Otter.ai
The incumbent transcription service, now sold as a meeting agent, with the strictest free tier of the group.
Our verdict
The safe institutional choice, with the tightest free tier and the steepest penalty for paying monthly.
Otter is the incumbent, and it now sells itself as a meeting agent rather than a transcription service. It joins Zoom, Teams and Google Meet, transcribes live with speaker identification, and runs workflows that draft follow-ups, with sales and recruiting agents on the higher tiers.
It also has the tightest free tier in this group: 300 transcription minutes a month and three file imports for the lifetime of the account. Pro is $16.99 a user a month billed monthly or $8.33 billed annually, so choosing flexibility costs more than double. Business is $30 a user monthly or $19.99 annually and lifts the per-meeting cap to four hours with three concurrent meetings.
For teams that need SSO, SCIM, an API or webhooks, those sit on Enterprise, and HIPAA compliance is an add-on rather than something included. Otter also has no public changelog: otter.ai/changelog answers with the same page as a URL that cannot exist.
Reviewed by AI Review Rating desk review against the published rubric How we score
What it does well
- Live transcription with speaker identification during Zoom, Teams and Google Meet calls
- AI chat within and across meetings
- Meeting workflows that draft follow-ups automatically
- Sales and recruiting agents on the higher tiers
- Desktop, iOS, Android and Chrome extension
Pros and cons
Pros
Pricing
| Tier | Monthly | Includes | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | 300 transcription minutes a month, 3 lifetime file imports, live transcription, speaker identification, MCP server | per user |
| Pro our pick | $16.99 | 1,200 recording minutes a month, 10 file imports a month, 90 minutes per meeting, unlimited storage. $8.33 a user a month on annual billing | per user |
| Business | $30 | Unlimited meetings and recordings, 4 hours per meeting, 3 concurrent meetings, admin analytics. $19.99 a user a month on annual billing | per user |
| Enterprise | Custom | SSO, SCIM, domain capture, Otter API and webhooks, HIPAA compliance as an add-on | quote |
Trends
Price points are recorded when a price moves, not on a schedule, so a flat run means the price held. Release cadence comes from the vendor changelog. A series appears only once we have watched it for long enough to have more than one observation.
On video
What users actually say
- Is Otter.AI worth it for meeting minutes? Reddit · 2024
- Otter.ai for transcribing meeting minutes vs alternatives Reddit · 2025
- Is Otter.AI worth it for meeting minutes? Reddit · 2025
- Do not join Otter.Ai unless you want your whole company … Reddit · 2025
- Otter.ai vs. Fireflies.ai? Reddit · 2024
We link to discussions rather than reproducing them. Opinions belong to their authors.
User reviews
No one has reviewed Otter.ai here yet. Reviews are moderated before they appear, and our own score is editorial and separate from user ratings, though once reviews land they do lift it.
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Side by side
| Tool | Our score | From | Free tier | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otter.ai this page | 6.2 | $16.99 | Yes | Teams that need an established vendor with SSO,… | |
| 🥇HyNote Our pick | 5.5 | $11.99 | Yes | People who capture more than meetings: PDFs, YouTube,… | Visit |
| 🥈Granola | 6.7 | $14 | Yes | Back-to-back meeting days on a laptop, where you… | |
| 🥉Plaud | 6.7 | $17.99 | Yes | In-person conversations, site visits and consultations that never… | |
| Gong | 5.2 | - | - | Sales organisations buying revenue analytics, with a budget… | |
| Coconote | 3.1 | - | Yes | Students turning lectures and readings into flashcards, quizzes… |
Articles on Otter.ai
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Questions
Does Otter.ai have a free plan?
Yes. 300 transcription minutes a month, 3 lifetime file imports, live transcription, speaker identification, MCP server Checked on 2026-08-30.
How much does Otter.ai cost?
Otter.ai starts at $16.99 a month for Pro, or $99.96 a year. 1,200 recording minutes a month, 10 file imports a month, 90 minutes per meeting, unlimited storage. $8.33 a user a month on annual billing Prices read from the vendor’s own pricing page on 2026-08-30.
What is Otter.ai best for?
Teams that need an established vendor with SSO, an API and a long integration list.
When is Otter.ai the wrong choice?
Light users who will not pay annually, since monthly costs more than double.