Fireflies.ai vs Otter.ai

Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and ratings

Analysis reviewed Live tool data as of 2026-09-29
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At a glance

DimensionFireflies.aiOtter.ai
PricingFreemium; Enterprise at $39/seat/moFreemium; paid tiers not specified in current data
Transcription Accuracy95% accuracy in 100+ languagesNot specified
AI FeaturesAskFred Q&A, Live Assist, AI SkillsAI Chat, SDR Agent, Recruiting Agent
Key IntegrationsZoom, Google Meet, Teams, Webex, Aircall, RingCentral, Salesforce, HubSpotZoom, Google Meet, Teams, Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot
Target PositionSales intelligence, enterprise, consultantsHR teams, sales, education, media
Latest FocusSales intelligence stack comparison (vs Gong)Corporate AI policy and knowledge management

Pick Fireflies if you need deep sales conversation intelligence with CRM logging and dialer pull (Aircall, RingCentral) — it's positioned as a Gong alternative with 95% accuracy and enterprise compliance. Choose Otter if your focus is HR/recruiting (structured candidate insights), education, or you want a desktop app for bot-free recording and an MCP server for ChatGPT/Claude integration — it's pushing knowledge management and AI governance, not just meeting notes.

Fireflies.ai
Fireflies.ai

Fireflies.ai is an AI meeting notetaker that transcribes, summarizes, and searches your calls in 100+ languages.

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Otter.ai
Otter.ai

Otter.ai meeting transcription turns every Zoom and Teams call into searchable notes, summaries, and action items.

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Pricing
Freemium
Freemium
Plans
$0/mo
$10 per seat/mo, billed annually
$19 per seat/mo, billed annually
$39 per seat/mo, billed annually (annual only)
$0/mo
$8.49/user/month billed annually ($16.99 monthly)
$19.99/user/month billed annually ($24 monthly)
Custom
Popularity
5.7k views
5.0k views
Skill Level
Beginner-friendly
Beginner-friendly
API Available
Platforms
WebMobileDesktopAPIPlugin
WebMobileDesktopPlugin
Categories
👥 Meeting Assistants & Notetakers✨ Transcription & Speech-to-Text
👥 Meeting Assistants & Notetakers✨ Transcription & Speech-to-Text
Features
AI notetaker bot (fred@fireflies.ai) autojoins calendar meetings to record and transcribe
Chrome extension records Google Meet calls without the Fireflies bot joining
Mobile app (Android, iOS) transcribes and summarizes in-person conversations
Desktop app records and transcribes calls
Transcription in 100+ languages with auto-language detection and speaker recognition
Real-time notes and live transcription during meetings
AI summaries with overview, bullet points, action items and custom notes
Expand Summary Notes for additional context on individual bullets
Meeting Search returns the exact sentence and timestamp from months-old calls
AskFred natural-language Q&A across your meeting history
Live Assist real-time suggestions, coaching and answers during meetings
200+ AI Skills for follow-up emails, candidate scoring and CRM extraction
Conversation intelligence: speaker talk-time, sentiment analysis, topic trackers, question detection
Team Insights analytics for admins on Business and above
Email Assistant triages inbox and auto-drafts replies
Live transcription in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Chinese
Speaker identification by name with shared and taggable speakers
Automated summaries with decisions, action items, and outlines
Otter AI Chat searching within and across meetings and connected apps
Bot-free recording via Mac and Windows desktop app
Chrome extension for capturing meetings in the browser
iOS and Android apps for recording on the go
AI Meeting Agent auto-joining Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet
Channels grouping conversations by team, project, or topic
Automatic action item capture and assignment
Sales insights synced to Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zapier
Advanced and custom AI meeting templates
MCP Server so ChatGPT, Claude, and other chat tools query meeting knowledge
Recruiting Agent producing structured candidate insight with Greenhouse sync
SDR Agent running personalized live demo video calls from your website
Integrations
Zoom
Google Meet
Microsoft Teams
Webex
Aircall
RingCentral
Salesforce
HubSpot
Slack
Greenhouse
Lever
Zapier
Google Calendar
Google Docs
Google Drive
Dropbox
Notion
Jira
Asana
Claude

What real users say: Fireflies.ai vs Otter.ai

Not marketing copy and not our opinion — a structured sweep of public discussion (reviews, forums, communities and video comments), showing what people praise and what they complain about for each tool.

