A student transcribing a short seminar
- Install the Otter mobile app
- Record the seminar (up to 30 minutes on Free)
- Review the summary and highlight key points
free plan works
Otter.ai · AI meeting notetaker and transcription app
Otter.ai
An AI meeting assistant that transcribes calls live, writes summaries and action items, and answers questions across your meetings.
- Provider
- Otter.ai
- Latest confirmed model
- Not applicable / not verified
- Pricing
- Free plan + paid
- Free plan
- Yes
- API
- Limited
- Status
- Generally available
- Last verified
- Oct 19, 2026
What is Otter.ai?
Otter joins Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls, or records in person, and produces a live transcript with speaker labels. It then generates summaries, decisions and action items, and its AI chat can search across past meetings and connected apps. Business and Enterprise add longer meetings, admin tools, and sales features; Enterprise includes API and webhooks.
Taking notes during meetings distracts participants and important decisions get lost.
Why use Otter.ai?
Practical benefits
- Free plan with 300 minutes per month
- Live transcription and summaries
- Education discount
- MCP server for AI chat tools
Who it suits
- Students recording lectures
- Remote teams
- Sales teams
- Journalists
When another tool may fit better
- Long meetings on the free plan (30-minute cap)
- Teams needing API access below Enterprise (consider Fireflies)
- Learning curve
- Beginner-friendly
- Skills needed
- None
Example workflows
- Connect calendar -> Otter joins meetings -> share summary to Slack
- Record a lecture on mobile -> ask AI chat for key points
What can it do?
- Live transcriptionReal-time transcripts with speaker identification.
- AI summaries and chatSummaries, action items, and questions across meetings.
- Meeting length Depends on plan30 min Free, 90 min Pro, 4 hours Business/Enterprise.
- CRM integrations Depends on planSalesforce, HubSpot and Zapier on Pro and above.
- MCP serverLets AI chat tools access meeting knowledge.
- API and webhooks Depends on planEnterprise only.
Good for
- Meeting notes
- Lecture transcription
- Sales call capture
- Interview transcription
Where it runs
Pricing and plans
Free plan + paid Basic is free with 300 minutes a month. Pro is $16.99/user monthly or $8.33 on annual billing; Business is $30 monthly or $19.99 annually. Enterprise is custom; .edu users get 20% off Pro.
| Plan | Price | Billing | Free trial / tier | Usage limits | Main inclusions | Model access | API access | Restrictions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | per month | Free tier | 300 minutes/month; 30 min per conversation; 3 lifetime file imports; 25 most recent conversations |
|
— | No | 1 concurrent meeting |
| Pro | $16.99/mo $8.33/mo billed annually Per user. Education: $13.59 monthly or $6.67/month annually ($79.99/year) | per month | — | 1,200 minutes/month; 90 min per conversation; 10 imports/month |
|
— | No | — |
| Business | $30/mo $19.99/mo billed annually Per user; promotional monthly rates may apply | per month | — | Unlimited meetings; 4 hours per meeting; 3 concurrent meetings |
|
— | No | — |
| Enterprise | Contact provider | per year | — | Unlimited; 4 hours per meeting |
|
— | Yes | — |
API and developer access
- Official API
- Limited
- Documentation
- Not documented
- Authentication
- Not documented
- Pricing model
- Enterprise plan only
- Free API quota
- None documented — the free plan above (if any) is for the app, not the API
- Rate limits
- Not documented
- Context / input limits
- Not documented
- SDKs
- Not documented
- Streaming
- Not documented
- Batch processing
- Not documented
- Structured output
- Not documented
- Tool / function calling
- Not documented
- Commercial use
- See the provider terms
- Data retention & privacy
- See the provider privacy terms
A free Otter.ai account is not the same thing as free API access. Unless a free API quota is listed above, API calls are billed separately.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
- Mature live transcription
- Useful free tier
- Student/teacher discount
Disadvantages
- Free plan limited to 30 minutes per conversation and 3 lifetime imports
- API only on Enterprise
- Language list not stated on homepage
Privacy: Enterprise offers SSO, SCIM and a HIPAA compliance add-on.
Real-world examples
A team lead automating meeting notes
- Connect Otter to your calendar
- Let Otter join Zoom or Teams calls
- Share summaries and action items with the team
free plan works
A sales team syncing call notes to CRM
- Upgrade to Pro or Business
- Connect Salesforce or HubSpot
- Push call insights to the CRM automatically
needs paid plan
Otter.ai alternatives
Fireflies.ai
An AI notetaker that records, transcribes and summarises meetings in 100+ languages, with an API on every plan.
Otter.ai vs Fireflies.aiMicrosoft 365 Copilot
Microsoft's AI assistant inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, grounded in your organisation's work data.
Otter.ai vs Microsoft 365 CopilotNotion AI
AI built into Notion's workspace for writing, searching, meeting notes and running multi-step agent tasks across your pages.
Otter.ai vs Notion AIFrequently asked questions
Is Otter.ai free?
Yes. Basic includes 300 transcription minutes per month with up to 30 minutes per conversation.
How much does Otter Pro cost?
$16.99 per user billed monthly or $8.33 per month billed annually.
Is there a student discount?
Yes. Students and teachers with a .edu email get 20% off Pro.
Which meeting apps does Otter support?
Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, plus a desktop app, mobile apps and a Chrome extension.
Does Otter have an API?
API and webhooks are listed for the Enterprise plan only.
How long can a meeting be?
30 minutes on Basic, 90 minutes on Pro and up to 4 hours on Business and Enterprise.