Free Otter.ai Alternatives for AI Meeting Notes

Tested prompts for otter ai alternatives free compared across 5 leading AI models.

BEST BY JUDGE SCORE Claude Opus 4.7 8/10

The prompt we tested

You are an expert on AI meeting note-taking tools. Based on the user's situation below, recommend the best free Otter.ai alternatives for their needs.

User situation:
I run a small marketing agency and have about 8-10 client calls per week on Zoom and Google Meet. I need to transcribe them, get AI summaries, and share notes with my team. Otter's free plan only gives me 300 minutes which isn't enough.

Follow these rules:
Recommend 5-7 genuinely free Otter.ai alternatives (tools with a permanent free tier, not just trials) in a numbered list. Keep each tool's description to 4-5 bullet points, be specific about free plan limits (exact minutes, meeting counts), and avoid generic marketing language.

For each recommended tool, include: tool name, free plan details (transcription minutes/meetings allowed), key features, platform integrations (Zoom/Meet/Teams), and one notable limitation. End with a 1-sentence verdict on which tool best matches the user's situation.

Model comparison

ModelQualityCostLatencyTokens
Claude Opus 4.7 8 $0.1182 24.7s 346 / 1507
Claude Haiku 4.5 7 $0.0044 9.0s 239 / 835
GPT-5.4 7 $0.0172 20.4s 215 / 1111
Grok 4.1 Fast Reasoning 7 $0.0003 29.4s 362 / 463

Outputs

Claude Opus 4.7 8/10
# Best Free Otter.ai Alternatives for Your Marketing Agency

Based on your need for high-volume transcription (8-10 calls/week), Zoom + Google Meet support, AI summaries, and team sharing, here are the strongest free options:

## 1. **Fireflies.ai**
- **Free plan:** 800 minutes of storage per seat, unlimited transcription credits
- **Key features:** AI summaries, action items, speaker talk-time analytics, keyword tracking, searchable conversation database
- **Integrations:** Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex (native bot joins calls automatically)
- **Team sharing:** Channels and shareable soundbites included on free tier
- **Limitation:** AI summary features ("AskFred" and smart search) are limited on the free plan and push you toward the $10/user/month upgrade

## 2. **Tactiq**
- **Free plan:** 10 transcriptions per month (unlimited length), 5 free AI credits monthly
- **Key features:** Live transcription in-browser, one-click AI summaries, custom AI prompts, real-time highlighting
- **Integrations:** Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams (Chrome extension-based)
- **Team sharing:** Export to Google Docs, Notion, Slack, Confluence
- **Limitation:** 10 meetings/month cap means you'd hit the ceiling in week one at your volume

## 3. **tl;dv**
- **Free plan:** Unlimited recordings and transcriptions on Zoom, Google Meet, and MS Teams
- **Key features:** AI notes, timestamps, video clips/reels, multi-language support (30+ languages)
- **Integrations:** Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams (native)
- **Team sharing:** Unlimited free viewers, shareable highlight clips
- **Limitation:** Only 10 AI-generated meeting summaries/notes per month on free tier; CRM and advanced integrations are paid

## 4. **Fathom**
- **Free plan:** Unlimited recording, transcription, and AI summaries for individual users
- **Key features:** AI-generated summaries in 30 seconds post-meeting, action items, highlight-by-topic, 28+ languages
- **Integrations:** Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams
- **Team sharing:** Individual sharing is free, but team workspace features require Team Edition ($19+/user/month)
- **Limitation:** Truly free only for solo use — team collaboration and shared folders are gated behind paid tier

## 5. **Granola**
- **Free plan:** 25 meetings total (lifetime, not monthly) before requiring upgrade
- **Key features:** Works with your own meeting notes (enhances them with AI), no bot joins the call, high-quality summaries
- **Integrations:** Any meeting platform (captures system audio) — Zoom, Meet, Teams all work
- **Team sharing:** Basic sharing via links
- **Limitation:** 25-meeting lifetime cap makes it unsuitable as a long-term free solution at your volume

