Otter.ai
Otter.ai is a meeting notetaker that auto-joins Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams calls — its OtterPilot assistant transcribes, summarizes, extracts action items, and syncs the recap into Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, and Notion.
Drop your audio. Transcript in seconds. First transcript free, then $2 a file or $8 = 1,000 min
Otter.ai is a closed-source SaaS notetaker. OtterPilot reads your Google or Microsoft calendar, auto-joins meetings on Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, and produces a transcript, an Overview, Bullet Points, Action Items, and an in-product chat layer you can query across one meeting or the whole archive. Meetings can be organized into shared team or project spaces, and the recap pushes into Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Notion, and Asana.
Best for sales and customer-success teams who want call notes auto-logged into Salesforce or HubSpot, knowledge workers who run back-to-back calls and want a searchable archive, and educators or media interviewers who upload recordings for transcription. Current published pricing (verified on otter.ai/pricing): Basic free with 300 monthly transcription minutes and 3 lifetime file imports, Pro at $8.33/user/mo annual ($16.99 monthly) with 1,200 in-app minutes and 10 monthly imports, Business at $19.99/user/mo annual ($30 monthly) with unlimited meetings and admin analytics, and Enterprise with custom pricing for SSO, SCIM, Domain Capture, HIPAA add-on, API + Webhooks.
What it is
Otter is the canonical meeting-transcription product. The value is the end-to-end package — bot joins the call, produces a transcript, summarizes, shares with attendees. It's not a developer API and doesn't try to be. Last price check: 2026-04-20.
Watch out for: English-heavy (EN/FR/ES); strongest inside meeting-bot flow, weaker for arbitrary file transcription; not API-first.
Install / use
Go to Otter.ai otter.aiWhere Otter plugs in · 6 surfaces
Otter is sold as a meeting-workflow product, not a standalone transcript engine. Each card below links to the canonical Otter marketing page for that surface — no installers, just the product page you would land on from their navigation.
OtterPilot reads your Google or Microsoft 365 calendar and auto-joins any meeting with a Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams link as a visible participant. You can also upload audio or video files (MP3, MP4, WAV, M4A) for meetings the bot did not attend — the Basic tier caps lifetime file imports at three.
Auto-join via Google or Microsoft calendar · supports Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams · audio/video file upload fallback
After each call, OtterPilot returns a structured recap with an Overview, Bullet Points, and Action Items, alongside the full speaker-labeled transcript. The transcript and recap are searchable from the Otter web app and from mobile, and the recap can be shared by link with non-Otter recipients.
Overview + Bullet Points + Action Items per meeting · searchable transcript archive · shareable recap link
Otter Chat (formerly OtterPilot Chat) is the conversational layer over your transcript archive — ask a natural-language question about a single meeting or across every meeting in the workspace and it returns an answer with timestamped transcript citations. Available on Basic and above.
Natural-language Q&A across one meeting or the full archive · citations link back to transcript timestamps
Otter's Sales Agent surface adds pre-call briefs pulled from CRM data, live in-meeting coaching that flags objections and competitor mentions, post-call summaries focused on pain points and next steps, and auto-drafted follow-up emails synced back to Salesforce or HubSpot. Sold inside the Business plan and above.
Pre-call CRM brief · live coaching on objections/competitors/pricing · auto-drafted follow-up email · Salesforce + HubSpot sync · Business plan and above
Native connectors push the recap to Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, Zoho, and Salesloft on the CRM side; Slack and Microsoft Teams for messaging; Notion, Google Docs, and SharePoint for notes; Asana, ClickUp, Jira, Monday, and Linear for tasks; Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, and S3 for storage. Zapier covers the long tail.
CRM: Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics, Zoho, Salesloft · messaging: Slack, Teams · notes: Notion, Google Docs, SharePoint · tasks: Asana, ClickUp, Jira, Monday, Linear · storage: Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, S3 · Zapier
The Enterprise tier adds SAML SSO, SCIM provisioning, Domain Capture, custom data retention, the Otter API and Webhooks, custom integrations, and a HIPAA compliance add-on. Business adds activity logs and usage analytics for workspace admins beneath that.
SSO + SCIM + Domain Capture · HIPAA add-on (Enterprise only) · Otter API + Webhooks · custom retention · custom integrations · Business tier adds activity logs + usage analytics
Getting started in 3 steps
Otter is a SaaS app, not a library — the setup is operational, not code. Three steps cover the path from signup to value for a typical sales or customer-success workspace.
Create the workspace · grant calendar access · choose which meetings OtterPilot joins.
