Otter.ai

3:26 Otter.ai is an AI meeting assistant: its OtterPilot joins your video calls, or listens through the app in person, to transcribe the conversation live, then writes a summary with action items and answers questions about past meetings in AI chat. As of Nov 6, 2026 the free Basic plan gives 300 transcription minutes a month, up to 30 minutes per conversation; Pro costs $8.33 a user a month billed yearly or $16.99 monthly, and Business $19.99 yearly or $30 monthly. Otter told TechCrunch it has had 40 million users to date and passed $100 million in yearly recurring revenue in 2025.

Otter is the pick for people who want a record of every call and a searchable archive across a team. Its weak spots: the free plan stops at 30 minutes a meeting, transcription covers six languages, and a federal class action filed in Aug 2025 accuses it of recording people without their consent. If you prefer no bot in the call, Granola transcribes from your own computer's audio; if your team lives in Notion, Notion AI has meeting notes built in.

Quick facts

Plans and prices

Source: Otter pricing, read Nov 6, 2026. The page also showed promotional prices with no stated terms (Pro $4.17 a month yearly or $8.49 monthly; Business $24 a month for the first three months).

Features

1:56 OtterPilot. Otter's assistant, launched in Feb 2023, joins Zoom, Google Meet and Teams calls, records and transcribes them, and writes the summary.

4:32 AI chat across meetings. Ask questions about one meeting or many, such as what a client asked for last month; the number of questions depends on the plan (pricing).

Search and integrations. In 2026 Otter added search that works across other apps, and it connects with other AI tools; it was testing a "prebrief" that sends background before a meeting and "Live Assist" for questions during one, TechCrunch reported on Oct 20, 2026.

Custom AI workflows. Business includes custom AI workflows and Enterprise unlimited ones, with CRM and dialer integrations on Enterprise (pricing).

Privacy and the lawsuit

9:03 On Aug 15, 2025, Justin Brewer of California filed a federal lawsuit seeking class-action status in the Northern District of California, alleging that Otter "deceptively and surreptitiously" records private conversations and uses them to train its transcription without the consent of everyone on the call, NPR reported. The suit says that when a host has linked Zoom, Google Meet or Teams to Otter, the notetaker can join without any participant's affirmative consent. NPR noted that Otter's privacy policy discloses training on de-identified transcripts when users tick a permission box; neither side commented. No ruling was found as of Nov 6, 2026. Teams that record calls should tell participants and check the meeting app's recording settings. See AI Privacy Compared.

History

• May 2021: an assistant that transcribes Zoom meetings automatically.
• Feb 14, 2023: OtterPilot.
• Aug 15, 2025: the Brewer class action is filed.
• Oct 20, 2026: $320 million from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund, capital tied to marketing results rather than equity.

Otter.ai vs the alternatives

Granola sends no bot: it transcribes from your computer's audio and does not store the audio. Its free plan keeps 30 days of history; Business is $14 a user a month.

Microsoft 365 Copilot summarizes and transcribes Teams meetings for organizations on Microsoft 365.

Notion AI records meetings without a bot inside Notion's Business plan.

Descript is for editing recordings into podcasts and videos, not for notes.

Frequently asked questions

Is Otter.ai free? Yes. Otter's Basic plan is free with 300 transcription minutes a month, up to 30 minutes per conversation and 3 file imports in total, as of Nov 6, 2026.

How much does Otter.ai cost? Otter Pro costs $8.33 a user a month billed yearly or $16.99 monthly, and Business $19.99 yearly or $30 monthly, as of Nov 6, 2026.

Does Otter.ai record without permission? A federal class action filed Aug 15, 2025 alleges Otter's notetaker records meetings without every participant's consent; Otter's policy says it asks users' permission to train on transcripts, and the case was unresolved as of Nov 6, 2026.

What languages does Otter.ai support? Otter.ai transcribes English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese, as of Nov 6, 2026.

Otter or Granola? Otter suits teams that want a bot to record every call and a shared archive; Granola suits people who want no bot in the call and notes that blend their own typing with the transcript.

Sources

• Pricing, Otter.ai, read Nov 6, 2026
• Otter AI raises $320M from General Catalyst's growth fund for its meeting tool, TechCrunch, Oct 20, 2026
• Lawsuit claims AI service Otter secretly records private chats, NPR, Aug 15, 2025
• Otter.ai launches OtterPilot, its new AI meeting assistant, TechCrunch, Feb 14, 2023
• Otter.ai's new assistant can automatically transcribe your Zoom meetings, TechCrunch, May 19, 2021
• Otter AI Review 2026 | Is it the Best Speech-to-Text AI Tool?, Cybernews, Dec 17, 2025 (video)
• Pricing and Security, Granola, read Nov 6, 2026