LensNoteWhat an AI note taker does
An AI note taker turns a recording into notes without you writing them. At minimum it transcribes speech and summarizes it. Better ones add structure: headings, key points, action items, and a way back to the original moment, so you can check any note against what was actually said.
LensNote adds one more layer: what was shown. It detects every slide change and shared screen in a video, keeps one image of each, and pairs it with the part of the transcript spoken while it was on screen. The notes are organized by slide, which is how most lectures and presentations are already structured.
How to choose an AI note taker
Start with what you record. If your recordings are mostly conversation, a transcript-first tool may be enough. If slides, screen shares, or diagrams carry the content, as in lectures, demos, and reviews, choose a tool that captures the screen as well as the audio.
Next, check how it captures. Meeting bots are convenient but visible to everyone in the call; local recording on your own computer is not. Then check the limits that matter for you: the longest recording you can process, the monthly allowance, the export formats, and whether your recordings are used to train AI models.
For reference, LensNote’s free trial includes 180 processing minutes with recordings up to 90 minutes; Pro costs $30 a month (or $288 a year) for 1,200 minutes a month and recordings up to 4 hours. Recordings and notes are never used to train AI models.
Lectures, meetings, and audio in one library
Because LensNote handles video and audio the same way, one library holds every kind of recording. Folders keep courses and projects apart, and new sessions are named after their content when processing finishes. Library search covers titles and summaries, and the macOS app also searches inside transcripts.
Each kind of recording has its own guide: taking lecture notes in class or from course videos, turning meetings into notes that keep the shared screen, transcribing meetings without a bot, and turning audio files into notes.
Read next: Lecture note taker · Lecture recording to notes · AI meeting notes · Meeting transcription · Audio to notes
When LensNote is not the right fit
LensNote processes a recording after it is made, so it does not show live captions during a call. If you need a live transcript on screen while people talk, use a tool built for real-time captioning.
The desktop app runs on macOS 14 or later. On Windows or a Chromebook you can upload recordings in the web app, but you cannot record your screen with LensNote. Transcripts and notes cannot be edited inside LensNote, so export to Word when you want to rewrite them. And LensNote works with files, not links, so a video you can only stream needs to be recorded or downloaded first, where you are allowed to.