with Otter, Fireflies and Fathom.
When Read AI is the better choice
Pick Read if you want the analytics. Read measures sentiment, engagement and talk time during the call, joins scheduled calls from your calendar, and searches across meetings, email and chat in one place. If you run a sales or customer team and want coaching data, MeetingSidekick does not have it.
Pick MeetingSidekick when a bot is the problem. Some clients and candidates do not want an assistant on their call. Some hosts block unknown participants. Some meetings happen in a room, and some laptops do not let you install anything. In all of those, a browser tab that captures your own audio is the simplest thing that works.
Know the limits. You press Start yourself; there is no calendar auto-join. Audio, not video. No team workspace or CRM integrations. Desktop call audio needs Chrome or Edge; Safari and Firefox show an error at the share-audio step. And recording rules vary by place, so you tell people you are taking notes; there is just no bot in the call doing it for you.
Read AI vs. MeetingSidekick, answered
Does MeetingSidekick join the meeting like the Read AI assistant?
No. Read's site describes its assistant joining your meetings to record them. MeetingSidekick captures the audio on your own device in a browser tab, so nothing joins the call and no extra name appears on the attendee list. You still tell people you are taking notes.
Do I need to install an app or extension?
No. Read offers desktop apps, a Chrome extension and mobile apps. MeetingSidekick is a web page: open meetingsidekick.ai, press Start. Nothing to install, no admin rights, no calendar connection.
Can it capture in-person meetings?
Yes. A phone on the table or a laptop microphone captures the room. Read's mobile app can also record in-person meetings, so on this point both tools work; the difference is that MeetingSidekick does it from a browser with no app to install.
What does MeetingSidekick cost?
Free is 2 hours a month with no credit card. Pro is $15 a month or $120 a year for 30 hours, speaker names, search across all your meetings and audio replay. Max is $50 a month or $400 a year for unlimited hours plus screenshot chat. A 5-minute trial needs no signup.
Try it on your next meeting. Nothing joins the call.
Free to start, no credit card. Open a tab, press Start.
Start free →