--- title: "Otter.ai Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra" description: "Is Otter.ai the right Transcription solution for you? Explore 103 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/202799/Otter/reviews/" page_type: "reviews" language: "en" --- Otter.ai 4.4 (103) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/202799/Otter/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated August 27th, 2026 # Reviews of Otter.ai Ease of use 4.6 Customer Service 4.0 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews KW Katherine W Project ManagerDesign, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: I used a free trial. “The new feature of recording and getting transcripts and a summary without having it in your meeting is great.“ April 10, 2026 KM Kaitlin M Content StrategistMarketing and Advertising, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “I can't figure out how to uninvite Otter to some of my events that are offline and don't have a conference call, even if I toggle the app off in specific events in the dashboard.“ December 10, 2024 KM Kaitlin M Content StrategistMarketing and Advertising, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “I love the instant transcription feature and the fact that you can 'set and forget' Otter with your meetings -- the app will ask to join your calls and take notes, summarize your conversations, and can even take screenshots so you don't forget details.“ December 10, 2024 BP Brad P CMOMarketing and Advertising, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “Weak Action Item Detection – Otter rarely captured the real “next steps” or key takeaways from meetings, which meant we still had to manually review everything.“ May 28, 2025 KW Katherine W Project ManagerDesign, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: I used a free trial. “The summaries from meetings are thorough and help me to just focus on what's being said instead of taking notes.“ April 10, 2026 Jakkie G FreelancerArts and Crafts, Self-employedUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “It's also pretty pricey if you're not going to link it to other apps, which I don't.“ May 9, 2026 BP Brad P CMOMarketing and Advertising, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “Mobile App for In-Person Recording – Being able to use the Otter app to capture live, in-person conversations on the go was incredibly convenient for meetings outside the office.“ May 28, 2025 MA Mohamad A Team LeaderHigher Education, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Because of accents and background noise, the system often makes mistakes and fails to recognize speech correctly "Speaker", thus impacting the accuracy.“ April 5, 2025 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 103 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Jakkie G. Freelancer Arts and Crafts Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Helpful Transcribing App" May 9, 2026 4.0 Pros It ties recording and transcribing into one app. It's easy to use and I love the export options for both the audio files and the transcriptions as a PDF or word doc. Cons The transcriptions can run together or be a little messy, but that's true of every transcribing app. It's still vastly better than having to time stamp and revisit audio every time you're trying to find something. It's also pretty pricey if you're not going to link it to other apps, which I don't. The value might be better for businesses that use it more frequently. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Secretary Entertainment Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Otter is great for large meetings " July 31, 2025 5.0 Useful when it works, can sometimes become overwhelmed with transcriptions and can't differentiate between speakers, time codes not always accurate. But still does save time from manual note taking. Pros Otter is great for meeting integration and note taking, transcripts and especially for annotation and autmated summarys. Cons Notes that are emailed to members after meetings are only accessible with an account. This is not always suitable when meeting with those outside the organisations. Switched from [Trint](https://www.capterra.com/p/179896/Trint/) Testing various ai transcription programs and found Otter to be must easier to deal with Review Source KE Karen E. Member Education Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Summarize your meeting in seconds" August 20, 2026 5.0 It was been a positive experience; at the beginning it might be overwhelming but it has been really positive after all. Pros I like the way that it summarize meeting on real time as well as the summaries created after the meeting ends. It highlights key points and divide the whole meeting into sections that can be explored by the user. Cons Sometimes it can spam the rest of the members in the meeting as it automatically share al the key highlights and summaries with everyone. Review Source BP Brad P. CMO Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Solid Tool, But We Outgrew It" May 28, 2025 3.0 We used Otter.ai for a long time and appreciated its reliable transcription and note-taking capabilities. It served us well for basic meeting capture, and we liked the ability to upload audio and use the mobile app for in-person recordings. That said, as our workflow became more complex, we needed a tool that didn’t just transcribe but also understood the context of conversations and helped us take action. We recently switched to Fathom, and the difference was immediate—full video recording on Google Meet, smarter summaries, and better action item tracking really leveled up our post-meeting process. Otter is a great starting point, especially for simple transcription needs. But if you’re looking for deeper insight and follow-through from your meetings, you may eventually find yourself looking for more. Pros •Mobile App for In-Person Recording – Being able to use the Otter app to capture live, in-person conversations on the go was incredibly convenient for meetings outside the office. (Note we are in a single consent state and are not required to inform the other party of the recording). •Audio Uploads – The option to upload pre-recorded audio for transcription was helpful, especially when we needed to process recordings after the fact. •Simple and Straightforward – The interface was easy to use, and it got the job done for basic transcription needs. That said, both the mobile recording and upload features had limitations, restricted durations, less context awareness, and occasional accuracy issues with action items or complex conversations. Cons •Limited Monthly Minutes – Having to track usage and stay within a set number of transcription minutes added unnecessary stress to our workflow. •Transcription Accuracy Was Hit or Miss – Even in clean audio environments, transcripts often topped out around 85% accuracy, requiring frequent edits. •Weak Action Item Detection – Otter rarely captured the real “next steps” or key takeaways from meetings, which meant we still had to manually review everything. •Shallow Context Understanding – It transcribed what was said, but lacked the ability to understand the why or how, which limited its usefulness for deeper meeting insights. •Limited Value for Complex Conversations – In meetings with layered topics or fast-paced discussion, Otter often lost the thread and produced generic summaries. Review Source MA Mohamad A. Team Leader Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Otter Can Not Only Write Your Words. Yet explain them" April 5, 2025 5.0 Otter excels at fast, accurate transcription. Perfect for meetings and interviews, provided the audio is clear. Some errors need manual correction. Pros Otter produces impressively accurate transcripts, especially for clear audio recordings. Using the search function saves me time. Fast processing is a significant benefit. Cons Because of accents and background noise, the system often makes mistakes and fails to recognize speech correctly "Speaker", thus impacting the accuracy. The editing tools are super basic, so fixing things is a pain. It can be pricey. Switched from [Dragon Professional Individual](https://www.capterra.com/p/251641/Dragon-Professional-Individual/) The prior dragon version lacked interactivity and accessibility; therefore, a cloud-based alternative was necessary. Review Source KM Kelly M. Founder E-Learning Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Inconsistent Results and Limited Usability" July 7, 2025 2.0 My experience with Otter has been underwhelming. While it offers basic note capture, it often misses the mark on structure, clarity, and delivering usable summaries. I’ve found more value using other AI-powered notetakers that do a better job identifying action items, segmenting conversations, and maintaining formatting that’s ready to share with teams. Pros Otter does a decent job at capturing general meeting notes, especially when conversations are clear and well-paced. It can be helpful in keeping a record of discussions for later reference, and the automatic syncing is convenient across devices. Cons The biggest issue is the inconsistency in transcription accuracy and the lack of clarity around action items. Notes often feel disorganized or overly generalized, which makes it harder to pull key insights or next steps. Compared to other AI notetakers on the market, Otter lacks structure and context-aware features that help users make sense of what was discussed. Alternatives considered [Fireflies](https://www.capterra.com/p/197037/Fireflies/) Reason for choosing Otter.ai Need to see other Ai note takers and do a comparison Switched from [Fathom](https://www.capterra.com/p/276054/Fathom/) meets requirements and needs for my company Review Source KM Kaitlin M. Content Strategist Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Easy transcription and recording " December 10, 2024 5.0 I can login to my Otter dashboard and see at a glance which calls are upcoming, past recordings and transcriptions, and available features. It's fairly user-friendly. Otter is now my go-to for recording and transcribing calls. Otter timestamps, generates notes, and identifies action items and highlights from my meetings. Pros I love the instant transcription feature and the fact that you can 'set and forget' Otter with your meetings -- the app will ask to join your calls and take notes, summarize your conversations, and can even take screenshots so you don't forget details. Cons I can't figure out how to uninvite Otter to some of my events that are offline and don't have a conference call, even if I toggle the app off in specific events in the dashboard. Otter still tries to attend the event in my calendar reminding me when my kid's kindergarten starts and stops. :) I've toggled it 'off' for this event in the dashboard, but that hasn't resolved the issue. I consider this to be a minor problem given how powerful the app is for my workflow. By the way, I haven't had an issue removing or uninviting Otter from a video conference call, JUST in-person events, which Otter can't 'attend' anyway! LOL. Alternatives considered [Descript](https://www.capterra.com/p/230702/Descript/) Reason for choosing Otter.ai I considered a few transcription apps and services, and Otter is the most intuitive to me and runs with very little input and control. Otter also has a great free tier. Switched from [Descript](https://www.capterra.com/p/230702/Descript/) Rev charges per minute even for occasional transcription, whether human or AI generated. Descript had paid plans, also. Otter has a robust free tier and that covers most of my needs. When I need more, I'll upgrade to a paid plan. Review Source KW Katherine W. Project Manager Design Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "Loving the new features! " April 10, 2026 4.0 I'm new to Otter, but so far it's been very helpful. The summaries from meetings are thorough and help me to just focus on what's being said instead of taking notes. Pros The new feature of recording and getting transcripts and a summary without having it in your meeting is great. Their email is right, that sometimes that can be awkward, and when you're just looking for a summary, it's perfect. Cons Having it auto-join all of my meetings, and it took me a bit to figure out how to turn that off. Now, I only have