Otter.ai
The highest-brand-recognition meeting transcriber — live transcription with a generous free tier, but AI help still lands after the call.
Otter.ai is a transcription-first meeting assistant: it joins or listens to calls (Zoom, Teams, Meet integrations), produces live transcripts as the call happens, and layers AI Chat and AI-generated summaries on top once you want to query or review what was said. The live part of Otter is the transcript — the AI assistance itself (summaries, Q&A over the transcript) is something you ask for during or after the call, not a suggestion that surfaces on its own while you're talking.
Pricing starts free (300 transcription minutes/mo), with Pro at $16.99/mo ($8.33/mo billed annually, 1,200 minutes) and Business at $30/mo ($19.99/mo billed annually; unlimited recording minutes).
No on-device processing, bring-your-own API key, or document-grounded citation feature is published anywhere on Otter's site — it's a cloud transcription and summary product.
Pricing
Free (300 min/mo) — Basic is free (300 transcription min/mo, 30 min per conversation, 3 lifetime file imports, 20 AI Chat queries). Pro is $16.99/mo, or $8.33/mo billed annually (1,200 recording min/mo, up to 90 min/meeting, 10 imports a month). Business is $30/mo — the page shows it at $24 under a "20% off for 3 months+" badge — or $19.99/mo billed annually (unlimited meetings and in-app recordings, up to 4 hrs/meeting). Enterprise has no listed price (demo; SSO, SCIM, HIPAA add-on). The page also shows lower regional prices tied to an India-issued credit card, which we don't use here.
Yearly plan: Pro $8.33/mo, Business $19.99/mo billed annually
Verified 2026-10-27 against the vendor's pricing page. Pricing changes — always confirm with the vendor before buying.
Pros & cons
Pros
- Best-known brand in meeting transcription, with the broadest calendar/video integrations of the three notetakers here
- Generous free tier (300 min/mo) with real live transcription, not just a demo
- AI Chat lets you query the transcript in natural language during or after the call
- Student discount and clear annual pricing (Pro drops from $16.99/mo to $8.33/mo billed annually)
Cons
- No proactive live in-call suggestions — you have to ask AI Chat a question yourself, it doesn't surface help on its own
- Cloud-only processing, no on-device option or bring-your-own API key
- Minutes are metered on every paid tier — long calls or a busy month can hit the ceiling
- No document-grounded, cited-source answers published
Feature checklist
| Feature | Otter.ai |
|---|---|
| Price (month-to-month) | Free (300 min/mo) |
| Yearly plan (average per month) | Pro $8.33/mo, Business $19.99/mo billed annually |
| CRM / back-office integrations | PartialZoom, Teams, Google Meet integrations; no CRM sync published |
| Self-serve signup | ✓Free tier, 300 min/mo |
| Live AI assistance while the call is happening | ✕Live transcription only; AI Chat and summaries are queried during/after, not proactively suggested |
| On-device / local audio processing | ✕Cloud transcription and AI processing |
| Bring-your-own API key | ✕No bring-your-own API key option published |
| Unlimited call length | ✕Minutes are metered by plan (300 free with 30 min/meeting, 1,200 Pro/mo with 90 min/meeting, up to 4 hrs/meeting on Business) |
| AI answers cite their source | ✕Not published |
| Dual-channel speaker separation | Not publishedNot published |