Otter.ai Free Tier — What You Actually Get (2026)
Automatic meeting transcription, notes, and summaries.
What is Otter.ai?
Otter.ai is a meeting assistant that joins your Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams calls, transcribes them live, and produces searchable notes and AI summaries afterwards. Instead of scrambling to take notes, you get a shared transcript with speaker labels and action items — a genuine time-saver for anyone whose week is full of meetings.
What the free tier includes
The free plan includes 300 minutes of transcription per month, capped at around 30 minutes per conversation, plus a limited number of file imports and basic AI summaries. Three hundred monthly minutes covers a handful of meetings, which suits light users, but heavy meeting schedules and longer calls will hit the per-conversation and monthly limits quickly.
Who it's best for
Professionals, students, and small teams who want automatic notes and summaries from their meetings and interviews without manual note-taking. It is especially handy for anyone in back-to-back calls who cannot type notes and pay attention at the same time, and for students capturing lectures they can search and revise later.
The honest limitation
The 300-minute monthly cap and 30-minute-per-conversation limit are restrictive for meeting-heavy roles, and transcription accuracy, while good, still stumbles on crosstalk, accents, and technical jargon.
Is the paid plan worth it?
Pro at around $16.99/mo raises transcription to far more minutes, longer conversations, and advanced summaries and search. For anyone in back-to-back meetings it quickly pays off; occasional users can stay within the free 300 minutes.
Getting the most from the free tier
Make the 300 free minutes count by letting Otter join only your most important meetings rather than every call, and keep individual conversations under the ~30-minute cap. Review and lightly correct the transcript afterwards, since accuracy dips on crosstalk and jargon and the summaries are only as good as the transcript. If your calendar is wall-to-wall meetings and you keep running out mid-month, that recurring shortfall is the clearest sign Pro would pay for itself.
Otter.ai free tier at a glance
| Free tier | Free: 300 mins/mo transcription, limited imports. |
| Free forever? | Yes |
| Paid plans | Pro: $16.99/mo |
| Category | Productivity |
Frequently asked questions
Is Otter.ai free?
Yes, the free plan includes 300 minutes of transcription per month, up to about 30 minutes per conversation, with basic AI summaries.
Which meeting apps does Otter work with?
Otter can join and transcribe Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams meetings automatically.
Is Otter.ai accurate?
Generally good, though accuracy drops with heavy crosstalk, strong accents, or specialised jargon. Paid plans add more capacity and features.
Can Otter join meetings automatically?
Yes. Otter can connect to your calendar and automatically join and transcribe Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams meetings.