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Productivity · head to head

Bluedot vs Circleback

Bluedot logo

Bluedot

Productivity

Bot-free meeting recorder and AI note taker that runs as a browser extension

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Circleback logo

Circleback

Productivity

AI meeting notes that join calls from your calendar and push action items into other tools

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bluedot cancelling ends access immediately and recordings are permanently deleted after thirty days, so the product is unsuitable as a meeting archive and any record you need to keep must be exported before the subscription lapses.; Circleback the free plan keeps 30 days of history, so it serves immediate follow-up and fails as a record, and the tier that made it look free has to be paid for the first time anyone needs a conversation from last quarter.
  • They diverge on capability: Bluedot covers Bot-free capture, Circleback covers Calendar-driven recording.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bluedot and Circleback actually diverge.

Attributes where Bluedot and Circleback differ
AttributeBluedotCircleback
Pricing modelPer recording user per monthfreemium
PlatformsWeb, Chrome, macOS, Windows, iOS, AndroidWeb

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Productivity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Bluedot

  • Bot-free capture
  • Transcript-based video editing
  • Custom note templates
  • Record-only seat pricing
  • CRM and ATS push
  • Imports
  • Webhooks
  • SSO and SCIM

Only in Circleback

  • Calendar-driven recording
  • Speaker-labelled transcripts
  • Action item extraction
  • Search across meetings
  • In-person meetings
  • Integrations
  • Programmatic access
  • Unlimited meetings on free

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Bluedot

  • A sales team where prospects decline to admit recording bots but the manager still needs call notes in the CRMnot Circleback
  • A recruiter conducting interviews who wants a structured summary per candidate without a visible third party in the callnot Circleback
  • A customer success team of thirty where only four people run calls, so per-recorder pricing costs a fraction of a per-seat competitornot Circleback
  • Cutting a short clip from a long call to share internally, done by deleting text from the transcript rather than opening a video editornot Circleback

Circleback

  • Sales or recruiting calls where the follow-up has to land in the CRM or applicant system without anybody retyping it.not Bluedot
  • Consultancies that need an accurate record of what a client asked for and when they asked for it.not Bluedot
  • Distributed teams where people who missed a call need the substance rather than an hour of recording to sit through.not Bluedot
  • Managers and founders running many short calls where the action items are the only output that matters.not Bluedot

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Bluedot

  • Cancelling ends access immediately and recordings are permanently deleted after thirty days, so the product is unsuitable as a meeting archive and any record you need to keep must be exported before the subscription lapses.
  • The Basic tier at $14 records audio only and caps recordings at one hour, which excludes most workshops, training sessions and long client calls and pushes anyone with real meetings to Pro.
  • The free tier gives five meetings in total rather than five a month, so it functions as an extended trial and cannot be used as a genuine free option for occasional users.
  • Recording without a visible bot removes the prompt that alerts participants, but not the consent obligation in jurisdictions requiring all parties to agree, and the product design makes that omission easy to overlook.
  • It is a small independent vendor in a category where Zoom, Microsoft and Google now bundle equivalent summarisation into subscriptions customers already hold, which is sustained pressure on both pricing and survival.

Circleback

  • The free plan keeps 30 days of history, so it serves immediate follow-up and fails as a record, and the tier that made it look free has to be paid for the first time anyone needs a conversation from last quarter.
  • Custom retention and admin roles are on the Business tier and single sign-on and HIPAA on Enterprise, which is the familiar pattern of an organisation discovering the real price only after individuals have adopted the tool and filled it with client conversations.
  • Pricing is per user and a note taker spreads to everyone who attends meetings rather than staying with one team, so the seat count tracks headcount, and free viewer accounts only arrive at the Business tier.
  • Transcription errors persist on accents, crosstalk and domain jargon, and because the output becomes the official record people stop checking it against what was actually said, so a mistranscribed commitment can outlive everyone's memory of the meeting.
  • Recording consent rules differ by jurisdiction and some require every participant's agreement, and the obligation rests with you rather than the vendor, so a bot joining calls automatically from a calendar can create a compliance problem nobody consciously chose.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bluedot

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 5 meetings in total, not per month
    • Chrome extension and desktop and mobile apps
    • Basic integrations
  • Basic$14/month
    • Unlimited audio meetings
    • One hour maximum per recording
    • Webhook access
  • Pro$20/month
    • Video meetings as well as audio
    • No recording duration limit
    • Custom templates
  • Business$32/month
    • CRM and applicant tracking integrations
    • SSO and SCIM
    • Admin controls

Circleback

Free
  • Individual$20.83/month
    • AI notes
    • Auto-assigned action items
    • Transcription
  • Team$25/month
    • All Individual features
    • Shared meetings
    • Free viewer seats
  • Enterprise$null/month
    • All Team features
    • Invoice/PO billing
    • Priority support

Which should you pick?

Choose Bluedot if

  • You need bot-free capture.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Chrome, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android.
  • You also want transcript-based video editing.
Bluedot review

Choose Circleback if

  • You need calendar-driven recording.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want speaker-labelled transcripts.
Circleback review

Questions people ask

Is Bluedot or Circleback better?
Neither clearly leads. Bluedot starts at Free and Circleback at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bluedot or Circleback?
Bluedot starts at Free and Circleback at Free.
Does Bluedot or Circleback run on more platforms?
Bluedot runs on Web, Chrome, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android. Circleback runs on Web.
Can I use Bluedot for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Bluedot best used for?
Bluedot is most often used for a sales team where prospects decline to admit recording bots but the manager still needs call notes in the crm, a recruiter conducting interviews who wants a structured summary per candidate without a visible third party in the call, a customer success team of thirty where only four people run calls, so per-recorder pricing costs a fraction of a per-seat competitor, cutting a short clip from a long call to share internally, done by deleting text from the transcript rather than opening a video editor. Of those, a sales team where prospects decline to admit recording bots but the manager still needs call notes in the crm and a recruiter conducting interviews who wants a structured summary per candidate without a visible third party in the call are not what Circleback is typically brought in for.
What can Bluedot do that Circleback cannot?
Bluedot covers Bot-free capture, Transcript-based video editing, Custom note templates, Record-only seat pricing. Circleback covers Calendar-driven recording, Speaker-labelled transcripts, Action item extraction, Search across meetings.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bluedot: Does Bluedot join the meeting as a bot?

No. It captures through the browser extension or desktop app, so no additional participant is visible to anyone in the call.

Circleback: What does the free plan include?

Unlimited meetings, notes and action items, speaker-labelled transcripts, in-person recording, and Slack and Linear integrations, with history limited to 30 days. Longer history and the wider integrations are the paid line.

Bluedot: How is it priced?

Per workspace, with charges only for users who record. Free covers five meetings in total, Basic is $14, Pro is $20 and Business is $32 a month on annual billing.

Circleback: How accurate are the notes?

Good on clear audio and worse with heavy accents, crosstalk and specialist jargon. Because the notes become the record, spot-check anything consequential rather than assuming somebody else will.

Bluedot: What happens to my recordings if I cancel?

Access ends at cancellation and recordings are permanently deleted after thirty days. Export anything you need to keep before you cancel.

Circleback: Do we need everyone's consent to record?

It depends on jurisdiction, and some require all-party consent. The obligation sits with the meeting organiser, not with the vendor, so set a policy before enabling automatic joining.

Bluedot: Can I record video, not just audio?

Only from the Pro tier. Basic is audio only and limits each recording to one hour.

Circleback: Can we control how long recordings are kept?

Custom retention is a Business-tier feature. On the lower tiers you accept the defaults, which is worth knowing before client conversations start accumulating.

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