Fireflies.ai is better for teams that want searchable meeting notes, CRM sync and unlimited transcription. Otter.ai is better for individuals and students who want a live transcript at the lowest annual price. If you mostly record short calls and want to follow along in real time, choose Otter; if you want every meeting stored, searchable and pushed into your CRM, choose Fireflies.
Both are AI meeting assistants that join your Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls, record them and turn each conversation into a transcript, summary and action items. The real differences are in the limits: how long each meeting can be, how much you can store and how many minutes you get each month.
This comparison puts features, pricing, free plans and limits side by side, then shows which tool to pick for common situations, from students recording lectures to sales teams syncing notes into a CRM. Prices are taken from each tool’s official pricing page.
Fireflies vs Otter at a glance
| Fireflies.ai | Otter.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Sales and small teams who want searchable notes and CRM sync | Students and individuals who want live transcription on a budget |
| Free plan | Unlimited transcription, 400 minutes of storage | 300 min/month, 30 min per conversation |
| Paid plans from | $10/user/month (annual), $18 monthly | $8.33/user/month (annual), $16.99 monthly |
| Standout feature | AskFred assistant and CRM integrations | Live transcript during the call |
| Biggest catch | Free storage cap and one-time AI credits on paid plans | Minute and conversation-length caps |
| Cappy Score | 4.3/5 | 4.1/5 |
What’s the main difference between Fireflies and Otter?
The main difference is limits. Fireflies limits how much you can store on the free plan, but not how much it transcribes. Otter limits how many minutes you can record each month and how long each conversation can be: 30 minutes on Free, compared with 2 hours on Fireflies Free.
That makes Fireflies the safer pick for long meetings and busy calendars, and Otter the cheaper pick for lighter use with shorter calls.
Feature-by-feature comparison
Transcription
Both tools join Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams from your calendar and write a transcript with speaker labels. Otter shows the transcript live, so you can read and highlight it during the call. Fireflies focuses on the finished transcript after the call and supports far more languages, over 100 according to Fireflies.
Winner: Otter for live transcription; Fireflies for languages and long meetings.
AI summaries and search
Both write summaries and action items after each call. Fireflies adds AskFred, an assistant that answers questions about one meeting or many, plus AI Skills and soundbites that run on AI credits. Otter has Otter AI Chat, with a monthly query allowance that depends on your plan.
Winner: Fireflies, for deeper search across a team’s meetings.
Meeting limits
Otter Free stops each conversation at 30 minutes, Pro at 90 minutes and Business at 4 hours. Pro also caps you at 1,200 minutes a month. Fireflies transcribes without a monthly minute cap and records up to 2 hours per meeting on Free and Pro, and 3 hours on Business. Its free plan only stores 400 minutes of recordings, though.
Winner: Fireflies on Free and Pro, where it allows much longer meetings. Otter Business wins for very long sessions, with 4 hours per conversation against 3 hours on Fireflies Business.
Integrations
Fireflies connects with CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce, and its Business plan can update CRM records from meeting data automatically. Otter offers integrations such as Slack and CRMs on paid plans, with limits by plan.
Winner: Fireflies, for sales and customer-facing teams.
Recording in person
Otter’s mobile apps are built for recording in-person meetings and lectures. Fireflies also has mobile apps and a Chrome extension, but Otter is the more natural fit for classrooms and interviews.
Winner: Otter.
Pricing: Fireflies vs Otter
| Plan level | Fireflies.ai | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 |
| Entry paid plan, annual | Pro $10/user/month | Pro $8.33/user/month |
| Entry paid plan, monthly | Pro $18/user/month | Pro $16.99/user/month |
| Team plan, annual | Business $19/user/month | Business $19.99/user/month |
| Team plan, monthly | Business $29/user/month | Business $30/user/month |
| Enterprise | $39/user/month (annual only) | Custom |
Cost for a team of 5 on the entry plan, billed annually: Fireflies Pro costs $600 a year ($10 × 5 × 12). Otter Pro costs about $500 a year ($8.33 × 5 × 12), but Pro is built for individuals, so most teams will look at Business, where the two are almost the same price: about $1,140 for Fireflies and $1,200 for Otter.
Free plan comparison
| Free plan | Fireflies.ai | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Transcription | Unlimited | 300 minutes a month |
| Meeting length | Up to 2 hours per meeting | 30 minutes per conversation |
| Storage | 400 minutes | Recent conversations |
| AI features | Limited summaries, 20 AI credits a month | Summaries and AI Chat |
| File imports | Yes, within storage | 3 in total |
On the free plan, Fireflies is the better deal for anyone with long meetings. Otter’s free plan suits short calls only.
Fireflies vs Otter limits, plan by plan
Most of the real difference between Fireflies and Otter is in the limits, so here they are side by side.
| Limit | Fireflies.ai | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting length on Free | 2 hours | 30 minutes |
| Meeting length on Pro | 2 hours | 90 minutes |
| Meeting length on Business | 3 hours | 4 hours |
| Monthly transcription | No monthly cap for meetings the notetaker auto-joins | 300 min on Free, 1,200 min on Pro, unlimited meetings on Business |
| Storage | 400 min on Free, 8,000 min on Pro, unlimited on Business | Not the main limit |
| File imports | Count toward your storage | 3 in total on Free, 10 a month on Pro, unlimited on Business |
| AI extras | AI credits: 20 a month on Free, a one-time allowance on paid plans | AI Chat queries, with a monthly allowance by plan |
In short: Fireflies runs out of space, while Otter runs out of time. If you record many long calls, Fireflies Free lasts longer per meeting but fills its storage in about a week of daily hour-long calls. Otter Free handles short calls well but stops every recording at 30 minutes.
