Otter and Fireflies do the same core job. They join your Zoom, Google Meet or Teams calls, write the transcript and send a summary with action items. For a small business, the real differences are in what the free plans limit, which languages they cover, how much they store and what they cost per person.
All facts below come from the Otter pricing page and the Fireflies pricing page, as of October 2026. Prices are in US dollars.
One note before you start. Some places require consent from everyone on a call before you record it. Check the rules where you work, and tell people when a notetaker joins.
The short verdict
- Pick Otter if you meet mostly in English or one of its other supported languages, and you want live transcription in its own app, including on your phone.
- Pick Fireflies if you meet in many languages, want video recording on the first paid plan, or would rather not count transcription minutes.
Free plans side by side
Otter Basic (free):
- 300 transcription minutes a month per user, with no rollover.
- Up to 30 minutes per conversation.
- 3 audio or video file imports for the life of the account.
- Your 25 most recent conversations are kept in your history.
- 20 AI chat questions a month.
Fireflies Free:
- Transcription listed as unlimited.
- Limited AI summaries.
- 400 minutes of storage per team.
- A recording limit of 2 hours per meeting.
- 20 AI credits.
The limits work in opposite ways. Otter caps how much you transcribe. Fireflies caps how much you keep. If your calls often run past 30 minutes, Otter's free plan will cut them short. If you want to search old calls, Fireflies' free storage will fill up.
Paid plans
Otter:
- Pro: $16.99 per user a month billed monthly, or $8.33 billed yearly. 1,200 minutes a month per user, up to 90 minutes per meeting, 10 file imports a month.
- Business: $30 per user a month billed monthly, or $19.99 billed yearly. Unlimited meetings, up to 4 hours per meeting, and admin features. At the time of writing, Otter offered 20% off the monthly Business price for the first 3 months to first-time subscribers.
Fireflies:
- Pro: $10 per seat a month billed yearly, or $18 billed monthly. Unlimited AI summaries, 8,000 minutes of storage per seat, video recording and downloads. The recording limit stays at 2 hours.
- Business: $19 per seat a month billed yearly, or $29 billed monthly. Unlimited storage, up to 3 hours per recording, conversation intelligence and team analytics.
Both are much cheaper per month on yearly billing. If you are not sure you will keep the tool, start monthly and switch later.
The differences that matter
Languages
Otter's pricing page lists transcription in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese. Fireflies lists transcription in more than 100 languages, and a multi-language mode on Business. If your calls switch between languages, test Fireflies first.
How it joins your calls
Both send a bot that joins Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. Fireflies also lists a Chrome extension that can record without the bot. Otter has its own apps for recording in person, including on iOS and Android, with live transcription as you speak.
Storage and history
Otter Pro and Business keep unlimited conversation history. Fireflies Pro stores up to 8,000 minutes per seat, and Business is unlimited. If you record many long calls, add up your monthly minutes before you choose Fireflies Pro.
Data and AI training
- Otter says it de-identifies user data before it trains its own models, so that a single user cannot be identified, and that its outside AI providers do not train on customer data (Otter privacy and security).
- Fireflies says on its pricing page that your data is never used for AI training.
If you record client calls, read both pages and decide which approach you are comfortable with.
How to decide
- Count your calls last month and their average length.
- Check that number against Otter's minutes and Fireflies' storage.
- List the languages your calls use.
- Record two real calls with each tool on the free plan, with everyone's consent.
- Compare the summaries. Pick the one you would send to a client with the fewest changes.
A summary is only useful if it turns into clear notes and next steps. There is a simple format in how to write meeting notes, and a list of questions worth recording in discovery call questions.
If you are also looking at Fathom, see Fathom vs Otter.