Otter.ai vs Fireflies.ai

Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai are both AI meeting notetakers that record, transcribe and summarize calls, but Otter focuses on reliable live transcription and searchable notes while Fireflies adds conversation intelligence and CRM integrations on top.

Quick answer: Otter.ai is the better choice for founders, agencies and teams that run frequent calls and want reliable live transcription with searchable, shareable notes and automatic call joining.; Fireflies.ai is the better choice for sales and CS teams that want call analytics and meeting insights pushed straight into their CRM and collaboration tools, not just transcripts..

Last updated June 21, 2026

The verdict

Pick Otter.ai if real-time transcription and clean, searchable notes are the priority. It transcribes meetings live with speaker labels, automatically joins scheduled Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls, and produces summaries and action items afterward. The searchable, shareable notes and a free tier make it a dependable fit for founders, agencies and teams that run a lot of calls and want documentation without typing during the meeting. Just plan around the minute caps on lower tiers, and review summaries for nuance.

Pick Fireflies.ai if you want analysis and CRM workflows, not just transcripts. Beyond recording and searchable transcripts, Fireflies analyzes calls for topics, questions and action items, and pushes notes and insights into CRMs, project tools and chat apps. That conversation intelligence and the broad integrations make it the stronger choice for sales and CS teams that want every call captured, searchable and tied back to their CRM. The advanced analytics live on higher tiers and the integrations take some setup to wire up. Either tool covers core notetaking well, so the deciding factor is whether you need call analytics and CRM sync or simply reliable transcription.

Otter.ai

Freemium

Otter.ai records, transcribes and summarizes meetings in real time. It joins your calls, captures who said what and produces searchable notes and action items so you can focus on the conversation.

Best for: Founders, agencies and teams that run frequent calls and want reliable live transcription with searchable, shareable notes and automatic call joining.

Try Otter.ai →

Fireflies.ai

Freemium

Fireflies.ai is an AI meeting assistant that records and transcribes calls, generates summaries and lets teams search across every conversation. It integrates with CRMs and collaboration tools to push insights where they're needed.

Best for: Sales and CS teams that want call analytics and meeting insights pushed straight into their CRM and collaboration tools, not just transcripts.

Try Fireflies.ai →

Side-by-side comparison

	Otter.ai	Fireflies.ai
Pricing	Freemium	Freemium
Starts at	USD 17.00	USD 10.00
Free trial	Yes	Yes
Rating	4.3	4.4

Pricing compared

Both are freemium with a free plan and a free trial. Fireflies.ai is the cheaper entry point, starting at $10/mo, with a free plan offering limited credits and paid plans adding unlimited transcription, conversation intelligence and integrations. Otter.ai starts at $17/mo, with a free plan that includes limited monthly transcription minutes and paid plans that add more minutes, automation and team features. Both scale by usage, but Fireflies' starting price is lower.

Features compared

Otter.ai centers on live transcription with speaker labels, auto-joining scheduled Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls, post-meeting summaries with action items, and searchable, shareable notes. Fireflies.ai covers auto recording across major conferencing platforms and searchable transcripts too, but its differentiators are conversation intelligence that analyzes calls for topics, questions and action items, and CRM integrations that push notes and insights into CRMs, project tools and chat apps. Otter is the focused transcription notetaker, while Fireflies trades toward analytics and downstream workflow connections.