Fireflies.ai

30 mentions across 4 sources · 39% positive — critical (averaged across 4 sources)

Hacker News, YouTube, Stack Overflow, Lemmy

What users praise

  • • Broad integration with CRMs, PM tools, ATS, and Slack
  • • High transcription accuracy in 100+ languages with speaker recognition
  • • AskFred natural-language Q&A makes meetings searchable
  • • Real-time Live Assist coaching and AI Skills automate follow-ups

What frustrates them

  • • Interface and video reviews annoy users with pop-up transcriptions
  • • Subscription feels unnecessary for users who just need notes
  • • Simpler tools (Fathom, Hyprnote) offer equal basics at lower cost
  • • Feature bloat overwhelms candidates who just want call notes

Researched Aug 18, 2026

Otter.ai

41 mentions across 3 sources · 55% positive — mixed (averaged across 3 sources)

Hacker News, Product Hunt, Lemmy

What users praise

  • • Highly accurate real-time transcription for interviews and meetings
  • • Automates meeting notes, freeing users to stay present and engaged
  • • Saves hours of manual transcription for journalists and researchers
  • • Great for lecture halls and educational settings

What frustrates them

  • • Privacy concerns: unclear how meeting recordings are stored or used
  • • Visible bot in calls feels awkward on client meetings
  • • Users report colleagues refusing to use it due to trust issues
  • • Potential for unwanted meeting presence (over-joining calls)

Researched Aug 18, 2026

Feature-by-feature

Both capture meetings automatically, but they differ in breadth vs. depth. Otter brings unique agents: an SDR Agent for live website demos and a Recruiting Agent for structured candidate insights — clearly aimed at revenue and HR use cases. Its AI Chat spans meetings and connected apps, and the desktop app records without a bot. Fireflies counters with 95% accuracy in 100+ languages, auto-language detection, and 'AI Skills' that power sales-specific analysis (sentiment, topics), plus AskFred natural-language Q&A and Live Assist for real-time coaching. Fireflies also supports more enterprise-grade integrations (Webex, Aircall, RingCentral, Asana, Trello) and claims HIPAA compliance — a spec Otter doesn't mention. Otter leans into knowledge management (channels, MCP server for ChatGPT/Claude) and corporate AI governance, while Fireflies nails conversation intelligence with timestamps, expandable summaries, and mobile in-person capture.

Pricing compared

Fireflies offers a freemium tiers with a free level capped at 400 minutes; Enterprise runs $39/seat/month — the headline number to budget around. Otter's current data doesn't specify paid tiers, but it notes a 1,200-minute monthly cap for heavy users, implying a ceiling on its pro plan. For cost-conscious small teams, Fireflies' free tier is stingy in storage; Otter might offer more free minutes but that's unconfirmed. If you need enterprise features like SSO/SCIM and HIPAA, Fireflies' Enterprise cost is justified; if you want affordable HR/recruiting insights, Otter's positioning suggests competitive pricing for those modules, but verify current rates.

Who should pick which

  • Sales team seeking a Gong alternative
    Pick: Fireflies.ai

    Fireflies touts AI Skills, sentiment analysis, and CRM sync (Salesforce, HubSpot) with dialer integrations (Aircall, RingCentral) — purpose-built for deal intelligence.

  • Recruiter converting interviews to structured data
    Pick: Otter.ai

    Otter's Recruiting Agent delivers structured candidate insights — a direct fit.

  • Enterprise needing HIPAA compliance and SSO
    Pick: Fireflies.ai

    Fireflies explicitly mentions HIPAA-compliant transcription and SSO/SCIM on Enterprise — Otter doesn't.

  • Educator capturing lectures
    Pick: Otter.ai

    Otter's multi-language transcription and Channels for organizing by class make it lecture-friendly; Fireflies lacks education-specific features.

  • Consultant analyzing client calls
    Pick: Fireflies.ai

    Fireflies' latest guide targets consultants — trustworthy for client-facing insights.

Frequently Asked Questions

Fireflies.ai vs Otter.ai: which should you choose?

Pick Fireflies if you need deep sales conversation intelligence with CRM logging and dialer pull (Aircall, RingCentral) — it's positioned as a Gong alternative with 95% accuracy and enterprise compliance. Choose Otter if your focus is HR/recruiting (structured candidate insights), education, or you want a desktop app for bot-free recording and an MCP server for ChatGPT/Claude integration — it's pushing knowledge management and AI governance, not just meeting notes.

Which tool has better free storage?

Fireflies' Free tier caps at 400 minutes, while Otter implies a 1,200-minute monthly limit — but Otter's exact free tier isn't specified, so compare current plans.

Can I record calls without a bot?

Otter's desktop app enables bot-free recording on Mac/Windows; Fireflies requires a bot (fred@fireflies.ai) or the Chrome extension to join meetings.

Which integrates with dialers?

Fireflies pulls calls from Aircall and RingCentral; Otter does not list dialer integrations in its current data.

Do they support non-English meetings?

Fireflies supports 100+ languages with auto-detection; Otter covers main languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese).

Which is better for ChatGPT/Claude workflows?

Otter provides an MCP server for ChatGPT and Claude integration — a differentiator that Fireflies doesn't mention.

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Last reviewed: August 31, 2026