--- title: "Otter Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra" description: "Is Otter the right Transcription solution for you? Explore 102 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 4.4 (102) [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 July 20th, 2026 # Reviews of Otter 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 102 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 DA Drew A. Founder E-Learning Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "A Must-Have Tool for Productivity" January 7, 2025 5.0 Using Otter has been a game-changer for my productivity. Its ability to transcribe meetings and notes accurately has saved me countless hours. Pros Otter is incredibly user-friendly and intuitive. It has streamlined my workflow significantly. Cons While Otter is excellent, it occasionally struggles with accurately transcribing complex technical terms. However, this is a minor issue compared to its overall utility. Review Source BR Ben R. HR Manager Legal Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Integrates well" December 23, 2024 5.0 Pros Integrates well with MS products. Provides great summary reports. Cons Need to manually select which meetings to attend. Review Source LE Liora E. Reporter Media Production Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A great companion for journalists " September 30, 2022 5.0 Otter is an amazing tool for journalists on a deadline. It allows you to navigate through a transcript relatively easily, play back excerpts, and make corrections to the transcript inside the interface. It’s not easy to organize conversations, however, and that’s a downside. Pros Otter cuts down the time it takes to navigate through interviews. It lets you record and transcribe conversations in real time and you can highlight phrases or sentences during the recording. That’s a fantastic feature for identifying phrases and quotes you may need later. The keyword search is also really helpful and you can pause the recording at any time and restart it. It’s a lifesaver for long, complicated meetings. Cons It’s not perfect. Otter has a hard time with accents and fragmented speech. You still have to review the excerpts you plan to use, because Otter routinely drops words or misunderstands technical phrases. Review Source JD Julio D. CFO Analyst Accounting Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Help for Video Calls without taking notes" January 5, 2024 4.0 Overall the experiences a great experience, I find that the software does what it has to do, which is transcribe the meetings know who is talking give summaries of the meetings in my opinion is the best feature I find that the free version which gives you about eight meetings month is low enough so that if you needed more you buy the plan. Pros I normally have about 10 to 15 meetings a week and before using order I actually had a notebook for each call, forgot most of the data that I had to write within the meeting but at the end I used Otter, and completely relied on the transcription software Cons I find that sometimes it does not transcribe words perfectly well, and when you go back, it's hard to actually know what the person was talking about. It has improved, though. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Transcrriptionist Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best Software for Transcription and Note Taking " July 27, 2022 5.0 Pros This software has a good user interface for both computer and mobile devices. Its playback option is a unique feature along with its capability of transcribing in real time. Cons It is a good software given the task it accomplishes yet some features like the upload time of video files could be upgraded at a more convenient position. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Student Religious Institutions Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great for the Classroom" July 28, 2021 5.0 Pros I am a second career student and can't remember things as well as I used to. I user Otter to record my classes and then listen to the parts I struggled to remember. It works out great, even if I am not sitting in the front row. Even when the transcription isn't before because of uncommon words, the audio is strong enough to allow me to override the text. Cons Sometimes it seems like the transcription can take a while. I synced my calendar, but it started picking up things I didn't want to record and became annoying, so I disconnected it. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Consutant Information Technology and Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Amazing AI tool for meetings" October 10, 2023 5.0 Using Otter in zoom calls is great, its like being there but actually not. You can then with AI filter the transcription with is accurate. It provides a summary with screenshots and participants Pros \- Accurate transcription in real time, integrates with zoom- Super easy to use- Variety of features, including speaker identification, smart notes, and search and share- Affordable pricing plans Cons Accuracy can decrease for noisy recordings or for recordings with accents. Also limited language support. Otter currently only supports transcription for English, Spanish, French, German, and Japanese. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "If you work for a remotely connected company, this is essential" November 18, 2022 4.0 This app is helpful in picking up keywords and finding the location in the zoom call where that keyword was discussed. But i think without the zoom recording alongside the transcripts, they are not much help for our needs. It would be interesting to see how this app's transcriptions compare with competitors like Fathom. Pros With so many zoom meetings, it's really helpful to be able to search transcripts to see who said what, or what the final word was on a discussion. Cons The AI transcription could be a lot better. The punctuation is off and maybe people talk too fast but it's rarely accurate. You have to do a lot of deciphering to determine what people we really saying, or listen along with the zoom recording. I don't know if all ai note taking apps are like this though. I also wish that it would capture everyone's name from the zoom meetings, for some reason only some names are captured and others are just listed as "Speaker 1" or "Speaker 2",etc. Review Source aS andrew S. N/A Financial Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Otter is amazing " May 10, 2023 5.0 Tremendous. Pros Everything it is so good I can ramble on about it forever Cons Genuinely, I have 0 complaints. Everything about this software is amazing, it even links to my calendar and pre-names my interviews Review Source ES Ed S. CVO Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "I never miss documenting an idea" April 26, 2022 5.0 It's been amazing from the first time I used the app to capture a business conversation and it began transcribing in real time right on my phone home screen Pros Audio recording while ideating outloud and now connected to my zoom account which auto transcribes meetings Cons support is slow to respond to tickets with questions Reason for choosing Otter better features Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Manager Management Consulting Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Accurate and Effienct tool for Transcriptions" January 7, 2022 5.0 Pros The software is reasonably priced and does quite a decent job of trascriptions. Its quick and reasonably accurate for a first draft. Cons Nothing to not like about it. the transcriptions are not 100%, but thats fine. Sure beats other tools out there at the same price range. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Founder Accounting Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "Otter Experience" August 8, 2024 5.0 Pros You don't have to worry about taking notes during meetings. Cons The free subscription is very limited if you attend meetings regularly which is capped at 300 monthly transcription minutes; 30 minutes per conversation. Review Source CE Charles E. Owner Hospitality Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Poor install" August 12, 2024 2.0 Not great the set up from the provider and the third-party provider Epos now was really exhausting and we currently are still off-line because we cannot differentiate between breakfast and lunch cut off period Pros Not much really, while The back of house looks easy to use, I found it in reality not Cons The install and set up where you only get an allocated half an hour from an advisor was no good Review Source BM Bonnie M. Owner and Editor Publishing Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Easiest to use, has all the features I want" January 14, 2023 5.0 I use Otter to make transcripts for my podcast--and to allow me to quickly review the content of an episode without re-listening to it. It's easy to use and not too expensive. Pros Otter makes uploading and transcribing easy. I tried free trials on a couple of other transcription sites, and none of them were as intuitive or clean interface-wise as Otter. The speech recognition is pretty good, and it's very easy to edit when needed. Cons I would rather be able to pay a per-hour cost than a subscription, but that's not a big deal. With the annual subscription, the price is manageable. Reason for choosing Otter Otter had the best free trial, and the trial was enough to convert me. When my trial was up, I tried a couple of other options, but none of them were as good, so I went back to Otter and bought the pro plan Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Customer Service Rep. Telecommunications Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great for transcribing" June 7, 2021 4.0 Pros I stumbled upon this while looking for a software to transcribe an audio. It does the job wonderfully. I also noticed that you can connect different apps like google calendar and zoom and set reminders to record meetings which I love. It's also user friendly. Cons Not enough minutes for the Basic(Free) account. Review Source Similar Products Featured