Last updated: November 8, 2026
Pricing checked: November 8, 2026
Hands-on test: Otter Basic, completed November 5, 2026
The short answer
As of November 8, 2026, Otter lists four plans: Basic (free), Pro, Business, and Enterprise. Pro is listed at $16.99 per user per month on monthly billing or $8.33 per user per month on annual billing. That annual rate works out to $99.96 per user per year. Business is listed at $19.99 per user per month billed annually, or $239.88 per user per year. Enterprise has custom pricing.
The sticker price is only part of the cost. In our November 5, 2026 Basic-tier test, three imports cost $0, but they consumed the account's entire three-file lifetime import allowance. The test also used 33 of 300 monthly transcription minutes. In practical terms, Basic was free for one small benchmark but not reusable for the next three-import retest on the same account.
For an individual who needs recurring file imports, Pro is the realistic starting point. As of November 8, 2026, it allows 10 imported files per month, compared with Basic's three imported files for the life of the account.
Bottom line: Otter Basic can be genuinely free for light live recording and a few file imports. It is not an indefinitely free uploaded-meeting workflow. Budget from $16.99 for one month of Pro or $99.96 for a year of Pro, before tax, app-store differences, foreign-exchange costs, and staff review time.
Otter.ai pricing at a glance
Prices and limits below were checked on Otter's first-party pricing page on November 8, 2026. Amounts are in USD. Annual equivalents are arithmetic based on the displayed per-user monthly rate.
| Plan | Listed price | Annual cash commitment | Selected current limits | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | $0 | 300 pooled transcription minutes per user/month; 30 minutes per conversation; 3 imported files lifetime; 25 most recent conversations in history | Trying Otter and very light use |
| Pro monthly | $16.99/user/month | $203.88 if kept for 12 months | 1,200 pooled minutes per user/month; 90 minutes per conversation; 10 imports per user/month; unlimited history | Individuals and small teams with recurring meetings |
| Pro annual | $8.33/user/month, billed annually | $99.96/user/year | Same listed Pro usage limits | Regular users willing to commit for a year |
| Business monthly | $24/user/month for the first 3 months for first-time subscribers; page shows $30 struck through | $342 for a first year if the displayed offer applies for 3 months and the remaining 9 months are $30 | Unlimited meeting/recording transcription; 6,000 imported-file minutes per user/month; unlimited imports; 4 hours per conversation | Medium-sized teams needing higher capacity and administration |
| Business annual | $19.99/user/month, billed annually | $239.88/user/year | Same listed Business capacity | Medium-sized teams with steady use |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Custom | Unlimited meeting transcription; 6,000 imported-file minutes per user/month; enterprise controls | Large organizations with procurement and security requirements |
The $342 Business monthly first-year figure is an illustration, not an Otter quote: 3 × $24 plus 9 × $30. Otter's page marks the three-month offer as available to first-time subscribers. Confirm the checkout total, renewal price, tax, currency, and seat count before buying. Pricing and promotions can change after November 8, 2026.
What “free” meant in our test
We tested Otter Basic with the same 11-minute synthetic noisy meeting three times. The evidence cutoff for these observations is November 5, 2026.
- Direct subscription cost: $0. We did not start a trial or buy an upgrade.
- Processing used 33 minutes. The account showed 33 of its then-current 300 monthly minutes consumed after three imports.
- Import capacity fell to zero. All three lifetime file imports were used. That was enough for one three-repeat test, but not another same-account retest.
- Transcription was fast. The three accepted uploads completed in 79, 99, and 76 seconds, for an 84.7-second mean.
- Core results were strong. All three transcripts preserved the buyer-critical decisions, correction, budget, deadlines, and “video not approved” constraint. Speaker streams were separated, but the four speakers were not automatically mapped to their scripted names.
- The retained downstream run was useful. In run 3, Otter's generated action items preserved all three owners and exact deadlines, the constrained follow-up passed 9 of 9 checks, and factual retrieval passed 5 of 5 questions with timestamped quotations.
- Export was only partly verified. Basic exposed a TXT export preview with the correct summary, action items, and transcript, but our Browser Relay timed out after confirmation. We did not verify the downloaded local files.
These are tested observations, not promises about every Otter account or every recording. We tested uploaded English synthetic audio, not live OtterPilot meetings. Human handling time was not instrumented, so we cannot honestly turn the test into a complete labor-cost figure.
