# Otter.ai

> Record, transcribe and summarize meetings, with action items and searchable AI chat

- Category: [Audio & Speech AI](https://finderatlas.com/categories/audio-ai)
- Pricing: Freemium
- Website: https://otter.ai
- Platforms: Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Chrome Extension, API
- API: available
- Mobile app: available
- Made by: Otter.ai, Inc., founded 2016, Mountain View, CA
- Last updated: 2026-10-20
- FinderAtlas page: https://finderatlas.com/tools/otter-ai

## Overview

Otter.ai is an AI meeting assistant that records and transcribes conversations in real time and turns them into summaries, action items and searchable notes. It can join Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet calls as a notetaker bot, or record without a bot from its Mac and Windows desktop apps, a Chrome extension, the web and its iOS and Android apps. Transcripts identify speakers and are searchable by keyword, speaker and date.

## Key features

- Live transcription
- Notetaker bot
- Bot-free recording
- AI summaries and action items
- Otter AI Chat
- Channels
- File import
- CRM sync
- Otter MCP server

## Pricing

- **Basic** ($0): For those who want to give it a try
- **Pro** ($16.99/user/mo): For individuals and small teams
- **Business** ($30/user/mo): For medium-sized teams
- **Enterprise** (Custom): For large teams and companies

## Best for

- Meeting transcription and summaries
- Action item capture
- Searching past conversations
- Bot-free desktop recording

## Who uses it

- Sales teams
- Students and educators
- Journalists and media teams
- Recruiters
- Business teams
- Enterprise teams

## Strengths

- 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

## Limitations

- 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

## Not recommended for

- Image generation
- Long meetings on the free plan (30-minute cap per conversation)

## Integrations

- Zoom
- Microsoft Teams
- Google Meet
- Google Calendar
- Slack
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
- Zapier
- Dropbox
- Google Drive
- Asana
- ClickUp
- Claude

## FinderAtlas editorial scores (out of 10)

- Transcription Accuracy: 8.4/10
- Meeting Summaries & Action Items: 8.5/10
- Integrations: 8.3/10
- Ease of Use: 9/10
- Value for Money: 7.8/10

## Alternatives

- [Granola](https://finderatlas.com/tools/granola): AI notepad that turns your own meeting notes into polished summaries without a bot ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/granola-vs-otter-ai))
- [Cartesia](https://finderatlas.com/tools/cartesia): Real-time speech AI for developers: fast text-to-speech, transcription and voice agents ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/cartesia-vs-otter-ai))
- [ElevenLabs](https://finderatlas.com/tools/elevenlabs): Text-to-speech, voice cloning, dubbing and voice agents built on in-house audio models ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/elevenlabs-vs-otter-ai))
- [Fish Audio](https://finderatlas.com/tools/fish-audio): Expressive text-to-speech, voice cloning and speech-to-text with fine-grained emotion control ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/fish-audio-vs-otter-ai))
- [Fireflies.ai](https://finderatlas.com/tools/fireflies): AI notetaker that records, transcribes and summarizes your meetings across every major call platform ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/fireflies-vs-otter-ai))
- [Speechify](https://finderatlas.com/tools/speechify): Listen to documents and web pages with natural AI voices, and dictate by voice ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/otter-ai-vs-speechify))
- [Descript](https://finderatlas.com/tools/descript): Edit video and podcasts by editing their transcript, with AI audio cleanup and clips ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/descript-vs-otter-ai))
- [Wispr Flow](https://finderatlas.com/tools/wispr-flow): Speak in any app and get clean, punctuated text without touching the keyboard ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/otter-ai-vs-wispr-flow))

## Recent updates

- 2026-08-26: Otter.ai announced a 50% student discount for lecture notes, study guides and quizzes
- 2026-04-28: TechCrunch reported a feature that lets users search across their enterprise tools

## FAQ

**Does Otter.ai join Zoom, Teams and Google Meet meetings automatically?**

Yes. After you connect a calendar, the Otter notetaker can join Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet meetings to transcribe and write notes. You can also record without a bot using the desktop apps or Chrome extension.

**Is Otter.ai free?**

Yes. The Basic plan is free and includes 300 transcription minutes per month, 30 minutes per conversation and 3 lifetime audio or video file imports. Pro costs $16.99 per user per month on monthly billing.

**How long can a meeting be?**

The limit is 30 minutes per conversation on Basic, 90 minutes on Pro, and 4 hours on Business and Enterprise.

**Does Otter.ai have mobile and desktop apps?**

Yes. There are iOS and Android apps, desktop apps for macOS 12.3 or later and Windows 10 or later, and a Chrome extension.

**Does Otter.ai have an API?**

The pricing page lists Otter API and Webhooks as an Enterprise feature. Otter also offers an MCP server for connecting AI chat tools to meeting data.

**Which languages does it transcribe?**

The pricing page lists AI transcription in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese.