Comparison · From vendor websites

Otter.ai vs Fireflies.ai

Should I use Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai for my meeting notes?

It depends on what you need to keep. Choose Otter Basic for free TXT transcripts and MP3 audio exports if 300 minutes/month and 30 minutes/meeting are enough. Choose Fireflies for longer free meetings or more transcription languages; unlimited free transcripts require eligible Auto-join settings, and downloads require payment. Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai both offer bot-free Mac and Windows capture. Fireflies' desktop Take Notes mode saves notes and transcripts without a replayable recording. For sensitive meetings, compare their training statements and Enterprise requirements. — as of October 2026

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Compare plans and features

Prices and limits are as of October 2026. “Not stated” means the cited pages do not give that detail.

Vendor-stated facts, checked row by row. On phones, each feature stacks with both tools.
FeatureOtter.aiFireflies.ai
Free transcription and meeting lengthChecked Vendor sourcesBasic: 300 transcription minutes/user/month, shared across live recordings and imported files; 30 minutes/conversation; no rollover. Recording count is unlimited within these minute limits.as of Free: 2 hours/meeting. Eligible Auto-join settings enable unlimited transcripts; with Auto-join off, the default is 3 meeting transcriptions, reset period not stated. The invite-only setting does not qualify. Eligibility guide applies to sign-ups from September 1, 2026; older accounts with unlimited meetings keep their previous limits. Pricing card says unlimited transcription, while its feature table says limited.as of
Free summaries and AI creditsChecked Vendor sourcesBasic includes automated summaries, action items and outlines. A separate summary-count quota is not stated. AI Chat: 20 queries/user/month, with 3 per conversation. Custom meeting templates: 5 meetings/user; reset period not stated.as of Standard summaries consume transcription credits: initial allocation is 3 via website, 5 via Chrome extension, 10 for new mobile users or 5 for existing mobile users; renewal not stated. Advanced AI has separate credits. Sources conflict: Free-plan help says 20 AI credits/month; AI-credits help says 20 one-time sign-up credits, pooled per team. The unlimited-transcripts guide describes summaries as depending on AI credits.as of
History and storageChecked Vendor sourcesBasic shows the 25 most recent conversations; Pro and higher list unlimited conversation history and storage. A fixed retention period for active conversations is not stated. Deleted conversations remain in Trash for 30 days unless manually cleared; Enterprise offers custom retention.as of Free storage conflicts: 400 minutes/team on pricing versus 400 minutes/seat in Free-plan help. Help says to delete older files when full. Pro has 8,000 minutes/seat; Business and Enterprise list unlimited storage. A fixed default retention period is not stated; Enterprise adds custom retention.as of
Monthly paid pricingChecked Vendor sourcesUSD per user/month, billed monthly: Pro $16.99; Business $30, with a first-time-subscriber offer of $24 for the first 3 months. Pro's conditional India-issued-card offer is $8.49. Enterprise: contact sales, price not stated.as of Per seat/month, billed monthly: Pro $18; Business $29. Enterprise is annual only; monthly price not stated. Pages display $, without a currency code in the cited plan help. Advanced AI credit subscriptions cost extra.as of
Yearly paid pricingChecked Vendor sourcesUSD per user/month equivalent, billed yearly: Pro $8.33; Business $19.99. Pro's conditional India-issued-card offer is $4.17/month. Enterprise yearly price: not stated.as of Per seat/month equivalent, billed yearly: Pro $10; Business $19; Enterprise $39. Pages display $, without a currency code in the cited plan help. Advanced AI credit subscriptions are separate.as of
Paid transcription limitsChecked Vendor sourcesPro: 1,200 transcription minutes/user/month shared across recording and imports, 90 minutes/conversation and 10 imports/month. Business and Enterprise: unlimited in-app recordings, 4 hours/conversation, unlimited import count but 6,000 imported-file minutes/user/month.as of Paid plans list unlimited transcription; recording limits are 2 hours on Pro, 3 hours on Business and 4 hours on Enterprise. Pricing notes separate rate limits for API, dialers and bulk uploads. Upload help states 3,000 processing minutes/user/month and a 3,000-minutes/seat team allowance, with $0.01/minute overages after the stated thresholds.as of
Capture and platformsChecked Vendor sourcesNotetaker joins Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. Mac and Windows desktop apps also capture system audio without a bot and can detect, start and stop supported meetings. Web recording plus iOS and Android apps are available.as of Notetaker supports Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and other conferencing apps. Bot-free capture is available through the Chrome extension for Google Meet and Mac/Windows desktop Take Notes. Web dashboard and iOS/Android apps are available. Desktop Take Notes saves notes and transcripts without a separate recording file.as of
In-person meetingsChecked Vendor sourcesRecord conversations through a computer or mobile microphone. iOS and Android apps are listed in pricing; real-time transcription requires an internet connection.as of Mobile apps capture in-person conversations. Web Recorder captures microphone audio directly in the browser. Desktop Take Notes supports in-person capture without a bot and saves notes and transcripts without a separate audio file.as of
Recordings keptChecked Vendor sourcesIncludes audio recording playback and MP3 export, including on Basic. Pricing lists video replay for Zoom and Google Meet on Enterprise.as of Bot capture saves audio. Video plan statements conflict: the Pro card, pricing table and download help list video recording on Pro; the pricing FAQ attributes video recording to Business. Desktop Take Notes saves the transcript and summary without a replayable audio/video file.as of
Recording uploadsChecked Vendor sourcesBasic: 3 lifetime audio/video imports/user, within its shared monthly transcription minutes and conversation-length cap. Pro: 10 imports/month; Business and Enterprise: unlimited count with separate imported-minute limits.as of Free: 1 transcription credit/file; 150 minutes/file. File-size sources conflict: Free-plan help says 100 MB/file; upload help specifies 100 MB for video but 500 MB for audio. Paid upload help specifies 2 GB video and 500 MB audio, still 150 minutes/file. Free initial credits vary by sign-up source; renewal not stated.as of
Transcript and recording exportChecked Vendor sourcesBasic: TXT transcripts and MP3 audio. Pro adds PDF, DOCX and SRT. Business and Enterprise add bulk export.as of Downloads require Pro or higher: transcripts in PDF, DOCX, SRT, CSV, JSON or Markdown; summaries in DOCX, PDF, JSON or Markdown; audio MP3 and video MP4 when a recording exists. Free transcript downloads are not included.as of
Transcription languagesChecked Vendor sources6: English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese.as of 100+ languages in pricing and Free-plan help. Pricing FAQ qualifies English as primary and additional languages as beta. Business adds Multi-language Mode.as of
CRM, Slack and Notion integrationsChecked Vendor sourcesSlack integration is available on all plans. Pro adds Zapier and Salesforce/HubSpot sync, capped at 1 user on Pro and 5 on Business; Enterprise lists unlimited CRM users and custom integrations. HubSpot sync requires a calendar-linked meeting with an external guest and an existing CRM contact. A native Notion notes-export integration is not stated in the cited integration directory.as of Vendor help lists Salesforce, HubSpot and other CRMs, Slack and Notion integrations. Plan eligibility conflicts: Free-plan help says all integrations are available; pricing places unlimited integrations in Pro and its FAQ describes app/CRM integrations as premium. Advanced Autofill CRM consumes separate AI credits.as of
Security and AI training statementsChecked Vendor sourcesVendor states SOC 2 Type II certification. Security FAQ says it de-identifies user data before training its own models, with no manual review without consent. Privacy policy describes training on de-identified audio and transcripts that may contain personal information. AI service providers may not train on customer data and do not store API data.as of Vendor states SOC 2 Type II compliance. Its security guide says meeting audio, video, transcripts and summaries are never used for internal or external model training. Zero Data Retention requires third-party vendors to discard data after processing.as of
HIPAA requirementsChecked Vendor sourcesEnterprise-only HIPAA add-on. A signed BAA must be in place before handling PHI; customers must configure sharing, capture, access and retention controls for their use.as of Enterprise only, with Private Storage enabled and a signed BAA. Removing any of these requirements disables the HIPAA compliance setting.as of
Team administration and SSOChecked Vendor sourcesBusiness adds activity logs, usage analytics and enhanced administration. Enterprise adds recording/sharing and export controls, custom retention, SSO, SCIM and domain capture. Pricing qualifies both SSO and SCIM with a minimum 100-user license.as of Free supports team workspaces and collaboration. Business adds team analytics and user groups. Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM, Super Admin, audit logs, Rules Engine, private storage and custom retention. Minimum seat count for SSO: not stated on the cited pricing page.as of

Choose Otter.ai if

Choose Fireflies.ai if

Questions before you choose

Can I use either tool without a meeting bot?

Yes. Both offer Mac and Windows system-audio capture. Fireflies also lists a bot-free Chrome extension for Google Meet. Fireflies desktop Take Notes saves notes and transcripts without a separate audio/video file; Otter includes audio playback and export. See Capture and platforms and Recordings kept. — as of October 2026

Does unlimited Fireflies transcription include unlimited summaries?

No. Free transcript eligibility and summary credits are separate. Fireflies' own guides disagree on AI-credit renewal and which credits summaries use. See Free summaries and AI credits. — as of October 2026

Which tool lets me take transcripts away on Free?

Otter Basic includes TXT transcript and MP3 audio export. Fireflies requires Pro or higher for transcript and recording downloads. See Transcript and recording export for the available formats. — as of October 2026

Can I use a free account for HIPAA-regulated meetings?

Both vendors require Enterprise and a signed BAA for their cited HIPAA setup. Fireflies also requires Private Storage, while Otter lists HIPAA as an add-on. See HIPAA requirements for the required controls. — as of October 2026

Sources

Facts come from vendor pricing, product and help pages. Tool pages keep separate check dates.

Related tools and guides

Otter.ai features and pricing · Fireflies.ai features and pricing · AI meeting note takers · Best AI meeting note takers for sales and CRM updates · Best free AI meeting note takers