Short answer: Fireflies and Otter are the two most popular AI meeting note takers, and both auto-join Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet. Otter is simpler and stronger for real-time live transcription and education, with a generous 300-minute free tier. Fireflies goes deeper on integrations, CRM, and searchable conversation intelligence, making it a better fit for sales and revenue teams. If you want more than a bot — in-person, phone, and mobile capture alongside a meeting bot — CraftNote is worth a look.
Fireflies and Otter do the same core job — a bot joins your video call, transcribes it, and hands you a summary. The differences are in the details: real-time vs integrations, free-tier generosity, languages, and who each is really built for. Here's a straight comparison, plus what to do if a meeting bot isn't what you want.
| Dimension | Otter | Fireflies |
|---|---|---|
| How it captures | Bot + real-time | Bot (video calls) |
| Free tier | 300 min/month | Limited credits |
| Languages | Few (English-focused) | Much wider |
| Integrations | Calendar + basics | Deeper (CRM, Zapier) |
| Best for | Live notes, education | Sales, integrations, search |
| Starting paid price | ~$8.33/user/mo | ~$10/user/mo |
Pricing as published on each tool's official page, 2026 — always check current plans.
Otter — Best for Real-Time and Simplicity
- Pros: strong live transcription, generous 300-minute free tier, clean and easy to use, Otter AI Chat over your meetings.
- Cons: narrower language support, lighter integrations than Fireflies, 30-minute cap per meeting on free.
Verdict: If you want live captions during calls and a simple, get-out-of-the-way tool, Otter is the pick.
Fireflies — Best for Integrations and Sales
- Pros: deep CRM and Zapier integrations, wide language support, searchable archive across all past meetings, conversation intelligence for teams.
- Cons: free tier is more limited than Otter's minutes, more features means steeper setup, geared to teams over individuals.
Verdict: If you're a sales or ops team that lives in a CRM, Fireflies goes deeper.
How to Choose
- Live transcription, education, simplicity → Otter
- CRM, automation, sales analytics → Fireflies
- Both auto-join video calls, so both rely on a meeting bot.
Want More Than a Bot? A Mobile-First Alternative
Fireflies and Otter are bot-first: their strength is joining your video calls. CraftNote does that too — it has a meeting bot for Zoom, Teams, and Meet — but it also records natively on iOS, Android, and web (offline included) and takes uploads of audio, video, PDF, or YouTube, so in-person and phone meetings are covered, not just video calls. Either way you get a speaker-labeled transcript plus a summary with action items, owners, and decisions, 80+ language translation, ask-your-notes AI, and PDF/DOCX export, with a free tier (5 notes and 5 recording hours a month). It leans lighter on deep CRM automation than Fireflies, but it captures a wider range of meetings in one app.
Common Questions
Is Fireflies or Otter better?
Neither is universally better — it depends on the job. Otter is simpler and stronger for real-time live transcription and education, with a generous free tier. Fireflies goes deeper on CRM integrations, languages, and searchable conversation intelligence, which suits sales and revenue teams. Pick Otter for live, simple notes; Fireflies for integration-heavy team workflows.
Which has a better free plan, Otter or Fireflies?
Otter's free plan is generally more generous for minutes, offering 300 minutes a month (capped at 30 minutes per meeting). Fireflies' free tier is based on more limited transcription credits. If free monthly minutes matter most, Otter usually comes out ahead, though both gate advanced features behind paid plans.
Do Otter and Fireflies work for in-person meetings?
They're built primarily for video calls, where a bot joins Zoom, Teams, or Meet. For in-person meetings there's no call to join, so they're awkward unless you record separately and upload. A record-or-upload tool like CraftNote fits face-to-face meetings better because you just hit record in the room.
What is a good alternative to Otter and Fireflies?
CraftNote is a strong alternative that does more than a bot — it has a meeting bot for Zoom, Teams, and Meet, plus native recording on iOS, Android, and web and file uploads, so in-person and phone meetings are covered too. It produces a summary with action items, owners, and decisions, supports 80+ languages, and has a free tier, though it leans lighter on deep CRM automation than Fireflies.
For a three-way look, see Otter vs Fireflies vs CraftNote, or the best AI note taker for managers. Team setup lives on the professionals page.
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