Otter.ai is a freemium AI meeting agent for live transcription, summaries, and searchable notes. Otter transcribes every meeting and can join Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet, or record bot-free on desktop, Chrome, and mobile. Basic Free forever suits light use under monthly minute and history caps; Pro and Business raise those ceilings for heavier calendars.
Live meetings via Notetaker, desktop, Chrome, or mobile, plus uploaded audio or video files
Output
Searchable transcripts, summaries, action items, and CRM-oriented notes
Access
Web, Mac and Windows desktop, Chrome, iOS, and Android
Is Otter.ai right for you?
Choose Otter.ai when you need one place for live transcription, speaker labels, summaries with action items, and optional CRM sync across common meeting platforms. The freemium path is real: Basic Free forever gives you a way to try the product, then Pro and Business add more in-app minutes, longer meetings, and imports. Keep the comparison table rates separate from the Otter Pro Annual discount line when you read pricing. Watch the monthly transcription and import caps, per-conversation length, concurrent meeting slots, and conversation history depth before you rely on it for full-day calendars. Enterprise lists SSO and a HIPAA compliance add-on plus Otter API and webhooks; treat those as plan-gated, not default for every account. If you mainly want noise cancellation without a full notetaker stack, or a different meeting-agent product, compare the alternatives below and confirm current limits on the official site.
A good fit for
Teams that want live transcription, summaries, and action items from Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet.
Sales, education, media, or recruiting roles that need searchable meeting notes and optional CRM-oriented follow-ups.
People who prefer bot-free desktop recording or mobile capture alongside an AI Notetaker.
Know the trade-offs
Basic Free forever caps monthly transcription minutes, import count, meeting length, concurrent meetings, and recent conversation history.
HIPAA compliance add-on on Enterprise is listed as an add-on, not a default promise on every plan.
Otter API and webhooks appear on Enterprise; do not assume API access on Basic or Pro.
Automatic Recording monitors microphone activity on device to start a meeting record; it is not framed here as hidden listening.
What Otter.ai does in meetings.
Live transcription, summaries, and action items
Otter transcribes every meeting with live text and speaker recognition, then builds a summary that surfaces decisions, action items, and insights you can search later. Otter AI Chat can answer questions across meetings and connected apps to help draft follow-ups, reports, and related content without replaying the full audio each time. You can send an AI Notetaker into Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet, or record bot-free on Mac or Windows desktop, Chrome, or mobile. Channels group meetings by team, project, or topic so shared recordings stay findable. Integrations listed on the homepage include Slack, Zoom, Salesforce, Claude, Google Drive, HubSpot, Jira, Notion, and Glean for routing notes into tools teams already use.
Minute caps, meeting length, and import limits by plan
Basic Free forever is the entry path: the comparison table lists 300 minutes per user for meeting and recording transcription each month with no rollover, 30 minutes max per conversation, one concurrent meeting, three lifetime file imports, and the 25 most recent conversations in history. Pro raises the monthly meeting transcription allowance to 1,200 minutes per user, allows up to 90 minutes per meeting, two concurrent meetings, and ten monthly imports, with unlimited conversation history on that tier. Business lists unlimited meetings and in-app recordings for the monthly meeting transcription row, up to four hours per meeting, three concurrent meetings, and unlimited imports on the plan card, with a separate imported-file minute row at 6,000 minutes per user. Those ceilings decide whether Otter.ai fits a light personal calendar or a team that stacks long calls. Confirm the live table on the pricing page before you budget seats around a hard monthly wall.
Automatic Recording monitors microphone activity on the device to detect when a meeting starts, then begins recording the conversation so you are less likely to miss the opening minutes. That behavior follows the product update wording: it watches when the on-device microphone becomes active, rather than describing a hidden always-on spy mode. Resources also describe a Live Agent path that lets you build a custom AI coach running live inside calls such as sales, customer success, or recruiting. Pair that with desktop bot-free capture when you do not want a meeting bot in the participant list, and keep an eye on plan limits for concurrent meetings if several sessions overlap on the same day.
Sales teams can record demos and pipeline calls, then rely on Otter.ai for live coaching tips, automated follow-ups, and deal details pushed toward CRM tools such as Salesforce or HubSpot where the plan allows. Use this when the job is to keep notes and next steps aligned after every customer conversation. Before you scale seats, map monthly minute use and concurrent meeting needs against Basic, Pro, or Business. If a teammate needs longer than the per-conversation max on your plan, suggest upgrading or splitting marathon sessions so transcription does not stop mid-call.
Lectures, interviews, and study sessions
Education and media workflows benefit when lectures, discussions, interviews, and production meetings become searchable transcripts, key quotes, and draft-ready notes. Otter.ai positions these paths for people who revisit spoken content later instead of typing everything live. Students and producers on Basic Free forever should track the 300 monthly minutes and short per-conversation ceiling. When a seminar or interview block regularly overruns those limits, suggest Pro or Business so storage, imports, and meeting length match the real recording load.
Recruiting interviews with structured candidate notes
Recruiting-focused flows use real-time help during interviews and turn conversations into structured, shareable candidate insight, including notes sync paths described for tools such as Greenhouse on the product site. This suits interview loops where several people need the same transcript trail. Coordinate who owns the Notetaker invite and which plan covers concurrent sessions when panels run in parallel. If compliance stakeholders ask about health-data controls, point them to the HIPAA compliance add-on on Enterprise rather than assuming every Otter.ai workspace includes it, and suggest a security review before sensitive hiring data lands in shared channels.
