What is Otter.ai?
Otter.ai is an AI meeting assistant. Its meeting agent joins your Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet calls from your calendar, transcribes the conversation live with speaker labels, and then writes a summary with action items. You can also record in person on the phone app or upload audio and video files. Afterwards, Otter AI Chat lets you ask questions across your meetings, such as what was decided last week, and draft follow-up emails.
Otter focuses on meetings rather than general writing, so it fits sales teams, managers, recruiters and anyone stuck in back-to-back calls. Paid plans add CRM syncing with Salesforce and HubSpot, Zapier, more minutes and longer recordings. Channels group meetings by project, and an MCP server lets tools like ChatGPT and Claude read your meeting knowledge. It runs on web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and as a Chrome extension.
Otter.ai key features
Live transcription with speakers
Turns speech into text as people talk and labels who said what. You can follow along or search the transcript later.
Meeting agent that joins calls
Automatically joins scheduled Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet meetings from your calendar, so you do not need to remember to record.
Automatic summaries and action items
After each meeting, Otter writes a short summary and lists the tasks people agreed on, saving time on follow-ups.
Otter AI Chat
Ask questions across your meetings and connected apps, or get help drafting follow-ups and reports. Free users get 20 queries; Business gets 200 per user.
File imports
Upload recorded audio or video to get a transcript. Free accounts get 3 imports in total; Pro gets 10 per month.
Channels
Group meetings by team, project or topic so everyone can find recordings and notes in one shared space.
CRM and app integrations
Paid plans sync notes to Salesforce and HubSpot and connect with Zapier; Otter also links with Slack, Google Drive, Notion, Asana and Jira.
MCP server
Lets AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude securely access your meeting knowledge for deeper analysis.
Six transcription languages
Transcribes English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese across all plans.
Who uses Otter.ai, and how
Upload an interview recording to get a searchable transcript, then pull quotes for show notes or captions. Pro's 10 imports a month suit a regular schedule.
Let Otter join client calls and sync notes to Salesforce or HubSpot so the CRM stays updated without manual typing.
Record lectures on the phone app and review the transcript and summary later. Students and teachers with a .edu email get 20% off Pro.
Have Otter attend team meetings and send summaries with action items, so people who missed the call can catch up quickly.
Transcribe interviews and use AI Chat to compare what candidates said across several calls.
Otter.ai plans and prices
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | Free forever |
| Pro | $16.99/user/month | billed monthly (a discounted price was also shown) |
| Pro | $8.33/user/month | billed annually |
| Business | $30/user/month | billed monthly (promotional $24 for 3 months+ also shown) |
| Business | $19.99/user/month | billed annually |
| Enterprise | See official page | Contact sales |
Prices in USD as shown on the official pricing page. Lower Pro prices ($8.49/month, or $4.17/month billed yearly) apply only when paying with an India-issued card. Students and teachers get 20% off. Checked on 2026-11-05.
Free vs paid: what you really get
Free plan
- 300 transcription minutes per month and up to 30 minutes per conversation
- Only 3 file imports for the lifetime of the account
- 20 AI Chat queries in total (3 per conversation) and 1 meeting at a time
- Zoom, Teams and Google Meet support, plus the MCP server
- Only your 25 most recent conversations are kept
Paid plans add
- Pro: 1,200 minutes a month, 90 minutes per conversation and 10 imports a month
- Pro adds Salesforce, HubSpot and Zapier integrations and 50 AI Chat queries
- Business: unlimited minutes, 4-hour conversations, 3 meetings at once and 200 AI Chat queries
- Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM, API and webhooks, and HIPAA as an add-on
Which plan should you pick?
You have only a few short meetings a month or want to test Otter for free.
You are a solo professional or creator with regular meetings or recordings up to 90 minutes.
Your team has long or frequent meetings and needs unlimited minutes and admin features.
You are a large organisation needing SSO, SCIM, API access, custom integrations or HIPAA.
Ways to save on Otter.ai
- Annual billing cuts Pro from $16.99 to $8.33 per user a month, and Business from $30 to $19.99.
- Students and teachers with a .edu email get 20% off Pro ($13.59 monthly or $79.99 a year).
- Otter's pricing page shows a lower Pro price ($8.49 monthly or $4.17 a month annually) for payments with an India-issued credit card.
- Business showed a 20% promotional price ($24 a month) for the first 3+ months on monthly billing.
