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Otter.ai vs Skim

Features, pricing, ratings, and pros and cons, side by side.

Verdict

Otter.ai is listed under Audio & Speech AI and Skim under Productivity. Otter.ai scores higher in FinderAtlas's editorial review (8.4 vs 7.6 out of 10), led by ease of use. Only Otter.ai has a free plan or trial. Only Otter.ai is available on Windows, macOS and iOS and offers an API.

Best overall

Otter.ai

  • Sales teams
  • Students and educators
  • Journalists and media teams
  • Recruiters

Choose Otter.ai if

  • You want a tool built for meeting transcription and summaries.
  • Permanent free plan with 300 monthly transcription minutes.
  • Works through a notetaker bot or bot-free via desktop apps and Chrome extension.

Choose Skim if

  • You want a tool built for quick pre-signature review of leases, contractor quotes and terms of service, drafting a reply to push back on a clause.
  • Simple one-off $9 price covering up to 3 documents, with no subscription.
  • No account or prompt writing required.
Best value
Otter.ai
Best for beginners
Skim
Best for business
Otter.ai

Features

16 features compared.

  • Live transcription
    Otter.ai
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • Notetaker bot
    Otter.ai
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • Bot-free recording
    Otter.ai
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • AI summaries and action items
    Otter.ai
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • Otter AI Chat
    Otter.ai
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • Channels
    Otter.ai
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • File import
    Otter.ai
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • CRM sync
    Otter.ai
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • Otter MCP server
    Otter.ai
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • Five red flags
    Otter.ai
    Not available
    Skim
    Available
  • Plain-English rewrite
    Otter.ai
    Not available
    Skim
    Available
  • Paste-ready reply
    Otter.ai
    Not available
    Skim
    Available
  • PDF upload or pasted text
    Otter.ai
    Not available
    Skim
    Available
  • No account
    Otter.ai
    Not available
    Skim
    Available
  • Free sample
    Otter.ai
    Not available
    Skim
    Available
  • One-time pricing
    Otter.ai
    Not available
    Skim
    Available

Pricing

Plans as listed by each vendor. Check their sites for current prices.

  • Pricing model
    Otter.ai
    Freemium
    Skim
    Paid
  • Free plan
    Otter.ai
    Yes
    Skim
    No
  • Starting price
    Otter.ai
    $0
    Skim
    $9
  • Plans
    Otter.ai
    4 plans
    Skim
    1 plan

Otter.ai plans

  • Basic

    $0

    For those who want to give it a try

    • 300 monthly transcription minutes
    • 30 minutes per conversation
    • 3 lifetime file imports
    • Live transcription
    • AI Chat
    • iOS and Android apps

  • Pro

    Most popular

    $16.99/user/mo

    For individuals and small teams

    • 1,200 monthly transcription minutes
    • 90 minutes per meeting
    • 10 monthly file imports
    • Advanced search and export
    • Custom vocabulary
    • Salesforce and HubSpot and Zapier integrations

  • Business

    $30/user/mo

    For medium-sized teams

    • Unlimited meetings and recordings
    • 4 hours per meeting
    • Unlimited file imports
    • 3 concurrent meetings
    • Custom AI workflows
    • Admin activity logs and usage analytics
    • Prioritized support

  • Enterprise

    Custom/custom

    For large teams and companies

    • Everything in Business
    • SSO and SCIM and Domain Capture
    • Otter API and Webhooks
    • Custom CRM and dialer integrations
    • HIPAA compliance add-on
    • Customer Success Program

Skim plans

  • Skim Check

    Most popular

    $9/one-time

    One payment covering up to 3 documents, no account needed.

    • Five red flags per document
    • Rewrite for each flag
    • Paste-ready reply
    • Up to 3 documents
    • Stripe Checkout

Our ratings

Scored out of 10 by the Finder Atlas editorial team. Last reviewed October 2026.

Otter.ai
8.4overall
Skim
7.6overall

Otter.ai leads in 1 category and Skim in 0.

