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Otter: plans, prices, strengths and limits
Otter records, transcribes and summarizes conversations, with a notetaker that joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. It suits people who want a written, searchable record of meetings, interviews and recordings.
Prices for United States, before sales tax Data release 2026.10.16-3, Oct 16, 2026 Rules 2.1.0
- Made by
- Otter.ai, Inc.
- Individual plans
- 2, one free
- Paid plans
- $16.99 a month
- Facts checked
- Oct 15, 2026
Quick verdict
Otter is built around meetings. On both plans, Otter Notetaker joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, transcribes the call and writes a summary, action items and an outline. Usage is counted in transcription minutes from one monthly pool shared by meetings, recordings and file imports, with no rollover. Otter Basic is free, with 300 minutes a month and at most 30 minutes per conversation. Otter Pro is $16.99 a month before tax, or $8.33 a month billed yearly, which we calculate as $99.96 a year paid up front. Pro raises the pool to 1,200 minutes a month and the limit to 90 minutes per conversation.
The principal limitation for work use sits in Otter's own terms, and its pages disagree. Section 9.3 of the Terms of Service says "Customer retains all ownership rights to the User Content", but section 11(c) bars using the service "in connection with any direct or indirect commercial purposes". Otter's business agreement covers enterprise plans only, so Basic and Pro fall under those terms, even though Otter sells Pro "for individuals and small teams". We mark commercial use on Basic and Pro as not verified. Ask Otter in writing before you use either plan for paid work.
Otter is not a dictation tool that types into other apps, and it does not make audio, voices or music. This verdict rests on what Otter documents, not on our tests, which we have not run.
Strengths and limits
Strengths
- A notetaker for three meeting appsOn Basic and Pro, Otter Notetaker joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet to transcribe and write notes: a summary, action items and an outline. Basic records one meeting at a time; Pro records two at once and adds advanced meeting templates.
- Apps on every major platformOtter documents a web app, Mac and Windows desktop apps, iOS and Android apps and a Chrome extension on all plans. It also lists an Otter MCP server for AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT.
- Calendar, Slack and CRM linksGoogle, Microsoft Outlook and iOS calendars and Slack connect on all plans. Pro adds Zapier and synced notes to Salesforce or HubSpot, for 1 user on Pro. Dropbox auto-sync and Zoom cloud recording sync need Business.
- Several export formats on ProPro exports each conversation as MP3, TXT, PDF, DOCX or SRT captions, with options for speaker names and timestamps. Basic exports TXT text and MP3 audio only, one conversation at a time.
- A free plan to try the workflowBasic includes 300 minutes a month, the notetaker and 20 AI Chat queries a month (3 per conversation), so you can run Otter on a few real calls before you pay.
Limits
- Commercial use not settledConflict: Otter's Terms of Service say you keep ownership of your content (section 9.3) but bar "direct or indirect commercial purposes" (section 11(c)), and the business agreement covers enterprise plans only. On Basic and Pro, commercial use is not verified.
- Tight caps on BasicPlan limit: Basic transcribes at most 30 minutes per conversation, allows 3 file imports per account in total (not per month), shows only the 25 most recent conversations and includes 20 AI Chat queries a month.
- Minutes do not roll overPlan limit: Pro's 1,200 minutes a month are shared by meetings, recordings and imports, with no rollover, and each conversation stops at 90 minutes. Unlimited meeting minutes, unlimited imports, bulk export and 4-hour conversations need the Business team plan.
- Six languagesOtter lists English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese (Simplified) on both plans. Translation exists only as text through Otter Chat; Otter does not re-voice audio.
- Some features unconfirmedNot verified: Otter lists "Otter AI Chat with Voice", but the help article needs a sign-in and the pricing page does not say which plans include it. Whether the Basic or Pro apps show ads is also not stated on any official Otter page.
Based on what Otter.ai, Inc. documents for each plan, not on our tests.