# 1. Sign up at otter.ai with your work email.
# 2. Pick your meeting stack when prompted:
# Google Workspace -> grant Google Meet + Calendar OAuth
# Microsoft 365 -> grant Teams + Outlook Calendar OAuth
# Zoom -> install Otter from the Zoom Marketplace
#
# 3. Configure OtterPilot auto-join in Settings -> Meetings:
# - All meetings on my calendar
# - Only external meetings
# - Only meetings I own
# - Off (upload audio files manually instead)
#
# 4. (Optional) Install the Otter Chrome extension for Google Meet.
#
# OtterPilot will now join every qualifying invite as a visible participant.Verify OtterPilot joins · review the transcript · check the Overview, Bullet Points, and Action Items.
# 1. Put a meeting on your calendar with a Zoom / Meet / Teams link.
# (Or upload an existing recording: dashboard -> Import.)
#
# 2. ~60s before the meeting, OtterPilot joins as a visible participant.
#
# 3. After the call ends, open otter.ai -> My Conversations.
# Each meeting carries:
# - Full transcript with speaker labels and timestamps
# - Summary tabs: Overview | Bullet Points | Action Items
# - Otter Chat: ask natural-language questions across the meeting
#
# 4. Test Otter Chat: "What did we agree on for next steps?"
# "Did the customer mention pricing concerns?"
# Answers cite the exact transcript timestamp.Connect Salesforce / HubSpot · pick a Slack channel for recaps · open the Otter API on Enterprise.
# 1. In Apps -> Integrations, connect the systems of record:
# CRM -> Salesforce / HubSpot / Microsoft Dynamics / Zoho / Salesloft
# Messaging -> Slack channel or DM for recap posts
# Notes -> Notion / Google Docs / SharePoint
# Tasks -> Asana / ClickUp / Jira / Monday / Linear
# Storage -> Google Drive / OneDrive / Dropbox / Amazon S3
#
# 2. Map CRM fields so summary + action items + recording URL
# post against the right account / contact / opportunity.
#
# 3. (Enterprise) The Otter API + Webhooks unlock custom flows:
# pull transcripts and summaries into your data warehouse or
# push events into downstream tools. API access is gated to
# the Enterprise plan — contact Otter sales for credentials.
#
# 4. (Optional) Use Zapier or Make for connectors not on the
# native list.What people actually do with Otter.ai-style transcription
The tool is the means. These are the jobs — each one priced at published rates, each one wired up on its own page.
Features
| Speaker diarization | Yes |
| Word-level timestamps | Yes |
| Streaming / real-time | Yes |
| Languages supported | 3 |
| HIPAA eligible | No |
Links
- otter.ai · homepage ↗product overview · OtterPilot, Otter Chat, summary tabs, meeting integrations
- otter.ai/pricing ↗Basic free / Pro $8.33 annual ($16.99 monthly) / Business $19.99 annual ($30 monthly) / Enterprise custom · per-seat · verified 2026-05-10
- otter.ai/integrations ↗integration catalog · CRM, messaging, notes, tasks, storage, calendar, dialers, Zapier
- otter.ai/sales-agent ↗Sales Agent surface · pre-call brief, live coaching, auto follow-up, Salesforce + HubSpot sync
- otter.ai/blog ↗product blog · release notes, sales playbooks, AI meeting workflows, customer stories
- status.otter.ai ↗live status page · uptime for Website, Sign In, Otter Chat, File Importing, Speech Recording, Payments
- help.otter.ai ↗help center · getting started, OtterPilot, integrations, billing, troubleshooting
Otter.ai vs Whipscribe
| Feature | Otter.ai | Whipscribe |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Products | Transcription APIs |
| Pricing | Not verified | $8–$24 one-time packs (credits never expire) · $2 single unlock · free instant preview |
| Speaker diarization | Not verified | Yes |
| Word timestamps | Not verified | Yes |
| Streaming | Not verified | No |
| Languages | 3 | 99 |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web, API, MCP |
Where this category is heading
From the vendor changelogs we track weekly — what changed in August 2026, and what it means if you are choosing now.
AssemblyAI moved summarisation onto an LLM this month; every vendor is racing to return action items, quotes and topics with the text rather than as an add-on.
Whipscribe today Every Whipscribe job already returns an insights payload — summary, key quotes, topics and speakers — from the same job id, at no extra charge.
Deepgram shipped self-hosted container images in August — the market is moving toward audio that stays inside a boundary the customer controls, because teams with customer calls or unreleased material are refusing shared model endpoints.
Whipscribe today Whipscribe runs on our own GPUs in a private, secured cloud. Audio is never forwarded to OpenAI or any third-party model.
The fastest-growing way to use a transcription API is not a form — it is Claude, Cursor or a workflow runner calling it mid-task through MCP.
