AI meeting notes · Head to head
Otter vs Fireflies — personal transcription or team meeting intelligence
Updated 2026-09-20 · markdown mirror
Verdict
Fireflies for teams: CRM sync, searchable transcripts across the company, and conversation intelligence on paid tiers. Otter for individuals who live in Zoom and want mature live transcription without team-platform overhead. Same category, different customers: the choice is team or person.
| Otter | Fireflies | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | individuals living in Zoom who want mature live transcription | teams that want every call transcribed, searchable, and synced to the CRM |
| Free tier | Free plan, 300 transcription minutes per month Documented at the source Checked 2026-09-20 otter.ai /pricing | Free plan with storage and AI credit limits (400 mins storage, 20 credits) Documented at the source Checked 2026-09-20 fireflies.ai /pricing |
| Paid from | $8.33/user/mo Documented at the source Checked 2026-09-20 otter.ai /pricing Verified on page 2026-09-20, billed annually ($16.99 on monthly billing) | $10/user/mo Documented at the source Checked 2026-09-20 fireflies.ai /pricing Verified on page 2026-09-20 at $10/user/month |
| Free plan cap | 300 transcription minutes per month Documented at the source Checked 2026-09-20 otter.ai /pricing | Storage and AI credit limits on free (400 mins storage, 20 credits) Unconfirmed — in the claim queue Checked 2026-09-20 fireflies.ai /pricing |
| CRM sync | Yes, native CRM sync (Salesforce, HubSpot) Unconfirmed — in the claim queue Checked 2026-09-20 otter.ai | Yes, Salesforce and HubSpot on paid tiers Unconfirmed — in the claim queue Checked 2026-09-20 fireflies.ai |
| Call recording | Yes, Zoom, Meet, and Teams Documented at the source Checked 2026-09-20 otter.ai | Yes, Zoom, Meet, and Teams Unconfirmed — in the claim queue Checked 2026-09-20 fireflies.ai |
| AI crawler policy | open Tested by us Checked 2026-09-20 /ai-meeting-notes/benchmarks/ai-meeting-notes-ai-crawler-access/ Our benchmark (n=4 tools × 3 runs) — methodology on the benchmark page | open Tested by us Checked 2026-09-20 /ai-meeting-notes/benchmarks/ai-meeting-notes-ai-crawler-access/ Our benchmark (n=4 tools × 3 runs) — methodology on the benchmark page |
● tested by us · ● documented at the source · ● unconfirmed, queued in /confirm.txt — hover or tap a dot for the source and date
The actual difference
Both transcribe meetings well, which is why this comparison confuses people. The companies are building different products. Otter is a superior notebook for the person in the meeting: mature live transcription, strong Zoom integration, individual plans. Fireflies is a company memory: every call, every rep, searchable, scored, and pushed into the CRM. Buying the wrong one is not a feature mismatch, it is a customer mismatch.
Free plans, honestly
Otter’s free plan is concrete (300 transcription minutes a month at our last check) and generous for an individual. Fireflies’ free tier works as a team trial: enough to prove the value, not enough to run a sales org. Both are real free tiers rather than trials. Numbers move quarterly: the table above carries check dates and sources.
The bot question
Some meetings cannot have a visible bot: client workshops, board calls, certain jurisdictions. Fireflies shows up as a participant by design. Otter can too, though its Zoom-native integration softens that. If the bot is a dealbreaker, the honest answer is not Otter but Granola, which records system audio locally and never joins anything.
Our verdict in one line each
Otter if the meeting notes belong to you. Fireflies if they belong to the company.
FAQ
Is Fireflies or Otter better for teams?
Fireflies. Its paid tiers add CRM sync (Salesforce, HubSpot), conversation intelligence, and company-wide searchable transcripts. Otter's plans centre the individual, and team features are thinner. Teams that standardise on Otter usually end up exporting to other tools anyway.
Which has a better free plan, Otter or Fireflies?
Otter's free plan is the more concrete; 300 transcription minutes a month at our last check. Fireflies' free tier meters credits and features. Both are real free tiers, not trials; check the dated numbers in the table above before deciding.
Do Otter and Fireflies join calls as a bot?
Both can, and Fireflies normally does; its assistant appears in the participant list. Otter integrates natively with Zoom, Meet, and Teams and can also record via app or bot. If a visible bot is unacceptable, Granola in our meeting notes cluster is the bot-free answer.
Can I get transcripts into my CRM?
Fireflies, on paid tiers; Salesforce and HubSpot sync with meeting notes and action items. Otter added native CRM sync (Salesforce, HubSpot) in 2026; our original data said otherwise and the vendor moved, which is exactly why every number here carries a check date.