it join very specific meetings, and I use the other record feature more frequently. Review Source DD Dennis D. Business Owner Information Technology and Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Very good and useful AI tool" July 4, 2025 5.0 So far my experience has been pretty good. It was very accurate and created very good transcripts of multiple recordings and meetings for me. Pros I like how easily Otter takes a recording of a meeting, podcast, etc and is able to quickly produce a transcript that is very accurate and correct. Cons The list of apps that it integrates with is relatively low. I am sure this will increase with time but right now I could see that being an issue for some. Review Source BD Benjamin D. Owner CEO Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Powerful AI transcribing platform" February 16, 2025 5.0 It has been excellent overall once I figured out all its capabilities, which took some time. Pros for a relatively low-cost point, it does so much with regards to transcribing calls and online meetings as well as uses AI to generate summaries, and inquiries can be made as well. Cons Lack of initial training and onboarding were lacking, which could have been helpful in utilizing the product more fully from the get-go. Review Source LF Lori F. Parks and Recreation Director Government Administration Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "True time saver" March 14, 2025 4.0 Just renewed for another year. Saves me time on typing minutes and makes my job easier. Would recommend to others. Pros Transcribes meetings so I do not have to take minutes. Easy to use and upload recordings. Price is good as other products were more expensive Cons It often transcribes the wrong words. I did some research and had to purchase a better microphone. I realize that it will not get everything correct but some times it is really bad. Review Source MV Mariana V. Social Media Lead Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Easy-to-use with calendar integrations" April 23, 2025 5.0 Overall good experience! I feel like it has improved so much and the calendar integrations are really useful. Pros Really easy to use. Calendar integrations are really useful Cons Sometimes transcriptions are not accurate if there are too many people in the meeting. Review Source MK Mark K. Manager Online Media Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Generally accurate transcription and easy to use service" August 20, 2021 4.0 Overall, I'm happy with Otter. It has sped up my work tenfold - instead of having to sight and transcribe interviews for an hour and a half I'm able to get it automatically transcribed in no time and then just spend 10-15 minutes cleaning it up. Excellent product - accuracy is good, speed is good and usability is excellent. Pros Otter is incredibly easy to use, where in 'live transcription' or recorded transcription. The transcription itself is generally accurate. There are mistakes (I'd be astounded if there weren't) but it gets the transcription generally correct and then it is a pretty easy process to skim through it and edit the text as appropriate (editing is an absolute breeze!) Cons The payment tiers are a little restrictive - you don't get much for free with the service. Review Source CJ Courtney J. Consultant Professional Training & Coaching Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Speak Your Piece and Let Otter Do the Heavy Lifting" October 20, 2023 5.0 Overall, Otter has been one of my favorite tools in my daily routine. The ease of use and ability to seamlessly go from my desktop, to phone and back without missing a beat is testament to the app. The speech recognition is amazing and transcription is the most accurate I've used. Pros It's ease of use and flexibility. I use it for everything. After being a writer for more than 30yrs, I had a stroke that left me struggling for a bit to write for long periods of time like I used to. When I found Otter a few years ago, it immediately allowed me to speak exactly what I wanted to say, and having it transcribed and ready to edit and share was incredible. I tell everyone I know about Otter. Cons Can't do a good search for older files, or much with video, on the lower tier plans. Reason for choosing Otter.ai Better speech recognition and Transcription Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Founder & CEO E-Learning Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great option for transcribing and easily keeping track of minutes of meeting" March 10, 2022 5.0 Pros It keeps track of all the minutes of meetings by transcribing them in real-time. One can easily search the word and go to the timestamp of the video rather than watching the whole video to search for something. Transcribing the meeting becomes really powerful as it saves time for a recap and filters out all the important information with the advanced search option. I like that one can directly record an audio for transcription without needing to connect to meeting app. Cons In my experience the quality of transcription I get in Otter varies a lot depending on the microphone or headset I am using. For some headsets, the transcription does not work as well when compared to others even though all my headsets are of good quality. The quality of transcription varies especially as different people in meetings can have different speaker volumes and accents. The upload time for pre-recorded zoom videos is too long in my experience, take about an hour for a 1 Gb file. Reason for choosing Otter.ai To transcribe important meetings, referring to and searching particular information discussed within the meeting, to save my time. Review Source RT Ricky T. minister Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Buyer beware" May 6, 2024 1.0 Poor got my money and don't respond to my customer support requests Pros It was good until they changed the terms after 2 months of new contract. Then they instituted limits and would not respond to my customer support requests. Cons It was good until they changed the terms after 2 months of new contract. Then they instituted limits and would not respond to my customer support requests. Review Source KH Kayla