Otter.ai

Overview

Otter.ai is a FREE AI-powered transcription and meeting assistant offering 300 minutes per month at $0, with real-time transcription for Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. OtterPilot automatically joins meetings, captures audio, identifies speakers, generates AI summaries, and enables collaborative note-taking during live calls.

Unlike unlimited-free competitors (Fathom, tl;dv), Otter limits free usage to 300 minutes/month but differentiates through real-time collaborative editing where multiple users can simultaneously edit the same transcript during meetings - positioning Otter as the "Google Docs of meeting transcription" vs competitors' read-only summaries.

The Free vs Paid Reality: Otter's free tier (300 min/month = 10-15 calls) suits solopreneurs and light users, but sales teams averaging 50+ calls/month will hit limits quickly. Pro tier ($10/user/year annual = $120/year) offers 1,200 minutes/month (40-50 calls), making it 47-50% cheaper than Grain ($228/year) or Read.ai ($237/year) for similar features.

OtterPilot Automatic Meeting Join

1. Calendar Sync and Auto-Join

• Connect Google Calendar, Outlook, or Microsoft 365 to Otter account
• OtterPilot detects scheduled meetings and joins automatically as a participant ("Otter (Notetaker)" appears in attendee list)
• Works for Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams without manual intervention
• vs Competitors: Same auto-join as Fathom, tl;dv, Fireflies - table stakes feature

2. Real-Time Transcription with Speaker Identification

• Otter transcribes speech to text in real-time during meeting (words appear as spoken)
• Automatically identifies and labels speakers by name (learns voices over time)
• Supports English, Spanish, French transcription (3 languages vs tl;dv's 40+ languages)
• Reality Check: Transcription accuracy 85-90% typical, struggles with heavy accents or background noise per user reviews

3. AI Summary Generation Post-Meeting

• After call ends, Otter AI generates summary with key topics, action items, and highlights
• Summaries sent via email to participants automatically
• Searchable transcript with timestamps allows jumping to specific moments
• vs Fathom: Fathom's summaries more concise (1-2 paragraphs) vs Otter's longer bullet-point summaries

Real-Time Collaborative Note-Taking (Unique Feature)

How It Works:

• During live meeting, multiple users access same Otter transcript simultaneously
• Team members highlight key points, add comments, and edit notes in real-time (like Google Docs)
• Reactions (👍, ❤️, 🔥) can be added to specific transcript moments during call
• All edits sync instantly across all viewers

Why This Matters:

• Unique to Otter - competitors (Fathom, tl;dv, Fireflies) only show final transcript after meeting
• Great for internal team calls where 2-3 people collaboratively document decisions
• Tradeoff: Requires team members to actively engage with transcript during call vs listening - can be distracting

CRM Integration (Enterprise Tier Only)

Salesforce & HubSpot Integration:

• Automatically push meeting transcripts, summaries, and action items to CRM contact/deal records
• Available on Enterprise tier only (custom pricing $25+/user/month estimated)
• vs Competitors: Fathom offers free CRM sync on all plans, making Otter's Enterprise-gated integration a disadvantage for SMB teams

300 Free Minutes Per Month ($0 Tier)

Otter's free tier offers 300 minutes monthly transcription (10-15 meetings averaging 20-30 min each) with 30-minute maximum per conversation - best for solopreneurs and freelancers with <15 calls/month.

What This Means:

• Zero cost for light users (consultants, coaches, freelancers taking <15 client calls/month)
• Automatic reset on 1st of month (unused minutes don't roll over)
• Limitation: Hit 300-minute cap and transcription stops until next month - no overage charges but no more meetings recorded

Real-Time Collaborative Editing During Meetings

Multiple team members can simultaneously edit the same live transcript during calls, adding highlights, comments, and reactions as the meeting progresses - Otter's unique differentiator vs read-only competitors.

What This Means:

• Internal team meetings benefit from collaborative note-taking (2-3 people documenting same call simultaneously)
• Great for training scenarios (manager + new rep both highlighting key moments during sales call)
• Tradeoff: Requires active engagement during meeting which can be distracting vs Fathom's passive "listen and review later" approach

Automatic Speaker Identification Without Training

Otter automatically detects and labels speakers by name without manual voice training - learns voices over time improving accuracy with repeated use.

