BoardBreeze vs ClerkMinutes: Which Board Minutes Software Is Right for You?
Compare BoardBreeze and ClerkMinutes side-by-side. Features, pricing, and who each tool is best for. See why organizations choose BoardBreeze at 70% less.
BoardBreeze vs ClerkMinutes: Which Board Minutes Software Is Right for You?
ClerkMinutes is one of the most established names in board meeting minutes software. They serve over 1,300 municipalities and have built a solid reputation with city clerks and local government bodies across the country.
BoardBreeze is newer. We launched to solve a specific problem I experienced firsthand as Executive Assistant to the Chancellor at City College of San Francisco: spending hours manually producing minutes from long board meetings when AI could do the heavy lifting in minutes.
Both tools convert meeting audio into formatted board minutes. But they differ significantly in pricing, features, and the organizations they serve best.
I'm Grace Esteban, founder of BoardBreeze. Here's an honest comparison.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | BoardBreeze | ClerkMinutes |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $29.99/month | $99/month |
| Price Difference | 70% less expensive | — |
| Free Trial | 30 days, no credit card | Demo available |
| Signup Process | Self-serve, 2 minutes | Contact sales |
| Audio Upload | Yes | Yes |
| Live Recording | Yes — in-browser | No |
| AI Transcription | AWS Transcribe | AI-powered |
| AI Minutes Formatting | GPT-4 | AI-powered |
| Motion/Second/Vote Tracking | Automatic | Automatic |
| Minutes Assistant Chatbot | Yes | No |
| Compliance Flagging | Yes (Pro plan) | Basic |
| Brown Act Support | Yes | No |
| Robert's Rules Templates | Yes | Yes |
| Max Meeting Duration | 12 hours (Enterprise) | Unlimited |
| Target Market | Education, nonprofit, healthcare, government | Municipal government |
| Users (Entry Plan) | 1 | Varies |
Pricing: The 70% Difference
This is the most significant difference between the two platforms.
| Plan Tier | BoardBreeze | ClerkMinutes |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | $29.99/month ($360/year) | $99/month ($1,188/year) |
| Mid-tier | $99/month ($1,188/year) | $249/month ($2,988/year) |
| Enterprise | $499/month | Custom pricing |
At the entry level, BoardBreeze costs $828 less per year than ClerkMinutes. Over five years, that's $4,140 — real money for a school district, nonprofit, or small municipality watching every budget line.
Both platforms do the core job: turn a recording into formatted minutes. The question is whether the additional cost of ClerkMinutes is justified for your specific needs.
What ClerkMinutes Does Well
Credit where it's due. ClerkMinutes has strengths that come from years of serving municipal government:
Deep municipal focus. ClerkMinutes was built specifically for city and county clerks. Their workflows, templates, and terminology reflect that specialization. If you're a municipal clerk, the tool speaks your language.
Large customer base. With 1,300+ municipalities, ClerkMinutes has extensive experience with the specific challenges local government clerks face. That translates into a polished product for that audience.
Established track record. They've been in this space longer than BoardBreeze. For organizations where vendor stability is a procurement requirement, that matters.
Content and education. ClerkMinutes has invested heavily in educational content — blog posts, guides on using ChatGPT for minutes, and more. Their content marketing is strong, which means they understand their audience well.
What BoardBreeze Does Differently
Live recording. BoardBreeze lets you record the meeting directly in your browser. No separate recording device, no file transfer step. Open the app, hit record, and start your meeting. ClerkMinutes requires you to upload a pre-recorded file.
Minutes Assistant chatbot. After your minutes are generated, you can ask the AI questions about the meeting. "What motions were made in the second hour?" or "Summarize the budget discussion." This is useful when you need to quickly reference specific parts of a long meeting without re-reading the full transcript.
Brown Act compliance. BoardBreeze includes Brown Act compliance checking, which is critical for California public boards. This was built from my direct experience working with a California community college board.
Broader market focus. ClerkMinutes focuses on municipal clerks. BoardBreeze serves school boards, nonprofits, hospitals, community colleges, HOAs, and government agencies. If your organization isn't a city or county, BoardBreeze was designed with you in mind.
Self-serve signup. You can be using BoardBreeze within 2 minutes. Enter your email, verify with a code, and upload your first recording. No sales calls, no demos, no contracts. Our 30-day free trial requires no credit card.
70% lower price. At $29.99/month versus $99/month, BoardBreeze is accessible to organizations that simply can't justify ClerkMinutes' pricing. A small nonprofit running on grants shouldn't have to spend $1,188/year on minutes software.
Processing Long Meetings
Both tools handle standard-length meetings well. The difference shows up with longer meetings.
BoardBreeze uses an async Lambda architecture that automatically splits files over 3 hours into segments, processes them in parallel, and merges the results. We've tested with 7-hour meetings — they process in about 15 minutes.
| Meeting Length | BoardBreeze Processing Time |
|---|---|
| 1 hour | ~2 minutes |
| 4 hours | ~6 minutes |
| 7 hours | ~15 minutes |
If your board meetings regularly run 4-7+ hours (as many school board and public body meetings do), this matters.
When ClerkMinutes Is the Right Choice
Choose ClerkMinutes if:
- You're a municipal clerk — city, county, or town government is their sweet spot
- Your procurement process requires an established vendor with a large customer base
- You need training and onboarding support specific to municipal workflows
- Your organization has already budgeted $99-249/month for minutes software
- You value the community and network of 1,300+ other municipal clerks using the same tool
ClerkMinutes is a solid product that has earned its reputation in municipal government.
When BoardBreeze Is the Right Choice
Choose BoardBreeze if:
- You're a school district, nonprofit, hospital, community college, HOA, or small government agency
- You need to record meetings live in addition to uploading recordings
- You want an AI chatbot to help you reference and query your meeting content
- Your board meetings are regularly 4-7+ hours and you need reliable long-meeting support
- You need Brown Act compliance checking
- Your budget is under $100/month — or you need to justify every dollar
- You want to start using the tool today, not after a sales process
- You're a solo board clerk or executive assistant who needs a simple, fast workflow
The Honest Assessment
Both BoardBreeze and ClerkMinutes solve the same core problem: they turn meeting recordings into formatted board minutes using AI. Both track motions, seconds, and votes. Both save hours of manual work.
The differences come down to:
- Price. BoardBreeze is 70% less expensive at the entry tier.
- Market focus. ClerkMinutes is built for municipal clerks. BoardBreeze serves a wider range of organizations.
- Features. BoardBreeze adds live recording, a Minutes Assistant chatbot, and Brown Act compliance. ClerkMinutes has deeper municipal-specific workflows.
- Buying experience. BoardBreeze is self-serve. ClerkMinutes involves a sales process.
Neither tool is objectively "better." The right choice depends on your organization type, your budget, and which features matter most to your workflow.
Try It Yourself
The best way to compare is to test with your own meeting recording. BoardBreeze offers a 30-day free trial — no credit card required. Upload a recording from your last board meeting and see the results in minutes.
If it doesn't save you hours, you've lost nothing but a few minutes of your time.
Questions about how BoardBreeze compares for your specific situation? Email me at grace@appboardbreeze.com — I personally respond to every message.
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