Otter.ai is one of the best-known AI meeting assistants. It records and transcribes conversations, writes summaries, and can join your Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet calls on its own. People still look for Otter.ai alternatives: the free plan's limits are tight, some workplaces don't want a bot in every call, Otter transcribes six languages, and some people only ever used it to dictate notes to themselves.
Here are seven alternatives, ranked for the thing most Otter users need: notes from meetings. Facts and prices come from each vendor's own site or store listing, checked on October 20, 2026. We haven't used these tools ourselves, so nothing below is a hands-on test. We make LumeVoice. It isn't a meeting recorder, so it's at the end of this list, for one specific kind of Otter user. For the head-to-head, see LumeVoice vs Otter.ai.
Why look for an Otter.ai alternative?#
- Free-plan limits. Otter Basic gives 300 transcription minutes a month, caps each conversation at 30 minutes and allows three file imports in total (Otter pricing). A weekly one-hour meeting doesn't fit.
- The bot. Otter's meeting agent joins calls as an attendee. Some people prefer tools that capture audio from their own computer instead, with nothing joining the call.
- Languages. Otter's AI transcription covers English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese. Several alternatives list far more.
- Minute counting. Pro includes 1,200 minutes a month and 90 minutes per conversation. Long workshops and heavy meeting weeks push you towards Business.
- You don't really need meeting notes. If you used Otter to talk through ideas or dictate notes, then copied the text elsewhere, a dictation app or a voice-notes app is the simpler tool.
Otter.ai alternatives at a glance#
| Tool | Best for | Joins as a bot? | Free option | Paid price (Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granola | Notes without a bot | No, captures device audio | Basic, 30-day history | Business $14/user/month |
| Fathom | Free unlimited recording | Bot, or bot-free in beta | Free, unlimited recordings | Premium $16/month yearly, $20 monthly |
| Fireflies.ai | Teams that want a bot in every call | Yes | Free plan | Pro $10/seat/month yearly, $18 monthly |
| Your meeting app's AI notes | Not adding another tool | Built in | Varies by plan | Included in some plans |
| Voicenotes | In-person meetings and voice notes | No | 100 minutes a week | Pro $9/user/month |
| MacWhisper | Transcribing files on your own Mac | Doesn't join calls | Free version | €65 once (Pro) |
| LumeVoice | Dictating your own notes | Doesn't join calls | 3,000 free words, no card required | $14.99/mo, $79.99/year or $249 once |
| Otter.ai, for reference | Meeting notes and summaries | Yes | 300 minutes a month | Pro $16.99/month, or $8.33/month yearly |
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Prices as of October 2026; vendors change them and run promotions, so check their sites.
How we compared them#
We looked at what each vendor documents: whether it sends a bot into calls, what the free plan allows, what paid plans cost, where it runs, and what it does with your audio. We don't publish accuracy scores; they depend on your microphone, your accent and how many people talk over each other, and we haven't found an independent benchmark covering these tools under the same conditions. Most have a free plan, so try two on the same real meeting.
1. Granola#
Granola
Verdict: Best for Meeting Notes Without a Bot
Granola listens through your own device instead of sending a bot into the call, so nothing new appears in the attendee list. It writes AI meeting notes, and its pricing page says audio is deleted after transcription on every plan (Granola pricing). It lists desktop, iOS, Android and Apple Watch apps on all plans.
- Pricing: Basic $0 (30 days of meeting history) | Business $14 per user per month | Enterprise $35 per user per month
- Good to know: Slack integration and shared folders are included on the free plan; unlimited history needs Business
Skip it if: you want a full recording to replay later. Granola deletes audio after transcription.
2. Fathom#
Fathom
Verdict: Best Free Plan
Fathom's free plan is the most generous here: unlimited recordings and transcriptions, instant AI call summaries, clips and search across calls (Fathom pricing). Some features, such as AI action items and Ask Fathom, are marked "limited use" on the free plan. You can choose bot capture or bot-free capture, which is in beta.
- Pricing: Free | Premium $16 per user per month billed annually, or $20 monthly | Team $15 per user per month annually (2-user minimum) | Business $25 per user per month annually
- Good to know: team plans need at least two users
Skip it if: you want everything bot-free today; that option is still in beta.
3. Fireflies.ai#
Fireflies.ai
Verdict: Best for Teams That Want Every Call Captured
Fireflies sends a note-taker into your calls and says it records Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and more than ten other platforms (Fireflies pricing). English is its main language, with Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian supported and over 100 more in beta. Paid plans add more transcription credits, file transcription, export options, and on Business, analytics and video recording.
- Pricing: Free plan | Pro $10 per seat per month billed annually, or $18 month to month | Business and Enterprise for larger teams
- Good to know: paid plans are billed per seat, and every teammate in the workspace counts as one
Skip it if: you or your clients would rather not have a bot in the call.
4. The AI notes already in your meeting app#
Google Meet, Zoom and your meeting app's own notes
Verdict: Best If You Don't Want Another Tool
Check what you already pay for before adding a subscription.
Google Meet's "Take notes for me" saves AI notes to a Google Doc in the organizer's Drive, with a short summary and action items plus a longer version, and late joiners can catch up with "Summary so far." It needs an eligible Google Workspace edition or Google AI plan, and supports English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish, one language per meeting (Google's guide).
Zoom's AI assistant, which Zoom's site now calls ZoomMate, includes meeting summaries for three hosted meetings a month on the free tier, and unlimited AI note-taking on paid tiers (Zoom).
