Otter.ai

Otter.ai is a real-time meeting transcription and note-taking service that joins your Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams calls automatically, transcribes the conversation with speaker identification, generates an AI summary of key points and decisions, and makes the full transcript searchable within minutes of the meeting ending. It is used by over 2 million professionals to replace manual note-taking in meetings.

The real-time transcription appears in the Otter.ai web or mobile app while the meeting is in progress, allowing participants to follow along without taking notes. After the meeting, the AI generates a written summary highlighting the main topics discussed, key decisions made, and action items with the names of people who were assigned them. The AI Chat feature lets you ask questions about past meeting transcripts in natural language: "What did Sarah say about the Q3 budget?" or "What action items were assigned to me last week?"

The free tier provides 300 minutes of transcription per month across a maximum of 3 meetings. The Pro plan ($16.99/month) provides 1,200 minutes/month and allows longer meetings. The main accuracy limitation is technical jargon and heavy accents — Otter performs well on standard American English in good audio conditions but struggles with specialized terminology, fast speech, and non-native speakers. For meetings heavy in product names, technical terms, or non-native English speakers, transcription editing is typically required.