# Otter.ai vs Fireflies.ai in 2026: which AI meeting notetaker to pick

> A hands-on 2026 comparison of Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai on accuracy, languages, AI summaries, integrations and pricing, with clear picks by team type.

Published: 2026-06-30 · By: The AI Tools Desk

## The matchup

[Otter.ai](https://otter.ai/?utm_source=guides.reviews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=comparison) and [Fireflies.ai](https://fireflies.ai/?utm_source=guides.reviews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=comparison) are the two names that come up first when a team wants meetings turned into searchable notes without anyone taking minutes. They solve the same job, a bot joins your call, transcribes it, and hands back a summary, but they aim at different buyers. Otter grew up as a real-time transcription and accessibility tool. Fireflies grew up as a meeting layer for revenue and operations teams. That difference shows up in almost every dimension below.

We tested both by sending their notetakers into the same Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls over a week, then compared the transcripts, summaries and how the data flowed into other tools. Here is where each one earns its keep.

## Transcription quality and speed

Otter's signature strength is live transcription. Captions appear on screen with very little lag, which makes it the better choice when someone in the room needs to read along in real time or when you want an accessible record as the meeting happens. The reading experience afterward is tidy, with speaker labels and a clean timeline.

Fireflies leans toward what it produces after the call. In our calls its raw transcript was competitive, and its post-meeting structure was the standout: action items, questions and topics were separated cleanly without much fiddling. If your goal is a transcript you read live, Otter has the edge. If your goal is a polished record you skim later, Fireflies pulls ahead.

## Languages and global teams

This is the clearest split between the two. Otter transcribes in a short list of languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese (Simplified). That covers a lot of teams, but it is a hard ceiling.

Fireflies supports transcription in more than 100 languages, and its Multi-Language Mode can handle over 60 languages spoken within a single meeting. For a distributed team that runs calls in Portuguese one hour and Italian the next, this is not a minor convenience, it decides the matter. If your meetings are English-first, the gap barely matters. If they are not, Fireflies is the only realistic pick of the two.

## AI summaries and the meeting assistant

Both tools ship a chat assistant you can question after a call. Fireflies calls its assistant AskFred: you can ask what was decided, extract details, or generate follow-up emails, social posts and summaries from the transcript. Otter offers AI Chat plus an assistant that can answer questions across your meetings and draft content from them.

In practice the summaries were close in quality, with Fireflies producing more structured, template-driven output by default and Otter producing a more narrative recap. Fireflies meters heavier AI use with monthly credits (20 on Free and Pro, 30 on Business, 50 on Enterprise), so very heavy summarizers should watch that limit. Otter folds its AI workflows into the plan tier instead of a separate credit pool.

## Integrations and ecosystem

Fireflies is built to feed other systems. It connects to Salesforce and HubSpot for CRM, Slack and Microsoft Teams for collaboration, Asana and Trello for project work, and recruiting tools such as Greenhouse and Lever, with unlimited integrations on paid plans. For a sales team that wants call notes and next steps to land in the CRM automatically, this is the deciding feature.

Otter integrates with the major meeting platforms (Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet) and offers Salesforce and HubSpot sync on its paid tiers, plus a handy touch where it can capture meeting slides into the notes. Its ecosystem is narrower than Fireflies, but it covers the integrations most individual users actually need.

## Pricing

Both offer a real free tier, and both are cheap at the entry paid level. The details differ in ways that matter at scale.

Otter's free Basic plan gives 300 transcription minutes a month with a 30 minute cap per conversation and up to 5 workspace members. Its Pro plan is $16.99 a month, or $8.33 a month billed annually, with 1,200 recording minutes a month and a 90 minute cap per meeting. Business is $30 a month (often promoted lower) or $19.99 a month annually, lifts the per-meeting cap to 4 hours and removes the meeting recording limit, for up to 25 users.

Fireflies' free plan offers unlimited transcription but stores only 400 minutes per team and caps recordings at 2 hours. Pro is $18 a month, or $10 per seat a month annually, with 8,000 minutes of storage per seat. Business is $29 a month, or $19 per seat a month annually, with unlimited storage and the multi-language and conversation intelligence features. Enterprise is $39 per seat a month, annual only, adding SSO, SCIM, audit logs and HIPAA compliance.