  • Transcription Accuracy

    Otter.ai
    8.4
    Skim
    Not rated

  • Meeting Summaries & Action Items

    Otter.ai
    8.5
    Skim
    Not rated

  • Integrations

    Otter.ai
    8.3
    Skim
    Not rated

  • Ease of Use

    Otter.ai leads by 0.5
    Otter.ai
    9.0
    Skim
    8.5

  • Value for Money

    Otter.ai
    7.8
    Skim
    Not rated

  • Clause Detection

    Otter.ai
    Not rated
    Skim
    7.0

  • Output Usefulness

    Otter.ai
    Not rated
    Skim
    7.5

  • Pricing Clarity

    Otter.ai
    Not rated
    Skim
    9.0

  • Transparency

    Otter.ai
    Not rated
    Skim
    6.0

Scores weigh documented features, plan value, platform coverage, integrations and user feedback. A missing score means we have not rated that area yet.

Pros and cons

Otter.ai

Pros

  • Permanent free plan with 300 monthly transcription minutes
  • Works through a notetaker bot or bot-free via desktop apps and Chrome extension
  • Summaries, action items and AI Chat across past meetings
  • Apps for web, iOS, Android, Mac and Windows, rated 4.8 on the App Store from 86K ratings
  • Integrations with Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, Slack and CRMs such as Salesforce and HubSpot

Cons

  • Free plan caps conversations at 30 minutes and file imports at 3 lifetime
  • Pro caps monthly transcription at 1,200 minutes and meetings at 90 minutes
  • Business costs $30 per user per month on monthly billing
  • API access, SSO and HIPAA add-on require the Enterprise plan
  • Transcription is limited to six listed languages

Skim

Pros

  • Simple one-off $9 price covering up to 3 documents, with no subscription
  • No account or prompt writing required
  • Output includes a rewrite and a ready-to-send reply, not just a list of risks
  • Free sample report to judge quality before paying
  • Privacy page clearly states what is and is not stored

Cons

  • Only the first 20,000 characters of a document are analyzed
  • Document text goes to xAI, whose retention Skim does not control
  • Fixed five-flag output with no follow-up chat
  • Operator, company and contact details are not disclosed on the site
  • Not legal advice, and no independent reviews found

Platforms

  • Web
    Otter.ai
    Supported
    Skim
    Supported
  • Windows
    Otter.ai
    Supported
    Skim
    Not supported
  • macOS
    Otter.ai
    Supported
    Skim
    Not supported
  • iOS
    Otter.ai
    Supported
    Skim
    Not supported
  • Android
    Otter.ai
    Supported
    Skim
    Not supported
  • API
    Otter.ai
    Supported
    Skim
    Not supported
  • Browser Extension
    Otter.ai
    Not supported
    Skim
    Not supported
  • Chrome Extension
    Otter.ai
    Supported
    Skim
    Not supported

Integrations

Otter.ai

13 integrations
  • Zoom
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Google Meet
  • Google Calendar
  • Slack
  • Salesforce
  • HubSpot
  • Zapier
  • Dropbox
  • Google Drive
  • Asana
  • ClickUp
  • Claude

Skim

No integrations listed.

Company

  • Company
    Otter.ai
    Otter.ai, Inc.
    Skim
    Not listed
  • Founded
    Otter.ai
    2016
    Skim
    Not listed
  • Headquarters
    Otter.ai
    Mountain View, CA
    Skim
    Not listed
  • Listing
    Otter.ai
    Claimed
    Skim
    Not claimed

Frequently asked questions

Is Otter.ai better than Skim?

It depends on your workflow. Otter.ai is built for meeting transcription and summaries. Skim is built for quick pre-signature review of leases, contractor quotes and terms of service, drafting a reply to push back on a clause.

What are the key feature differences between Otter.ai and Skim?

Otter.ai: Record, transcribe and summarize meetings, with action items and searchable AI chat. Skim: Find the five contract clauses most likely to cost you money before you sign.

Does Otter.ai or Skim have a free plan?

Otter.ai has a free plan or trial; Skim is paid only.

Which is cheaper, Otter.ai or Skim?

Otter.ai starts at $0 and Skim starts at $9. See the pricing table above for what each tier includes.