The best Otter.ai alternatives in 2026

Why people leave Otter

Otter.ai is one of the original AI meeting tools. It has live transcription, apps on every platform, a Chrome extension, an MCP server, and a notetaker that joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet for you.

The common reasons to look elsewhere:

• The bot. Otter's notetaker joins calls as a participant. Its desktop app for Mac and Windows can record without one, but the bot is still how most people meet Otter.
• Minute caps. The free plan gives 300 minutes a month and stops each conversation at 30 minutes. Pro gives 1,200 minutes and 90 minutes per conversation.
• Price. Pro is $16.99 a month, or $8.33 a month billed yearly.
• Notes only. Otter writes notes, but you still do the follow-up.

We make Collabute and list it first. Facts about the other apps come from their own websites, checked in November 2026.

1. Collabute: no bot, and the meeting turns into work

Collabute records your meetings on your Mac, including Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, and gives you a transcript with speaker labels. No bot ever joins.

Plans count meetings rather than minutes. After the call, Collabute turns what was decided into a Linear or Jira ticket, posts the update to Slack, and can hand the brief to a coding agent like Cursor, Claude or Devin.

You also get Flow, dictation into any app that is free and unlimited, and on Pro, Obvee, a voice assistant that does tasks in your browser and Mac apps when you ask out loud.

Price: Lite is $9 a month for 10 meetings, Pro is $29 a month for 100 meetings and 100 Obvee minutes, and Ultra is $99 a month for unlimited meetings. You can try Lite or Pro for $2 for 7 days. See pricing.

Where Otter is better: Otter works on the web and on your phone, shows a live transcript, and its bot can record a meeting you can't attend. Collabute is Mac only for now and records only calls your Mac is in. See Collabute vs Otter.

2. Granola: the bot-free notepad

Granola never uses a bot. You type rough notes during the call, and Granola fills them in from the transcript. You can chat with one meeting or many, and it runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and Apple Watch.

The free plan keeps 30 days of history, and Business is $14 a month for unlimited history and integrations.

Where Otter is better: live transcripts, file imports, and recording meetings you don't join. See Granola alternatives.

3. Jamie: for in-person meetings and EU hosting

Jamie runs on your device without a bot and captures online calls and in-person meetings from your laptop or phone. It supports more than 99 languages, and data is hosted in the EU.

The free plan gives 10 AI notes a month for meetings up to 30 minutes. Plus is listed at €21 a month, and Pro at €39 a month billed yearly.

Where Otter is better: live transcription, and a bot that can record meetings you can't attend.

4. Fathom: the best free plan

If Otter's minute caps are the problem, Fathom's free plan fixes them: unlimited recordings and transcriptions, AI summaries, clips and search across calls.

Like Otter, it uses a bot by default, with bot-free capture in beta on Mac. Premium is $20 a month, or $16 a month billed yearly.

Where Otter is better: its bot-free desktop app for Mac and Windows is not a beta.

5. Fireflies.ai: for sales calls

Fireflies is Otter's closest rival. It has a notetaker bot, a searchable call library, CRM integrations and conversation analytics. Its desktop app records from your computer's audio without a bot, and its Chrome extension can record without the bot too.

There is a free plan. Pro is about $18 a month, or $10 a month billed yearly.

Where Otter is better: if you don't need sales features, Otter is simpler to live with.

6. MacWhisper: for transcribing files offline

If you use Otter mostly to transcribe recordings, such as interviews, lectures or voice memos, MacWhisper may be a better fit. It transcribes audio and video files on your Mac with local models, so nothing is uploaded.

It can also record calls without a bot and dictate into any app. There is a free version, and Pro is a one-time €64 on its website.

Where Otter is better: AI summaries, sharing and search across a team's meetings. MacWhisper is a personal tool for your own Mac.

What to check before you switch

Leaving Otter is easy, but a few things are worth doing in the right order:

• Download your transcripts first. Save the conversations you want to keep before you cancel or downgrade. Most alternatives won't import Otter history.
• Remove the bot from your calendar. If Otter's notetaker auto-joins your meetings, turn that off, or it will keep showing up in calls after you switch.
• Know what you give up. A bot can record a meeting you aren't in. Bot-free tools, including Collabute, Granola and Jamie, only record calls your own device is in.
• Compare limits the right way. Otter counts minutes. Collabute counts meetings. Jamie counts AI notes and caps meeting length on its free plan. Fathom's free plan doesn't cap recordings. Work out your own month before you compare prices.
• Check your other devices. If you record on your phone with Otter today, pick an alternative with a phone app, such as Granola or Jamie.

Then run your next week of meetings in the new app. One week of real calls tells you more than any comparison table, ours included.

Which alternative to pick

• You want no bot, plus dictation and tickets from decisions: Collabute.
• You want bot-free notes on your phone too: Granola.
• You meet in person, or need EU hosting: Jamie.
• You want unlimited recordings for free: Fathom.
• You run sales calls: Fireflies.
• You transcribe files, offline: MacWhisper.

For more on bots, see the best AI meeting notetakers without a bot. If dictation matters as much as meetings, see the best dictation apps for Mac.