Who it suits
A good fit if you
- Transcripts and notes from Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet calls
- Personal meeting notes on the free plan, for calls under 30 minutes
- Recording interviews or lectures in the Otter apps, within the monthly minute pool
- Pro users who send meeting notes to Salesforce, HubSpot or Zapier
Look elsewhere if you
- Paid client work on Basic or Pro until Otter clarifies its terms: section 11(c) bars commercial purposes
- Typing by voice into other apps: Otter is not a system-wide dictation tool
- Transcribing many existing files for free: Basic allows 3 imports per account in total
- Languages other than the six Otter lists
- Making speech, voices or music: Otter only turns speech into text
Plans and prices
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otter Basic | Free | Oct 15, 2026 | |
| Otter ProPricing page shows Pro annual as $8.33/user/month billed yearly; 8.33 x 12 = $99.96. The student FAQ lists Pro Annual at $79.99/year after 20% off, which implies a $99.99 list price; the exact annual charge is not printed. | $16.99 a month | $99.96 a year | Oct 15, 2026 Source |
Prices for United States, before sales tax unless a plan says otherwise. A yearly plan is paid up front and is not cancel-any-time.
Features by plan
What Otter.ai, Inc. documents for each plan. A hatched mark means we could not verify it, which is not the same as "not offered".
| Feature | Otter Basic | Otter Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Images, video and voice | ||
| Real-time voice | Unclear | Unclear |
| Music, voice and transcription | ||
| Transcription | Yes | Yes |
| Meeting notes | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations and agents | ||
| Connectors to other apps | Yes | Yes |
| Privacy and control | ||
| Opt out of model training | Yes | Yes |
| Export your data | Yes | Yes |
| Shows ads | Unclear | Unclear |
| Rights and licensing | ||
| Commercial use of outputs | Not verified | Not verified |
| Apps and extras | ||
| Apps | Yes | Yes |
The details and sources of every row are in Compare two AIs and the data release.
What it documents for each use
- Business & Productivity Connect AI to the apps I already use · Get notes from my meetings
- Audio & Voice Transcribe recordings and files
A use is listed when at least one plan documents every feature a task needs. Answer quality is a separate question: see below.
Using it day to day
Otter runs on the web, as desktop apps for Mac and Windows, as iOS and Android apps and as a Chrome extension, on all plans. The notetaker joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet from your Google, Outlook or iOS calendar. The Otter API and webhooks are for Enterprise only.
Basic gives 300 minutes a month for meetings, recordings and imports together, 30 minutes per conversation, one meeting at a time, 20 AI Chat queries a month and the 25 most recent conversations. Its 3 file imports are per account, not per month, each up to 5 GB, and they count against the 300 minutes and the 30-minute limit. Pro gives 1,200 minutes a month, 90 minutes per conversation, two meetings at once, 50 AI Chat queries a month, 10 imports a month of up to 5 GB each and unlimited conversation history. Unused minutes do not roll over on either plan. Zoom live captions, Dropbox auto-sync, unlimited imports and bulk export need Business.
Privacy, data and ads
Otter's help center says you can stop it from using your conversations for training: in Account Settings, open Meetings, then Feedback and Training, and set "Help improve Otter" to "Don't allow sharing". The help page lists no plan restriction. Otter's privacy policy separately mentions training its AI on de-identified audio recordings and transcriptions, and it does not tie that to the setting, so how far the opt-out reaches is not verified.
You can export conversations one at a time: TXT and MP3 on Basic, and MP3, TXT, PDF, DOCX and SRT on Pro. Bulk export needs Business or Enterprise. Whether the apps show ads is not verified; the privacy policy covers advertising cookies and ads shown to you on other sites, not ads inside Otter.
Read the vendor's own page: Otter privacy and data controls. We make no legal or compliance claim.
