Otter.ai is the best-known meeting transcription service and, at 35 million-plus users as of December 2025, the largest. OtterPilot joins your Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet calls, transcribes with speaker identification, and produces summaries and action items. It's mature, well integrated, and reasonably priced. It is also the subject of a consolidated federal class action about how it obtains consent to record, which anyone deploying it across a team should read about before doing so.
At a glance
Platforms
Web, iOS, Android, browser extension
Pricing
Free; Pro $16.99/month ($8.33 annual); Business $30/user/month ($19.99 annual); Enterprise custom
The most generous free tier in the category. 300 minutes a month with a 30-minute per-conversation cap is genuinely useful, unlike Notta's three-minute limit.
Pro annual is cheap. $8.33/month for 1,200 minutes is among the lowest real prices for a full meeting assistant.
Speaker identification is good. Years of tuning, and it shows on multi-speaker calls.
Live transcription during the call. Follow along and search in real time rather than waiting for processing.
Everything integrates with it. Being the biggest means every other tool has built an Otter connector.
Where it falls short
An active class action over recording consent.In re Otter.AI Privacy Litigation (5:25-cv-06911, N.D. Cal.) is a consolidated federal case alleging OtterPilot recorded Zoom, Teams, and Meet conversations and trained AI on them without the consent of all participants — only, at most, the host who invited the bot. It cites the California Invasion of Privacy Act and the federal Wiretap Act. Judge Lee heard argument on the motion on 20 May 2026 and, as of late June 2026, had not ruled. No court has found Otter's practices unlawful. These are allegations. But if you operate in a two-party-consent jurisdiction, the underlying question — whether inviting a bot constitutes consent from everyone on the call — is your exposure too, not just Otter's.
Monthly pricing is punishing. $16.99 against $8.33 annual, and $30 against $19.99. Double the price for flexibility.
"Unlimited" Business isn't. Roughly 6,000 minutes per user with a 4-hour conversation cap. Generous, but marketed more loosely than it is.
Summary quality is inconsistent. A common thread in user feedback, particularly on technical or multi-accent calls.
Cloud only. Everything transits Otter's servers, which is precisely what the litigation concerns.
Pricing
Free gives 300 minutes a month capped at 30 minutes per conversation. Pro is $16.99/month or $8.33 billed annually for 1,200 minutes. Business is $30/user/month or $19.99 annually for roughly 6,000 minutes per user, a 4-hour cap, and unlimited file imports. Enterprise is custom.
Who it's for
Individuals and small teams who want capable meeting transcription cheaply, and who have thought about consent. Whatever tool you choose, tell participants they're being recorded and get agreement — the legal question in the Otter case applies to Fireflies.ai, Fathom, and every other bot-based recorder equally. If you'd rather avoid a bot joining calls at all, Granola takes a different approach.
Last verified: 10 August 2026. Litigation status current as of the most recent public reporting; check for a ruling before relying on this.
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Otter.ai: The category's biggest name, and the one facing a consent class action – Dictation Database
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