6 Best Otter.ai Alternatives in 2026 (Free and Paid)

Otter.ai is a good meeting assistant with one specific shape: it joins a live call, transcribes it, and summarizes it. People go looking for an Otter alternative for three reasons. The free plan's 30-minute-per-conversation cap cuts off real meetings. File imports are rationed on every plan below Business, so it's awkward for existing recordings. And the output is notes, not the content you actually need to publish.

Which alternative is right depends on which of those is your problem. Here are the six we'd actually recommend, with pricing verified on August 20, 2026.

The short version

Pick by the job you need done:

• Free live meeting notes with no minute cap: Fathom
• Meeting notes for a sales or customer team: Fireflies
• Turning recordings (podcasts, interviews, webinars, calls) into transcripts, show notes, posts and clips: Castmagic
• Editing the audio or video itself: Descript
• Recording remote guests in high quality, with transcripts included: Riverside
• You mostly need notes inside Zoom, Meet or Teams: the AI notes built into your meeting platform

Why people switch from Otter.ai

• The 30-minute cap on the free plan. A normal hour-long meeting is cut in half. Pro raises it to 90 minutes, Business to 4 hours.
• Three lifetime file imports on the free plan, ten a month on Pro. If you want to transcribe recordings you already have, Otter is not built for that until you pay for Business.
• Notes are the end of the line. Otter gives you a transcript and summary. If the recording needs to become show notes, a blog post, a newsletter or clips, that's still manual work.
• Per-user pricing. Fine for one person; adds up for a team.

The 6 best Otter.ai alternatives

1. Fathom: best free alternative for live meetings

Fathom's free plan includes unlimited recordings and transcriptions with instant AI summaries, which removes Otter's two biggest free-plan limits in one go. It records Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls, generates a summary and clips, and lets you search across calls.

Choose Fathom if: you want Otter's core job done without the minute cap and don't want to pay.

Skip it if: you need a tool for recordings that aren't live meetings, or you need finished content rather than summaries.

Pricing: Free plan; Premium $20/user/month monthly or $16/user/month annually; Team $19/$15; Business $34/$25; Enterprise custom.

2. Fireflies: best for sales and customer teams

Fireflies is the closest like-for-like Otter replacement for teams. The free plan gives unlimited transcription and AI summaries (storage is capped at 400 minutes per team), and paid plans add video recording, conversation intelligence, team analytics and CRM integrations. It is the tool most often chosen by revenue teams that want call notes pushed into Salesforce or HubSpot.

Choose Fireflies if: your team runs a lot of customer calls and you want notes, action items and CRM sync.

Skip it if: you're a solo creator, or your recordings are podcasts and interviews rather than meetings.

Pricing: Free; Pro $18/seat/month monthly or $10/seat/month annually; Business $29/$19; Enterprise $39/seat/month billed annually.

3. Castmagic: best for turning recordings into content

Castmagic is the alternative for a different job. It doesn't join your call live; you import the recording (from Zoom, Google Drive, a link, or an upload) and it produces the transcript plus the things you actually publish: a summary, show notes, timestamps, a blog draft, social posts, newsletter copy and clips. One upload replaces the transcript-then-write-everything workflow.

Choose Castmagic if: your recordings are podcasts, interviews, webinars, coaching calls or YouTube videos and the goal is to publish content from them.

Skip it if: you want a bot that sits in every meeting and takes notes in real time. That's Otter's and Fathom's job.

Pricing: Hobby from $21/month billed annually (5 hours), Starter $79/month (20 hours), Business $790/month. No free plan. See Castmagic pricing and the full Castmagic vs Otter.ai comparison.

4. Descript: best if you need to edit the recording

Descript transcribes audio and video and then lets you edit the media by editing the text: delete a sentence in the transcript and it's cut from the recording. It also cleans up audio and removes filler words. People who came to Otter for transcription but really need to produce a polished recording end up here.

Choose Descript if: you edit podcasts or videos and want transcription built into the editor.

Skip it if: you only need notes from meetings, or you want content generated rather than a file edited.

Pricing: Free (60 min/month, watermarked); Hobbyist $24/month monthly or $16 annually; Creator $35/$24; Business $65/$50. Full breakdown in our Descript pricing guide.

5. Riverside: best for recording remote guests

Riverside records each participant locally in up to 4K video and 48kHz audio, so a bad connection doesn't wreck the recording, and every paid plan includes unlimited transcription plus AI clips and show notes. If your "meetings" are actually interviews or podcast episodes with a remote guest, Riverside covers recording and transcription in one.

Choose Riverside if: recording quality is the priority and you want transcripts included.

Skip it if: you need notes from everyday internal meetings on Zoom or Meet.

Pricing: Free (2 hours one-off, 720p, watermarked); Pro $29/month monthly or $24 annually; Grow $39/$34; Webinar $99/$79; Business custom.

6. Your meeting platform's built-in AI notes

If all you need is a summary of internal Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams calls, check what your existing subscription already includes before paying for anything. Each platform now offers AI meeting notes and summaries on its paid tiers. They're less flexible than Otter and don't handle uploaded recordings, but for light internal use they may already be covered.

How to choose

• Your problem is the free plan's limits: Fathom (free, no cap).
• Your problem is team notes and CRM: Fireflies.
• Your problem is "I have the transcript, now I have to write everything": Castmagic.
• Your problem is the recording needs editing: Descript.
• Your problem is recording quality with remote guests: Riverside.

Most people searching for an Otter alternative are either hitting the free caps (go to Fathom) or realizing notes aren't the finished product (go to Castmagic). If you're unsure which you are, ask what you do with the transcript after the meeting ends.

FAQ

What is the best free alternative to Otter.ai?

Fathom. Its free plan includes unlimited recordings, transcriptions and AI summaries with no per-conversation cap, which are the limits that push people off Otter's free plan.

Is there an Otter.ai alternative that transcribes uploaded files?

Yes. Otter rations imports below its Business plan, so if you mainly need to transcribe existing recordings, Castmagic (which also generates show notes and content from the file), Descript (which lets you edit the file) and Riverside (on paid plans) are all built for uploads.

Which Otter.ai alternative is best for podcasters?

Castmagic for turning episodes into show notes, posts and clips; Riverside for recording the episode with a remote guest; Descript for editing it.

Is Fireflies better than Otter.ai?

For teams, often yes: Fireflies' free plan has no per-conversation minute cap and its paid plans focus on CRM sync and team analytics. For an individual who just wants live notes, Otter's Pro plan at $8.33/month annually is cheaper than Fireflies Pro at $10.

Can Castmagic replace Otter.ai?

If you use Otter to transcribe recordings and then write content from them, yes, and it removes the writing step. If you use Otter as a live note-taker that joins every meeting, no; Castmagic works from imported recordings rather than joining calls.

Does Otter.ai have a free plan?

Yes. Otter's Basic plan is free and includes 300 minutes a month, a 30-minute limit per conversation, and 3 lifetime file imports. See our Otter.ai pricing guide for every plan.