- Pros: nothing extra to install or approve; notes stay with the meeting
- Cons: tied to one meeting platform, and often to your organization's plan
5. Voicenotes#
Voicenotes
Verdict: Best for In-Person Meetings and Voice Notes
Voicenotes started as a voice-notes app and now records meetings too. Its site says it works with any meeting app without a bot, and in person, then gives you a summary, action items and next steps (voicenotes.com). You can ask questions across everything you've recorded. It runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android, Apple Watch, Wear OS, the web and Chrome, transcribes in more than 100 languages, and says your notes are never used to train AI.
- Pricing: Basic $0 (100 transcription minutes a week, 30-day history) | Pro $9 per user per month | Enterprise $24 per user per month (Voicenotes pricing)
- Good to know: in the US App Store, its subscriptions are listed at $14.99 a month or $89.99 to $99.99 a year
Skip it if: your notes are mostly from scheduled video calls and you want them captured without pressing record. We compare it with LumeVoice in LumeVoice vs Voicenotes.
6. MacWhisper#
MacWhisper
Verdict: Best for Transcribing Recordings on Your Own Mac
If you record interviews or lectures and want a transcript without uploading the audio anywhere, MacWhisper transcribes audio and video files on your Mac. The free version handles one file at a time; Pro is €65 once on Gumroad, and an App Store edition has its own subscription and lifetime prices.
- Pros: the recording stays on your computer; no monthly minutes
- Cons: Mac only; it doesn't join meetings or write meeting summaries the way Otter does
More detail in LumeVoice vs MacWhisper.
7. LumeVoice (for dictating your own notes)#
LumeVoice
Verdict: Best If You Used Otter to Dictate, Not to Record Meetings
Be clear on what this is: LumeVoice isn't a meeting recorder. It doesn't join calls, record conversations or write summaries. It's for a different Otter habit: opening the app to talk through a thought, then copying the transcript into your notes, email or doc.
LumeVoice skips the copying. Hold fn on a Mac or Ctrl + Win on Windows, talk, and clean text appears wherever your cursor is, in Notion, a Teams message, Gmail or Word. On iPhone it's the Lume keyboard; on Android, a floating bubble over your keyboard. It removes filler words, applies self-corrections and turns spoken lists into real lists, in 100 languages. On Mac and Windows it can also transcribe an audio or video file.
- Privacy: audio isn't stored after processing, your history stays on your device, and nothing you say is used to train models. It needs an internet connection.
- Pricing: 3,000 free words, no card required | $14.99/mo | $79.99/year | $249 once. Students get 50% off; anyone who finds typing hard because of a disability, injury or health condition gets 50% off, no proof needed.
Skip it if: you need meetings captured. Use one of the tools above, and add LumeVoice later for the writing around them if you want.
For the Notes You Write Yourself
Meeting tools capture what everyone said. LumeVoice is for what you write: follow-ups, notes, messages and docs.
- Hold, talk, let go: fn on Mac, Ctrl + Win on Windows, the Lume keyboard on iPhone, a bubble on Android.
- Cleanup as you talk: fillers removed, self-corrections applied, lists formatted.
- Your audio isn't kept after processing, and nothing you say trains a model.
Every new account starts with 3,000 free words, no card required.
When to stay with Otter.ai#
Otter is still a strong choice, and switching only makes sense if one of the reasons above applies to you.
- You want the assistant to show up for you. Otter joins scheduled Zoom, Teams and Google Meet calls automatically.
- You want a searchable archive with chat. Otter's AI chat works within and across conversations, and Channels group them by team or project.
- You pay for one person yearly. At $8.33 a month billed annually for Pro, Otter is among the cheapest paid options here.
- You need enterprise controls. Otter Enterprise lists SSO, SCIM, domain capture and HIPAA compliance as an add-on.
Price comparison#
| Tool | Free option | Paid, per user per month (Oct 2026) | 3 years, one person, yearly billing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otter.ai Pro | 300 minutes a month | $8.33 yearly, $16.99 monthly | $299.88 |
| Granola Business | Basic, 30-day history | $14 | $504 |
| Fathom Premium | Unlimited recordings | $16 yearly, $20 monthly | $576 |
| Fireflies.ai Pro | Free plan | $10 yearly, $18 monthly | $360 |
| Voicenotes Pro | 100 minutes a week | $9 | $324 |
| MacWhisper Pro | Free version | €65 once | €65 |
| LumeVoice | 3,000 free words, no card required | $79.99/year or $14.99/mo | $239.97 |
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Granola and Voicenotes don't show yearly prices on their pricing pages, so their 3-year figures use the listed monthly price.
How to switch from Otter.ai#
- Export what you want to keep from Otter before you cancel: the transcripts and summaries you still refer to.
- Run the new tool alongside Otter for a week of real meetings, using its free plan.
- Tell your colleagues if the new tool joins calls, or if it doesn't and you're recording from your own device.
- Cancel or downgrade Otter to Basic before your plan renews.
Final verdict#
- Meeting notes without a bot: Granola
- Best free plan: Fathom
- A bot in every team call: Fireflies.ai
- No new tool: your meeting app's own AI notes
- In-person meetings and voice notes: Voicenotes
- Recordings that stay on your Mac: MacWhisper
- Dictating your own notes into any app: LumeVoice
If your days are full of scheduled calls and you like Otter's chat and archive, staying is reasonable. For more dictation options, see the best talk-to-text apps of 2026.