## 6. **Read.ai**
- **Free plan:** 5 meetings per month with transcripts, summaries, and playback
- **Key features:** Meeting sentiment analysis, engagement scoring, AI summaries, topic tracking
- **Integrations:** Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams
- **Team sharing:** Report sharing via link
- **Limitation:** 5 meetings/month is far below your 32-40 meeting need

## 7. **Notta**
- **Free plan:** 120 minutes/month, 3-minute max per transcription
- **Key features:** AI summaries, 58 language support, speaker identification, bulk upload
- **Integrations:** Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams
- **Team sharing:** Export to TXT, DOCX, SRT, PDF
- **Limitation:** The 3-minute-per-file cap makes it useless for real client calls on the free plan

---

## **Verdict**
**Fireflies.ai** is your best match — it's the only option here that realistically handles 8-10 weekly client calls with native Zoom + Google Meet bots, team sharing, and AI summaries on a permanent free tier, with **tl;dv** as a strong runner-up if you prioritize unlimited recording volume over AI summary depth.
Judge notes: The output is thorough and specific, but Fireflies.ai's free plan details are misleading ("800 minutes of storage" is not unlimited transcription, and the free tier has significant restrictions that aren't fully disclosed), which could send the user toward a tool that doesn't actually meet their needs.
Claude Haiku 4.5 7/10
# Best Free Otter.ai Alternatives for Your Marketing Agency

## 1. **Otter.ai (reconsidered with workaround)**
- Free plan: 300 minutes/month (insufficient alone, but see below)
- Key features: Real-time transcription, speaker identification, searchable transcripts, AI summaries
- Integrations: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams
- Workaround: Combine with other tools below or use Otter's free plan for your most critical calls
- Notable limitation: 300 minutes/month is genuinely too low for your use case without upgrading

## 2. **Fireflies.ai**
- Free plan: Unlimited transcription minutes with up to 800 MB storage (~10-15 hours monthly for most users)
- Key features: AI-powered summaries, action item detection, speaker identification, conversation intelligence
- Integrations: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, direct recording upload
- Notable limitation: Storage caps out around 800 MB on free plan, requiring deletion of old recordings to continue

**Verdict: Best overall match** — unlimited minutes with solid features and all your required integrations make this the strongest single replacement.

## 3. **Tactiq**
- Free plan: Unlimited live transcription during meetings, but recordings limited to 7 days storage
- Key features: Real-time captions, meeting summaries, keyword highlighting, chat integration
- Integrations: Google Meet, Zoom (limited on free tier)
- Notable limitation: Zoom support on free plan is restricted; primarily designed for Google Meet

## 4. **Fathom**
- Free plan: Unlimited transcription and recording storage
- Key features: AI-generated summaries, automatic meeting notes, CRM integration (Salesforce, HubSpot), custom highlights
- Integrations: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams
- Notable limitation: Free plan doesn't include video recording playback—only transcripts and notes

## 5. **Grain**
- Free plan: Unlimited transcriptions, 10 GB storage (approximately 20-30 hours of meetings)
- Key features: Highlight reels, clip creation, team sharing, searchable transcripts
- Integrations: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams
- Notable limitation: No native AI summaries on free tier; summaries require manual creation or paid upgrade

## 6. **Notta**
- Free plan: 300 minutes/month (same as Otter, but better feature set)
- Key features: Real-time transcription, meeting summaries, speaker identification, keyword extraction
- Integrations: Zoom, Google Meet, direct upload
- Notable limitation: Same monthly minute cap as Otter.ai, so not a solo solution for your volume

## 7. **Copilot.live (formerly Copilot)**
- Free plan: 3 hours/month transcription (limited but worth mentioning for quality)
- Key features: AI summaries, action items, real-time transcription, team collaboration
- Integrations: Zoom, Google Meet
- Notable limitation: 3 hours/month is too restrictive even as a supplementary tool

---

## Recommendation for Your Situation

**Use Fireflies.ai as your primary tool** (unlimited minutes with summaries) **and Fathom as a secondary backup** (unlimited storage, excellent summaries, works across all platforms). Together, they cover 8-10 weekly calls without hitting limits, give you redundancy, and cost nothing.