What This Means:

• No setup required - first meeting automatically identifies "Speaker 1", "Speaker 2"
• Subsequent meetings with same participants improve labeling accuracy (Otter learns voices)
• Reality Check: User reviews report 70-80% accuracy on first meeting, improving to 85-90% after 3-5 calls with same people

Otter.ai offers four pricing tiers with annual billing discounts up to 41% savings:

Free Tier (300 min/month)

$0 per user/month

• Monthly Minutes: 300 minutes (10-15 meetings)
• Per-Meeting Limit: 30 minutes maximum
• File Imports: 3 audio/video file imports (lifetime)
• Features: OtterPilot auto-join, real-time transcription, AI summaries, speaker ID
• Languages: English, Spanish, French (3 languages)
• Best For: Solopreneurs, freelancers, consultants with <15 calls/month

Free Tier Limitations:

• ❌ No CRM integration (Salesforce, HubSpot locked to Enterprise)
• ❌ No custom vocabulary for industry terms
• ❌ No advanced search or export features
• ❌ 30-minute per-meeting cap (longer meetings get cut off)

Pro Tier (1,200 min/month)

$16.99/user/month (monthly billing) $10/user/month (annual billing = $120/year total)

• Monthly Minutes: 1,200 minutes (40-50 meetings)
• Per-Meeting Limit: 90 minutes maximum
• File Imports: Unlimited audio/video file imports
• Features: Everything in Free plus custom vocabulary, advanced search, export options
• Collaboration: Tag speakers, assign action items to teammates
• Best For: Small sales teams (5-20 reps) averaging 40-50 calls/month per rep

Pro Tier Value Proposition:

• 47-50% cheaper annually than Grain ($228/year) or Read.ai ($237/year)
• 1,200 minutes = 40-50 discovery calls averaging 25-30 min each
• Custom vocabulary great for technical products (adds industry terms for better transcription accuracy)

Business Tier (6,000 min/month)

$30/user/month (monthly billing) $20/user/month (annual billing = $240/year total)

• Monthly Minutes: 6,000 minutes (200+ meetings)
• Per-Meeting Limit: 4 hours (240 minutes) maximum
• Concurrent Meetings: Join 3 simultaneous meetings automatically
• Features: Everything in Pro plus team management, priority support
• Admin Controls: User management, team-wide settings
• Best For: Mid-market teams (20-100 people) with heavy meeting loads (50+ calls/week)

Business Tier Reality Check:

• 6,000 minutes = 200+ meetings averaging 30 min each (or 50 meetings × 120 min each)
• 3 concurrent meeting joins useful for large teams with overlapping calls
• vs tl;dv: tl;dv offers unlimited meetings on free tier making Business tier hard to justify unless needing admin controls

Enterprise Tier (Custom Pricing)

Custom Pricing (estimated $25-35/user/month based on user reports)

• Monthly Minutes: Unlimited (no caps)
• Features: Everything in Business plus video replays, advanced security (SSO, SAML), org-wide deployment
• CRM Integration: Salesforce, HubSpot native sync (auto-push meeting notes to deals/contacts)
• Sales Insights: OtterPilot for Sales extracts insights and writes follow-up emails
• Best For: Enterprise teams ($50M+ ARR) needing CRM integration and security compliance

Enterprise Tier Tradeoff:

• CRM integration gated to Enterprise - Fathom offers free Salesforce/HubSpot sync on all plans
• Estimated $25-35/user/month = $300-420/year per user vs Fathom's $0 for same CRM features

Recommendation:

• Choose Otter Free if you're solopreneur with <15 calls/month and want $0 cost
• Choose Otter Pro ($120/year) if you need 40-50 calls/month and value real-time collaborative editing
• Choose tl;dv or Fathom if you need unlimited free meetings without 300-minute monthly cap
• Choose Fireflies ($120/year) if you need unlimited transcription at same price as Otter Pro

Recommendation:

• Choose Otter.ai if you're light user (<15 calls/month) wanting $0 cost OR need real-time collaborative editing during internal team meetings
• Choose Fathom if you need unlimited free meetings with Salesforce/HubSpot integration at $0 cost
• Choose tl;dv if you have international teams needing 40+ language support with unlimited free transcription
• Choose Fireflies if you prioritize transcription accuracy (95%+) and want unlimited transcription at $120/year (same price as Otter Pro)

