Fireflies.ai vs Otter.ai

Fireflies.ai and Otter.ai are the two names everyone mentions when they start looking for an AI meeting notetaker. They do the same basic job — join your calls, transcribe them, summarise them — but they are built a little differently. If you want the full picture on Fireflies first, the main Fireflies.ai guide covers it from scratch. Here is an honest comparison to help you pick.

What they have in common

Both record meetings on Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. Both give you transcripts, AI summaries, and action items. Both have free plans and paid tiers for teams. If you just need "someone to take notes on my calls", either one will do the job.

Where Fireflies.ai stands out

• Languages. Fireflies transcribes in more than 100 languages. Otter is English-first (it lists 6 languages). If your team meets in anything other than English, this alone can decide it.
• AskFred. Fireflies' AI assistant answers questions across your whole meeting history in plain language. Otter has its own AI chat, but AskFred plus the 200+ AI Skills for automating follow-ups is the deeper system.
• Integrations. Fireflies lists 100+ integrations, including CRMs and diallers that sales teams live in. Otter covers the basics well but is less of a workflow hub.
• Free plan. Fireflies' free tier includes unlimited transcription. Otter's free plan gives you 300 minutes a month. Heavy users hit Otter's ceiling fast.

Where Otter.ai stands out

• English accuracy and feel. Otter has a reputation for very clean English transcripts and a polished reading experience. For English-only teams, many people prefer how Otter's notes read.
• Live captions. Otter's real-time captions during the call are excellent — useful if anyone on the call needs them.
• Simplicity. Otter is the simpler product. Fewer features, less to configure, easier to explain to a non-technical team.
• Price. Otter's paid plans start a little lower for small teams (around $8.33 per user a month annually on Pro). Fireflies' own tiers are covered in our pricing breakdown.

So which one should you choose?

Pick Fireflies.ai if your team is multilingual, you want deep integrations with your CRM and Slack, or you like the idea of an AI assistant you can question about past meetings. Once you have decided, the setup guide gets you from signup to your first recorded meeting in about ten minutes. Pick Otter.ai if your team works in English, values simplicity, and wants the cleanest live captions.

Honestly, the free plans make this an easy test: run both on the same week's meetings and compare the transcripts. Your own calls are the only review that matters.