Otter.ai review

What Otter.ai is

Otter.ai is an AI meeting assistant and transcription app. It joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet calls on every plan, including the free one, and writes a live transcript as people talk Otter.ai pricing ↗. You can also record in person with its phone apps or import audio and video files Otter.ai pricing ↗ Zapier review ↗.

After a meeting, Otter produces an overview, a topic outline and action items, and it sometimes attaches screenshots of shared slides Zapier review ↗. Hands on testing is in progress. This review is based on Otter's pricing page, Zapier's testing and user reviews.

What it does well

It is built for meetings. Zapier, which tested 68 transcription apps, picked Otter as the best for meetings because its assistant joins scheduled calendar meetings and writes the summary for you Zapier review ↗. You do not have to remember to start a recording.

It works off the computer too. Otter has web, Mac and Windows apps, iOS and Android apps and a Chrome extension Otter.ai pricing ↗. The phone apps make it practical for client consultations, site visits and in person team meetings.

You can ask questions about your meetings. Every plan includes Otter AI Chat, which answers questions such as what was decided or who owns a task Otter.ai pricing ↗. Custom vocabulary helps it spell product, client and staff names correctly Otter.ai pricing ↗.

It connects to sales tools. Pro and above add Zapier, Salesforce and HubSpot connections, with user limits Otter.ai pricing ↗. Otter also offers an MCP server on every plan, so AI assistants can read your meeting notes Otter.ai pricing ↗.

Users like the support. On Trustpilot Otter scores 4.1 out of 5 from 727 reviews, with frequent praise for fast, helpful support and quick billing fixes Trustpilot ↗.

Where it falls short

The free plan cuts meetings short. Each conversation stops at 30 minutes, so a one hour meeting is cut off halfway Otter.ai pricing ↗. Free accounts also get only three imported files for the life of the account and keep only the 25 most recent conversations Otter.ai pricing ↗.

Languages are limited. Otter transcribes English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese Otter.ai pricing ↗. If you work in other languages, a Whisper based tool covers far more.

Accuracy is not perfect. Zapier notes occasional transcription accuracy issues, and Trustpilot complaints mention transcripts that need heavy editing, strict plan limits and unexpected renewals Zapier review ↗ Trustpilot ↗.

HIPAA compliance is only available as an Enterprise add on Otter.ai pricing ↗, which matters for health businesses.

Pricing and plans

Basic (free): 300 meeting and recording minutes per user a month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 lifetime file imports, 20 AI chat questions a month, 5 custom vocabulary terms, the 25 most recent conversations and mp3 or txt export Otter.ai pricing ↗.

Pro: $16.99 per user a month, or $8.33 billed yearly. Includes 1,200 minutes a month, 90 minutes per conversation, 10 imports a month, 50 AI chat questions, pdf, docx and srt export, and Zapier, Salesforce and HubSpot Otter.ai pricing ↗. Students and teachers with a .edu email pay $79.99 a year Otter.ai pricing ↗.

Business: $19.99 per user a month billed yearly, or $30 monthly. Includes unlimited meeting minutes, 4 hour conversations, 3 meetings at once, 6,000 import minutes, 200 AI chat questions and admin tools such as usage analytics and centralized billing Otter.ai pricing ↗.

Enterprise: custom pricing with SSO, SCIM, custom data retention, the Otter API and HIPAA as an add on Otter.ai pricing ↗.

Otter's pricing page does not list a free trial of paid plans Otter.ai pricing ↗.

Who should (and shouldn't) use it

• Good fit: small businesses that want every meeting transcribed and summarized without extra work Zapier review ↗.
• Good fit: teams that record in person meetings and consultations on a phone Otter.ai pricing ↗.
• Skip it if: you mainly need to transcribe a backlog of recorded files; free imports are capped at three Otter.ai pricing ↗.
• Skip it if: you work in languages beyond the six Otter supports, or need HIPAA without an Enterprise contract Otter.ai pricing ↗.

Alternatives worth a look

• Fathom: the most generous free meeting recorder, with unlimited recordings and transcriptions Fathom pricing ↗.
• Fireflies: the cheapest paid notetaker, with Pro at $10 per seat a month billed yearly Fireflies pricing ↗.
• TurboScribe: for recorded files, free for 3 files a day up to 30 minutes each, in 98+ languages TurboScribe pricing ↗.
• Rev: AI plus human transcription at $1.99 a minute with a 99 percent accuracy guarantee Rev pricing ↗.