Best Otter.ai alternatives, checked in 2026
Otter.ai joins your Zoom, Meet and Teams calls, transcribes them live, and turns them into summaries, action items and a searchable team archive. Its free Basic plan gives 300 transcription minutes a month — with a 30-minute cap per conversation, 90 days of storage and 25 lifetime AI chats. People leave when meetings run long, when a bot in the room is a problem, or when transcripts should become content. The five below cover those cases honestly.
- Granola: The no-bot rival: notes enhanced by transcript, no participant joining, unlimited free meetings.
- Descript: The content route: meeting recordings edited and published, 1 free hour a month.
- Krisp: The clarity route: if the transcript is bad because the audio is — fix the audio live.
Comparison table
| Tool | Free plan | Card needed | Pricing model | Checked | Reader rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granola | Basic free: unlimited meetings, 30 days of meeting history; works without entering payment information | Not needed | Freemium | 2026-10-31 | – |
| Descript | 1 hour of transcription per month on the free plan; 720p exports; 100 one-time AI credits | Not needed | Freemium | 2026-10-31 | – |
| Krisp | No free plan — 7-day free trial of premium features; then Core from $8/user/mo billed annually | Not needed | Paid | 2026-10-31 | – |
| Google Gemini | Free tier with compute-based limits refreshing every 5 hours up to a weekly cap; 32K context window | Not needed | Freemium | 2026-10-31 | – |
| ChatGPT | Free tier available with usage limits; paid plan offers higher limits | Not needed | Freemium | 2026-10-31 | – |
1. Granola
The no-bot rival: notes enhanced by transcript, no participant joining, unlimited free meetings.
Changed since last check: starting price moved from $0 to $0/mo (Nov 1, 2026).
- Free Basic plan includes unlimited meetings
- Works without entering payment information
- Slack and MCP access included on the free plan
- Free plan keeps only 30 days of meeting history — older notes are locked
- API access is only on Business and Enterprise plans
Choose Granola over Otter if bots change the room: clients, interviews, sensitive calls. Stay with Otter when automatic capture of every meeting is the system.
See the full Otter.ai vs Granola duel →In-depth notes on Granola
Granola's free Basic gives unlimited meetings with 30 days of history and needs no payment info. Otter's free 300 minutes with 90-day storage is deeper; Granola's is wider and bot-free.
2. Descript
The content route: meeting recordings edited and published, 1 free hour a month.
Changed since last check: starting price moved from Paid to $0 (Oct 30, 2026).
- Free plan includes 1 hour of transcription a month
- Free plan includes 100 one-time AI credits
- No credit card required
- API available
- Free video exports are watermarked
- Free exports are capped at 720p
Choose Descript over Otter if recordings become deliverables: edited podcasts, clips, lessons. Stay with Otter for an archive nobody has to touch.
See the full Otter.ai vs Descript duel →In-depth notes on Descript
Descript's free plan includes an hour of transcription a month and 720p exports. Otter captures; Descript crafts. Teams often export Otter transcripts into editors anyway.
3. Krisp
The clarity route: if the transcript is bad because the audio is — fix the audio live.
Changed since last check: starting price moved from $0 to $8/user/mo billed annually (Nov 1, 2026).
- 7-day free trial with no credit card required
- Trial includes unlimited noise cancellation and transcription
- Voice Translation API available for developers
- No free plan — a paid plan is needed after the 7-day trial
- Paid plans start at $8/user/mo billed annually
Choose Krisp over Otter if your transcripts suffer from noise, echo and crosstalk — garbage in, garbage out. Stay with Otter if audio is fine and notes are the product.
See the full Otter.ai vs Krisp duel →In-depth notes on Krisp
Krisp is paid (7-day trial; Core from $8/user/mo billed annually) and works across every calling app in both directions. It makes Otter better, honestly, more often than it replaces it.
4. Google Gemini
The suite route: meeting notes inside Google Workspace, generous free tier.
Changed since last check: starting price moved from Paid to $0 (Oct 30, 2026).
- Free tier limits refresh every 5 hours
- The Gemini API has its own free tier
- Paid plans start at $4.99/mo (Google AI Plus)
- Free tier has a weekly cap
- Free context window is 32K
Choose Gemini over Otter if your meetings live in Google and you want summaries where the docs already are. Stay with Otter for a dedicated, cross-platform meeting memory.
See the full Otter.ai vs Google Gemini duel →In-depth notes on Google Gemini
Gemini's free tier refreshes every five hours up to a weekly cap. Its meeting help is a feature of the suite; Otter's archive is a product of its own.
5. ChatGPT
The DIY route: upload recordings, interrogate them yourself, free plan included.
The catch: The free tier has usage limits, and answers can sometimes be inaccurate, so check important information and expect advanced features to require a paid plan.
Changed since last check: starting price moved from Paid to Free tier (Oct 25, 2026).
- Free tier available
- Output rights are assigned to you on every plan, Free included
- API available
- Free tier has usage limits
- API use is billed separately
Choose ChatGPT over Otter for occasional deep dives: drop a transcript in, ask hard questions. Stay with Otter for the automatic, every-meeting habit.
See the full Otter.ai vs ChatGPT duel →In-depth notes on ChatGPT
ChatGPT's free plan has usage limits and no calendar integration — you bring the transcript. Otter's whole value is that nobody has to remember to.
When to stay with Otter.ai
Switching is not always the right call. Otter.ai is still the better pick if:
- Automatic capture of every meeting is your team's memory system.
- 300 free minutes covers your real meeting load.
- Speaker labels and action items land where your team works.
How to switch from Otter.ai
- Export your transcriptsDownload the important meetings before any change — free storage is 90 days anyway.
- Mind the 30-minute capYour long meetings were truncated on free; a successor's per-meeting limit is a real comparison point.
- Tell your regularsPeople got used to the Otter bot; a no-bot successor (Granola) changes the room's feel — in your favour, usually.
How we check
Free-plan limits, card requirements and the catch come from the Free Reality Check on each tool. An editor checks the maker's pricing page by hand and records when. If a tool has no check date, we say so and show no numbers.
- Official pricing pages, with the date we checked each one
- Vendor documentation and changelogs
- SaaSListy editor testing notes on each tool page
- Reader reviews on SaaSListy
Some links are affiliate links. They never change a rating, a ranking or a verdict.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free alternative to Otter.ai?
Granola free — unlimited meetings, no bot, 30-day history. Different strengths: Otter's 300 minutes/month and 90-day storage suit bot-tolerant teams; Granola suits client-facing ones.
Why do people leave Otter.ai?
The 30-minute per-conversation cap truncates real meetings, 300 minutes runs out mid-month, and some rooms simply refuse bots.
Otter vs Granola — bot or no bot?
Otter joins as a visible participant and archives everything. Granola never joins; it enhances your own notes from your device. Compliance and client comfort usually decide.
Is Otter.ai free?
There's a free Basic plan: 300 transcription minutes a month, 30 minutes max per conversation, 90 days of storage, 25 lifetime AI chats.
What is the best Otter.ai alternative?
Granola is listed first on this page. The no-bot rival: notes enhanced by transcript, no participant joining, unlimited free meetings.
Which Otter.ai alternatives are free without a credit card?
Our editors verified that Granola, Descript, Krisp, Google Gemini, ChatGPT do not ask for a card on the free plan. The free plan box under each tool lists the limits.
How do you check free plans and prices?
Editors check the maker's official pricing page by hand and record the check date. Tools that are not verified yet are labelled that way instead of showing guesses.
How does SaaSListy make money?
Some links are affiliate links. They never change a rating, a ranking or a verdict.