The nuance: Otter limits you on recording minutes, while Fireflies limits you on stored minutes but keeps transcription unlimited. Heavy meeting volume tends to favor Fireflies; light, individual use is well served by either free tier.

## Side by side

| Dimension | Otter.ai | Fireflies.ai |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | 300 min/month, 30 min/meeting cap, up to 5 members | Unlimited transcription, 400 min storage/team, 2 hr cap |
| Entry paid plan | Pro: $8.33/mo annual, 1,200 min/month | Pro: $10/seat/mo annual, 8,000 min storage/seat |
| Mid plan | Business: $19.99/mo annual, unlimited recording, 25 users | Business: $19/seat/mo annual, unlimited storage |
| Enterprise | Custom, SSO/SCIM, HIPAA add-on, Otter API | $39/seat/mo, SSO/SCIM, HIPAA, audit logs |
| Languages | 6 (English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese) | 100+, plus 60+ in Multi-Language Mode |
| Live captions | Strong, low lag | Available, post-call focus |
| CRM integrations | Salesforce, HubSpot | Salesforce, HubSpot, plus ATS and PM tools |
| AI assistant | Otter AI Chat | AskFred, metered by credits |
| Standout extra | Captures meeting slides | Deep multi-language and CRM routing |

## Which should you pick

Pick Otter if you mostly run English-language meetings, you want excellent real-time captions for accessibility or live note-following, and your needs are individual or small-team rather than CRM-driven. The clean reading view and slide capture are genuine quality-of-life wins, and the annual Pro price at $8.33 a month is hard to beat for a solo user.

Pick Fireflies if you run meetings in multiple languages, you want call notes to flow automatically into Salesforce, HubSpot or your project tools, or you record a high volume of calls and value unlimited transcription plus large storage. Sales, customer success and globally distributed teams will get more out of it.

If you are a recruiter or a revenue team, the integration depth and language coverage make Fireflies the safer default. If you are an instructor, journalist or accessibility-focused user, Otter's live transcription is worth choosing for.

## Verdict

These tools are closer than their marketing suggests, but they are not interchangeable. Otter is the better live transcriber and the friendlier single-user tool. Fireflies is the better team system of record, with far wider language support and the integrations that turn a transcript into action. For most growing teams in 2026 we would start with Fireflies, and we would keep Otter on hand for real-time captioning where its speed still wins.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is Otter or Fireflies more accurate?

In our testing the raw transcript quality was close on clear English audio. Otter is noticeably faster for live, on-screen captions, while Fireflies produces more structured post-meeting summaries with action items separated out by default. The better choice depends on whether you read along live or review afterward.

### Which one is better for non-English meetings?

Fireflies, by a wide margin. It supports transcription in more than 100 languages and can handle over 60 languages within a single meeting using Multi-Language Mode. Otter is limited to six languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese (Simplified).

### Do both have a free plan, and what are the limits?

Yes. Otter's free Basic plan gives 300 transcription minutes a month with a 30 minute cap per meeting. Fireflies' free plan allows unlimited transcription but stores only 400 minutes per team and caps recordings at 2 hours.

### Which integrates better with a CRM like Salesforce or HubSpot?

Both connect to Salesforce and HubSpot on paid plans, but Fireflies is built around routing meeting data into other systems and adds project management and recruiting integrations with unlimited connections on paid tiers. For sales and customer success teams, Fireflies is the stronger fit.

## Sources

- [Otter.ai Pricing](https://otter.ai/pricing?utm_source=guides.reviews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=comparison) — Otter.ai
- [Fireflies.ai Pricing](https://fireflies.ai/pricing?utm_source=guides.reviews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=comparison) — Fireflies.ai
- [Learn about Fireflies supported languages](https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/2973706448-learn-about-fireflies-supported-languages?utm_source=guides.reviews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=comparison) — Fireflies.ai Knowledge Base
- [Supported languages - Otter.ai Help Center](https://help.otter.ai/hc/en-us/articles/360047247414-Supported-languages?utm_source=guides.reviews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=comparison) — Otter.ai