Otter.ai Review - Features, Pricing & Deals
Otter.ai is an AI-powered transcription and note-taking tool that turns spoken conversations into searchable, shareable text. It helps professionals, students, and content creators capture important discussions, meetings, and lectures without the need for manual note-taking.
The platform works seamlessly with common video conferencing tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, making it particularly useful for remote teams and virtual meetings. Users can record conversations, get real-time transcriptions, and collaborate on shared notes all in one place.
Some notable features include speaker identification, which labels different voices in conversations, and smart summaries that highlight key discussion points. The tool also lets teams add comments, highlight important sections, and search through transcripts to find specific information quickly.
While the free plan offers basic transcription features with limited minutes, paid plans unlock more extensive capabilities like longer recording times, custom vocabularies, and advanced collaboration tools. The service mainly supports English transcription, with recent additions of Spanish and French language options.
Who is Otter.ai for?
Otter.ai is the perfect tool for busy professionals who need accurate transcriptions without the hassle of manual note-taking. It helps anyone who regularly participates in meetings, interviews, or lectures capture spoken content efficiently while staying fully engaged in conversations.
- Content Creators - Podcasters, journalists, and video producers can convert interviews and recordings into searchable text, saving hours of transcription time.
- Remote Teams - Distributed workgroups benefit from automatic meeting notes they can search, share, and collaborate on after virtual discussions.
- Students and Academics - Learners can focus on understanding lectures rather than furious note-taking, with complete transcripts available for later review.
- Executives and Managers - Busy leaders can quickly search past meetings for specific information and decisions without rewatching entire recordings.
- People with Hearing Disabilities - Those with hearing challenges can fully participate in conversations with real-time text transcription supporting their understanding.
Otter.ai has become essential for professionals across education, media, healthcare, technology, and business services who regularly engage in important conversations they need to reference later.
Online Reviews (Last 6 Months Summarised)
Otter.ai offers a mixed bag of features that users find both incredibly helpful and somewhat frustrating. Most people love how easily it integrates with meeting platforms like Zoom and Google Meet, praising its ability to automate note-taking and streamline team collaboration. The convenience of accessing transcriptions on web and mobile platforms is a big plus for many professionals.
However, the tool isn't without its drawbacks. Users consistently report issues with transcription accuracy, especially when dealing with non-native English speakers or varied accents. Some find the requirement for participants to create an Otter.ai account annoying, and there are complaints about the app automatically joining meetings without user consent. While it's a powerful tool, it still has room for improvement in terms of user experience and transcription precision.
Features
- Real-Time AI Transcription: Capture conversations instantly with advanced machine learning algorithms that convert spoken language into accurate written text during meetings, lectures, and interviews.
- Speaker Identification: Automatically distinguish and tag different speakers in conversations, making transcripts easy to follow and understand in multi-speaker environments.
- Collaborative Transcript Tools: Highlight, comment, and edit meeting notes in real-time, with smart summaries that capture key discussion points for enhanced team productivity.
- Seamless App Integration: Connect effortlessly with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, automatically recording and organizing virtual meeting transcripts across platforms.
- Advanced Search Capabilities: Quickly locate specific information within transcripts using powerful search features that save time and improve information retrieval.
- Custom Vocabulary Learning: Improve transcription accuracy by teaching Otter AI specialized terminology, names, and industry-specific jargon for precise documentation.
- Mobile Accessibility: Access full transcription and editing features on-the-go through a user-friendly mobile app that ensures productivity from anywhere.
Pricing
- Free version includes AI meeting assistants, 300 monthly transcription minutes, 30-minute conversation limit, and ability to import 3 audio or video files lifetime.
- Pro Plan costs $8.33 per seat monthly (annual billing) or $12.99 monthly, offering 1,200 transcription minutes and 90-minute conversation limit with advanced search and export features.
- Business Plan starts at $20 per user monthly (annual billing) or $30 monthly, providing 6,000 monthly transcription minutes, 4-hour conversation limit, administrative features, and prioritized support.
- Enterprise Plan offers custom pricing with enterprise-grade security, video replays, and organization-wide deployment, with average annual costs ranging from $17,424 to $35,000.
Frequently Asked Questions
Otter.ai works best with clear audio and standard English accents. It recently added Spanish and French transcription capabilities, with more languages planned for 2025. You might notice some inaccuracies with strong accents, industry-specific terminology, or when multiple people talk at once. The custom vocabulary feature helps improve accuracy by teaching Otter your specific terms, names, and jargon. For best results, use good quality audio equipment and speak clearly during recordings.
Can I use Otter.ai offline or without an internet connection?No, Otter.ai requires an internet connection to function properly. All its key features, including real-time transcription, recording, and collaboration tools, need online access to work. The app processes your audio through cloud-based AI systems rather than locally on your device. If you're planning to use Otter in areas with spotty internet, you might want to record audio separately as a backup and upload it for transcription when you're back online.
How do I share Otter.ai transcripts with people who don't have an account?Sharing options depend on your subscription plan. You can export transcripts as text files, Word documents, or PDFs to share with anyone. However, for collaborative features like comments and highlights, recipients will need an Otter account. This has been a pain point for some users. With paid plans, you can create shareable links with specific permissions. Free plan users have more limited sharing capabilities, so consider your team's needs when choosing a plan.
Does Otter.ai automatically join all my scheduled meetings?Otter.ai can automatically join meetings you've connected through calendar integration, but you can control this behavior. Some users have reported Otter joining meetings unexpectedly. To manage this, check your settings under "Connected Calendar" and adjust which meetings Otter should join. You can also manually start and stop Otter for specific meetings. If you're concerned about privacy or don't want automatic transcription for certain conversations, disable this feature or disconnect your calendar temporarily.
What happens to my recordings and transcripts? Is my data secure?Otter.ai stores your recordings and transcripts on their secure servers. Your data is encrypted during transfer and at rest. You retain ownership of your content, but Otter does use anonymized data to improve their AI systems. Free users should know that transcripts might be deleted after a certain period. Business and Enterprise plans offer enhanced security features and longer data retention. If you're handling sensitive information, review their privacy policy and consider upgrading to a plan with additional security measures.
