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Productivity · head to head

Circleback vs RowShare

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
RowShare logo

RowShare

Productivity

Shared online table where each contributor sees only their own rows

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Circleback has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; RowShare it is a table rather than a spreadsheet, so the formula and analysis capability people expect from Excel is not there, and anything requiring modelling or charting has to be exported and finished elsewhere.
  • They diverge on capability: Circleback covers Calendar-driven recording, RowShare covers Row-level permissions.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Circleback and RowShare actually diverge.

Attributes where Circleback and RowShare differ
AttributeCirclebackRowShare
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumsubscription
Free tierYesNo

Identical on both: platforms (Web), 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 Circleback

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

Only in RowShare

  • Row-level permissions
  • Column-level permissions
  • Typed columns
  • Forms
  • Automatic reminders
  • Microsoft Teams integration
  • Zapier connections
  • Excel import and export

What people use each for

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

Circleback

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

RowShare

  • Collecting a recurring return such as timesheets, budget lines or stock counts where contributors must not see each other's entries.not Circleback
  • Replacing an emailed spreadsheet that one person consolidates by hand at the end of every month.not Circleback
  • A shared list where some columns belong to the contributor and others are only for the administrator.not Circleback
  • A structured departmental table inside Microsoft Teams that does not warrant a full database or a heavier platform licence.not Circleback

Where each one falls short

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

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.

RowShare

  • It is a table rather than a spreadsheet, so the formula and analysis capability people expect from Excel is not there, and anything requiring modelling or charting has to be exported and finished elsewhere.
  • It is a small independent product, so putting a recurring business process on it means a single vendor decision can end that process, and unlike the larger alternatives there is no ecosystem or partner network to fall back on.
  • Integration is largely through Zapier rather than deep native connectors, which adds an intermediary service, another subscription and another place for a data flow to fail silently.
  • The niche it occupies is increasingly covered by list tools included in Microsoft 365, so the purchase has to be justified against something the organisation may already be paying for and already administers.
  • Licensing in this category is per user, so if contributors need accounts rather than form links, an occasional contributor costs the same per head as a daily one, and it is worth confirming which model applies before planning a rollout.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

RowShare

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the RowShare review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Circleback if

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

Choose RowShare if

  • You need row-level permissions.
  • You also want column-level permissions.
RowShare review

Questions people ask

Is Circleback or RowShare better?
Neither clearly leads. Circleback starts at Free and RowShare at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Circleback or RowShare?
Circleback has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Circleback and On request for RowShare.
Does Circleback or RowShare run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Circleback for free?
Yes. Circleback has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. RowShare starts at On request.
What is Circleback best used for?
Circleback is most often used for sales or recruiting calls where the follow-up has to land in the crm or applicant system without anybody retyping it., consultancies that need an accurate record of what a client asked for and when they asked for it., distributed teams where people who missed a call need the substance rather than an hour of recording to sit through., managers and founders running many short calls where the action items are the only output that matters.. Of those, sales or recruiting calls where the follow-up has to land in the crm or applicant system without anybody retyping it. and consultancies that need an accurate record of what a client asked for and when they asked for it. are not what RowShare is typically brought in for.
What can Circleback do that RowShare cannot?
Circleback covers Calendar-driven recording, Speaker-labelled transcripts, Action item extraction, Search across meetings. RowShare covers Row-level permissions, Column-level permissions, Typed columns, Forms.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

RowShare: How is this different from a shared spreadsheet?

Sharing is per row rather than per file. Everyone works in one table, and each person sees only their own rows, which removes the consolidation step rather than speeding it up.

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.

RowShare: Can I get my data out?

Tables export to Excel and CSV, so the data itself moves. The permission structure, forms and reminders that made the process work do not, so an exit means rebuilding the workflow.

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.

RowShare: Is it a database?

No. It is a permissioned table with typed columns, not a relational store you can query, so it collects structured data rather than modelling it.

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.

RowShare: Who is behind it?

A French vendor with named enterprise customers. It is a small company, so weigh continuity carefully before making it the home of a process you expect to run for years.

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Related pages

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