Otter.ai is best for consultants, remote teams and journalists. Its clearest advantage: Good free tier.
- Avoid if
- users who need full conversation analytics at enterprise scale
- Cheapest useful plan
- $16.99/mo · Pro
- Free plan
- Yes
- Setup effort
- easy: minutes
- Main limitation
- Accuracy drops in noisy audio
- Good free tier
- Automatic capture
- Action-item extraction
- users who need full conversation analytics at enterprise scale
What it actually does
Automatic transcription and summaries, action items assigned from each meeting, bot-free recording from the desktop app, Otter AI Chat across meetings and connected apps, MCP server for ChatGPT and Claude.
Before you pay
Free or Pro
The Basic plan is free for good with 300 transcription minutes a month, which covers a few client calls a week. Pro is for someone who records most meetings and wants the AI Chat across meetings and connected apps. Recording works without a bot joining the call, from the desktop app.
What a year costs
Pro is $16.99 per user a month billed monthly, $203.88 a year, or $8.33 a month on yearly billing, $99.96 a year: the annual plan halves the price. Business is $30 a month, $360 a year, or $19.99 on yearly billing, $239.88 a year. Our first reading, on 6 August, took the yearly figure; since 12 September the record holds the monthly price, so the change is a correction, not a price rise.
What we would check before paying
How many minutes you really record each month: the free cap is the usual reason to upgrade. Accuracy drops with noisy audio, so a quiet room matters more than the plan. If you use ChatGPT or Claude, Otter's MCP server lets them read your meeting notes.
The limits to know
- Accuracy drops in noisy audio
- Free minutes cap
- Best features need pro
Pricing & billing commitment
- Rate on record
- $16.99/mo · Pro
- What that figure is
- Month-to-month rate per seat, read on the vendor's monthly view.
- Commitment
- None: payable one month at a time
- The vendor's exact condition
- $8.33/user/mo billed annually; $16.99/user/mo billed monthly
The pricing page, as read
What it costs at 1, 3, 5 and 10 users
Otter.ai bills per seat, so the invoice follows head count. Calculated at the rate on record, before tax, with no annual commitment.
| Seats | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $16.99 | $203.88 |
| 3 | $50.97 | $611.64 |
| 5 | $84.95 | $1019.40 |
| 10 | $169.90 | $2038.80 |
In practice
- Platforms
- Web, iOS, Android
- Integrations
- Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Salesforce
- Setup
- easy: minutes
Otter.ai in our comparisons
Alternatives to Otter.ai
Compare side by side:Otter.ai / FathomOtter.ai / Fireflies.aiOtter.ai / MeetGeek
Frequently asked questions
What is Otter.ai?
Otter.ai is a tool from Otter.ai, Inc., used mainly for meeting transcription, action items, notes. Main features: automatic transcription and summaries, action items assigned from each meeting, bot-free recording from the desktop app. It has a permanent free plan; the paid entry point is $16.99/mo · Pro.
How much does Otter.ai cost?
The paid entry point is $16.99/mo · Pro. Month-to-month rate per seat, read on the vendor's monthly view. The exact condition attached to that figure: $8.33/user/mo billed annually; $16.99/user/mo billed monthly. Read on the official pricing page on 25.10.2026. Prices move quickly: confirm before subscribing.
Does Otter.ai have a free plan?
Yes. Otter.ai publishes a permanent free plan. Check this before settling on it: accuracy drops in noisy audio.
What devices and tools does Otter.ai work with?
According to the vendor's documentation, Otter.ai runs on: Web, iOS, Android. Documented integrations: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Salesforce. Listed from the official sources, not tested by us: check your own setup on the free plan.
How we checked this record
The evidence record
- Evidence level
- Vendor documented: Official documentation and pricing page reviewed and dated. No independent verification, no hands-on test recorded.
- Affiliate status
- No affiliate link on this record, no commission.
Hands-on test
No automated hands-on test has been completed for this review cycle. This record rests on the vendor's official documentation and pricing page, re-read and dated. We say so rather than imply otherwise.
The research record
Read on the vendor's monthly view, from France; screenshot kept
Read on the vendor's monthly view, from France
Corrected to the month-to-month figure already recorded in this record's own billing condition
Published by us from the vendor's annual view: our error, read on 2026-08-06
Sources
The official pages this record rests on. No tracking links here: these addresses name the vendor.
Evidence freshness
Each kind of check has its own clock and its own threshold. A price ages in weeks and a feature list in months; sharing one date between them would let an old review pass for a recent check.
| Check | When | State |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Checked 18 days ago | Fresh |
| Features | Checked 41 days ago | Fresh |
| Privacy & data | Never checked | Not independently checked |
| Hands-on test | Never checked | Not independently checked |
| Page review | Checked 98 days ago | Due soon |
What remains unverified
- No workflow was run inside the product. Everything here comes from the vendor's documentation and public pages.
- Data handling and the privacy policy were not independently verified during this research cycle. We therefore publish no conclusion about security or where data is stored.
- Export terms and the real cost of leaving are not on this record: we have not tested them.