Otter alternatives, honestly compared
People leave Otter for three reasons: the free plan ends a conversation at 30 minutes, its iPhone app records live in four languages, and Pro still counts minutes. Here is what each alternative does about that, and when Otter is still the better choice.
Free to start · 30 minutes a month, no card
The problems you know too well
The 30-minute free cap
A free Otter conversation stops at 30 minutes, whatever is left of the month's 300.
Four live languages on iPhone
English, Spanish, French and Japanese.
Minutes on a paid plan
Pro has 1,200 minutes a month and 90 per conversation.
Side by side
| Roomtone | Granola | Fireflies | Plaud | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price (US) | Free; Pro $14.99/mo or $119.99/yr | Free; Business $14 per user/mo | Free; Pro $18/mo, or $10/mo billed yearly | Recorder $159–$189; Pro $99.99/yr, Unlimited $239.99/yr |
| Free plan | 30 min a month; a recording is never cut off | No daily limit; 30 days of history | Limited AI summaries; 400 min of storage | 300 min a month, with a recorder |
| Meeting in the room | iPhone microphone | iPhone app | iPhone app | The Plaud recorder |
| Video calls | Notetaker joins Zoom, Meet, Teams (Pro) | No bot: computer audio on Mac and Windows | Notetaker joins by default; desktop app without one | Plaud Desktop (beta), no bot |
| US App Store rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (14,600) | 4.8 (5,300) | 4.9 (23,700) |
Compiled from each product's own site and US App Store listing, checked October 21, 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
What you get
Records the room
The microphone you already carry.
Summary you can verify
Transcript behind every claim, one tap away.
Action items in one list
Across every meeting, ticked off as you go.
Export and share
PDF, Markdown, text or email.
Perfect for
- Consultants
- Solo founders
- Field work
- Client visits
Questions
When should I stay with Otter?+
When 300 free minutes a month in 30-minute conversations fit your meetings, when you need speaker names in the transcript, or when you record on Android or the web. Otter's free plan is the most generous of these.
Which Otter alternative works without a bot?+
Granola, and Plaud Desktop in beta, capture the computer's audio on Mac and Windows. For a meeting in a room, Roomtone, Granola and Fireflies record from the iPhone — as Otter's own app does — and Plaud records with its own device.
Does a bot join my meeting?+
Only if you send one. Paste a Zoom, Meet or Teams link and a notetaker joins that meeting, visible to everyone in it. For anything else — a table, a car, a site walk — Roomtone records the room from your phone, where no bot can go at all.
Is there a free plan?+
Yes: 30 minutes of recording a month, with the transcript, the summary, the action items and a share link — no card. A recording you start with minutes left is finished in full, however long it runs, and the minutes reset on the 1st. Pro makes recording unlimited and adds the notetaker for Zoom, Meet and Teams, importing files and YouTube links, chat across all your notes, and export.
What languages does it handle?+
Over 100. The notes come back in the language that was spoken, not translated into English first.
What happens to my recordings?+
The audio is used to produce the transcript and then deleted from the server; your phone keeps its own copy until you delete it. Nothing is used to train a model.
Record the next one
Free for 30 minutes a month. No card.
Download for iPhone