H. Peer Support Human Resources Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Otter " June 9, 2023 5.0 Accurate on point note taking so I’m not missing important information during state and supervisory meetings. Pros The feature that I found to be most impactful for this software was the fact that you won’t miss any key points during the meeting. Any important details shared you’ve got. Cons I don’t like that it automatically invites itself to all my zoom meetings once its synced to my calendar Review Source VR Verified Reviewer owner Photography Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Otter.ai – the time saver" October 3, 2023 5.0 Brilliant. The ease of transcribing my voice notes into text is outstanding. Pros using the mobile app I can transcribe notes on the go. I do this often when I'm on the mountain walking the dogs. :-) Cons The transcribed text sometimes gets bunched together. This is by no means a serious issue as it takes little time to reformat the text. Review Source KS Kiefer S. Board Game Designer Design Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Otter is the best app for people who are bad at taking notes" October 13, 2020 4.0 I use Otter whenever I am playtesting my board games. I open the app, set it down, push record, and then I’m able to be involved with the people sitting at the table and give them my full attention. I never have to worry about writing down notes that I don’t understand or can’t read later on because Otter has taken care of it all for me. Pros Being able to set my phone down and hold a conversation without having to pause and write stuff down. I love being able to replay the recording while reading what Otter typed up and edit it if there were any errors. I also loved how it somehow recognizes who is speaking and assigns colors and separates their dialogue in the transcript automatically. Cons Since this is an AI assistant that responds to voice, there are bound to be problems. Otter is not perfect. People with accents and people that sound a lot alike don’t always register right on the transcript. However, it is so simple to edit your transcript afterwards, this issue becomes a non-issue. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Associate Professor Higher Education Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Support is so lacking it is not worth your time and money" June 12, 2023 1.0 Awful. If they cannot fix your problem, they ghost you. Pros What they say they can do is great. Unfortunately, the support is horrific. Cons I purchased Otter a year ago. I was able to transcribe a few videos. Then in early spring I tried to transcribe the rest of my videos. They would not upload. I went back and forth with support trying to get this fixed. The issue was not fixed and I was told it was being forwarded to someone else. No one ever got back to me and it has been a month. I sent another email and still no response. At this point my subscription will be up soon and I will not renew. Review Source JL Julian L. Director Management Consulting Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Has its limitations, but a valuable tool!" July 20, 2021 3.0 Efficient back-up to call/meeting notes. Works well on mobile (for recording & playback; you may want something bigger for interrogating recordings). Pros Combines audio recording with transcription. This is useful as it enables you to search your recording for phrases or keywords. Being able to click on any section of the transcription text & hear that part of the recording is also helpful. Cons Transcription quality is mixed. Do not use if you're expecting perfection & are unwilling to replay sections... Review Source JM Joy M. Strategic Event and Marketing Director Events Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great product for reviewing meeting info" January 25, 2023 4.0 It's been outstanding as in meetings it's sometimes hard to get all the information needed. Pros I like the option for both text and voice for review. It has been very easy to navigate through the notes and helps with reporting. Cons There haven't been any cons to the software. Nothing at this point that I can say I dislike. It's a click of a button and your ready to go. Review Source MB Michael B. Game Designer Design Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Perfect for Taking Notes" October 27, 2020 5.0 I now don't take any notes. I just hit record and have a natural conversation, which is so much more useful in my line of work. Pros I love the ability to take photos of something that will appear in the transcription exactly where we are discussing it. The ability to recognize past speakers is really useful. It does a lot even in the free version. Cons They recently started restricting free users to a transcription limit. It's not too bad, and you can work around it by just started a new voice recording, but it's less helpful than before. Not enough to stop using it though. Review Source NB Neshica B. Coach Professional Training & Coaching Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Easy to use and accurate" January 26, 2022 5.0 I use the software to transcribe interviews for research purposes. It gives me full control and is more cost effective than a human-transcription service. Pros In South Africa there are many accents and Otter has been excellent at decoding these accents. The tool is very accurate and editing is easy especially with the various playback options. The interface is clean and easy to use. Cons For the purposes I use it for Otter has the functionality I need. I really can't think of things I don't like. There is functionality that I don't use but I can definitely see how it could be useful in other situations. Review Source MN Maggie N. Director Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "transkriptoreasy" January 21, 2023 5.0 it is not really brilliant when it comes to feedback. too many mistakes Pros the recorder that is on the actual app and the fact that I can record and immediately upload my own voice as the lack of a better word - the Algorithm Cons That it only does English and European languages and no African languages Review Source Similar Products Featured