Are you scrambling to take notes after every online meeting? And do you feel like you’ve already forgotten half of what was said? tl;dv records your meetings, transcribes them automatically, and even creates a summary. Works with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams.
Who’s behind tl;dv?
tl;dv was founded in 2020 by Raphael Allstadt, Carlo Thissen, and Allan Bettarel from Aachen, Germany. The idea emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, when everyone massively switched to online meetings. The founders noticed that people were becoming completely exhausted from endless Zoom sessions. Their solution? Make meetings asynchronous and searchable, so you don’t have to attend every meeting live. The name stands for “Too Long; Didn’t View,” a nod to the well-known internet acronym.
The company, officially tldx Solutions GmbH, raised 4.3 million euros from investors such as K Fund, Seedcamp, and Mustard Seed Maze. That investment wasn’t for nothing: the tool quickly grew to more than 1 million users worldwide. Companies like Zalando and HelloFresh now use tl;dv for their sales and product teams.
The tool also won the Golden Kitty Award on Product Hunt, an important recognition in the tech world. What started as an answer to Zoom fatigue has grown into a full-fledged AI assistant for anyone who has lots of online meetings.
Who is tl;dv for?
tl;dv is especially useful for people who have lots of online meetings and need to do something with them. Sales teams use it to review customer conversations and analyze deals. Customer Success managers can search for exactly what a customer said. Product Managers use it to document user interviews without constantly taking notes themselves. And remote teams can quickly bring colleagues who missed a meeting up to speed with a summary.
The tool is less suitable if you have few or no online meetings. Then you’re paying for (or installing) something you barely use. Also, if you want to work completely offline or don’t want a bot in your meetings, you’re better off looking for something else. The tl;dv bot always appears as a participant in your meeting, and not all clients or colleagues find that pleasant.
What can tl;dv do?
The free version already offers unlimited recording and transcription in more than 30 languages, plus basic search capabilities. For advanced AI summaries after your first 10 meetings, downloadable clips, and extensive CRM integrations, you need a paid plan. These are the key features:
- Automatic recording and transcription: The bot joins your meeting and records everything. Afterwards, you get a complete transcription in more than 30 languages. English works best, but Dutch, German, and French are also supported.
- AI summaries and action items: The AI creates a summary of your meeting and automatically extracts action items. You can also ask specific questions like “What were the customer’s objections?” via the Ask tl;dv feature.
- Speaker recognition: The tool automatically recognizes who says what. Handy when you want to search back later for what a specific person said. Usually works well, but can sometimes mix things up with similar voices.
- Creating clips and reels: You can clip important moments from a meeting and share them as a separate clip. For example, a product demo or a customer quote. You can then forward those clips to colleagues or include them in a presentation.
- Search within videos: Type in a keyword and jump directly to the moment in the recording where that word appears. Saves a ton of time when you need to find something specific in an hour-long meeting.
- CRM and tool integrations: Connect tl;dv to HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack, or Notion. Then your meeting summaries automatically appear with the right customer or in the right channel. The deeper integrations are included in the more expensive plans.
- Sales coaching and analytics: For sales teams, there are extra features like talk-time ratio (how much you talk versus the customer) and analyzing objections. These features are only included in the Business plan at $1 per month.
The interface is clean and you don’t need much explanation to get started. You install the extension or app, connect your calendar, and the bot automatically joins your meetings. After that, you can review, search, and share everything.
How much does tl;dv cost?
tl;dv has a free plan called “Free Forever.” With it, you can record and transcribe unlimited meetings, which is pretty generous. You also get AI summaries, but that stops after your first 10 meetings. You can create clips, but you can’t download them. And the integrations are limited to the basics.
The Pro plan costs $1 per month, or $1 per month if you pay a year in advance ($1 total). Then you get unlimited AI summaries, downloadable clips, more storage space, and better integrations with tools like Slack and Notion. For most people who want to use tl;dv seriously, this is the plan you need.
The Business plan costs $1 per month ($1 per month with annual billing, $1 total). That’s a big jump, and for that you mainly get sales-focused features: conversation analytics, coaching dashboards, and advanced CRM integrations. Useful for sales teams, but probably overkill for other users.
There’s no free trial for the paid plans, but since the free plan already offers quite a bit, you can just try out the tool without a credit card. Note: the prices are in dollars, so with exchange rates and any applicable sales tax, it might work out a bit more expensive.
What should you watch out for?
The bot doesn’t always join reliably. Sometimes it shows up late, or not at all. That’s annoying when you specifically wanted to record that one important meeting. Users also report that the bot is sometimes difficult to remove from a meeting if you want to do that afterward.
The transcription quality depends heavily on accents and background noise. English with an American or British accent works fine, but with strong regional accents or non-native speakers, it falls short. Dutch and other languages are also less accurate than English. So you often have to correct things manually.
Videos sometimes load slowly or not at all. Users complain that they have to wait a long time after a meeting before the recording is available, or that videos freeze halfway through. That’s frustrating when you want to review something quickly.
The bot is always visible in your meeting. That’s transparent, but not everyone likes it. Clients or external parties may feel uncomfortable when a recording bot suddenly joins the meeting. You can’t hide it, so you always have to communicate it in advance.
tl;dv alternatives
There are several tools that do the same thing as tl;dv. These are the main alternatives:
- Otter.ai: Choose this if you primarily need audio transcription in English. Otter is stronger in live transcription during meetings, but has less robust video integration than tl;dv.
- Fireflies.ai: Go with this if you need heavy automation workflows. Fireflies has more native integrations with other tools, but the interface is less intuitive than tl;dv’s.
- Fathom: Choose this if you’re looking for a completely free tool for individual use. Fathom is free for individuals without limitations, but has fewer advanced team features than tl;dv.
Which one you choose depends on what your priority is: transcription quality, integrations, price, or team features. For most people who want video recordings with a solid free plan, tl;dv is the best choice.
Frequently asked questions
Here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions about tl;dv:
Does tl;dv work with all video platforms?
No, only with Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. Other platforms like Webex or Skype are not supported. If you use a different platform, you’d be better off looking at an alternative.
Is tl;dv GDPR compliant?
Yes, tl;dv is a German company and complies with GDPR legislation. The servers are located in Europe, which means your data doesn’t go to the US. That’s an advantage if privacy is important to you.
Can the bot record invisibly?
No, the tl;dv bot is always visible as a participant in your meeting. This is intentional to ensure transparency. So you can’t secretly record without others knowing.
Conclusion
tl;dv is a solid choice if you have a lot of online meetings and don’t want to take notes yourself. The free plan is generous enough to seriously try out the tool, and the paid plans are reasonably priced for what you get. The transcription works well in English, and the search function saves a lot of time.
Be aware of the limitations: the bot isn’t always reliable, accents can cause problems, and not everyone likes a visible recording bot. For sales teams and remote teams who want to document their meetings, it’s a useful tool. For occasional users or people who want to work offline, it’s less suitable.
