Fireflies vs Otter: Which Meeting Note Workflow Fits?

Otter Basic counts monthly transcription minutes, per-conversation duration and lifetime file imports. Ten 30-minute meetings consume its listed 300-minute monthly allowance. Fathom Free instead lists unlimited recordings, storage and transcription, while advanced summaries are limited to five calls each month after the preview.

Fireflies separates eligible auto-join transcription, limited summaries, AI credits and storage. Its pricing page says 400 storage minutes per team while help content says per seat, so confirm the allocation in the workspace. Jamie Free counts ten meetings per month and caps each at 30 minutes. Convert your actual month into the provider's unit before comparing prices.

Otter Basic suits short calls that fit its 30-minute conversation cap and 300-minute monthly allowance. The Notetaker can join Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, while the Mac and Windows desktop app captures system audio without adding a meeting participant. Its free plan includes three lifetime audio or video imports.

The export matrix is unusually explicit: Basic exports transcript text as TXT. Paid plans add DOCX, PDF and SRT, and audio can be exported as MP3. Check the current plan if you need batch export, longer meetings or frequent imports. Review Otter's plans and export formats.

Fireflies can use a Notetaker bot, Chrome extension, mobile app, desktop system audio or uploaded file. Eligible auto-joined meetings can receive unlimited transcription on Free, but AI summaries remain limited and other activity uses separate AI credits and storage. Free uploads also have file and duration limits.

The desktop system-audio path avoids a bot and produces a transcript and notes, but it does not retain a separate audio/video recording or named speaker labels. Transcript and recording downloads require Pro; the documented text formats include PDF, DOCX, SRT, CSV, JSON and Markdown. Choose the capture mode before comparing plans. Open the Fireflies profile or the focused Fireflies vs Otter comparison.

Use a representative meeting or recording you are allowed to process. Record whether both sides are captured, whether participants see a bot, whether the session fits the duration allowance, and how speakers are labeled. Then inspect the resulting record: replay, transcript search, export, notes destination, decisions and action owners.

This guide compares current official documentation and does not rank transcription accuracy. Compare the output against your own notes before rolling a tool out to a team. For the broader market, read Best AI Meeting Note Takers; for two established meeting agents, use Fireflies vs Otter.