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Free Otter.ai alternatives for meeting notes (2026)

Otter's free Basic plan caps how many minutes it transcribes each month and how long each conversation can be.

These tools also record or transcribe meetings and write up notes, and each has a free plan. The free plans differ in what they cap: transcripts, meetings with AI notes, AI credits or how much history you keep.

As of Oct 14, 2026: the oldest check date among the prices and free plans on this page.

The tool you are replacing

Otter AI

Free plan
Basic (free): 300 transcription minutes/mo, 30 min per conversation, 3 lifetime file imports
Usage limits
Basic: 300 min/mo, 30 min per conversation; Pro: 1,200 min/mo, 90 min per conversation; Business: unlimited meeting minutes, up to 4 hours per meeting
Pricing
Basic $0; Pro $16.99/user/mo billed monthly; Business $30/user/mo billed monthly ($24 billed annually)

Fathom

Free plan
Free forever plan.
Pricing
Team: (2-user minimum); Business: (2-user minimum); Enterprise: Talk to sales

Pick this if you mostly meet on Zoom, Google Meet or Teams and want unlimited recordings and transcripts on the free plan.

Tactiq

Free plan
Free forever, no card: 10 transcripts/mo and 5 AI credits/mo
Usage limits
Free: 10 transcripts/mo and 5 AI credits/mo; Pro: unlimited transcripts and 10 AI credits/mo; Team and above: unlimited transcripts and AI credits
Pricing
Free forever $0; Pro $8/user/mo billed annually; Team $16.67/user/mo billed annually; Business $29.17/user/mo billed annually; Enterprise custom. Monthly (non-annual) prices unverified

Pick this if you would rather work from a live transcript in the browser than have a bot join your calls.

Read AI

Free plan
Free, no card: 5 meeting transcripts and 30 measured meetings per month, meetings up to 1 hour, no audio or video uploads.
Pricing
Free: $0 (5 meeting transcripts/month; 30 measured meetings/month; 1-hour max meeting length); Pro: $15/user/month (Billed annually; $19.75/user/month billed monthly. Unlimited transcripts, 100 upload min/month, 4-hour meetings); Enterprise: $22.50/user/month (Billed annually; $29.75/user/month billed monthly. 200 upload min/month); Enterprise+: $29.75/user/month (Billed annually, requires 5+ licenses; $39.75/user/month billed monthly. 300 upload min/month, 8-hour meetings, HIPAA, SAML/SCIM)

Pick this if you want meeting reports with participant-level metrics such as talk time.

Granola

Free plan
Basic, $0 per user per month, with limited meeting history.
Pricing
Basic: $0 (per user per month; limited meeting history); Business: $14 (per user per month); Enterprise: $35 (per user per month)

Pick this if you like taking your own rough notes and want AI to fill them out from the meeting afterwards.

tl;dv

Free plan
Free $0, no card: unlimited video recordings and transcription in 30+ languages; AI notes for 10 meetings and 10 Ask AI queries included
Usage limits
Free: 10 meetings with AI notes and 10 Ask AI queries; Pro: unlimited AI notes; Business: unlimited multi-meeting AI insights
Pricing
Free $0; Pro $18/seat/mo billed annually; Business $29/seat/mo billed annually; monthly USD prices not confirmed

Pick this if you want to turn parts of recorded calls into clips you can share.

What you hit first on the free plans

  • Free plans cap different things. Otter caps minutes, Tactiq caps transcripts and AI credits, and tl;dv caps how many meetings get AI notes. Check which one matches how often you meet.
  • Some cap history instead: Granola's free plan keeps only a limited meeting history.
  • Let people know when a meeting is being recorded. Some of these tools can join a call as a visible participant, while others work without a bot, so nobody sees a recorder join.

Questions

Can I switch from Otter without losing my old transcripts?
Yes, if you export them first. Otter's free Basic plan can export audio and text files, so save what you want to keep before you move.
Do these tools need a bot to join my meeting?
Not always. Granola, Tactiq and tl;dv each say they work without a bot joining, and Fathom offers both options.

Sources