Softwr

Remote Work · head to head

Mural vs Otter.ai

Mural logo

Mural

Remote Work

The digital workspace for visual collaboration

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Otter.ai logo

Otter.ai

Remote Work

Transcription and meeting notes powered by AI

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Mural the free plan allows 3 editable murals at a time, so working on a fourth means archiving one; 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: Mural covers Infinite canvas, Otter.ai covers Automatic transcription.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mural and Otter.ai actually diverge.

Attributes where Mural and Otter.ai differ
AttributeMuralOtter.ai
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Ios, Android, Mac
Founded20112016

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (subscription), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Remote Work).

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 Mural

  • Infinite canvas
  • Sticky notes
  • Shapes & connectors
  • Image uploads
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Templates
  • Voting & feedback
  • Jira

Only in Otter.ai

  • Automatic transcription
  • Real-time transcription
  • Speaker identification
  • Searchable transcripts
  • Highlights and summaries
  • Sharing
  • Mobile apps
  • Zoom

Both cover

  • Slack
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Cloud deployment
  • Web support
  • Ios support
  • Android support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Mural

  • Running collaborative workshops and retrospectives on a shared whiteboardnot Otter.ai
  • Mapping journeys and diagrams with a distributed teamnot Otter.ai

Otter.ai

  • Transcribing meetings and generating summaries automaticallynot Mural
  • Searching and sharing notes from recorded conversationsnot Mural

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Mural

  • The free plan allows 3 editable murals at a time, so working on a fourth means archiving one
  • Mural AI and the Zoom and Webex integrations require Team+ at $9.99 per member per month billed annually
  • SSO and the Okta, Azure and GitHub integrations are Business only at $17.99 per member per month
  • Multiple workspaces, SCIM, audit logs and enforced 2FA are Enterprise only with no published price

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

Mural

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1 mural
    • Basic shapes
    • File uploads
  • Team$16/month
    • Unlimited murals
    • Advanced templates
    • Team collaboration

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 Mural if

  • You need infinite canvas.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want sticky notes.
Mural review

Choose Otter.ai if

  • You need automatic transcription.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Mac.
  • You also want real-time transcription.
Otter.ai review

Questions people ask

Is Mural or Otter.ai better?
Neither clearly leads. Mural 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, Mural or Otter.ai?
Mural starts at Free and Otter.ai at Free.
Does Mural or Otter.ai run on more platforms?
Mural runs on Web, Ios, Android. Otter.ai runs on Web, Ios, Android, Mac.
Can I use Mural for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Mural best used for?
Mural is most often used for running collaborative workshops and retrospectives on a shared whiteboard, mapping journeys and diagrams with a distributed team. Of those, running collaborative workshops and retrospectives on a shared whiteboard and mapping journeys and diagrams with a distributed team are not what Otter.ai is typically brought in for.
What can Mural do that Otter.ai cannot?
Mural covers Infinite canvas, Sticky notes, Shapes & connectors, Image uploads. Otter.ai covers Automatic transcription, Real-time transcription, Speaker identification, Searchable transcripts. Both handle Slack, Microsoft Teams, Cloud deployment, Web support.
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Related pages

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