Ease of use and setup
Both tools take a few minutes to set up. You connect your Google or Microsoft calendar, choose which meetings the notetaker should join, and it appears in your next Zoom, Meet or Teams call.
Otter feels more hands-on during the call, because you can watch the transcript, highlight lines and add comments live. Fireflies is more about what happens afterwards: your meetings land in a searchable Notebook, where you can ask AskFred questions, clip soundbites and share recaps.
One setup detail matters on Fireflies Free. For accounts created on or after September 1, 2026, unlimited transcription only applies when Auto-join is turned on; otherwise the free plan covers 3 meeting transcriptions. Turn Auto-join on in your settings if you plan to stay on Free.
Privacy and security
Both tools record and store your conversations, so treat them like any other business software that handles client data. Let participants know a call is being recorded, since some places legally require everyone’s consent, and check your company’s policy before connecting a work calendar.
Both let you control which meetings the notetaker joins. For larger organizations, Fireflies Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM, data retention controls and HIPAA compliance on request, and Otter Enterprise adds SSO and advanced security controls.
Fireflies vs Otter for common situations
- A student recording 1-hour lectures: Otter Free cuts each lecture at 30 minutes, so choose Otter Pro with the student discount ($79.99 a year), or Fireflies Free, which records up to 2 hours through its mobile app.
- A freelancer with 5 to 8 client calls a week: both free plans will feel tight. Otter Pro costs $99.99 a year and Fireflies Pro $120 a year on annual billing. Pick Otter if you want a live transcript, Fireflies if you want to search across all your calls.
- A sales team of 5 using HubSpot or Salesforce: Fireflies Business, at about $1,140 a year, because Autofill CRM updates records from your calls.
- A journalist doing in-person interviews: Otter, because its mobile app and live transcript are built for recording conversations away from a laptop.
- A team running 3- to 4-hour workshops: Otter Business, which records up to 4 hours per conversation, compared with 3 hours on Fireflies Business.
Who should choose Fireflies.ai?
- Sales, customer success and recruiting teams that want notes in HubSpot or Salesforce.
- Teams with long meetings that would hit Otter’s 30- or 90-minute caps.
- Anyone who needs transcription in many languages.
- Managers who want to search across all of their team’s calls.
Who should choose Otter.ai?
- Students recording lectures, especially with the student discount.
- Journalists and researchers who record in-person interviews.
- Individuals who want the cheapest paid plan on annual billing.
- People who like following a live transcript during the call.
For more detail on each tool, read our full Fireflies.ai review and Otter.ai review, or see how both rank in our guide to the best AI meeting assistants.
Cappy’s pick
- For small teams and sales teams: Fireflies.ai. Unlimited transcription and CRM sync matter more than Otter’s live transcript.
- For individuals with short calls: Otter.ai Pro on annual billing, at $8.33 a month.
- For students: Otter.ai, thanks to its mobile recording and student discount.
- For long meetings on a free plan: Fireflies.ai, which records up to 2 hours per meeting instead of 30 minutes.
- For 3- to 4-hour workshops: Otter.ai Business, which allows 4 hours per conversation.
Frequently asked questions
Is Fireflies better than Otter?
For teams, usually yes. Fireflies offers unlimited transcription, deeper search and CRM integrations. Otter is better for individuals who want a live transcript and the lowest annual price.
Is Fireflies cheaper than Otter?
No, not on entry plans. Otter Pro costs $8.33 a month on annual billing, compared with $10 for Fireflies Pro. On team plans, they cost almost the same: $19 for Fireflies Business and $19.99 for Otter Business on annual billing.
Which has the better free plan, Fireflies or Otter?
Fireflies, for most people. It transcribes without a minute cap, while Otter’s free plan stops each conversation at 30 minutes and allows 300 minutes a month.
Can I switch from Otter to Fireflies?
Yes. You can export your Otter transcripts (on paid plans) and upload past recordings to Fireflies for transcription. Connect your calendar to Fireflies and turn off OtterPilot so you don’t get two bots in each call.
Which is better for students, Fireflies or Otter?
Otter, for most students. Its mobile app and live transcript suit lectures, and the student discount brings Pro to $79.99 a year. Fireflies Free is a good no-cost option if your lectures run longer than 30 minutes.
Which supports longer meetings, Fireflies or Otter?
Fireflies on Free and Pro, with up to 2 hours per meeting compared with 30 minutes on Otter Free and 90 minutes on Otter Pro. On Business plans, Otter allows 4 hours and Fireflies 3 hours.
Do Fireflies and Otter work with Zoom, Google Meet and Teams?
Yes. Both notetakers join Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls from your connected calendar, on free and paid plans.