For the full score table, method summary, and limitations, see our hands-on comparison of Otter Basic and Fireflies Free and the underlying repeated-run benchmark.
Listed price versus effective workflow cost
1. The listed plan price
This is the amount shown on Otter's pricing page on November 8, 2026: free for Basic, $16.99 monthly or $8.33 per user/month billed annually for Pro, and the displayed Business rates above. It does not tell you how many seats you need, whether your recordings fit the per-conversation cap, or how much review work your team will do.
2. The minimum cash cost for our three-import workflow
On a new Basic account, our first three-import test cost $0 on November 5, 2026. Repeating that exact workflow on the same exhausted account requires more import capacity.
At prices checked November 8, 2026, the smallest listed paid route is one month of Pro at $16.99 for one user. Its current allowance of 10 imports per month is enough for one three-import repeat, assuming each file also fits the 90-minute per-conversation cap and the shared 1,200-minute monthly pool.
That makes $16.99 the practical subscription floor for one same-account monthly retest, not the cost of each meeting. If three imports are the only work done that month, the subscription allocation is about $5.66 per processed meeting ($16.99 ÷ 3). If all 10 import slots are used, it falls to about $1.70 per imported file ($16.99 ÷ 10). These are utilization examples, not provider-listed per-meeting prices.
3. The real operating cost
The effective cost is:
subscription + seats + taxes/FX + setup and review time + correction time + export/admin work + switching or compliance overhead
Our retained November 5, 2026 evidence supports the $0 direct test cost, quota consumption, and processing times. It does not support a dollar value for staff time because human handling time was not separately measured. Any total-cost claim that adds a labor number would therefore be an estimate, not a benchmark result.
Which Otter plan is worth it?
Choose Basic if you are evaluating Otter
As of November 8, 2026, Basic offers 300 shared transcription minutes per user per month, unlimited in-app recordings, a 30-minute maximum per conversation, three lifetime file imports, and history limited to the 25 most recent conversations. It is a credible test tier, especially for short live recordings, but the lifetime import cap is easy to exhaust.
Choose Pro if you regularly import meetings
As of November 8, 2026, Pro raises the shared monthly pool to 1,200 minutes, the conversation cap to 90 minutes, and imports to 10 per user per month, while adding unlimited conversation history. The annual list rate is substantially lower than paying the monthly rate for 12 months: $99.96 versus $203.88 per user, based on the displayed prices. Annual billing saves money only if you use the plan long enough to justify the commitment.
Choose Business for volume and team controls
As of November 8, 2026, Business lists unlimited meeting and recording transcription, 6,000 imported-file minutes per user per month, unlimited file imports, and a four-hour per-conversation cap. Otter's pricing table also lists centralized billing, usage analytics, activity logs, and custom data retention at this tier. Business becomes easier to justify when import capacity, long meetings, or administration—not just transcription minutes—is the constraint.
Choose Enterprise when requirements drive procurement
As of November 8, 2026, Enterprise pricing is not public. Otter directs buyers to sales and lists additional controls such as SSO and SCIM, both marked with a minimum 100-user license requirement on the pricing table, plus domain capture and recording/sharing controls. Get a written quote and validate minimums, add-ons, implementation, retention, support, and renewal terms.
Costs buyers often miss
Annual billing is a commitment, not a monthly bill
Otter displays annual plans as a per-user monthly equivalent. At the rates checked November 8, 2026, Pro's $8.33 figure means about $99.96 charged for a year per user, and Business's $19.99 figure means about $239.88 per year per user. Confirm the exact checkout amount because rounding and local billing can differ.
Per-user pricing multiplies with headcount
At the annual rates checked November 8, 2026, five Pro seats are about $499.80 per year, while five Business seats are about $1,199.40 per year, before tax and any add-ons. Shared-pool wording and workspace limits should be reviewed against how your team actually records and imports meetings.
Review time can cost more than transcription
Our November 5, 2026 test found strong preservation of critical facts, but also a “Luis”/“Louis” substitution and “commissioned deliverable” rendered as “commission deliverable.” Neither changed our verdict. The visible overview could also omit owner/deadline detail that appeared in the dedicated Action Items section. For consequential meetings, budget time to inspect actions and source transcript passages.
