Otter.ai vs Fireflies.ai
Fireflies.ai is the better free plan for transcription: its pricing page states unlimited transcription in 100+ languages, names Zoom, Google Meet and MS Teams, and its feature table states a 3-hour recording limit, against Otter.ai Basic's 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes per conversation. The catch is that Fireflies' free AI summaries are listed as limited, with no number given, while Otter.ai states summaries on every plan without a quota. Otter.ai is the cheaper paid plan: Pro is $8.33 per user a month billed annually for 1,200 minutes and 90-minute conversations, against Fireflies.ai Pro at $10 per seat a month billed annually, which removes every limit on transcription and summaries and adds 8,000 minutes of storage per seat.
Side by side, from the two pricing pages
| Feature | Otter.ai | Fireflies.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 300 min/month, 30 min per conversation, automated summaries | Unlimited transcription, limited AI summaries (count not stated), 400 min storage per team, 20 AI credits |
| Lowest paid plan | Pro $8.33/user/mo annual ($16.99 monthly) | Pro $10/seat/mo annual ($18 monthly) |
| Business plan | Business $19.99/user/mo annual ($30 monthly): unlimited minutes, 4 hr cap | Business $19/seat/mo annual ($29 monthly): unlimited storage, 30 AI credits; Enterprise $39/seat/mo annual only |
| Paid minutes and caps | Pro: 1,200 min/month, 90 min per conversation | No minute allowance; 3-hour recording limit on the feature table; storage 8,000 min/seat on Pro |
| AI summaries | Every plan, no quota stated | Limited on Free; unlimited from Pro |
| Meeting platforms named | Zoom, MS Teams, Google Meet on every plan | Zoom, GMeet, Teams, "10+" more on every plan; Chrome extension records without the bot |
| Other integrations | Salesforce, HubSpot, Zapier from Pro | API access on Free; unlimited integrations from Pro (names not listed on the pricing page) |
| Trial | Not stated | Not stated |
Two free plans that limit different things
Otter.ai Basic meters minutes: 300 transcription minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation, with automated summaries, action items and outlines, and Zoom, MS Teams and Google Meet listed on the plan. Fireflies.ai Free meters something else. Its page lists unlimited transcription, marked with an asterisk the text does not explain, and then limits the AI summaries ("limited AI summaries", no count stated), the storage (400 minutes per team) and the AI credits (20). It also lists Zoom, GMeet, Teams and "10+" more platforms, transcription in 100+ languages, real-time notes, meeting search, the AskFred assistant, audio and video upload, desktop and mobile apps, a Chrome extension and API access, all on the free plan. So the question for a free user is which limit bites first. If your meetings run past 30 minutes, Otter.ai's cap stops you and Fireflies' 3-hour recording limit does not. If you want an AI summary of every meeting, Otter.ai states no quota and Fireflies states an unnumbered one. The 400-minute storage figure on Fireflies' free plan is also worth reading against the unlimited transcription: transcribing is unlimited, keeping the recordings is not.
What paying buys, and what it costs
Otter.ai Pro is $8.33 per user a month billed annually, or $16.99 month to month, for 1,200 transcription minutes a month, 90 minutes per conversation, and Salesforce, HubSpot and Zapier integrations. Business is $19.99 per user a month billed annually ($30 month to month) for unlimited minutes, 4-hour conversations and unlimited audio and video file imports. Fireflies.ai Pro is $10 per seat a month billed annually, or $18 month to month, and the page's billing toggle says annual billing saves up to 44%. Pro makes AI summaries unlimited, raises storage to 8,000 minutes per seat, and adds video recording, downloads of transcripts, summaries and recordings, a Personal Assistant and Email Assistant, AI Skills, Voice Agents, action items with a task manager, and unlimited integrations. Business, labelled most popular, is $19 per seat a month billed annually ($29 month to month) for unlimited storage, 30 AI credits, multi-language mode, conversation intelligence, team analytics for admins, public meeting access and user groups. Enterprise is $39 per seat a month, annual only, and adds a rules engine, SSO and SCIM, audit logs via API, HIPAA compliance, private storage, custom data retention, a super admin role and a dedicated account manager. Otter.ai's Enterprise price is on request. The shape of the two ladders is different: Otter.ai's paid tiers sell more minutes and longer conversations, while Fireflies' free plan already has no transcription limit, so its paid tiers sell summaries, storage, assistants and team features. Otter.ai Pro is $1.67 a month cheaper; Fireflies.ai Pro removes the meters entirely.
Platforms, languages and security as the pages state them
Both pricing pages name the three big meeting platforms. Otter.ai lists Zoom, MS Teams and Google Meet on every plan including Basic. Fireflies.ai lists Zoom, GMeet, Teams and "10+" more on every plan, and its feature table says the Chrome extension can record without the Fireflies bot joining the call and captures meeting video at 720p. Fireflies states transcription in 100+ languages on every plan and a multi-language mode from Business; Otter.ai's pricing page does not state a language count. On security, Fireflies lists SOC 2 Type II and GDPR, with HIPAA on Enterprise; No security certification is recorded from Otter.ai's pricing page. Neither page states a free trial.
