Otter.ai vs Fireflies.ai
Editor Sebastiaan Smits ·
Published November 12, 2026 · Updated November 12, 2026
Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai are both US-based cloud note-takers with a free plan and four tiers. Otter is a little cheaper on its entry paid plan but says it trains its own AI on de-identified recordings and transcripts. Fireflies states that it does not train on meeting data and publishes SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA details.
Side by side
 Otter.ai |  Fireflies.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Minute-metered transcription and meeting notes | Bot-based meeting transcription and search |
| Best for | English-language interviews and lectures | Budget-conscious teams on many platforms |
| Headquarters | United States | United States |
| Pricing model | Per user / month | Per seat / month |
| Pricing | Basic is free with 300 monthly transcription minutes; Pro is $16.99 per user monthly or $8.33 on annual billing, Business $30 monthly or $19.99 annual, Enterprise on quote. | Free plan; Pro is $10 per user per month billed annually or $18 monthly, Business $19 annually or $29 monthly, Enterprise $39 per user per month billed annually. |
| Free option | Free plan | Free plan |
| List price as listed on November 12, 2026 | $16.99 per user per month billed monthly, or $8.33 billed annually (Pro) | $18 per seat per month billed monthly, or $10 billed annually (Pro) |
| Place in our AI meeting assistants ranking | #11 of 16 | #7 of 16 |
| Website | otter.ai | fireflies.ai |
Both are reviewed in full in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026. Vendors can pay for more visibility, and commercial relationships can affect which products we feature and how prominently. Placement disclosure.
Which one to choose
Choose Otter.ai if
you want the lowest entry price per seat, a mobile-first free plan with live transcription, and you are comfortable with the vendor training on de-identified recordings and transcripts.
Otter.ai, #11 in the ranking · Visit Otter.ai →
Choose Fireflies.ai if
you want a stated no-training position on meeting data, published compliance certifications, and a free plan that advertises unlimited transcription, with enterprise options such as customer-chosen private storage.
Fireflies.ai, #7 in the ranking · Visit Fireflies.ai →
Where they differ
Free plan: 300 minutes or unlimited transcription
Otter's Basic plan gives 300 transcription minutes a month and only 3 lifetime audio or video file imports, with live transcription and the iOS and Android apps. Fireflies' Free plan lists unlimited transcription, though the figure carries an asterisk we could not resolve, plus limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of team storage and 20 AI credits. On the published numbers Fireflies offers more room to try the product.
Edge: Fireflies.ai
Entry paid price per seat
Otter Pro costs $8.33 per user per month on annual billing and $16.99 monthly. Fireflies Pro costs $10 per seat per month annually and $18 monthly. The gap is small but consistent at the entry level. One caution on the Otter page: it also shows a $4.17 promotional figure with an asterisk, and we did not read its terms, so we compare only the standard prices.
Edge: Otter.ai
Meeting data and AI training
Otter's privacy policy says it trains its proprietary AI on de-identified audio recordings and on transcriptions, which may contain personal information, and the policy we read describes no opt-out. Fireflies' privacy policy says personal information is not used for AI model training and that its vendors are contractually barred from using it for their own training. Its security page adds that AI vendors do not retain meeting data after processing. For confidential calls, this difference matters most.
Edge: Fireflies.ai
Meeting length and recording caps
Otter publishes concrete limits: Pro allows 1,200 in-app recording minutes a month and up to 90 minutes per meeting, while Business raises that to 4 hours per meeting with 3 concurrent meetings. Fireflies lists storage instead, 8,000 minutes per seat on Pro and unlimited on Business, and we could not verify any per-meeting length limit on the pages we read. The two are measured in different units, so we call this one even.
Edge: even
Enterprise security and compliance
Fireflies states SOC 2 Type II certification, GDPR compliance, 256-bit AES encryption at rest and HIPAA readiness with a signed BAA on Enterprise, plus private storage and custom retention. Otter lists SSO, SCIM, Domain Capture and HIPAA as an add-on on Enterprise, with the price on request. We could not read Otter's security page, so its certifications are unverified. Fireflies shows more evidence, at $39 per seat on annual billing.
Edge: Fireflies.ai
Tally: Otter.ai 1, Fireflies.ai 3, even 1.
When neither fits
Neither suits a team that needs its meeting data stored in the European Union. Otter says its cloud compute and storage run on Amazon Web Services in the United States, and Fireflies says it stores data on servers in the United States and other countries, with no EU region stated. MeetGeek and Fathom are alternatives to check against your own data-location requirements.
See MeetGeek and Fathom among the 16 products in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026.
Questions and answers
Does Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai have a free plan?
Yes, both do. Otter's Basic plan includes 300 monthly transcription minutes and 3 lifetime file imports. Fireflies' Free plan lists unlimited transcription with an asterisk, limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of team storage and 20 AI credits.
Which is cheaper, Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai?
Otter is cheaper on the entry paid plan. Otter Pro is $8.33 per user per month billed annually or $16.99 monthly, against $10 and $18 for Fireflies Pro. On Business the two are close: Otter is $19.99 annually or $30 monthly, Fireflies is $19 annually or $29 monthly.
Does Fireflies.ai train AI models on my meetings?
No, according to its own pages. The privacy policy says personal information is not used for AI model training and that vendors are contractually barred from using it for their own training. Otter's privacy policy, by contrast, says it trains its AI on de-identified recordings and transcriptions.
Do Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai support SSO?
Both list SSO and SCIM on their Enterprise plans only. Otter prices Enterprise on request after a demo. Fireflies lists Enterprise at $39 per seat per month on annual billing only, and says to contact sales.
Is Fireflies.ai HIPAA compliant?
Fireflies describes itself as HIPAA-ready on Enterprise with a signed BAA. Otter lists HIPAA compliance as an add-on to its Enterprise plan.
Sources
Prices, plan limits and product facts on this page were checked against the vendors' own pages on November 12, 2026. Vendors change both without notice, so treat the figures as of that date.
- Otter.ai pricing page: Otter plan prices, free plan limits, per-meeting caps, and which tier holds SSO, SCIM and the HIPAA add-on
- Otter.ai privacy policy: Otter's AI training on de-identified recordings and transcripts, AWS hosting in the United States, and the registered address
- Fireflies.ai pricing page: Fireflies plan prices, free plan limits, storage per seat, and Enterprise terms
- Fireflies.ai privacy policy: No AI training on personal information, vendor restrictions, and server locations in the United States and other countries
- Fireflies.ai security page: SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, HIPAA readiness with a BAA, encryption, and no training on meeting data
- MeetGeek pricing page: MeetGeek free and Business plan details mentioned as an alternative
- Fathom pricing page: Fathom Premium and Team prices mentioned as an alternative
- Fathom privacy page: Background reading on Fathom's data handling as an alternative