Pros and cons
What we like
- Joins Zoom, Teams and Google Meet automatically from your calendar
- Accurate live transcripts with speaker labels and quick summaries
- Useful free plan for light use
- Very low annual Pro price, especially with an India-issued card
- CRM syncing and many integrations on paid plans
- Apps on every major platform plus a Chrome extension
Watch out for
- Only six transcription languages; Hindi and other Indian languages are not supported
- Free plan caps conversations at 30 minutes and allows just 3 file imports ever
- Otter may train its own models on de-identified user data, with no opt-out described
- You are responsible for telling people and getting their consent before recording
- Terms bar reselling transcription or building it into a paid product
- PayPal is not accepted
How to start with Otter.ai in 5 steps
- Sign up free at otter.ai or download the Otter app.
- Connect your Google or Microsoft calendar so Otter can see your meetings.
- Let the Otter meeting agent join your next Zoom, Teams or Meet call, and tell attendees it is recording.
- Open the transcript afterwards to read the summary and action items.
- Use Otter AI Chat to ask questions or draft a follow-up email.
What users say: public ratings
| Where | Score | Based on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| App Store | 4.8 / 5 | 88K ratings | See reviews |
| Google Play | 4.7 / 5 | 47.7K reviews | See reviews |
Ratings as shown on each site on 5 Nov 2026; they change over time. App store scores rate the mobile app; Trustpilot often collects billing and support complaints.
Otter.ai compared with alternatives
Otter.ai vs Notion AI
Notion AI includes bot-free meeting notes inside a full workspace, but needs the Business plan. Pick Otter for a dedicated, cheaper notetaker with a free tier, and Notion AI if your team already runs on Notion.
Otter.ai vs Descript
Descript is built for editing audio and video by editing the transcript. Pick Otter for meetings and notes, and Descript if you need to edit and publish podcasts or videos.
Otter.ai vs Microsoft Copilot
Copilot is built into Microsoft 365 and Teams. Teams that live entirely in Microsoft tools may prefer it, while Otter works across Zoom, Teams and Google Meet.
Otter.ai in India
Otter's pricing page shows a lower Pro price ($8.49 a month, or $4.17 a month billed annually) when you pay with an India-issued credit card. Transcription does not support Hindi or other Indian languages, though English with Indian accents is supported.
Good to know
- Free plan stops at 30 minutes per conversation
- Pro is capped at 1,200 minutes per user per month and 90 minutes per conversation
- SSO and SCIM need Enterprise with a minimum of 100 users
Otter.ai FAQ
Is Otter.ai free?
300 transcription minutes per month, 30 minutes max per conversation, 3 lifetime file imports, 25 most recent conversations kept
How much does Otter.ai cost?
Paid plans start from $8.33/user/month. Prices in USD as shown on the official pricing page. Lower Pro prices ($8.49/month, or $4.17/month billed yearly) apply only when paying with an India-issued card. Students and teachers get 20% off.
Who makes Otter.ai?
Otter.ai is made by Otter.ai.
Who is Otter.ai for?
Professionals and teams who want meeting transcripts and summaries without taking notes by hand
Does Otter.ai support Hindi?
No. Otter's pricing page lists AI transcription in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese. Its help centre mentions support for Indian accents in English, but not Hindi.
Does Otter use my recordings to train AI?
Otter says it uses a proprietary method to de-identify user data before training its own models, and that recordings are not manually reviewed for this. It says customer data is not used to train third-party AI providers' models. Its privacy page does not describe an opt-out.
Do I need permission to record meetings with Otter?
Yes. Otter's terms say you alone are responsible for giving notice and getting consent where the law requires it, and its privacy page says users must always ask for consent. Tell participants before Otter starts recording.
Can I use Otter for commercial work?
Teams can use Otter for their own work meetings, which is what the Business plan is for. However, Otter's terms prohibit using the service for paid transcription workflows or as part of a commercial product you sell, so check the terms if that is your plan.
Is there an Otter student discount?
Yes. Students and teachers with a .edu email get 20% off Pro, making it $13.59 monthly or $79.99 a year. Sign in with the .edu address and choose the Student & Teacher Discount link on the upgrade page.
Who owns my Otter transcripts?
On individual accounts you keep ownership of what you upload. On workspace and business accounts, the organisation owns the data and its admins can access or remove it.
Sources
- otter.ai/pricing
- otter.ai
- otter.ai/privacy-security
- otter.ai/terms-of-service
- help.otter.ai/hc/en-us/articles/360047247414-Supported-languages
Facts from the official pages listed above, in our own words; ratings from the public review pages linked in the ratings table. Techpings is independent and not affiliated with the companies listed. Some links are affiliate links (disclosure).