Pick Fireflies if you're on a team that needs meeting notes flowing into a CRM, works across languages, and wants unlimited transcription on every plan. Pick Otter.ai if you're an individual, student, or accessibility-focused user who wants real-time transcription, live collaboration, and a slightly cheaper entry price. They're the two biggest AI notetakers in 2026, and the choice comes down to integrations versus simplicity — and bot versus native recording.
Quick verdict
Fireflies is the team tool: a bot that joins any platform, unlimited minutes everywhere, deep integrations, and cross-meeting AI search. Otter is the individual tool: native recording, best-in-class live transcription and captions, and simple collaborative notes. Both transcribe accurately. Where they split is what happens after the meeting — Fireflies routes it into your stack, Otter keeps it clean and shareable.
Side by side
| Fireflies.ai | Otter.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Recording model | Bot joins as participant | Native / in-app recording |
| Transcription limits | Unlimited on all tiers | 300 free / 1,200 Pro / unlimited Business |
| Languages | 100+ | English, French, Spanish |
| Platforms | Zoom, Meet, Teams, Webex +more | Zoom, Meet, Teams |
| Standout | Integrations, AskFred cross-search | Real-time transcription, live captions |
| Cheapest paid | $10/mo (Pro, annual) | $8.33/mo (Pro, annual) |
| Free plan | Unlimited transcription, 400-min storage | 300 min/mo, 30-min meeting cap |
Fireflies.ai
Fireflies sends a bot ("Fred") into your call to record and transcribe, and its whole design points at teams. Unlimited transcription on every tier — including free — plus the deepest integration list in the category (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Slack, Notion, Asana) means transcripts and action items land in your tools automatically. AskFred searches across every meeting you've recorded, and Business adds conversation intelligence like sentiment and talk-time analytics. It also handles 100+ languages with auto-detection.
The trade-offs: the bot is visible to everyone on the call, action-item attribution can be unreliable, and the AI features are metered by a credits system. Read the full Fireflies review for the deep dive.
Otter.ai
Otter built its reputation on real-time transcription — live captions scrolling as people speak, editable collaboratively, which makes it a favorite for students, journalists, and accessibility. It uses native in-app recording rather than a visible bot, so it feels less intrusive, and in 2026 it added five named AI Agents (Sales, SDR, Recruiting and more), AI meeting workflows, and a Gmail connector.
The limits are real: transcription is capped (300 minutes/month free, 1,200 on Pro), it supports only English, French, and Spanish, and it covers fewer meeting platforms. For an individual who wants clean, real-time notes, though, it's the simpler and cheaper start. See our Otter.ai review for more.
Pricing
Otter is marginally cheaper at entry, but Fireflies gives you more transcription for the money. Otter Pro is $8.33/month annually ($16.99 monthly) with a 1,200-minute cap; Fireflies Pro is $10/seat annually ($18 monthly) with unlimited transcription. On free plans it's not close: Fireflies gives unlimited transcription (with a 400-minute storage cap) while Otter limits you to 300 minutes a month and a 30-minute-per-meeting cap.
At the team level, both land near $19–$20/seat annually for Business (Otter $19.99, Fireflies $19), with Fireflies adding conversation intelligence and Otter adding unlimited minutes and 3-concurrent-meeting support. Full breakdowns: our Fireflies pricing guide and Otter pricing guide.
Which should you pick?
Pick Fireflies if you're on a sales, consulting, or revenue team; you need transcripts in your CRM; you work across languages; or you search old calls constantly. Unlimited transcription and integration depth make it the stronger team tool, and its free plan is genuinely useful.
Pick Otter if you're an individual or student, you want live captions and real-time collaborative notes, you'd rather not have a bot on your calls, or you want the lowest entry price. It's the simpler, more accessible tool for solo use.
Want the bot-free route entirely? Look at Granola, and compare it with Otter in Granola vs Otter.ai. Or see the whole field in our best AI note takers guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fireflies or Otter better?
Fireflies is better for teams that need CRM integrations, unlimited transcription, and 100+ languages. Otter is better for individuals and students who want real-time transcription, live collaboration, and a slightly cheaper entry price.
Which is cheaper, Fireflies or Otter?
Otter at entry — Pro is $8.33/month annually versus Fireflies Pro at $10. But Fireflies includes unlimited transcription on every tier, while Otter caps minutes (300 free, 1,200 Pro), so heavy users often get more from Fireflies.
Does Otter join meetings as a bot like Fireflies?
Otter primarily uses native in-app recording, which is less intrusive than a visible bot. Fireflies sends a bot ("Fred") that joins as a participant. Otter can auto-join calendar meetings, but its default model is less bot-forward.
Which has better transcription accuracy?
It's roughly a wash. Otter is marginally better on clean native-English audio; Fireflies tends to hold up a bit better on accented or noisy audio. Both land around 90–95% in good conditions.
Which is better for a sales team?
Fireflies. Its Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive integrations push notes and action items into the CRM automatically, and Business-tier conversation intelligence adds talk-time and sentiment analytics that revenue teams use.
Which supports more languages?
Fireflies, by a wide margin — 100+ languages with auto-detection, versus Otter's English, French, and Spanish. If you run multilingual meetings, Fireflies is the clear pick.