If budget allows a small upgrade ($10-20/month), Otter.ai's paid plan becomes viable, but the free combo above handles your needs completely.
Judge notes: Including Otter.ai itself as recommendation #1 wastes a slot and directly contradicts the task (find *alternatives*), and some free plan details (Grain's 10GB, Copilot.live specifics) appear unverified/inaccurate, undermining the core value of the response.
GPT-5.4 7/10
Here are the best **genuinely free Otter.ai alternatives** for your setup: **8–10 Zoom/Google Meet client calls per week**, with a need for **transcription, AI summaries, and team note-sharing**.

1. **Fireflies.ai**
   - **Free plan:** Up to **800 minutes of storage per seat** and transcription for meetings; free tier is permanent.
   - **Key features:** Automatic meeting transcription, AI-generated summaries, action items, speaker identification, and searchable meeting history.
   - **Integrations:** Works with **Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams**, plus Slack, Notion, HubSpot, and more.
   - **Notable limitation:** Free plan includes transcription/storage, but some advanced AI apps, analytics, and deeper workflow automations are paid.
   - **Why it fits:** Strong option if you want an Otter-like experience with broader integrations and enough room beyond Otter’s 300-minute cap.

2. **Fathom**
   - **Free plan:** **Unlimited recording, transcription, and AI summaries** for individuals on the permanent free tier.
   - **Key features:** Instant meeting summaries, highlight clipping, ask-AI follow-up prompts, and easy sharing of notes/snippets with teammates.
   - **Integrations:** Supports **Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams**; also connects with CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce.
   - **Notable limitation:** Best free value is geared toward individual users; some team/admin collaboration features are reserved for paid plans.
   - **Why it fits:** Excellent if your main priority is unlimited AI notes and summaries without worrying about minute caps.

3. **tl;dv**
   - **Free plan:** **Unlimited meeting recordings and transcripts** for Google Meet and Zoom on the free tier.
   - **Key features:** AI meeting notes, timestamped highlights, clip sharing, searchable transcript library, and meeting templates.
   - **Integrations:** Native support for **Google Meet and Zoom**; Teams support exists but is more limited depending on plan/workspace setup.
   - **Notable limitation:** Some advanced AI summary workflows, multi-meeting reporting, and deeper team features are paid.
   - **Why it fits:** Very useful for agencies that need unlimited transcript capture and simple note sharing from Meet/Zoom calls.

4. **Grain**
   - **Free plan:** Permanent free tier with **limited monthly transcription/AI credits** and meeting recording tools; exact allowances can vary by current plan structure.
   - **Key features:** Meeting recording, transcription, highlights, shareable video snippets, AI notes, and collaborative workspace organization.
   - **Integrations:** Works with **Zoom and Google Meet**; also connects to Slack, Notion, HubSpot, and Salesforce.
   - **Notable limitation:** Free plan is more restrictive than Fathom or tl;dv for heavy weekly usage, especially on AI-generated outputs.
   - **Why it fits:** Better if your team likes sharing clips and key moments with clients or internal staff, not just raw transcripts.

5. **Avoma**
   - **Free plan:** Permanent free tier with **meeting recording/transcription for limited users/features**; free usage limits are tighter than most competitors.
   - **Key features:** AI notes, meeting summaries, collaborative agendas, note templates, and searchable conversation records.
   - **Integrations:** Supports **Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams**, plus CRM/task integrations.
   - **Notable limitation:** Free plan is relatively constrained for agencies with frequent weekly calls; many collaboration and revenue-intelligence features are paid.
   - **Why it fits:** Worth considering if you want more structured meeting workflows, but it’s less generous as a free Otter replacement.

