Otter.ai Pricing 2026: Plans, Free Tier, and Alternatives
Otter Pro is $16.99 per user per month, or $99.96 per year on annual billing. The free tier caps at 300 minutes per month. Spokenly offers free local dictation and file transcription without minute caps.
Download Spokenly FreeHow much does Otter.ai cost?
Otter Pro costs $16.99 per user per month, or $99.96 per user per year billed annually (about $8.33 per month). Business runs $30 per user per month ($239.88 per year). There is a free Basic tier with 300 monthly minutes, and Enterprise pricing is custom. Otter has no lifetime plan.
Is Otter.ai free?
Yes. Otter has a free Basic plan with no time limit on the account itself, and it includes the Zoom, MS Teams, and Google Meet integrations, live transcription, and the iOS and Android apps. The usage caps are what push people to paid tiers:
300 transcription minutes per month
Hard cap. Once it is used, Otter blocks new recordings and imports until the next monthly cycle. Minutes do not roll over, and deleted conversations still count against the cap.
30 minutes of transcript per conversation
Recording does not stop at 30 minutes, but everything past that point stays locked until you upgrade to a paid plan. The 90-minute per-conversation cap belongs to Pro, not the free plan.
3 audio or video file imports
Per account for its lifetime, not per month. After the third import, file transcription requires a paid plan.
25 most recent conversations
Older conversations are archived, not deleted, and become visible again on a paid plan.
300 minutes is about ten fully transcribed 30-minute meetings a month. One weekly 30-minute call fits comfortably; a team with daily standups burns through the cap in about two weeks and then hits the hard stop mid-month. At that point the options are Pro at $16.99 per month (1,200 monthly minutes, 90 minutes per conversation) or local transcription without minute caps, including Spokenly’s meeting capture on Mac.
What is a free Otter alternative without minute caps?
Spokenly is a free Otter alternative for dictation and file transcription on macOS, Windows, Linux, and iPhone. Choose a local model for offline transcription without minute caps. Your own cloud API keys incur provider charges; Spokenly adds no fee.
On Mac, Spokenly also records system audio and your microphone without a bot, saves the meeting in History, and transcribes it afterward with local or cloud models. Otter adds auto-join bots, automatic summaries, and a shared team workspace. Download Spokenly.
TL;DR
- Otter.ai has a free Basic tier capped at 300 monthly transcription minutes, with transcript access capped at 30 minutes per conversation.
- Pro runs $16.99 per user per month, or $8.33 per user per month on annual billing (51% off, $99.96 per year).
- Business runs $30 per user per month, or $19.99 per user per month annual ($239.88 per year), with unlimited meetings.
- Enterprise is custom and adds SSO, SCIM, HIPAA add-on, and Otter API access.
Otter.ai pricing tiers
Otter ships four tiers: free Basic, Pro for individuals, Business for small teams, and Enterprise for large organizations. Annual billing cuts Pro by 51 percent and Business by 33 percent versus monthly rates.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic (Free) | $0 | $0 | 300 monthly transcription minutes, 30-minute transcript cap per conversation, 3 lifetime file imports, Zoom/MS Teams/Google Meet integration, live transcription, multi-language support, iOS and Android apps, Otter MCP server |
| Pro (Monthly) | $16.99/user/mo | n/a | 1,200 in-app recording minutes, 90 mins per meeting, 10 monthly audio/video file imports, advanced AI workflows, meeting templates, search/export/playback |
| Pro (Annual) | n/a | $99.96/yr (~$8.33/mo) | Same as Pro Monthly, 51% off vs monthly billing |
| Business (Monthly) | $30/user/mo | n/a | Unlimited meetings and in-app recordings, custom AI workflows, unlimited file imports, 4 hours per meeting, prioritized support, join 3 concurrent meetings |
| Business (Annual) | n/a | $239.88/yr (~$19.99/mo) | Same as Business Monthly, 33% off vs monthly |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | SSO, SCIM, Domain Capture, Enterprise security, HIPAA add-on, Otter API and webhooks, video replay for Zoom and Google Meet, custom integrations |
What the Otter subscription covers
Otter Pro includes 1,200 in-app recording minutes per month, 10 monthly audio or video file imports, advanced AI workflows, and meeting templates. The free tier caps usage at 300 minutes per month.
Mac meeting recording: Spokenly records system audio and microphone on Mac without adding a bot. Transcription follows saving the recording. Otter adds live transcription, automatic summaries, and calendar auto-join.
Business removes the meeting cap entirely, extends per-meeting limit to 4 hours, supports joining 3 concurrent meetings, and includes prioritized support. Teams running back-to-back calls typically need Business rather than Pro.
Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM provisioning, Domain Capture, the Otter API and webhooks, video replay for Zoom and Google Meet, custom integrations, and enterprise-grade security. The HIPAA compliance add-on is also enterprise-only, which matters for healthcare and legal teams.
