You know the drill. You’re in a meeting, trying to stay engaged, but also having to write everything down. Or you forget afterwards what action items were agreed upon. Fellow is an AI platform that manages meetings – from agenda to notes to tracking tasks. It automates the administrative hassle, so you can focus on the conversation itself.
Who’s behind Fellow?
Fellow Insights Inc. was founded in 2017 by Aydin Mirzaee, Amin Mirzaee, and Samuel Cormier-Iijima in Ottawa, Canada. The three previously owned Fluidware and ran into the same problem there: meetings were inefficient and there were no good tools to lead teams effectively. They saw managers struggle with organizing conversations, keeping track of commitments, and following up on tasks.
Their first customer was Shopify, who not only became a user but also actively collaborated on developing the platform. That partnership helped Fellow grow quickly into a tool that aligned with what teams really needed. The company raised a total of $1.5 million, with support from investors like Craft Ventures, Inovia Capital, Felicis Ventures, and Garage Capital.
Tens of thousands of teams now use Fellow, including well-known names like Uber, Motorola, and Stanford University. The platform has evolved from a simple meeting tool into a complete management platform for meetings, feedback, and team coordination.
Who is Fellow for?
Fellow primarily targets managers who want to bring structure to their meetings and teams. If you’re leading a remote or hybrid organization, the platform helps keep everyone aligned, regardless of where they are. For teams that have a lot of meetings and need to follow up on action items, Fellow offers a central place to keep track of everything.
But the tool isn’t right for everyone. If you mainly have in-person meetings without digital support, you’ll miss out on much of the functionality. And if you’re looking purely for a transcription tool without extensive agenda and task management? Then there are simpler alternatives that are a better fit.
What can Fellow do?
The free version of Fellow offers basic functionality for small teams, but for AI transcriptions, extensive analytics, and unlimited history you need a paid plan. Here’s what the platform does:
- Collaborative agendas: You create an agenda together with your team in advance. Everyone can add items, so meetings stay focused and nobody forgets important topics.
- AI-generated notes and summaries: Fellow listens in during video calls and automatically takes notes. Afterwards you get a summary with the key points. Useful if you want to look something up later or if team members missed the meeting.
- Assign and track action items: During the conversation you can directly assign tasks to team members. They appear in their overview and you can see at a glance what’s still outstanding. No more loose lists that get forgotten.
- Feedback and 1-on-1 templates: Fellow has a library with templates for different types of conversations. From performance reviews to weekly check-ins. You don’t have to rethink the structure every time.
- Integrations with Slack, Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet: The platform connects to your existing tools. Notes automatically appear in the right Slack channels, and you can launch Fellow from your calendar without extra steps.
- Meeting analytics and insights: You can see how much time your team spends in meetings, which types of conversations occur most frequently, and where time can potentially be saved. This helps you be more mindful about meeting time.
- Bot-less recording option: With some tools, a bot appears in your meeting to record. Fellow also offers an option without a visible bot, which lowers the barrier for participants who feel uncomfortable with recordings.
- Multilingual transcription: The platform supports 99 languages, which is useful for international teams or conversations in different languages.
Fellow works on web, iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. There is no Linux version available. The mobile apps are functional, but according to users less powerful than the desktop version – so for extensive work you’ll often still be at your laptop.
How much does Fellow cost?
Fellow has a free plan for teams up to 10 people. You can create agendas and share notes, but your history is limited to 14 days and you only get a few AI credits. For small teams that meet occasionally this may be sufficient, but as soon as you have more meetings or want AI features, you’ll run into limitations.
The paid plans are:
- Pro/Team: $1 per month (or $1 per month with annual subscription). This plan gives you unlimited note history, more AI credits, and extensive integrations.
- Business: $1 per month (or $1 per month with annual subscription). This gets you analytics, advanced security options, and priority support.
- Solo: $1 per month (or $1 per month with annual subscription). This is for individual users who want all features without having to add an entire team.
You can try Fellow free for 14 days with all features, no credit card required. That gives you plenty of time to test whether the platform fits your workflow.
What should you watch out for?
Fellow has no support for offline meetings. If you regularly have in-person conversations without digital tools, you’ll miss out on the automatic notes and action items. You can still enter things manually, but then you lose a large part of the added value.
The platform can be overwhelming due to the amount of options. There are many templates, settings, and integrations. For teams that want something simple quickly, Fellow sometimes feels like too much hassle. Setting up all the integrations also takes time – you need to connect calendars, link Slack, configure permissions. That’s a one-time effort, but still something to keep in mind.
The mobile app is less powerful than the desktop version. You can read notes and make small adjustments, but for the full overview and all features you still need to use your computer. That can be difficult if you work on the go a lot.
There’s also a learning curve for the entire team. Not everyone is used to filling out agendas beforehand or assigning action items during meetings. It requires discipline and explanation before everyone uses the platform effectively. If your team isn’t open to that, Fellow remains underutilized.
Fellow alternatives
There are several tools that overlap with what Fellow does, but with different emphases:
- Hypercontext: This tool places more emphasis on goals and OKRs. If you want to link team goals directly to meetings and track progress, Hypercontext is a better fit. Fellow focuses more on the meeting itself and less on long-term goals.
- Lattice: This is a broader HR suite for performance management, with features for reviews, development plans, and feedback. Choose Lattice if you’re looking for a complete HR solution rather than just meeting management. Fellow is more specifically focused on meetings.
- Otter.ai: Stronger in pure transcription and speech-to-text, but with fewer capabilities for agenda management and task follow-up. If you only need reliable notes without extensive workflows, Otter is simpler and more affordable.
Frequently asked questions
Here are answers to questions that often come up about Fellow:
Is Fellow free to use?
Yes, there’s a free plan for teams up to 10 people. You can create agendas and share notes, but the history is limited to 14 days and you only get a few AI credits. For more extensive use you need a paid plan.
Does Fellow work with my current calendar?
Yes, Fellow integrates with Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook/Office 365. Your meetings automatically appear in Fellow and you can open notes directly from your calendar.
Is my data safe with Fellow?
Fellow is SOC 2 Type II certified and complies with GDPR guidelines for data protection. The data is stored in the United States. If you have specific requirements about data location within the EU, you need to take that into account.
Conclusion
Fellow is a strong choice for managers and teams who want structure in their meetings and want to track action items centrally. The AI transcriptions save time and the integrations make it easy to fit the platform into your existing workflow. But it does require discipline from your team and the setup takes some time. For small teams that meet occasionally, it might be too comprehensive. For organizations that have many meetings and want to get a handle on them, Fellow can eliminate a lot of frustration.
