Software · head to head
Fireflies.ai vs Otter.ai
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Fireflies.ai video recording limits by tier: Free tier has 2 hours, Pro tier 2 hours, Business tier 3 hours, Enterprise tier 4 hours; Otter.ai two separate limits apply at once, a monthly minute allowance and a per conversation cap, so a long meeting can be cut short with allowance remaining
- They diverge on capability: Fireflies.ai covers Meeting summaries, Otter.ai covers Real-time transcription.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Fireflies.ai and Otter.ai actually diverge.
| Attribute | Fireflies.ai | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | subscription |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Desktop, Chrome extension | Web, Ios, Android, Mac |
| Founded | 2018 | 2016 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Fireflies.ai
- Meeting summaries
- Action item extraction
- Search functionality
- Team sharing
- Integration APIs
- HubSpot
- SOC2
- Spanish language support
Only in Otter.ai
- Real-time transcription
- Searchable transcripts
- Highlights and summaries
- Sharing
- Mobile apps
- Salesforce
- Encryption
- Mac support
Both cover
- Automatic transcription
- Speaker identification
- Zoom
- Microsoft Teams
- Google Meet
- Slack
- GDPR compliant
- Cloud deployment
- Web support
- Ios support
- Android support
- English language support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Fireflies.ai
- Meeting transcription and note-taking across teamsnot Otter.ai
- AI-powered meeting summaries in 100+ languagesnot Otter.ai
- Unlimited transcription and AI summaries on paid tiersnot Otter.ai
Otter.ai
- Transcribing meetings and generating summaries automaticallynot Fireflies.ai
- Searching and sharing notes from recorded conversationsnot Fireflies.ai
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Fireflies.ai
- Video recording limits by tier: Free tier has 2 hours, Pro tier 2 hours, Business tier 3 hours, Enterprise tier 4 hours
- Storage quotas on Free and Pro tiers: Free tier limited to 400 minutes per team, Pro tier limited to 8,000 minutes per seat
- AI credits allocation varies by tier, with lower tiers receiving limited credits for advanced AI features
Otter.ai
- Two separate limits apply at once, a monthly minute allowance and a per conversation cap, so a long meeting can be cut short with allowance remaining
- The free plan cuts off at 30 minutes per conversation and 300 minutes a month
- The Pro plan still caps a single conversation at 90 minutes
- Even unlimited plans cap a conversation at 4 hours
- Imported file transcription has its own separate monthly limit, at 6,000 minutes on Business
- Paying monthly rather than annually roughly doubles the rate, from $8.33 to $16.99 on Pro
Pricing, plan by plan
Fireflies.ai
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Fireflies.ai review.
Otter.ai
Free- BasicFree
- 600 minutes transcription
- 3 searches
- Basic sharing
- Pro$10/month
- 6000 minutes transcription
- Unlimited searches
- Team collaboration
Which should you pick?
Choose Fireflies.ai if
- You need meeting summaries.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, Desktop, Chrome extension.
- You also want action item extraction.
Choose Otter.ai if
- You need real-time transcription.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android, Mac.
- You also want searchable transcripts.
Questions people ask
- Is Fireflies.ai or Otter.ai better?
- Neither clearly leads. Fireflies.ai starts at Free and Otter.ai at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Fireflies.ai or Otter.ai?
- Fireflies.ai starts at Free and Otter.ai at Free.
- Does Fireflies.ai or Otter.ai run on more platforms?
- Fireflies.ai runs on Web, iOS, Android, Desktop, Chrome extension. Otter.ai runs on Web, Ios, Android, Mac.
- Can I use Fireflies.ai for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Fireflies.ai best used for?
- Fireflies.ai is most often used for meeting transcription and note-taking across teams, ai-powered meeting summaries in 100+ languages, unlimited transcription and ai summaries on paid tiers. Of those, meeting transcription and note-taking across teams and ai-powered meeting summaries in 100+ languages are not what Otter.ai is typically brought in for.
- What can Fireflies.ai do that Otter.ai cannot?
- Fireflies.ai covers Meeting summaries, Action item extraction, Search functionality, Team sharing. Otter.ai covers Real-time transcription, Searchable transcripts, Highlights and summaries, Sharing. Both handle Automatic transcription, Speaker identification, Zoom, Microsoft Teams.