3-year cost math
Three years of Pro at full monthly price totals more than $600 per user. The table below shows each Otter plan across three years, with Spokenly Free and Spokenly Pro included for comparison. The math assumes one seat, no team multipliers, and no price increases.
| Plan | Formula | 3-year total | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otter Pro (Monthly) | $16.99 × 36 months | $611.64 | Highest individual cost |
| Otter Pro (Annual) | $99.96 × 3 years | $299.88 | Cheapest individual paid path |
| Otter Business (Annual) | $239.88 × 3 years | $719.64 | Required for unlimited meetings |
| Spokenly Local | $0 forever | $0 | Local transcription only; your own cloud keys incur provider charges |
| Spokenly Pro (Monthly) | $9.99 × 36 months | $359.64 | Managed cloud, no API keys needed |
Cost comparison
Calculate your 3-year savings
Based on Otter Pro at $16.99 per month.
36 months total
Otter Pro total
$611.64
over 3 years
Spokenly Free
$0
Local models, BYOK cloud
Spokenly Pro
$359.64
$9.99/mo, managed cloud
Switch to Spokenly Free and you save
$611.64
Otter vs Spokenly, different use cases
Both can capture meetings on Mac. Spokenly records system audio and microphone on Mac, then transcribes the saved audio with your chosen model. Otter offers a cloud workspace with live transcripts and automatic meeting workflows. Spokenly also supports dictation and file transcription on Windows, Linux, and iOS.
Meeting-heavy users who need a transcript bot joining their calls will get more from Otter. Spokenly's local models cover dictation and saved meeting transcription without a subscription. Its cloud options require either your own API keys with provider usage charges or Spokenly Pro.
Otter handles
- Real-time live transcription during Zoom, MS Teams, or Google Meet calls
- Built-in meeting bot that joins calls automatically
- Team collaboration features for shared meeting notes
- Speaker identification and meeting summaries
- AI workflows tuned for meeting and sales call analysis
- Mobile-first transcription for in-person interviews and lectures
Spokenly handles
- System-wide dictation in any Mac, iOS, or Windows app
- File transcription with subtitle export (TXT, SRT, VTT, Markdown)
- Free local Whisper Large V3 Turbo and Parakeet V3 models
- BYOK cloud (OpenAI, Deepgram, Groq) billed directly by the provider
- Modes with AI Instructions that rewrite, translate, or summarize transcripts
- Works offline, audio never leaves the device on local mode
Side-by-side feature breakdown is available on the Spokenly vs Otter comparison page, and the Otter alternative landing covers migration questions in detail.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Otter.ai cost in 2026?
Otter Pro costs $16.99 per user per month on monthly billing, or $99.96 per user per year on annual billing (about $8.33 per month, 51 percent off). Business runs $30 per user per month, or $239.88 per year annual (about $19.99 per month, 33 percent off). Enterprise pricing is custom and requires contacting sales.
Is Otter.ai free?
Otter has a free Basic tier with 300 monthly transcription minutes, a 30-minute transcript cap per conversation, 3 lifetime audio/video file imports, and history limited to the 25 most recent conversations. The free tier includes integrations with Zoom, MS Teams, and Google Meet, plus the Otter MCP server. When the 300 minutes run out, recording and importing stop until the next monthly cycle.
Does Otter have a lifetime plan?
No. Otter offers monthly and annual subscriptions only, plus enterprise. There is no one-time lifetime license, which is common in the meeting transcription category but rare in the Mac dictation category.
What is a free alternative to Otter.ai?
Spokenly is a free Otter alternative for dictation and file transcription on macOS, Windows, Linux, and iPhone. On Mac, Spokenly also records system audio and your microphone without a bot, saves the meeting in History, and transcribes it afterward with local or cloud models. Local models have no minute caps. Your own cloud API keys incur provider charges; Spokenly adds no fee. Otter adds auto-join bots, automatic summaries, and a shared team workspace.
Is Otter Pro worth $16.99 per month?
Whether Pro is worth $16.99 per month depends on meeting volume. Users averaging more than five hours of meetings per month will exceed the free 300-minute cap and benefit from Pro's higher limits. Annual billing drops the effective monthly rate to $8.33. For pure dictation or one-off file transcription, a free app like Spokenly may cover the same workflow without the recurring cost.
What is the difference between Otter Pro and Business?
Pro caps recording at 1,200 minutes per month and 90 minutes per meeting, with 10 monthly file imports. Business removes the recording cap (unlimited meetings), extends per-meeting limit to 4 hours, removes the file import cap, adds custom AI workflows, prioritized support, and the ability to join 3 concurrent meetings. Business is for teams running back-to-back calls.
For dictation and file transcription
Spokenly is free for macOS, Windows, Linux, and iOS. Local models work offline, no account required. Record meetings without a bot on Mac and transcribe them after saving.
Download Spokenly Free