Whipscribe today Whipscribe ships an MCP server: transcribe, search and summarise from an assistant without wiring anything.
AssemblyAI's 1.0 SDK unified async, realtime and sync; Deepgram's CLI went to 0.3. The unit of work is becoming the folder or the bucket, not the file.
Whipscribe today Submit with an Idempotency-Key and a batch_id, poll by job, retry safely. The S3 connector runs a whole prefix in one grant.
Deepgram added Afrikaans, Georgian and Armenian and improved a dozen more this month. Coverage is widening while quality still clusters around English and the large European languages.
Whipscribe today 99+ languages auto-detected. Ask for a language explicitly when you know it — auto-detect on a short or noisy clip is the most common cause of a wrong-language transcript.
Source: Deepgram and AssemblyAI changelogs, scanned 2026-08-24.
Alternatives to Otter.ai
Looking for a Otter.ai alternative? How Whipscribe compares →
Frequently asked about Otter.ai
What is Otter.ai?
Otter.ai is a closed-source SaaS notetaker. OtterPilot reads your Google or Microsoft calendar, auto-joins meetings on Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, and produces a transcript, an Overview, Bullet Points, Action Items, and an in-product chat layer you can query across one meeting or the whole archive. Meetings can be organized into shared team or project spaces, and the recap pushes into Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Notion, and Asana.
Is Otter.ai free?
Partly. Otter.ai has a free tier with paid plans above it — published pricing: free / Pro $8.33/mo annual ($16.99 monthly). Free-tier limits change more often than this page does; verify on the vendor's pricing page.
Does Otter.ai work on Mac, Windows and Linux?
Otter.ai runs on Web, iOS and Android.
How do I get started with Otter.ai?
There is nothing to install — Otter.ai is used in the browser. Create an account on the vendor's site and upload or connect your audio.
How many languages does Otter.ai support?
Otter.ai lists 3 languages.
What are the limitations of Otter.ai?
English-heavy (EN/FR/ES); strongest inside meeting-bot flow, weaker for arbitrary file transcription; not API-first.
Who is Otter.ai best for?
Individuals and teams who want meeting notes automatically without any integration work.
What should I know before choosing Otter.ai?
Best for sales and customer-success teams who want call notes auto-logged into Salesforce or HubSpot, knowledge workers who run back-to-back calls and want a searchable archive, and educators or media interviewers who upload recordings for transcription. Current published pricing (verified on otter.ai/pricing): Basic free with 300 monthly transcription minutes and 3 lifetime file imports, Pro at $8.33/user/mo annual ($16.99 monthly) with 1,200 in-app minutes and 10 monthly imports, Business at $19.99/user/mo annual ($30 monthly) with unlimited meetings and admin analytics, and Enterprise with custom pricing for SSO, SCIM, Domain Capture, HIPAA add-on, API + Webhooks.
Is Otter.ai open source?
No. Otter.ai is a proprietary product. If you need source you can read and run yourself, the open-source tools in this directory are the place to look.
What kind of tool is Otter.ai?
In this directory Otter.ai is filed under product as a product.
What are the alternatives to Otter.ai?
There is a side-by-side page at /tools/otter-alternatives comparing Otter.ai with the closest tools in the same category on price, platform and features.
Are there setup recipes for Otter.ai?
Yes — this page carries 3 tested setups: Sign up + connect your calendar; Run your first meeting; Wire it into your CRM + Slack.
Can I automate Otter.ai-style transcription without running it myself?
Yes. If what you want is transcripts rather than the tool itself, Whipscribe does the same job as a hosted API: submit a file or URL, poll a job id, pull the result as txt, json, srt, vtt or docx. $0.008 a minute — about $0.48 an audio hour — bought as credits that never expire. The automation recipes on this site show it wired to Drive folders, Zoom recordings, S3 buckets and no-code platforms.
How is Whipscribe different from Otter.ai?
Otter.ai is another vendor's product; Whipscribe is a per-minute transcription service. We run the models on our own GPUs in a private cloud — audio is never forwarded to OpenAI or any third-party model — and every job returns five formats plus an AI summary, quotes and topics. Your first transcript in the web app is free at any length, no card.
What does transcription cost if I use Whipscribe instead of Otter.ai?
$0.008 a minute — about $0.48 an audio hour — bought as credits that never expire. There is no subscription and no monthly minimum: a 3-hour recording is about $1.44, a thousand-hour archive is about $480 once. Your first transcript in the web app is free at any length, no card, so you can check accuracy on your own audio before paying anything.
Whipscribe is a managed faster-whisper + whisperX service. If you want transcripts without running infrastructure, paste a URL or drop a file in the form below — you'll have a transcript in seconds.
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