Test results
We have not tested Otter yet, so this page makes no claim about answer quality, and we show no example outputs. Run the same kit in it and in the alternatives, in your own account:
- Summarize a report with traceable facts
- Analyze a spreadsheet and get the numbers right
- Edit an email without losing a detail
- Diagnose and repair a small program
- Research a question with sources that support the answer
- Make sense of documents that disagree
- Research a current question within a date window
- Edit an article without changing its facts
- Turn project notes into a report that agrees with itself
- Implement a small specification
- Refactor code without changing what it does
- Make a picture that follows a detailed brief
- Put exact text into a graphic
- Change one thing in a picture and nothing else
- Make a short clip that follows a brief
- Make a song that sings your lyrics exactly
- Read a script with names, numbers and abbreviations
- Design a logo with an exact name
Getting started
- Start on Otter Basic in the web app, the desktop app or a phone app, and connect your calendar so the notetaker can join your Zoom, Teams or Meet calls.
- Before your first meeting, go to Account Settings, Meetings, Feedback and Training, and set "Help improve Otter" to "Don't allow sharing".
- Test it on a call shorter than 30 minutes, since Basic transcribes at most 30 minutes per conversation, and spend your 3 lifetime file imports carefully.
- If you plan to use Otter for paid work, read sections 9.3 and 11(c) of the Terms of Service and ask Otter to confirm in writing what Basic and Pro allow.
- Choose billing: $16.99 a month, or $8.33 a month billed yearly ($99.96 a year paid up front, by our calculation), before tax. Students and teachers with a .edu email get 20% off. The $8.49 and $4.17 prices on the page apply only to India-issued cards.
Your fit
Tell Find my AI what you do and what matters; it checks every plan of Otter against your priorities, next to the alternatives.
Alternatives
- Wispr Flow Wispr Flow's terms say you own all Output, such as transcripts and summaries, with no plan restriction stated, and its Notetaker records meetings on your computer without a bot joining the call. About Wispr Flow
- Superwhisper Superwhisper Pro, at $8.49 a month, transcribes existing audio and video files with no published file size limit, and its terms say your data is not used to train AI models. About Superwhisper
- ElevenLabs ElevenLabs paid plans, from Starter at $6 a month before tax, include a commercial license and Speech to Text for uploaded files in 99 languages, with 1 hour 31 minutes a month on Starter. About ElevenLabs
Recent changes
- Otter Pro added
- Otter Basic added
Every change is in the change log.
Questions
How many minutes does Otter Basic include?
300 transcription minutes per user a month, shared by meetings, recordings and imports, with no rollover. Each conversation is transcribed for at most 30 minutes, and you get 3 file imports per account in total, not per month.
How much does Otter Pro cost?
$16.99 a month before tax, or $8.33 a month billed yearly, which we calculate as $99.96 a year paid up front. Otter's student FAQ implies a $99.99 list price, so the exact yearly charge is not printed. Students and teachers with a .edu email get 20% off: $13.59 a month or $79.99 a year.
Can I use Otter for commercial work?
Not verified. Otter's pages disagree: section 9.3 of its Terms of Service says you keep ownership of your content, while section 11(c) bars "direct or indirect commercial purposes". The business agreement covers enterprise plans only. Ask Otter before you use Basic or Pro for paid work.
Does Otter train its AI on my recordings?
You can set "Help improve Otter" to "Don't allow sharing" under Account Settings, Meetings, Feedback and Training, and Otter says it then will not access your conversations for training. Its privacy policy also mentions training on de-identified audio and transcripts without tying that to the setting.
Can Otter transcribe a file I already have?
Yes. Basic allows 3 audio or video imports per account in total, and Pro 10 a month, each up to 5 GB and counted against your monthly minutes. Unlimited imports need Business.
Which languages does Otter transcribe?
Otter lists six: English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese (Simplified), on both Basic and Pro.
Sources
9 official pages, checked Oct 15, 2026. This page was written by the What the tech desk with AI assistance from the facts in our data release; no company paid for or reviewed it.
- https://otter.ai/
- Conversation, import, and app limits on the Basic free planOtter.ai
- Otter Notetaker OverviewOtter.ai
- Pricing | Otter.aiOtter.ai
- Terms of Service (effective September 19, 2025)Otter.ai
- Provide feedback to OtterOtter.ai
- Export conversationsOtter.ai
- Privacy Policy (effective June 16, 2026)Otter.ai
- Otter Desktop App (Mac & Windows)Otter.ai
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