How to get started with Otter.ai
1
Create an account and pick a capture path
Sign up on Otter.ai, then choose how you will record: send the AI Notetaker to Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet, install the Mac or Windows desktop app for bot-free recording, use Chrome, or capture on iOS or Android.
2
Run a real meeting under your plan limits
Start with a typical call length and count how many minutes and imports you actually burn. Compare that against Basic Free forever allowances or the higher Pro and Business ceilings so you know whether the free tier will hold for a full month.
3
Review the transcript, summary, and action items
After the meeting, open the searchable transcript, check speaker labels, and use the summary with decisions and action items. Ask Otter AI Chat follow-up questions across meetings when you need a report or email draft from the same record.
4
Connect tools and raise the plan only when caps bind
Link calendar and workspace tools you already use, then move to Pro, Business, or Enterprise when monthly minutes, meeting length, concurrent joins, imports, SSO, or the HIPAA compliance add-on become required for your team.
Comparison table lists Basic Free forever, Pro at $8.33 per user per month, and Business at $19.99 per user per month. A separate pricing-page line lists discounted Otter Pro Annual at $6.67 USD per month (billed $79.99 annually) and Otter Pro Monthly at $13.59 USD per month. Other listed card figures on the same page include $16.99 and $8.49* and $30 and $24 and $4.17* depending on monthly or annual toggle and starred offers. Prices in USD. Payment: credit and debit cards on the Otter.ai website, plus in-app purchases through the Apple App Store or Google Play.
Basic
Individuals trying Otter.ai for light meeting notes.
Free.
Forever.
300 monthly transcription minutes
3 lifetime audio/video file imports
Up to 30 minutes per conversation
1 concurrent meeting
25 most recent conversations in history
Live transcription and speaker identification
Zoom, MS Teams, and Google Meet
Pro
Individuals and small teams with regular meeting volume.
$8.33.
Per user / month.
1200 in-app recording minutes
Up to 90 mins /meeting
10 monthly audio/video file imports
Unlimited storage
Advanced meeting templates
Team vocabulary and taggable speakers
Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zapier integrations subject to user limits
Business
Medium-sized teams that need longer meetings and admin controls.
$19.99.
Per user / month.
Unlimited meetings and in-app recordings on the plan card
Up to 4 hours /meeting
Join 3 concurrent meetings
Custom AI workflows
Enhanced admin features such as activity logs and usage analytics
Prioritized support
Enterprise
Large teams and companies that need SSO and governance controls.
Schedule a demo.
Custom.
SSO, SCIM, Domain Capture
Enterprise-grade security and controls
HIPAA compliance (add-on)
Otter API & Webhooks
Custom integrations for CRM and dialers
Otter Sales Notetaker
Do not merge the comparison rates ($8.33 / $19.99) with the separate discount line ($6.67 billed $79.99 annually, and $13.59 monthly) into a single invented price. Starred lower figures and India-issued credit card offers on the pricing page are conditional. Salesforce and HubSpot integrations are subject to user limits. Imported-file minute rows can differ from in-app meeting transcription rows even on the same plan.
You want another dedicated AI meeting notetaker to compare against Otter.ai storage and automation style.
Fireflies.ai is a separate meeting-notetaker product with its own capture and workspace model. Use it as a side-by-side check when you are evaluating bot behavior, transcript search, or team sharing rules and do not want to assume Otter.ai minute tables apply elsewhere.
Your main pain is call noise and echo rather than full meeting knowledge search.
Krisp focuses on noise cancellation and call clarity. Prefer it when clean audio matters more than Otter.ai-style searchable transcripts, summaries, Channels, and CRM-oriented meeting workflows across a shared conversational knowledge base.
You need AI content and data workflows beyond meeting transcription alone.
AirOps targets broader AI operations and content pipelines. Reach for it when the job is structured generation and data-side workflows rather than Otter.ai live meeting transcription, Notetaker joins, and per-plan recording minute ceilings.
Otter.ai: common questions
Is Otter.ai free to start?
Yes. Otter.ai offers Basic Free forever for light use, then paid Pro, Business, and Enterprise tiers for higher minutes, longer meetings, and team controls. Check the live pricing table for the current monthly transcription and import caps.
How many transcription minutes does Basic include?
The comparison table lists 300 minutes per user per month for meeting and recording transcription on Basic, with no rollover, plus a 30-minute max per conversation and three lifetime file imports.
Can Otter.ai join Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet?
Yes. Otter.ai can send an AI Notetaker to those platforms, and you can also record bot-free on desktop or Chrome or capture on mobile when you prefer not to add a bot to the call.
According to the product update, Automatic Recording detects a meeting start by monitoring when the on-device microphone becomes active, then begins recording the conversation. That is microphone-activity based start logic, not a claim of silent background surveillance.
Otter API and webhooks are listed under Enterprise alongside SSO and related controls. Confirm availability with Otter.ai sales if your workflow depends on API access.
NavHunt did not run Otter.ai. Plan tables, minute limits, and feature descriptions come from the public homepage, pricing page, and resources pages reviewed on 6 October 2026. Confirm live prices, starred offers, and enterprise add-ons on otter.ai before you buy seats. This description is based on Otter.ai's official materials reviewed on 2026-10-06, including Otter Meeting Agent - AI Notetaker, Transcription, Insights, Pricing | Otter.ai, Resources | Otter.ai.