Free-tier history and import limits affect portability
As of November 8, 2026, Basic shows only the 25 most recent conversations and permits three lifetime imports. The current pricing table lists TXT and MP3 export on Basic, but our November 5 test verified the TXT preview rather than the final local download. If archiving matters, test export end to end before relying on it.
Is Otter.ai worth the price?
For uploaded English meetings similar to our fixture, yes—with conditions. The November 5, 2026 test produced reliable decision capture, strong assigned actions, and accurate retrieval at no initial cash cost. The free tier's lifetime import cap, selective overview, generic speaker labels, and unverified downloaded-file fidelity prevent an unconditional recommendation.
Pro is the clearest value point for an individual who imports recordings repeatedly. Business is harder to justify on transcription alone; its case rests on volume, longer meetings, collaboration, and administration. Basic is best treated as a trial and light-use plan, not a permanent high-volume import solution.
Before subscribing, compare the workflow against our hands-on meeting-assistant benchmark, Otter alternatives guide, and Fireflies.ai pricing analysis.
Use the free AI Meeting Assistant Buyer's Scorecard to calculate effective cost alongside accuracy, repeatability, privacy, and export controls. No email address is required.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Otter.ai cost per month?
As of November 8, 2026, Basic is free. Pro is listed at $16.99 per user on monthly billing or $8.33 per user/month billed annually. Business is displayed at $24 per user/month for the first three months for eligible first-time subscribers, with $30 struck through, or $19.99 per user/month billed annually. Enterprise is custom-priced.
Is Otter.ai really free?
Yes, Basic has no subscription fee as of November 8, 2026. But it has usage limits, including 300 shared transcription minutes per user/month, 30 minutes per conversation, three lifetime file imports, and the 25 most recent conversations in history. In our November 5, 2026 test, three imports exhausted the lifetime import allowance.
What is the cheapest paid Otter plan?
As of November 8, 2026, Pro is the cheapest publicly listed paid plan: $16.99 for one user for one month, or $8.33 per user/month on annual billing (about $99.96 per year).
Does Otter charge per meeting?
Otter's public pricing page did not list a per-meeting charge when checked on November 8, 2026. It prices paid plans per user and applies plan-specific minute, duration, and import limits. Your effective per-meeting cost depends on how much of the plan you use.
Can the free plan handle recurring uploaded meetings?
Only briefly. As of November 8, 2026, Basic allows three imported audio/video files per user for the life of the account. Our three-repeat benchmark consumed all three by November 5, 2026. Live in-app recordings are listed separately as unlimited, subject to the plan's other transcription limits.
Disclosure
We tested Otter Basic using a venture-only account and synthetic audio. Otter did not sponsor the test, provide payment or benefits, review this article, or influence the conclusion. We paid no subscription fee. If affiliate links are added later, they will be labelled clearly and will not change the test method, evidence, or recommendation. No paid upgrade was purchased for this article.
Method and limitations
The benchmark used one frozen 11-minute synthetic meeting containing four speakers, noise, overlap, corrections, negation, names, dates, a budget, decisions, owners, and deadlines. We uploaded the identical MP3 three times to Otter Basic and graded retained outputs against a prewritten answer key.
File SHA-256 (join the two displayed lines):
ab4fc24531a1d83f9a9511a96e2475e0
c489663059af9e12620394f1b78a3db4
Evidence status is partially executed as of November 5, 2026 because human handling time was not separately instrumented and no downloaded local TXT file was retained or verified through Browser Relay. We verified the TXT export controls and preview, not final file creation or fidelity. We tested uploads, not live meeting-bot notice behavior. Product behavior, limits, and prices can change after the dates stated in this article.
Sources
Current first-party source for mutable pricing and plan claims (accessed November 8, 2026):
- Otter.ai, Pricing — plan prices, promotions, transcription limits, import limits, history, exports, and listed administration/security features.
Retained hands-on evidence (evidence cutoff November 5, 2026):
runs/otter/m1-m6/aggregate-review.md— repeat timing, quota use, transcript findings, action/follow-up/retrieval checks, export limitation, and direct test cost.meeting-intelligence-comparison.md— frozen weighted results and buyer guidance.methodology.md— benchmark execution and evidence-status rules.fixtures/meeting-v0.1-noisy-96k.mp3— frozen input fixture; SHA-256 stated above.