G2 Reviews (4.2/5 stars, 340 reviews)

What Users Love:

• "Free tier perfect for my 10-12 client calls per month as a consultant" (Independent Consultant, SaaS)
• "Real-time collaborative editing during team meetings is game-changer - 3 of us document same call simultaneously" (Product Manager, B2B SaaS)
• "$10/month annual pricing 50% cheaper than alternatives for 1,200 minutes" (Sales Manager, Mid-Market)

What Users Complain About:

• "Hit 300-minute free cap by week 2 with 50 sales calls/month - forced to upgrade or stop recording" (SDR, Early-Stage Startup)
• "Transcription accuracy 70-80% on first call with heavy accents, missed technical product terms" (Solutions Engineer, Enterprise Software)
• "CRM integration requires Enterprise tier ($300+/year) while Fathom offers free Salesforce sync" (AE, Growth-Stage SaaS)
• "30-minute per-meeting cap on free tier cut off my 45-minute demo mid-conversation" (Founder, Seed-Stage)

Capterra Reviews (4.5/5 stars, 89 reviews)

Common Themes:

• Free Tier Great for Light Users: Solopreneurs, consultants, coaches love 300 free minutes for 10-15 monthly calls
• Real-Time Collaboration Unique: Teams value simultaneous editing during meetings vs read-only competitors
• Transcription Quality Inconsistent: Accuracy 85-90% typical but struggles with accents, background noise, technical jargon
• Minute Caps Frustrating for Sales Teams: 300 free minutes too low for reps averaging 50+ calls/month (hit limit by week 2)

Our Take: Otter.ai earns Gold medal for best FREE transcription tool with 300 minutes/month at $0, plus unique real-time collaborative editing competitors lack. The Pro tier at $10/user/month annual ($120/year) offers 47-50% savings vs Grain or Read.ai for similar 1,200 minutes/month, making it best value for small teams (5-20 reps) with 40-50 calls/month per rep. However, the free tier's 300-minute cap (10-15 calls) is too restrictive for sales teams averaging 50+ calls/month - better to use tl;dv or Fathom's unlimited free tiers. The CRM integration gated to Enterprise tier ($300-420/year estimated) hurts SMB appeal when Fathom offers free Salesforce/HubSpot sync. Verdict: Choose Otter Free for light usage (<15 calls/month) or Otter Pro ($120/year) for real-time collaboration needs, but prefer tl;dv/Fathom if needing unlimited free meetings or CRM integration without Enterprise costs.

Otter.ai integrates with major video conferencing platforms and offers CRM connectivity on Enterprise tier - lacking free CRM sync competitors provide:

Video Conferencing (Native):

• Zoom - OtterPilot auto-joins Zoom meetings, provides real-time transcription, shares summaries in Zoom chat
• Google Meet - Automatic meeting join, live transcription, speaker identification for all Google Meet calls
• Microsoft Teams - Native integration for Teams meetings with real-time transcription and participant sharing

CRM (Enterprise Tier Only - $300-420/Year Est.):

• Salesforce - Auto-sync meeting notes, transcripts, action items to Salesforce contact/opportunity records
• HubSpot - Push call summaries, insights, and transcripts to HubSpot deals and contacts automatically

Collaboration Tools (Zapier):

• Slack - Share meeting summaries and highlights to Slack channels automatically post-call
• Notion - Export transcripts and action items to Notion databases for knowledge management
• Google Docs - Export meeting notes and summaries to Google Docs for editing

Calendar (Native):

• Google Calendar - Sync with Google Calendar to auto-detect and join scheduled meetings
• Outlook - Microsoft Outlook integration for automatic meeting detection and OtterPilot join

What's Missing vs Competitors:

• ❌ No free CRM integration (Salesforce/HubSpot) - Fathom offers free CRM sync on all plans
• ❌ No native Asana, Jira, ClickUp task creation - requires Zapier workarounds
• ❌ Enterprise-gated integrations limit SMB appeal

Integration Comparison:

Recommendation: Otter's Enterprise-gated CRM integration is major disadvantage for SMB teams when Fathom offers free Salesforce/HubSpot sync and Fireflies includes CRM at $120/year (same price as Otter Pro without CRM).