6. **Notta**
   - **Free plan:** **120 transcription minutes per month**, with a cap of **3 minutes per conversation** on the free tier.
   - **Key features:** Live transcription, AI summaries, bilingual transcription support, transcript export, and meeting note organization.
   - **Integrations:** Supports **Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams** through meeting bot/integration workflows.
   - **Notable limitation:** The **3-minute per conversation cap** makes the free plan impractical for full client-call transcription.
   - **Why it fits:** Good tool technically, but the free limits are too restrictive for your volume unless you only need short snippets.

7. **Tactiq**
   - **Free plan:** Free tier with **limited monthly AI credits/transcript saves**; permanent free access is available.
   - **Key features:** Live transcription inside meetings, AI summaries, action items, Google Docs/Slack export, and highlight tagging.
   - **Integrations:** Best known for **Google Meet**; also supports **Zoom and Teams** in broader workflow/export use cases depending on setup.
   - **Notable limitation:** Free plan limits AI usage and is less suitable if you want fully automated transcript coverage for every client call.
   - **Why it fits:** Best if a lot of your meetings are on Google Meet and you want lightweight live notes rather than a heavy post-call system.

**Verdict:** For your agency’s call volume, **Fathom** is the best free match if you want the most generous no-cost transcription and AI summaries, while **Fireflies.ai** is the better choice if team sharing and integrations matter more than having fully unlimited usage.
Judge notes: Several free plan details are vague or hedged ("can vary," "limited users/features," "limited monthly AI credits/transcript saves") rather than giving the specific numbers the prompt explicitly required, which is a real weakness for a user trying to compare plans.
Grok 4.1 Fast Reasoning 7/10
1. **Fathom**
   - Free plan: Unlimited transcription minutes and unlimited meetings.
   - Key features: AI-generated summaries, action items, keyword highlights, shareable note links with team.
   - Platform integrations: Native Zoom and Google Meet bots.
   - Notable limitation: No team workspace or advanced analytics; personal use focused.

2. **tl;dv**
   - Free plan: Unlimited meetings, AI summaries for up to 60 minutes per call.
   - Key features: Timestamped summaries, clip sharing, multi-language support, team collaboration via links.
   - Platform integrations: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams.
   - Notable limitation: AI analysis limited to first hour of longer calls; full transcripts require paid upgrade.

3. **Supernormal**
   - Free plan: Unlimited meetings and AI note generation.
   - Key features: Automatic summaries, action items, speaker identification, easy note sharing via links or email.
   - Platform integrations: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams.
   - Notable limitation: No custom AI prompts or advanced search in free tier.

4. **Tactiq**
   - Free plan: 10 transcripts per month, unlimited duration per transcript.
   - Key features: Real-time transcription, AI summaries and insights, speaker labels, export to docs.
   - Platform integrations: Chrome extension for Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams.
   - Notable limitation: Strict 10-transcript monthly cap, resets each month.

5. **MeetGeek**
   - Free plan: Unlimited meetings, 5 hours total transcription per month.
   - Key features: AI summaries, tasks, highlights, team sharing dashboard.
   - Platform integrations: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams calendar sync.
   - Notable limitation: Transcription capped at 5 hours total across all meetings.

6. **Fireflies.ai**
   - Free plan: 800 transcription minutes lifetime, unlimited meetings.
   - Key features: AI summaries, search transcripts, conversation analytics, shareable links.
   - Platform integrations: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams.
   - Notable limitation: Hard lifetime minute cap, no replenishment.

Fathom best matches the user's situation with truly unlimited transcription and summaries for their Zoom/Google Meet calls, plus simple team sharing via links sufficient for a small agency.
Judge notes: The Fireflies.ai free plan description is inaccurate (it's storage-limited, not a hard lifetime minute cap), and tl;dv's free plan details are imprecise, undermining the "specific about free plan limits" requirement that was the core ask.

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