MeetStream vs Recall.ai
MeetStream is the meeting bot API with a voice agent runtime built in. Bot infrastructure is $0.35 an hour here, against the $0.50 Recall.ai publishes.
All in with transcription that is $0.45 against $0.65, with 30 days of storage included against 7.
What an hour of meeting bot costs
Two published list rates, side by side. Storage is the line that moves the bill.
| MeetStream | Recall.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Bot infrastructure, per hour | $0.35 | $0.50 |
| Transcription | +$0.10, waived with your key | +$0.15, $0 with your key |
| All in, per hour | $0.45 | $0.65 |
| Storage | 30 days included | 7 days, then $0.05 an hour |
| At volume | Toward $0.25 an hour | $0.25, first 10,000 hours, on application |
Published list rates. Theirs read on their own pages and checked 3 September 2026. Ours on the pricing page.
Work it out on your own volume
Drag the slider. Recall.ai is at their published $0.65 all in, plus $0.05 an hour for matching 30-day retention.
Estimates at list rates, before volume or startup pricing.
A bot that speaks in the meeting
MeetStream ships an in-meeting voice agent runtime. The bot hears every speaker, reasons, and answers out loud while the call runs.
Turn taking, interruptions and wake words are settings, not a stack you assemble. An avatar gives the bot a face on its video tile.
It runs on the same bot that records, so there is no second system. Full detail: voice agents.
Built for agents to build with
One request puts a bot in the call. Media, transcripts and events come back to your app on a webhook you name.
Live audio arrives over a socket roughly 200 milliseconds behind the room, so an agent can act while the meeting runs. See real-time audio.
An MCP server, a command line tool and a Claude skill ship with the API. All three are on the developers page.
Priced for a team that is still building
$5 of free credit, an API key in under a minute, no sales call before the first bot.
| MeetStream | Recall.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| 500 bot-hours a month | $225 | $350 $325 plus $25 storage |
| 1,000 bot-hours a month | $450 | $700 $650 plus $50 storage |
| 3,500 bot-hours a month | $1,575 | $2,450 $2,275 plus $175 storage |
Our rate moves toward $0.25 an hour on volume and for startups, by asking us rather than filling in a form.
Recall.ai column from their published $0.50, $0.15 and $0.05 an hour, checked 3 September 2026. Ours from our pricing.
The engineers who build it answer you
Teams building on MeetStream get a shared Slack channel with our engineers in it. A question about a webhook payload reaches the people who wrote it.
No support tier to buy, and no qualification in front of it. Start on free credit, then talk to us when you scale.
Your recordings, in your bucket
Thirty days of storage sit inside the hourly rate. Point us at your own bucket and artefacts land there from the first byte.
Write-only mode means we never read it back. Deletion is self-serve, and residency covers US, EU, Australia, Japan and the Middle East.
Setup is on the S3 storage page.
The comparison, row by row
Recall.ai figures are their published ones, read on their own pages and checked 3 September 2026. Anything we could not confirm says Not published.
Voice and agents in the meeting
| MeetStream | Recall.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| In-meeting voice agents with a built-in runtime | Yes Realtime or pipeline mode, on the bot that records | Output media The bot plays audio from a webpage you host, per their published docs |
| Wake words and interruption handling | Yes Wake words, barge-in and echo control, per voice agents | Not published Not on their published pages |
| Virtual avatar on the bot video tile | Yes Lip-synced, all three platforms | Not published Not on their published pages |
| Tool calling from inside the meeting | Yes MCP servers and your own functions | Not published Not on their published pages |
| MCP server, CLI and agent skills | Yes On the developers page | Not published Not on their published pages |
Real time, recording and transcription
| MeetStream | Recall.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams bots | Yes | Yes |
| Real-time audio to your server | Yes Roughly 200 ms, per the real-time page | Yes WebSocket, webhook, RTMP |
| Per-participant audio and video streams | Yes | Yes |
| Transcription engine choice per request | Yes Six engines, per request | Yes Multiple providers |
| Bring your own transcription key | Yes The $0.10 add-on is waived | Yes $0 extra, per their pricing |
Price, storage and control
| MeetStream | Recall.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per bot hour | $0.35 | $0.50 |
| All in, with transcription | $0.45 | $0.65 |
| Volume and startup rate | Yes Toward $0.25 an hour, no application | Yes $0.25 an hour for a first 10,000 hours, on application, per their pricing |
| Storage included | Yes 30 days | Limited 7 days, then metered, per their pricing |
| Write into your own bucket from the first byte | Yes S3 and S3-compatible, with a write-only mode | Not published Not on their pricing or product pages |
| Deletion | Yes Self-serve through the API | Yes Zero to indefinite through their API, per their privacy page |
| Data residency | Yes US, EU, AU, JP, Middle East | Yes US, EU, JP, per their pricing |
| Time to first bot | Yes Self-serve key in under a minute | Not published No figure on their published pages |
| ISO 27001 | Yes On our security page | Yes Their published trust portal |
Certifications and audit status change faster than a comparison page, so they live on the security page.
The integration, one request
The endpoint shape is deliberately close, which is why the HiNoter migration took under a week.
curl -X POST https://api.meetstream.ai/api/v1/bots/create_bot \
-H "Authorization: Token $MEETSTREAM_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{ "meeting_link": "https://zoom.us/j/74648392", "bot_name": "Acme Notetaker",
"recording_config": {"transcript": {"provider": {"meetstream": {}}}},
"webhook_url": "https://your-app.example.com/meetstream" }'Run both for a week, compare the artefacts, then point the webhook at us. Ask us for a migration assessment.
Frequently asked questions
Is MeetStream cheaper than Recall.ai?
At list pricing, yes. $0.45/hr all-in against $0.65, with 30 days of storage included against 7 days then metered.
Their startup rate of $0.25/hr covers a first 10,000 hours, on application. Ours reaches $0.25/hr on volume without one.
Can a MeetStream bot speak in the meeting?
Yes. A voice agent runs on the same bot that records. It hears each speaker, calls your tools and answers out loud.
Wake words, interruptions and an avatar are settings, described on the voice agents page.
Which platforms does MeetStream cover?
Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, behind one API. Calendar scheduling puts a bot on a meeting up to three months ahead.
Who keeps my recordings longer by default?
Recall workspace retention runs from zero to indefinite through their API, per their privacy page.
MeetStream keeps 30 days, deletable by API, or writes into your own bucket.
Where can I read MeetStream security detail?
On the security page: ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type 2 audit status, GDPR and the data residency options, kept current there.
Can I get per-participant audio and video from both?
Yes, both do. The differences show up in the voice runtime, pricing and retention instead.
How hard is it to migrate from Recall.ai to MeetStream?
The endpoint shape is deliberately close. HiNoter migrated in under a week, and the application layer barely changed.
Whose transcription is better?
Both support multiple engines and your own key. Ours picks across six providers per request, and accuracy belongs to the engine you pick.
What does Recall.ai's benchmark say about MeetStream?
Their 2026 benchmark compares MeetingBaaS, Nylas and Skribby, so MeetStream sits outside its scope. Run your own comparison on real meetings.
Where do I verify all of this?
Recall.ai figures here are the ones they publish, read on their own pages and checked 3 September 2026.
Our side links to our pricing and security pages. If something has changed, tell us and we will correct it.
Run the comparison yourself
$5 of free credit, an API key in under a minute, and every figure above checked against a published page.