I used to be that person in meetings—the one half-listening while frantically typing notes, then realizing later I’d missed the important part because I was documenting the unimportant part.

Otter.ai fixed that problem completely. Now I pay attention during meetings and have better notes than I ever did manually. The AI transcribes everything in real-time, identifies speakers, and summarizes key points.

After two years of daily use, I can tell you exactly who should use Otter and who should look elsewhere.

What Otter Does

Otter provides real-time transcription of conversations, meetings, and audio. You can:

• Record live with the mobile or desktop app
• Connect to Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams for automatic meeting capture
• Upload existing audio files for transcription
• Share transcripts with collaborators

The transcription happens instantly. As someone speaks, words appear. You can read along in real-time, which is useful for catching up if you zone out momentarily.

Speaker identification is automatic. Otter learns voices and labels who said what. After a few meetings with the same team, attribution is reliable without manual correction.

The AI Features

OtterPilot joins your video meetings automatically. Before your call starts, the Otter bot connects and begins transcribing. No manual recording needed—just schedule a meeting and Otter handles the rest.

This automation is the killer feature. I used to forget to start recording or fumble with setup while the meeting already began. Now transcription is simply automatic.

AI summaries distill hour-long meetings into key points. Otter identifies action items, decisions, and important topics. The summaries aren’t perfect—AI still misses context sometimes—but they’re good enough as a starting point.

Search across all meetings means you never lose information. Six months later, wondering what was decided about project X? Search for it. The relevant meeting appears with the exact moment someone discussed it.

Otter Chat lets you ask questions about your meetings. “What did Sarah say about the timeline?” and Otter finds and quotes the relevant transcript section. It’s like having a research assistant for your own conversations.

Accuracy and Quality

Transcription accuracy is excellent for clear audio—typically 95%+ word accuracy with good microphones and minimal background noise.

Accuracy drops in challenging conditions:

• Multiple people talking simultaneously
• Heavy accents that differ from training data
• Technical jargon and proper nouns
• Poor audio quality (phone on speakerphone, echoey rooms)

Otter learns custom vocabulary. Add terms specific to your industry, client names, product names, and accuracy improves. This training takes effort upfront but pays off.

Real-time transcription has inherent lag. Words appear within seconds, but if you’re reading along looking for specific phrases, you’ll notice the delay.

The Pricing Breakdown

Free: 300 minutes/month, basic transcription and search.

Pro: $16.99/month for 1200 minutes, OtterPilot for Zoom/Meet/Teams, advanced search, custom vocabulary.

Business: $30/user/month for 6000 minutes, admin controls, usage analytics, priority support.

Enterprise: Custom pricing for unlimited minutes, SSO, advanced security.

For individual use, Pro is the sweet spot. 1200 minutes covers several meetings daily. The automatic meeting capture alone justifies the cost if you’re in frequent calls.

For teams, Business makes sense—centralized transcripts, shared access, and enough minutes for everyone.

Who Should Use Otter

Frequent meeting participants benefit enormously. If you’re in 3+ hours of meetings daily, Otter pays for itself in time not spent writing notes.

Journalists and researchers conducting interviews get searchable transcripts automatically. Finding specific quotes later takes seconds instead of listening through recordings.

Students in lecture-heavy programs can record classes and review later. Search for specific topics. Review at faster playback speeds.

Sales professionals can capture calls, review what clients actually said, and share insights with team members who weren’t on the call.

Anyone with a bad memory for verbal conversations (hi, me) gains a record they can reference. Did the client really say they’d approve by Friday? Check the transcript.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

If you need legal-grade accuracy, human transcription is still more reliable. Court reporters exist for a reason. For depositions, official records, or anything where errors have consequences, don’t rely on AI alone.

If most conversations are informal, you might not need transcription. Otter is valuable for meetings where decisions happen. Casual chats don’t usually need documentation.

If privacy is paramount, consider that Otter processes audio on their servers. Sensitive conversations might not belong in third-party systems, regardless of their privacy policies.

If you rarely have meetings, the free tier might suffice, or you might not need Otter at all.

Otter vs. The Competition

Otter vs. Rev: Rev offers human transcription with higher accuracy (99%+) at higher cost ($1.50/minute). For critical content where accuracy matters more than speed, Rev wins. For everyday meetings where speed matters more, Otter wins.

Otter vs. Fireflies.ai: Very similar products. Fireflies has slightly better CRM integrations. Otter has slightly better transcription accuracy in my testing. Both are good; trial both to see which interface you prefer.

Otter vs. Microsoft Teams transcription: Teams has built-in transcription now, but it only works in Teams meetings. Otter works across platforms. If you’re 100% Teams, the built-in option might suffice. Most people use multiple platforms.

Otter vs. Descript: Descript is for editing audio/video with transcription as an enabling feature. Otter is for capturing and organizing meetings. Different tools for different jobs; many people use both.

Practical Tips

Train custom vocabulary early. Add industry terms, names, and acronyms before you need them. The accuracy improvement is significant.

Use the mobile app for in-person meetings. Position your phone near the speaker for better audio capture. The app works offline and syncs when connected.

Share transcripts proactively. After meetings, share the Otter link with attendees. Everyone having access to the same record reduces “I thought we agreed…” conflicts.

Review summaries, not full transcripts. Don’t read every word—use AI summaries as the starting point, then dive into specifics only when needed.

Create folders for projects. Organization matters when you have hundreds of transcripts. Searchable is good; searchable AND organized is better.

The Limitations

It doesn’t capture visual content. If someone shares their screen or references a document, the transcript only captures what was said about it. You still need separate meeting recordings for visual context.

Background noise matters. Coffee shops, open offices, and bad speakerphones degrade accuracy noticeably. Good audio hygiene improves results.

Not all conversations should be recorded. Some discussions benefit from not being on record. Use judgment about when transcription helps and when it inhibits honest conversation.

The Verdict

Otter.ai solves a real problem—capturing meeting content without distracting from meeting participation—and solves it well.

The transcription accuracy is good enough for practical use. The search and summary features transform how you retrieve information from past conversations. The automatic meeting capture removes friction that prevented most people from recording consistently.

Rating: 8/10. A mature, polished product that does exactly what it promises. Not revolutionary, but reliably excellent.

If you’re in frequent meetings and struggle to capture or recall what was discussed, Otter is worth the subscription. The free tier lets you test the experience before committing.

I went from someone who never had notes to someone who always has notes. That shift improved my work more than I expected.