Fireflies vs Otter: which one should you pick?
Full disclosure: I make MeetMouse, which competes with both of these sideways. It writes your notes on your Mac and coaches you during the call. I don't win by trashing either one, so this is the comparison I'd want if I were picking between them.
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People search "Fireflies vs Otter" because the two look identical from the outside: a bot joins your Zoom, a transcript shows up afterwards, there's an AI chat on top. The difference is who they're built for. Otter is a memory for you. Fireflies is a system for your sales manager.
What each tool actually is
Otter records and transcribes your meetings through its bot, then files everything into a searchable workspace. It's been doing this longer than almost anyone, and search across months of conversations is the thing it does best. Think of it as a memory: for you first, and for your team if you share.
Fireflies records the same way, then goes corporate. Transcripts flow into CRM records, calls get scored, managers get dashboards of talk time and topics across every rep. Think of it as infrastructure for a revenue team. The individual rep is not really the customer; the person running the team is.
Fireflies vs Otter at a glance
| Otter | Fireflies | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Individuals and small teams who search transcripts | Sales teams and their managers |
| Free plan | 300 min/month, 30 min per conversation, your 25 most recent | Unlimited transcription, limited AI summaries, 400 min storage per team |
| Entry paid plan | Pro $16.99/mo, or $8.33/mo billed annually | Pro $18/seat/mo, or $10 billed annually |
| Team plan | Business $30/user/mo, or $19.99 billed annually | Business $29/seat/mo, or $19 billed annually |
| Pro limits | 1,200 min/month, 90 min per meeting | 8,000 min of storage per seat |
| Bot joins the call | Yes | Yes |
| CRM sync | Salesforce and HubSpot on paid plans | Deep. It's the product |
| Manager dashboards and call scoring | Lighter | Yes |
| Where your meetings live | Otter's cloud | Fireflies' cloud and your CRM |
The free plans, honestly
This is where most people start, so it's worth being precise. Otter's free plan is 300 minutes a month, which is about five one-hour meetings. Except it isn't, because each conversation stops at 30 minutes. If your calls run long, the free plan is really a trial.
Fireflies' free plan transcribes without a monthly minute cap, which sounds better, but storage is 400 minutes for the whole team and AI summaries are limited. You'll hit the storage wall in a week or two of real use.
My take: neither free plan is meant to be lived on. If free is the requirement, Fathom's free plan is more generous than both.
Where Otter wins
- Search. If the job is "find what was said three months ago," Otter does it with less setup and less cost.
- One person. Otter Pro at $8.33 a month billed annually is the cheapest serious plan here. Fireflies is really a per-seat team decision.
- Simplicity. Fewer knobs. You don't need an admin to get value out of it.
Where Fireflies wins
- The pipeline. Automatic CRM logging, deal context and scorecards. If you manage revenue, this is the machine.
- Team analytics. Talk time, topics and trends across every rep's calls, in one place.
- No monthly minute meter on transcription. Otter counts minutes on every plan below Business; Fireflies meters storage instead.
My verdict
If you're one person, pick Otter. If you run a sales team and live in the CRM, pick Fireflies. If you're one person and you're looking at Fireflies, you're probably buying a truck to go get groceries.
And if you haven't tried the free stuff yet: try Fathom's free plan first. It might be all you need.
The part neither fixes
Both put a bot in the room and your conversations in a company's cloud. With Fireflies, your calls are also reviewable by whoever runs the dashboard. That's great for pipeline hygiene and less great for how it feels to be on either side of the call.
If what you actually want is to get better on calls, privately, with no bot and nothing leaving your laptop, that's what I built MeetMouse for: notes and next steps on your Mac, plus live cues only you see. Free for 3 meetings a week, or $20 once for unlimited. Full comparisons: MeetMouse vs Otter ยท MeetMouse vs Fireflies.
Questions
- Is Fireflies or Otter better?
- Otter, if you're one person or a small team who mainly needs transcripts and search. Fireflies, if you run a sales team and want calls synced to the CRM, scored and reviewed by managers. If you just want free notes, Fathom's free plan beats both.
- Is Fireflies more expensive than Otter?
- Slightly, per seat. Billed monthly, Otter Pro is $16.99 and Fireflies Pro is $18 a seat. On annual billing it's $8.33 vs $10. At the team tier, Otter Business is $30 a user monthly and Fireflies Business is $29 a seat. Prices from otter.ai and fireflies.ai on October 20, 2026.
- Which has the better free plan, Otter or Fireflies?
- Depends on your meetings. Otter's free plan gives you 300 minutes a month, stops each conversation at 30 minutes and keeps your 25 most recent. Fireflies' free plan transcribes without a minute cap but has limited AI summaries and only 400 minutes of storage per team. For long meetings, neither free plan holds up.
- Do Otter and Fireflies join my meeting as a bot?
- By default, yes. Both join as a visible participant (Otter's desktop app can record without a bot) and store recordings and transcripts in their cloud. Fireflies also pushes them into your CRM. Bot-free options: Granola (cloud notes, no bot) or MeetMouse (no bot, on your Mac).
- What's a private alternative to Otter and Fireflies?
- MeetMouse. Transcription and its default AI run on your Mac, no bot joins, and nothing is uploaded. You get a summary and next steps plus live coaching during the call, but no cloud archive or CRM sync. Free for 3 meetings a week, or $20 once for unlimited.
Try MeetMouse
Free to start: unlimited your first week, then 3 meetings a week, and your notes are never locked. Invite 2 friends or pay $20 once for unlimited. No subscription, no account.
Download MeetMouse freeI checked prices and features for the tools here in October 2026. This stuff changes constantly, so double-check before you buy.