You’re in a meeting, trying to listen and take notes at the same time, and before you know it, you’ve lost track. Avoma aims to solve that problem by automatically recording, transcribing, and summarizing your meetings with action items. An AI assistant that takes notes for you, so you can focus on the conversation itself.
Who’s behind Avoma?
Avoma was founded in 2017 by Aditya Kothadiya, Albert Lai, and Devendra Laulkar in Palo Alto. The idea came from pure frustration: Kothadiya was tired of frantically typing notes during meetings, only to have that information scattered across different documents and systems. He wanted a tool that functioned as a ‘Very Organized Meeting Assistant’ – a name that was later shortened to Avoma.
So the name is literally an abbreviation of what the company stands for. Since its founding, Avoma has raised $1.2 million, with investors including Headline, K9 Ventures, and the Zoom Apps Fund. The latter is no coincidence: Avoma integrates deeply with video platforms and CRM systems like Salesforce and HubSpot, making it especially appealing to sales and customer success teams.
Today, tens of thousands of professionals use the tool to better organize their meetings and keep information centralized. The company has grown from a frustration about scattered notes into a full-fledged conversation intelligence tool.
Who is Avoma for?
Avoma is primarily aimed at teams that have a lot of meetings and want to connect that information directly to their CRM. Think of sales teams analyzing customer conversations, customer success managers tracking onboarding calls, and product managers gathering user feedback. If you regularly hold meetings and want to capture that information in a structured way, Avoma is built for you.
But the tool isn’t right for everyone. If you’re just looking for a simple dictation function for personal use, Avoma is too comprehensive and probably too expensive. Companies with strict requirements about EU hosting should also look for an alternative, as Avoma stores data on AWS servers in the United States. For small teams, the price can also add up quickly if you need extra features.
What can Avoma do?
Avoma’s free version offers basic transcription and scheduling features, primarily intended for view-only access and collaboration. For advanced AI notes, group scheduling, and conversation intelligence, you need a paid plan. These are the main features:
- Automatic recording and transcription: Avoma records your meetings via Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and other platforms. Transcription happens automatically, so you can read or search through everything later.
- AI-generated notes and summaries: After the meeting, you get a structured summary with the key points. The AI automatically tries to identify and display action items, decisions, and questions separately.
- Collaborative note editor: You can add, edit, and share notes with your team during or after the meeting. Handy if multiple people are reviewing the same call or you want to collect feedback.
- CRM integration: Avoma automatically syncs with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive. This way, your meeting notes land directly with the right contacts and deals in your CRM, without manual copying and pasting.
- Meeting Scheduler: Schedule 1:1 meetings or group meetings directly from Avoma. The tool connects to your calendar and automatically sends invitations.
- Conversation Intelligence: Analyze who’s talking the most, how speaking time is distributed, and which topics come up repeatedly. Especially useful for sales managers who want to coach their team on conversation techniques.
- Smart Playlists and Snippets: Create playlists of meeting segments that cover the same topic, or clip important moments to share with colleagues. For example, you can collect all customer questions about a specific feature.
The tool works on web, iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. Linux is not supported. So you can use Avoma on virtually any device, as long as you have an internet connection.
What does Avoma cost?
Avoma has a free Basic plan, but it’s primarily designed for view-only access and limited AI notes. You can only schedule 1:1 meetings and the functionality is pretty minimal. For serious use, you’ll need a paid subscription.
The Startup plan costs $1 per month with annual billing (or $1 per month if you pay monthly). The Organization plan costs $1 per month on an annual basis (or $1 per month). For larger companies, there’s an Enterprise plan starting at $1 per month with annual billing, but the exact price depends on your needs. All paid plans have a 14-day free trial.
Note: the price can add up quickly if you add extra features or more users. Some advanced features aren’t included by default in every plan, so check carefully what you need before choosing.
What should you watch out for?
Avoma has some drawbacks that users run into. The biggest issue is reliability: the bots sometimes join meetings late or don’t show up at all. That’s frustrating when you’re counting on everything being recorded automatically.
CRM synchronization can also be slow. Some users report that it takes more than 60 minutes for notes to appear in Salesforce or HubSpot. If you want to update your CRM right after a call, that’s frustrating.
Transcription quality suffers with non-native English or strong accents. The AI makes more mistakes then, so you still have to correct manually. Some users also find the bots in meetings intrusive – not everyone likes having an ‘Avoma Bot’ visible in the participant list.
Finally, there are complaints about hidden costs. Features you might expect in a standard plan are sometimes behind a more expensive tier or as a separate add-on. That makes the final price higher than you initially think.
Avoma alternatives
If Avoma isn’t quite the right fit, there are alternatives that emphasize different things. Here are the main options:
- Fathom: Completely free for individual users and much simpler to use. Choose Fathom if you’re looking for a no-nonsense solution without complex team features or CRM integrations.
- Fireflies.ai: Strong focus on universal integrations and an AI assistant called AskFred that lets you ask questions about your meetings. Choose Fireflies if you want maximum flexibility in which tools you connect.
- Gong: Much more expensive and purely focused on enterprise sales intelligence with extensive analytics. Choose Gong if you’re running a large sales team and are willing to invest significantly in conversation intelligence.
Frequently asked questions
Here are the most frequently asked questions about Avoma:
Does Avoma work with all video platforms?
Yes, Avoma supports Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and other major platforms. So you can use the tool regardless of which video platform your company uses.
Is there a free version available?
Yes, the Basic plan is free and offers basic functionality for transcription and scheduling. It’s primarily designed for view-only access, so for full features you’ll need a paid plan.
Is my data stored securely?
Avoma is SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR-compliant. However, the data is stored on AWS servers in the United States, so if you require strict EU hosting, this isn’t a suitable solution.
Conclusion
Avoma is a powerful tool for teams that have a lot of meetings and want to link that information directly to their CRM. The AI notes and conversation intelligence are especially valuable for sales and customer success teams. But the reliability issues, slow CRM sync, and increasing costs are real downsides. For small teams or individual users, there are cheaper and simpler alternatives like Fathom. Choose Avoma if you need a comprehensive solution and are willing to invest in a paid plan.
