Otter.ai
Real-time AI meeting transcription with speaker identification, automatic summaries, and action item extraction for Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet.
Overview
Otter.ai is the go-to meeting transcription tool for professionals who are tired of scribbling notes while trying to stay engaged in conversations. It joins your Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams calls automatically, records audio, and produces a real-time transcript with speaker labels — so you can actually participate in the meeting instead of documenting it.
What sets Otter apart from basic transcription services is its AI layer on top. After each meeting, it generates a structured summary with key takeaways, action items, and decisions. You can search across all your past meetings by keyword, ask questions about what was discussed, and share specific moments with teammates who missed the call.
The free tier is genuinely useful for individuals — you get 300 minutes per month of transcription, which covers a decent number of meetings. Where Otter gets expensive is at the team level: the Business plan at $20/user/month adds collaboration features, admin controls, and analytics. Speaker identification accuracy is generally strong for English but drops noticeably with heavy accents or crosstalk, which is worth knowing before relying on it for critical meetings.
Key features
Live Transcription
Real-time speech-to-text with automatic speaker identification. Otter joins your meetings via calendar integration and transcribes as the conversation happens, with 95%+ accuracy for clear English audio.
Meeting Summaries
AI-generated post-meeting summaries with key topics, decisions, and highlights. Summaries are shareable and can be exported to Notion, Google Docs, or Slack.
Action Items
Automatically extracts action items and assigns them to speakers. Tracks follow-ups across meetings so nothing slips through the cracks.
Pricing
Free tier: 300 minutes per month of transcription with basic AI summaries
| Plan | Price | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 300 min/mo transcription, basic summaries, limited integrations |
| Pro | $8.33/user/mo | 1,200 min/mo, advanced summaries, action items, custom vocabulary |
| Business | $20/user/mo | 6,000 min/mo, admin controls, analytics, priority support |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited transcription, SSO, dedicated support, custom integrations |
300 min/mo transcription, basic summaries, limited integrations
1,200 min/mo, advanced summaries, action items, custom vocabulary
6,000 min/mo, admin controls, analytics, priority support
Unlimited transcription, SSO, dedicated support, custom integrations
Pros & cons
Pros
- ✓Automatic meeting joining via calendar integration — zero manual setup
- ✓Speaker identification works well for most English conversations
- ✓Generous free tier with 300 minutes per month
- ✓Searchable archive of all past meetings with AI Q&A
Cons
- ×Accuracy drops with heavy accents, crosstalk, or poor audio quality
- ×Business tier pricing adds up fast for larger teams
- ×Limited language support compared to dedicated translation tools
- ×Mobile app transcription quality lags behind the desktop experience