Otter.ai pricing in 2026: the free plan's limits, and what Pro and Business cost
Full disclosure: I make MeetMouse, which competes with Otter. Otter has been doing this longer than anyone and its search is excellent. Here's what it costs, read off otter.ai on October 20, 2026.
Download MeetMouse freeFree for 3 meetings a week. No bot, and your meeting stays on your Mac.
Otter's pricing looks simple until you hit a limit you didn't know about. The free plan has three of them, and the 30-minute one surprises people the most.
Every Otter plan
| Plan | Monthly | Billed annually | Minutes | Longest meeting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $0 | $0 | 300/month | 30 minutes |
| Pro | $16.99/user | $8.33/user | 1,200/month | 90 minutes |
| Business | $30/user | $19.99/user | No monthly cap | 4 hours |
| Enterprise | Schedule a demo | Schedule a demo | No monthly cap | 4 hours |
Students and teachers with a .edu address get Pro for $6.67 a month billed annually ($79.99 a year), or $13.59 monthly.
The free plan's three limits
30 minutes per conversation. This is the one that bites. A one-hour client call gets cut in half. If your meetings run long, the free plan is really a trial.
300 minutes a month. About ten 30-minute calls. Fine for light use, gone in a week for anyone who lives in meetings.
Your 25 most recent conversations. Otter's whole strength is searching your history, and the free plan only keeps the last 25. You'd pay for Pro to get the thing Otter is best at.
What a team pays
| Team size | Pro, monthly | Pro, annual | Business, monthly | Business, annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 people | $85/mo | $42/mo | $150/mo | $100/mo |
| 10 people | $170/mo | $83/mo | $300/mo | $200/mo |
| 25 people | $425/mo | $208/mo | $750/mo | $500/mo |
Annual billing roughly halves Pro. If you know you'll use it for a year, don't pay monthly.
Students and teachers get 20% off Pro with an email address ending in .edu: $79.99 a year, or $13.59 a month. You sign up for the free plan with that address, then pick the student and teacher discount when you upgrade.
Is Otter worth paying for?
If you need to search months of transcripts, yes. Researchers, journalists and anyone who gets asked "what did they say in March?" get real value from Pro, and $8.33 a month on annual billing is cheap for that.
If you mostly want a summary after each call, you're paying for an archive you won't use. Fathom's free plan covers that.
When I'd pick something else
By default Otter joins as a bot (its desktop app can record without one), and either way it keeps your meetings in its cloud. If either of those is the problem, that's why I built MeetMouse: it listens on your Mac so nothing joins the call, transcription and AI run locally, and it nudges you during the call instead of just filing it away. Free for 3 meetings a week; $20 once for unlimited. It doesn't have Otter's team archive.
More: the 5 best Otter alternatives · MeetMouse vs Otter · Fireflies vs Otter.
Prices read from otter.ai/pricing on October 20, 2026. Otter.ai is a trademark of its owner, named here for comparison only.
Questions
- Is Otter.ai free?
- Yes. The Basic plan is free forever with 300 transcription minutes a month, a 30-minute limit per conversation, your 25 most recent conversations, and 3 lifetime file imports.
- How much is Otter Pro?
- $16.99 per user per month billed monthly, or $8.33 billed annually. Pro gives you 1,200 minutes a month, up to 90 minutes per meeting, 10 file imports a month and unlimited conversation history.
- Does Otter have a student discount?
- Yes. Students and teachers with a .edu email get 20% off Pro: $79.99 a year billed annually, or $13.59 a month.
- Does Otter cut off long meetings?
- On the free plan, each conversation stops at 30 minutes. Pro allows 90 minutes per meeting, and Business and Enterprise allow 4 hours.
- What's a free Otter alternative for long meetings?
- Fathom's free plan records unlimited calls. MeetMouse is free for 3 meetings a week after an unlimited first week, with no bot and everything processed on your Mac. Granola's free plan takes unlimited notes but shows only 30 days of history.
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.