Otter.ai
✓ Pros
- Pro at $8.33 per user a month billed annually is $1.67 below Fireflies.ai Pro
- AI summaries on every plan with no quota stated, including free
- Zoom, MS Teams and Google Meet listed on every plan
- Stated minutes and caps on every tier, so the limits are knowable
✗ Cons
- Free plan is capped at 30 minutes per conversation and 300 minutes a month
- Pro still meters at 1,200 minutes and 90 minutes per conversation
- Month-to-month Pro is $16.99, roughly double the annual rate
- No free trial stated on the pricing page
Fireflies.ai
✓ Pros
- Free plan states unlimited transcription in 100+ languages
- Zoom, GMeet, Teams and "10+" more named from the free plan, plus a bot-free Chrome extension
- Pro at $10 per seat a month billed annually makes summaries unlimited and adds 8,000 minutes of storage per seat
- SOC 2 Type II and GDPR listed; HIPAA on Enterprise
✗ Cons
- Free AI summaries are "limited" and the page does not say how many
- Free storage is 400 minutes per team
- The unlimited transcription claim carries an unexplained asterisk
- No free trial stated on the pricing page; Enterprise is annual only
Verdict
Take Fireflies.ai Free if your meetings run past 30 minutes and you can live with an unstated cap on AI summaries: it transcribes without limit, names your platform, and records up to 3 hours. Take Otter.ai Basic if your meetings are short and you want a summary of every one, because it states no summary quota. If you will pay, Otter.ai Pro at $8.33 per user a month billed annually is the lower price and the better buy when minutes are what you are short of; Fireflies.ai Pro at $10 per seat a month billed annually is the better buy when you want no meter at all, since it removes the summary limit and the pricing page states no transcription allowance on any plan.
Otter.ai
- Free plan Basic: 300 transcription minutes per month, 30 minutes per conversation, automated summaries with action items and outlines
- Pro $8.33 per user per month billed annually, or $16.99 per user month to month: 1,200 transcription minutes per month, 90 minutes per conversation
- Business $19.99 per user per month billed annually, or $30 per user month to month: unlimited transcription minutes, 4 hours per conversation, unlimited audio and video file imports
- Enterprise Price on request (schedule a demo); unlimited minutes, 4 hours per conversation, custom CRM and dialer integrations
- Meeting platforms Zoom, MS Teams and Google Meet, listed on every plan including Basic
- Other integrations Salesforce, HubSpot and Zapier listed from Pro up
- AI summaries Listed on every plan, including the free Basic plan
- Free trial Not stated on the pricing page
Facts from Otter.ai's pricing page, checked 2026-09-05.
Fireflies.ai
- Free plan $0, "free forever": unlimited transcription (marked with an asterisk the page text does not explain), limited AI summaries (no count stated), 400 minutes of storage per team, 20 AI credits; AskFred AI assistant, meeting search, real-time notes, file upload, desktop, mobile, Chrome extension and API access
- Pro $10 per seat per month billed annually, or $18 month to month: unlimited transcription and AI summaries, 8,000 minutes of storage per seat, 20 AI credits; adds video recording, downloads of transcripts, summaries and recordings, Personal and Email Assistants, AI Skills, Voice Agents, action items and task manager, unlimited integrations
- Business $19 per seat per month billed annually, or $29 month to month, labelled "most popular": unlimited storage, 30 AI credits; adds multi-language mode, conversation intelligence, team analytics for admins, public meeting access, user groups
- Enterprise $39 per seat per month billed annually, annual only, contact sales: 50 AI credits; rules engine, SSO and SCIM, audit logs via API, HIPAA compliance, private storage, custom data retention, super admin role, dedicated account manager
- Minutes and caps No monthly transcription minute allowance on any plan; the feature table states a 3-hour recording limit and 720p meeting video
- Meeting platforms Zoom, Google Meet, MS Teams and "10+" more, from the free plan up; a Chrome extension records without the Fireflies bot
- Languages Transcription in 100+ languages on every plan; multi-language mode from Business
- AI summaries Limited on the free plan (count not stated); unlimited from Pro up
- Security SOC 2 Type II and GDPR listed; HIPAA on Enterprise
- Free trial Not stated on the pricing page
Facts from Fireflies' pricing page, checked 2026-09-05.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on what you are short of. Free, Fireflies.ai states unlimited transcription with limited AI summaries (no count given) and 400 minutes of storage per team, against Otter.ai Basic's 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes per conversation with summaries on every plan. Paid, Otter.ai Pro is $8.33 per user a month billed annually for 1,200 minutes; Fireflies.ai Pro is $10 per seat a month billed annually for unlimited transcription and unlimited summaries. Both pricing pages name Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams.
Its pricing page lists "Unlimited transcription" under the free plan, marked with an asterisk that the page text read on 2026-09-05 does not explain, and lists AI summaries on that plan as "limited" without a number. Storage on the free plan is 400 minutes per team, and the feature table states a 3-hour recording limit. The page is linked under the card and is the authority.
On annual billing, Otter.ai Pro is $8.33 per user a month and Fireflies.ai Pro is $10 per seat a month, a difference of $1.67 a month. Month to month it is $16.99 against $18. At the next tier, Otter.ai Business is $19.99 per user a month billed annually ($30 monthly) and Fireflies.ai Business is $19 per seat a month billed annually ($29 monthly). Fireflies.ai also lists an Enterprise plan at $39 per seat a month, annual only; Otter.ai's Enterprise price is on request.
Both. Otter.ai's pricing page lists Zoom, MS Teams and Google Meet on every plan including the free Basic plan. Fireflies.ai's lists Zoom, GMeet, Teams and "10+" more on the free plan and up, and its feature table says the Chrome extension can record without the Fireflies bot.
Yes, with a difference. Otter.ai Basic lists automated summaries with action items and outlines and states no summary quota on any plan. Fireflies.ai Free lists "limited AI summaries" without stating how many; summaries are unlimited from Pro up.
Otter.ai states 30 minutes per conversation on Basic, 90 minutes on Pro and 4 hours on Business. Fireflies.ai's feature table states a 3-hour recording limit and does not state a monthly transcription minute allowance on any plan.