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Comparison · Meeting notesOtter.ai vs Fireflies.ai
Initial editorial ratings, testing in progress. Scores are editorial judgments, not benchmark results, and will be replaced by hands-on test scores. Sponsors never affect scores.
Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai both appear in our meeting notes ranking. This page puts them side by side: our current ratings, what each costs and includes according to its own pricing page (checked 2026-10-15), and which one to pick for which job. Where we could not verify something on the official site, we say so instead of guessing.
At a glance
| Otter.ai | Fireflies.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Our rating | 8.5/10 | 8.0/10 |
| Why it ranks | Mature transcription, live notes | Strong integrations & search |
| Pricing | Pro $16.99/user/month billed monthly ($8.49 billed annually, shown as a 50% saving); Business $30/user/month (shown at $24 with a 20%-off-for-3-months offer); Enterprise via demo. Prices in USD. | Pro $18/seat/month monthly or $10 billed annually; Business $29 monthly or $19 annually; Enterprise $39/seat/month, annual only. |
| Free tier | Basic plan is free: 300 monthly transcription minutes, live transcription, speaker identification, 3 lifetime file imports, Zoom, Teams and Google Meet. | Free plan: unlimited transcription (with a footnote on the page), limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of storage per team, 20 AI credits. |
| Best for | People who want to follow a live transcript during the call and need long, searchable records. | Teams that want a searchable meeting library connected to many other tools. |
| Source | Checked 2026-10-15 on the official site | Checked 2026-10-15 on the official site |
Scores by criterion
Our methodology weights five criteria. Per-criterion scores come from hands-on testing, which hasn't been done yet for this category, so we show the weights and leave the scores blank instead of making numbers up. The overall ratings above are editorial.
| Criterion | Weight | Otter.ai | Fireflies.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Output quality | 40% | Not yet tested | Not yet tested |
| Speed & reliability | 20% | Not yet tested | Not yet tested |
| Ease of use | 15% | Not yet tested | Not yet tested |
| Value | 15% | Not yet tested | Not yet tested |
| Privacy & trust | 10% | Not yet tested | Not yet tested |
Key differences
Otter.ai rates slightly higher (8.5 vs 8.0) for transcription maturity and live notes. Fireflies.ai is the integrations-and-search tool: its free plan already includes meeting search, an AI assistant, API access and 100+ languages, but summaries are limited and storage is 400 minutes per team. Otter's free tier gives 300 transcription minutes a month with live transcription.
Otter.ai in brief
Otter.ai is the most established tool in this category, and its free Basic plan is still built around transcription minutes: 300 a month, with live transcription and speaker identification included. Paid plans lift the per-meeting cap (90 minutes on Pro, 4 hours on Business) and add CRM integrations. We rate it 8.5/10 for its mature transcription and live notes.
- Live transcription and speaker identification
- AI Chat within and across meetings
- Pro: 1,200 recording minutes, up to 90 minutes per meeting, Salesforce, HubSpot and Zapier integrations
- Business: up to 4 hours per meeting, 3 concurrent meetings, admin analytics
- Enterprise: SSO/SCIM, HIPAA add-on, API and webhooks
Fireflies.ai in brief
Fireflies.ai leans into search and integrations. Even the free plan includes meeting search, the AskFred assistant, API access and transcription in more than 100 languages, though summaries are limited and storage is capped at 400 minutes per team. We rate it 8.0/10 for its strong integrations and search.
- Transcription in 100+ languages with real-time notes
- Meeting search and the AskFred AI assistant
- Desktop, mobile apps, Chrome extension and API access on all plans
- Pro: unlimited summaries, video recording, action items, unlimited integrations
- Business: conversation intelligence and team analytics; Enterprise: SSO, SCIM, HIPAA
Which should you pick?
Verdict: Pick Otter.ai for live transcripts and long recordings. Pick Fireflies.ai if your meetings need to feed other tools and you want a searchable archive across the team.
How that maps to our criteria:
- Output quality (40%): until testing is done, our editorial ratings are the best guide: Otter.ai 8.5/10, Fireflies.ai 8.0/10. Otter.ai is rated higher.
- Value (15%): compare the free tiers in the table. Otter.ai: Basic plan is free: 300 monthly transcription minutes, live transcription, speaker identification, 3 lifetime file imports, Zoom, Teams and Google Meet. Fireflies.ai: Free plan: unlimited transcription (with a footnote on the page), limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of storage per team, 20 AI credits.
- Ease of use (15%): Otter.ai is best for people who want to follow a live transcript during the call and need long, searchable records. Fireflies.ai is best for teams that want a searchable meeting library connected to many other tools.
- Speed & reliability (20%) and Privacy & trust (10%): not yet tested. Before you commit, read each vendor's data-retention and training settings on its own site.
Frequently asked questions
- Which supports more languages?
- Fireflies.ai lists transcription in 100+ languages. Otter.ai lists multi-language support without a number on its pricing page.
- Which is rated higher, Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai?
- Otter.ai is rated higher in our initial editorial ratings (8.5 vs 8.0). These are not benchmark results; testing is in progress.
- How much does Otter.ai cost?
- Pro $16.99/user/month billed monthly ($8.49 billed annually, shown as a 50% saving); Business $30/user/month (shown at $24 with a 20%-off-for-3-months offer); Enterprise via demo. Prices in USD.
- How much does Fireflies.ai cost?
- Pro $18/seat/month monthly or $10 billed annually; Business $29 monthly or $19 annually; Enterprise $39/seat/month, annual only.
- When was pricing checked?
- On 2026-10-15, on each tool's official pricing page. Prices change often, so confirm on the vendor's site before you buy.
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