Otter.ai alternatives for recordings you already have
Otter is good at one job: sitting in your video calls and writing notes as people talk. If that’s your use, keep it. This page is for people with a pile of recordings who hit the free limits.
Why people go looking for an Otter alternative
Mostly it’s the free plan. Otter Basic gives 300 minutes a month, but each conversation is capped at 30 minutes and you get 3 audio or video imports for the life of the account. Import a 90-minute file and you can read the first 30 minutes; the rest waits behind an upgrade. One r/Journalism thread is titled “Can’t afford Otter.AI anymore”.
Then there’s training. Otter’s privacy policy describes “training our proprietary AI technology on de-identified audio recordings and on transcriptions”. If you record sources or clients, that may settle it.
Otter’s published limits, and what Textspert does instead
| Limit | What Otter publishes | What Textspert does |
|---|---|---|
| File imports | 3 for the life of a free account; 10 a month on Pro | 3 files every day on Free, with no lifetime count |
| Length you can read | 30 minutes per conversation on Free; 90 minutes on Pro | The whole file, up to 60 minutes on Free and 10 hours on paid plans |
| Export formats | MP3 and TXT on Free; PDF, DOCX and SRT from Pro up | TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT, VTT, CSV and JSON on every plan |
| Model training | Its privacy policy covers training its own AI on de-identified recordings and transcripts | Your files never train any model |
Seven alternatives and who should pick each
Prices for all seven are in the table below.
Textspert
For uploads, with no bot on the call. Free files run up to an hour, paid files up to 10 hours.
Notta
A cheap yearly plan for shorter recordings. Notta’s free plan transcribes up to 3 minutes per conversation.
Fireflies
A longer free recording than Otter allows. Fireflies Free has a 2-hour recording limit, but downloads need Pro.
Rev
For files that need a human. Rev sells AI transcripts at $0.25 a minute and human ones at $1.99 a minute.
Sonix
Sonix Core is $25 a month for 5 hours; extra hours on a subscription cost $10 each. It lists 54+ transcription languages.
Happy Scribe
Many languages, plus subtitles. Happy Scribe sells subscribers extra minutes at $0.20 each.
Descript
For editing the audio or video too. In Descript, you cut media by cutting words.
Free plans and starting prices at a glance
| Tool | Free | Paid from | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otter | 300 minutes a month; 30 readable minutes per conversation; 3 imports ever | Pro $16.99 a seat a month, or $8.33 a seat a month billed yearly | otter.ai/pricing |
| Textspert | 3 files a day, up to 60 minutes each | Unlimited $20 a month, or $10 a month billed yearly (fair use up to 720 hours a month); packs from $5 | Pricing |
| Notta | 120 minutes a month, 3 minutes per conversation, no export | Pro $13.49 a month, or $8.17 a month billed yearly | notta.ai/en/pricing |
| Fireflies | Transcription with a 2-hour recording limit; no transcript downloads | Pro $18 a month, or $10 a seat a month billed yearly | fireflies.ai/pricing |
| Rev | 45 AI minutes a month | Essentials $29.99 a seat a month; AI pay as you go at $0.25 a minute | rev.com/pricing, Rev AI |
| Sonix | A 30-minute trial with no card | Core $25 a month for 5 hours; extra hours $10 each on a subscription | sonix.ai/pricing |
| Happy Scribe | A 10-minute trial | Basic $17 a month, or $8.50 a month billed yearly | happyscribe.com/pricing |
| Descript | 60 media minutes a month | Hobbyist $24 a month, or $16 a month billed yearly | descript.com/pricing |
When Otter is still the right answer
Keep Otter if you want a bot in your meetings, taking notes so nobody has to remember to record. We don’t make one. Otter also suits lots of short calls: ten half-hour stand-ups fit inside its free 300 minutes, and Otter Pro at $16.99 a seat a month raises the pool to 1,200 minutes with 90 minutes per conversation.
If price is why you’re leaving
| Your month | On Otter | On Textspert |
|---|---|---|
| Four 45-minute interviews | Free shows the first 30 minutes of each and runs out of imports after the third | Free handles all four, in full |
| About 20 hours of recorded calls to upload | Pro at $16.99 a seat allows 10 file imports a month, each cut off at 90 minutes, so it can’t take them all | A 20-hour pack for $15, bought only in the months you need one |
Heavy weekly use is what Unlimited is for, at $20 a month or $10 a month billed yearly. Packs don’t renew and last 12 months; a refunded pack loses its unused hours. Every price is on the pricing page.
If privacy is why you’re leaving
Search each policy for “training”. Rev’s terms say speech-to-text content “may be used for continuous training of those models”, though not for generative AI, and its help center says Enterprise and Unlimited customers can ask to opt out. Descript’s terms allow training “unless you have opted out of such use”. Happy Scribe’s privacy policy makes machine-learning training opt-in and names OpenAI and Anthropic among its AI providers.
Our speech recognition and AI run on our own GPUs. Your audio and transcripts are never sent to any AI company, and no model is trained on your files. See private transcription.
Otter alternative questions
Is there a free Otter alternative?
Yes. Textspert Free takes 3 files a day, each up to 60 minutes, with speaker labels, every export and no card. For short clips, Notta Free transcribes up to 3 minutes per conversation and Rev Free at 45 AI minutes a month.
Does Textspert join my meetings like Otter?
No. Record in Zoom, Teams or Meet, then upload the file. Meeting transcription shows where each app saves it.
Which Otter alternative is cheapest for occasional use?
A Textspert pack is $1 an hour on 5 hours, or about $0.58 an hour on the 60-hour pack. Sonix Core is $25 a month for 5 hours, with extra hours at $10 each on a subscription.
Can I move my Otter recordings to another tool?
Otter lists MP3 export on every plan, Free included, so download the audio and upload it here. We don’t import another app’s transcript.
How many speakers can Textspert label?
Up to 4 per file. Extra voices share labels, and you can move any line to the right person; see speaker identification.
How many languages do these tools cover?
Otter lists six: English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese. Textspert transcribes 100 and detects the spoken one. Sonix and Happy Scribe list many more than Otter.
More ways to compare and transcribe
- CompareTextspert next to TurboScribe, Otter, Rev, Descript and more, with sources.
- Best free transcription softwareTen free plans and trials, held up against one 60-minute file.
- Meeting transcriptionUpload a Zoom, Teams or Meet recording and get notes and action items, with no bot on the call.
- Interview transcriptionFor reporters checking quotes and researchers coding interviews, with every line tied to the audio.
- Rev alternativeRev's AI transcripts cost $15 an hour. Textspert packs run $1 an hour on 5 hours, down to about $0.58 on the 60-hour pack.
Compare plans on the pricing page, or read our short privacy promises.
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