The short answer
Otter.ai is cheaper and simpler; Fireflies.ai is more powerful for teams that live in their CRM. Otter Pro undercuts Fireflies on both monthly ($16.99 vs $18) and annual billing ($8.33 vs $10 per user), with a straightforward free tier of 300 minutes a month. But Fireflies brings uncapped transcription on paid plans, deeper CRM integrations, and an automation layer (AskFred, AI Skills, Voice Agents) that Otter doesn’t try to match.
Bottom line: solo users and simplicity-first teams should pick Otter — it’s the cheaper, easier entry. Sales teams and anyone who needs meeting data flowing into Salesforce or HubSpot automatically should pick Fireflies.
| Feature | Otter.ai | Fireflies.ai | Who wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 300 min/month, 30-min cap per meeting | Unlimited transcription, 400 min team storage, limited AI credits | Otter (more usable free minutes) |
| Pro pricing | $16.99/month monthly, $8.33/month annual | $18/month monthly, $10/seat/month annual | Otter |
| Business pricing | $30/month monthly, $19.99/month annual | $29/month monthly, $19/seat/month annual | Fireflies (marginally cheaper monthly) |
| Enterprise | Custom quote, SSO and admin controls | $39/seat/month (annual only), SSO, SCIM, HIPAA, private storage | Fireflies (listed price beats “call us”) |
| What’s metered | Minutes (1,200 min/month on Pro, 6,000 on Business) | AI credits (storage caps: 8,000 min per seat on Pro) | Tie — both meters, differently |
| Real-time transcription | Yes, with live in-call editing | Yes | Otter |
| AI summaries / Q&A | Yes (OtterPilot, AI Chat) | Yes (AskFred across your whole meeting library) | Tie |
| CRM integrations | Salesforce, HubSpot | Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, and more, plus workflow automation | Fireflies |
| Platform support | Zoom, Meet, Teams | Zoom, Meet, Teams, Webex, plus Chrome extension | Fireflies |
| Recruiting / ATS integrations | No | Native ATS connections | Fireflies |
What each one actually is
Otter.ai: the straightforward note-taker
Otter.ai does one job and does it cleanly: it joins your calls and turns them into transcripts, summaries, and action items in real time. You can edit the transcript live during the call, ask its AI Chat questions about what was discussed, and import a handful of audio files. The free tier — 300 minutes a month — is genuinely usable for light use, and Pro at $8.33/month on annual billing is one of the cheapest paid plans in the category. What you won’t find is depth: the integrations are thinner, and the automation story mostly ends at “here’s your summary.”
Fireflies.ai: the meeting-intelligence hub
Fireflies starts where Otter stops. Yes, it transcribes meetings, but its paid plans remove transcription limits entirely and add an automation layer: AI summaries pushed into your CRM, task tools, and workflows automatically; AskFred, an assistant that answers questions across your entire meeting library; and AI Skills and Voice Agents that turn conversation data into actions. The free plan is generous on transcription (unlimited) but caps team storage at 400 minutes and rations AI credits — it’s a trial of the workflow, not a free-forever tool. It’s also the more complex product, with a steeper learning curve.
Where Otter clearly wins
Price. Otter Pro is cheaper than Fireflies Pro on both billing cycles — $16.99 vs $18 monthly, $8.33 vs $10 annual. For a solo user or a small team that just needs notes, that gap is real money over a year.
Simplicity. Otter’s interface and plan structure are easier to grasp. Minutes are a concept everyone understands; Fireflies’ AI credits and storage tiers take a session to figure out.
Free-tier minutes. 300 minutes a month of full transcription beats Fireflies’ unlimited-but-storage-capped free plan for casual users. Note the catch: Otter caps each meeting at 30 minutes on the free plan, so it cuts off standard hour-long calls.
Where Fireflies clearly wins
Unlimited transcription on paid plans. Otter caps you at 1,200 minutes/month on Pro and 6,000 on Business. Fireflies Pro doesn’t meter transcription at all — if your team records every call, that ceiling never appears.
CRM and workflow automation. Fireflies pushes structured summaries into Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho automatically and adds recruiting ATS integrations Otter doesn’t match. For sales teams, this is the difference between a note-taker and a revenue-intelligence tool.
Transparent enterprise pricing. Fireflies lists its Enterprise tier outright ($39/seat/month, annual only, with SSO, SCIM, HIPAA, and private storage). Otter makes you call sales.
Which should you pick?
- Pick Otter if: you’re a solo user or small team, you want the cheapest paid plan in the category, you value a simple interface, or you edit transcripts live during calls.
- Pick Fireflies if: you’re on a sales or recruiting team, you need meeting data flowing automatically into your CRM, you record more than ~20 hours of meetings a month, or you need HIPAA-compliant meeting storage.
- Consider both: run each one’s free tier for a week of real meetings — the one whose summary format your team actually reads is the one to pay for.
Frequently asked questions
Is Fireflies or Otter cheaper?
Otter is cheaper at the Pro tier: $16.99/month monthly or $8.33/month on annual billing, versus Fireflies’ $18/month monthly or $10/seat/month annual. At the Business tier they’re nearly tied ($30 vs $29 monthly; $19.99 vs $19 annual).
Can I use Otter or Fireflies for free?
Both have free plans. Otter gives 300 transcription minutes a month with a 30-minute cap per meeting. Fireflies gives unlimited transcription but only 400 minutes of team storage and limited AI credits. Neither free plan includes the full AI summary workflow.
Which is better for sales teams?
Fireflies. Its CRM integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho), automatic summary push into workflows, and recruiting ATS connections are built for revenue teams. Otter covers the CRM basics but not the automation layer.
Do they work with Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet?
Both cover the big three. Fireflies also supports Webex and has a Chrome extension for capturing audio directly. Otter’s free tier caps meetings at 30 minutes, so check that against your average call length.
Which has better transcription accuracy?
Published claims put them close: Fireflies advertises ~90%, Otter roughly 85-92% on clean audio. Real-world results vary with accents, crosstalk, and background noise. The more important differentiator is what each does with the transcript after it’s generated.
Research reviewed October 2026. Pricing changes — verify on each company’s site before you subscribe.