AI Tools 
Otter.ai review
AI meeting agent that transcribes, summarizes and answers questions about your meetings.
⚡ Quick verdict
Otter is one of the original AI note-takers and still one of the easiest: it joins your calls, transcribes live and delivers summaries and action items you can chat with. The free Basic plan is fine for occasional meetings (30 minutes per conversation). Pro at $8.33 a month billed annually is good value for individuals, and Business adds unlimited meetings for teams. Promotions change often, so check the live price.
Key takeaways
- Basic: free forever with 300 meeting-transcription minutes per user per month and 30 minutes per conversation.
- Pro: $16.99/user/month monthly or $8.33/user/month billed annually, with 1,200 minutes and 90 minutes per conversation.
- Business: $30/user/month monthly or $19.99/user/month billed annually, with unlimited meetings and 4-hour conversations.
- Otter was running additional promotions during our check (e.g., 50% off Pro); prices are in USD.
- Otter AI Chat, an MCP server for AI assistants and a Zapier integration are available.
At a glance
| Best for | Professionals and teams who want automatic meeting transcripts and summaries |
|---|---|
| Pricing from (USD) | $8.33/user/mo billed annually (Pro) |
| Free plan | Yes — Basic with 300 transcription minutes per user per month |
| Platforms | Web; iOS and Android; Chrome extension; Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams |
| Company | Otter.ai |
| Category | Meetings & Transcription |
| Last checked | October 16, 2026 |
On this page
What Otter.ai is
Otter.ai is an AI meeting assistant. Its agent joins your Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams calls (or records in person through the app), transcribes the conversation in real time with speaker labels, and produces a summary with action items when the meeting ends. Afterwards you can search, share or ask Otter AI Chat questions like “what did we decide about the launch date?”
Otter now also offers an MCP server, so AI assistants can pull context from your meetings, plus a Zapier integration and custom AI meeting templates and workflows.
Key features
Live transcription
Real-time transcripts with speakers, highlights and comments.
Summaries and action items
Automatic recaps with action items after each meeting.
Otter AI Chat
Query a single meeting or many; limits scale with your plan.
Custom AI workflows and templates
Tailor summaries for sales, interviews or stand-ups; advanced workflows on Business.
Integrations
Google Calendar, Zoom/Meet/Teams, Zapier and an MCP server for AI assistants.
Import and export
Import recorded audio/video; export mp3, txt, pdf, docx and srt.
Pricing breakdown
From Otter’s pricing page, checked October 16, 2026 (prices in USD).
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing | Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | Free | 300 min/user/month, 30 min per conversation |
| Pro | $16.99/user/mo | $8.33/user/mo | 1,200 min/user/month, 90 min per conversation |
| Business | $30/user/mo | $19.99/user/mo | Unlimited meetings, 4 hours per conversation |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Unlimited |
During our check Otter also showed promotions—50% off Pro and 20% off Business for 3 months—so checkout prices may differ. Workspaces are capped at 5 billed users on Pro and 25 on Business.
Best use cases
- Sales reps: capture call details and next steps automatically.
- Managers: share stand-up summaries with absent teammates.
- Researchers and journalists: transcribe interviews.
- Students: record and search lectures.
How to get started
- Sign up free at otter.ai and connect your calendar.
- Let the Otter agent auto-join your next meeting.
- Review the transcript and summary afterwards.
- Ask Otter AI Chat a follow-up question.
- Upgrade if you need longer meetings or more minutes.
Tips and tricks
- Tell attendees that Otter is recording.
- Tag speakers early to improve labels.
- Use custom templates for recurring meeting types.
- Connect the MCP server to use meeting context in your AI assistant.
Example AI Chat question:
Across this week’s customer calls, list every feature request, who asked for it and how urgent they said it was.
Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Accurate real-time transcripts
- Free plan available
- Ask questions across meetings with AI Chat
- Works with Zoom, Meet and Teams
- MCP server for AI assistants
👎 Cons
- Free plan caps conversations at 30 minutes
- Frequent promotions make pricing confusing
- Bots joining calls can bother attendees
- AI Chat queries are limited on lower plans
Who should (and shouldn't) use Otter.ai
✅ A good fit if you…
- Want searchable transcripts of every meeting
- Need quick summaries and action items
- Record lectures or interviews
⛔ Look elsewhere if you…
- Want bot-free notes (consider Granola)
- Need sales coaching analytics (consider Gong)
- Need video highlights (consider tl;dv)
Otter.ai alternatives
- Fireflies.ai — AI notetaker that transcribes, summarizes, searches and analyzes meetings, with free dictation via Fireflies Talk. (from $10/user/mo (Pro, annual); $18 monthly)
- Fathom — AI notetaker that records, transcribes and summarizes meetings, with a free forever plan and CRM sync for teams. (from $16/mo (Premium, billed annually); $20 monthly)
- Granola — AI notepad for back-to-back meetings that captures computer audio without a bot and enhances your own notes. (from $14/user/mo (Business))
- Read AI — AI meeting notes, enterprise search and an AI assistant, Ada, across meetings, email and messages. (from $15/user/mo billed annually (Pro))
- tl;dv — AI note taker that records meetings, writes notes, updates your CRM and reports insights across calls. (from See pricing page (shown to us as C$27/seat/mo billed annually for Pro))
FAQ
Is Otter.ai free?
Yes. The Basic plan is free forever with 300 meeting-transcription minutes per user per month, up to 30 minutes per conversation, and 20 AI Chat queries per month.
How much does Otter.ai cost?
Pro is $16.99 per user per month on monthly billing or $8.33 on annual billing. Business is $30 per user per month monthly or $19.99 annually. Enterprise is custom. Otter was running promotions during our check, so the checkout price may be lower.
What's the difference between Pro and Business?
Pro includes 1,200 transcription minutes per user and 90-minute conversations; Business includes unlimited meetings and in-app recordings, 4-hour conversations, custom AI workflows and up to 25 billed users per workspace.
Does Otter work with Zoom, Google Meet and Teams?
Yes. Otter can join and transcribe meetings on Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams.
What is Otter AI Chat?
Otter AI Chat lets you ask questions about your meetings and get answers. Monthly query limits are 20 per user on Basic, 50 on Pro and 200 on Business.
Can I import recordings?
Yes. Basic allows 3 lifetime imports per user, Pro allows 10 per month, and Business includes up to 6,000 imported minutes per user per month.
Sources
This is an editorial review based on research of official Otter.ai pages and documentation, not hands-on benchmark testing. Prices are in USD and were checked on October 16, 2026; vendors change plans often, so confirm on the official pricing page before buying.