Otter.ai review
★ 4.1/5AI meeting notetaker
Otter.ai is an AI meeting notetaker that records, transcribes, and summarizes calls. Its Otter Notetaker bot (OtterPilot) connects to your Google or Microsoft calendar and auto-joins Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams meetings as a visible guest participant called "Otter.ai", producing a live transcript, an automated summary, action items, and slide captures. It also has an Otter AI Chat that answers questions about the meeting and drafts follow-ups. Plans are priced per user, and the free tier and Pro plan run on monthly minute and import caps rather than unlimited usage.
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Best for transcription + AI chat. Otter.ai starts $8.49/seat/mo (billed annually) on a free + flat per-seat (minute-capped on lower tiers) model. A team of 5 on the Business plan billed annually pays $19.99/seat/mo, so $99.95/mo (about $1,199/yr). Billed monthly instead, Business jumps to $30/seat (5 seats = $150/mo). A solo user on Pro pays $8.49/mo annually but $16.99/mo if paying month-to-month, roughly double. The catch: only Business and Enterprise give unlimited meeting transcription; Pro caps you at 1,200 in-app recording minutes/mo and Basic at just 300, and the headline annual rates require a yearly commitment paid upfront.
Spec
The gotcha
The "unlimited" transcription everyone associates with Otter only exists on Business ($19.99/seat/mo annually) and Enterprise. Free is 300 min/mo with a 30-min-per-meeting cap and 3 lifetime imports, and Pro is 1,200 min/mo. The notetaker also joins as a visible participant named "Otter.ai" that all attendees see and are notified recording is active, so it is not a silent recorder, and it auto-leaves after about 12 minutes of silence. API access and SSO are gated to Enterprise.
Decode the real cost →Best for
- You want an established, low-cost notetaker that auto-joins calls, transcribes well, and lets you query the meeting afterward with AI chat.
source: otter.ai/pricing →
Otter.ai pricing tiers
Prices move. Cells flagged verify link to the live vendor page.
| tier | monthly | annual | included | unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $0 | n/a | 300 transcription min/mo, 30-min cap per conversation, 3 lifetime file imports, live transcription, speaker ID, Otter AI Chat | free |
| Pro | $16.99 | $8.49 | 1,200 in-app recording min/mo, 90-min cap per conversation, 10 file imports/mo, advanced AI workflows, team vocabulary, Salesforce/HubSpot/Zapier | per user/mo |
| Business | $30 | $19.99 | Unlimited meeting + in-app recording transcription, 4-hour cap per conversation, unlimited file imports, admin controls, join 3 concurrent meetings, priority support | per user/mo |
| Enterprise | Customverify | n/a | Everything in Business plus SSO/SCIM, advanced security, HIPAA add-on, API/Webhooks, video replay, dedicated customer success, OtterPilot for Sales | custom |
// pools and per-unit rates are volatile · cells flagged verify link to the live vendor page
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Questions
How much does Otter.ai cost?
Otter.ai starts from $8.49/seat/mo (billed annually). A team of 5 on the Business plan billed annually pays $19.99/seat/mo, so $99.95/mo (about $1,199/yr). Billed monthly instead, Business jumps to $30/seat (5 seats = $150/mo). A solo user on Pro pays $8.49/mo annually but $16.99/mo if paying month-to-month, roughly double. The catch: only Business and Enterprise give unlimited meeting transcription; Pro caps you at 1,200 in-app recording minutes/mo and Basic at just 300, and the headline annual rates require a yearly commitment paid upfront.
Can you self-host Otter.ai?
No, Otter.ai is cloud-only.
Does Otter.ai support MCP?
Otter.ai supports MCP as None, so it works with assistants like Claude and ChatGPT.
What's the catch with Otter.ai's pricing?
The "unlimited" transcription everyone associates with Otter only exists on Business ($19.99/seat/mo annually) and Enterprise. Free is 300 min/mo with a 30-min-per-meeting cap and 3 lifetime imports, and Pro is 1,200 min/mo. The notetaker also joins as a visible participant named "Otter.ai" that all attendees see and are notified recording is active, so it is not a silent recorder, and it auto-leaves after about 12 minutes of silence. API access and SSO are gated to Enterprise.