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Productivity · head to head

Capacities vs Circleback

Capacities logo

Capacities

Productivity

A studio for your mind with object-based notes

From
Free
Rated
-
Circleback logo

Circleback

Productivity

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

From
Free
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Capacities pro plan pricing not prominently displayed on website; 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: Capacities covers Object-based notes, Circleback covers Calendar-driven recording.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Capacities and Circleback actually diverge.

Attributes where Capacities and Circleback differ
AttributeCapacitiesCircleback
Pricing modelUnknownfreemium
PlatformsWeb, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, AndroidWeb
Founded2020Unknown

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 Capacities

  • Object-based notes
  • Daily notes
  • Properties and relations
  • Graph view
  • AI assistant
  • Readwise
  • Web clipper
  • GDPR

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.

Capacities

  • Productivitynot Circleback
  • Collaborationnot Circleback
  • Task managementnot Circleback
  • Organizationnot Circleback

Circleback

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

Where each one falls short

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

Capacities

  • Pro plan pricing not prominently displayed on website
  • Smaller community and ecosystem compared to Notion or Obsidian
  • Limited third-party integration marketplace

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

Capacities

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Unlimited spaces and objects
    • Device synchronization
    • Unlimited custom object types
  • Pro$10/month
    • Everything in Free
    • Unlimited notes
    • Advanced graph views
  • Believer$149.88/year
    • Everything in Pro
    • Beta access to new features

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 Capacities if

  • You need object-based notes.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android.
  • You also want daily notes.

Choose Circleback if

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

Questions people ask

Is Capacities or Circleback better?
Neither clearly leads. Capacities 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, Capacities or Circleback?
Capacities starts at Free and Circleback at Free.
Does Capacities or Circleback run on more platforms?
Capacities runs on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android. Circleback runs on Web.
Can I use Capacities for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Capacities best used for?
Capacities is most often used for productivity, collaboration, task management, organization. Of those, productivity and collaboration are not what Circleback is typically brought in for.
What can Capacities do that Circleback cannot?
Capacities covers Object-based notes, Daily notes, Properties and relations, Graph view. Circleback covers Calendar-driven recording, Speaker-labelled transcripts, Action item extraction, Search across meetings.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Capacities: What platforms does Capacities support?

Capacities is available on Web, Desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux), and Mobile (iOS, Android), allowing seamless work across devices.

Source
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.

Capacities: Does Capacities have a free plan?

Yes, Capacities offers a free plan with unlimited spaces, objects, and blocks, device synchronization, unlimited custom object types, and 5GB media uploads total.

Source
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.

Capacities: What AI features does Capacities include?

Capacities includes an AI Assistant available on Pro and higher plans for brainstorming, summarization, and contextual Q&A about your notes.

Source
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.

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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