Bubbles vs Otter.ai (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Bubbles if

• Fits if you're on a Mac and want to look back over the last two hours
• Works for small teams that want a notetaker and shareable replay clips

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you stay free: 5 recordings a week, 30 minutes each, locked after 2 weeks
• Pricey if you're alone: $18 a month while the workspace has 1 or 2 members
• Watch out: on the free plan the Notetaker joins all meetings with 2 or more invitees, and everyone gets the recording
• Not for you if you don't use a Mac and want a no-bot mode, which needs macOS 13 or later
• Watch out: the homepage says no bots join calls, but the notetaker is a bot

Pick Otter.ai if

• Fits if you want to read the live transcript while a meeting or lecture is still going
• Works for students and teachers with a .edu address, which takes 20% off Pro

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you stay free: 300 minutes a month, 30 minutes a conversation, 3 file imports ever and only your 25 most recent conversations
• Not for you if your meetings run long, as Pro stops at 1,200 minutes a month and 90 a meeting, and unlimited starts on Business at $19.99
• Pricey if you pay monthly: Pro is $16.99 and Business $30, against $8.33 and $19.99 a month on the yearly plan
• Watch out: AI Chat is capped on every plan, at 20 questions a month free, 50 on Pro and 200 at most
• Skip it if you need SSO, SCIM, the API or webhooks, which are Enterprise only at an unpublished price, with HIPAA as an add-on

Bubbles

• The homepage says no bots join your calls, while the Notetaker and pricing pages describe a bot that joins meetings; the two modes work differently.
• The download listed is for macOS 13 or later; the Notetaker is the route for other computers.
• On the free plan the Notetaker joins all meetings with 2 or more invitees and every invitee gets the recording.
• Pro pricing is $18 per member a month for 1 or 2 members and $12 at 3 or more.

Otter.ai

• Basic is capped at 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes per conversation, and only the 25 most recent conversations stay accessible.
• Pro is still metered: 1,200 minutes a month and 90 minutes per meeting. Unlimited meetings start on Business.
• AI Chat queries are capped on every plan, at most 200 per user per month.
• SSO, SCIM, the API and webhooks are Enterprise only, and HIPAA compliance is an add-on.

Bubbles

Two-hour rolling replay

The Mac app keeps the last two hours of screen and audio, encrypted on your computer, and erases the oldest minute as new ones arrive.

Notes from jotted fragments

During a call you can type a few fragments; on save, AI turns the transcript and your fragments into a summary, action items and a full transcript.

AI Notetaker for calendar meetings

After you connect a calendar, the Notetaker joins meetings on Zoom, Google Meet and Teams and emails a summary and action items.

Trim and share

Scroll back through the replay, trim a moment and share a link. The site says only the trimmed part is uploaded.

Chat with your meetings

The site shows ChatGPT and Claude among the places where you can chat with your meeting content, and it publishes a Bubbles API.

Controls on who gets recordings

On Pro you choose which meetings the Notetaker joins and who receives recordings. On the free plan all invitees receive them.

Otter.ai

Meeting agent or bot-free recording

The notetaker can auto-join Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet meetings from your calendar. The desktop app for Mac and Windows records without a bot joining the call.

Live transcription with speaker ID

Transcribes as people speak, labels speakers and syncs the text to audio playback. Custom vocabulary covers 5 terms on Basic and up to 800 names and 800 terms on Business.

Automated summaries

Each conversation gets an automated summary on every plan, so the main points are available without reading the full transcript.

AI Chat

Ask questions about your conversations in a chat. Monthly queries are capped per user: 20 on Basic, 50 on Pro and 200 on Business and Enterprise.

File imports and exports

Import audio or video files for transcription and export notes. Basic allows 3 imports in total and mp3 or txt export; paid plans add pdf, docx and srt.

Integrations and MCP server

Salesforce, HubSpot and Zapier integrations start on Pro. An MCP server is listed on every plan, while the Otter API and webhooks are Enterprise only.

Bubbles

• BasicFree

  5 meeting recordings a week of up to 30 minutes, unlimited screen recordings; Bubbles lock after 2 weeks and the Notetaker joins all meetings.

• Pro Teams$12

  per member / month, billed yearly ($15 billed monthly)

  For workspaces of 3 or more: unlimited length and recordings, AI transcripts, choose which meetings the Notetaker joins, custom branding.

• Pro Personal$18

  per member / month, billed yearly ($22 billed monthly)

  Same features as Pro Teams for workspaces of 1 or 2 members; switches to Pro Teams pricing when the workspace reaches 3.

Otter.ai

• Basic$0

  300 transcription minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 lifetime file imports and the 25 most recent conversations.

• Pro$8.33

  per user / month, billed annually ($16.99 billed monthly)

  1,200 minutes a month, 90 minutes per meeting, 10 file imports a month, unlimited history and extra export formats.

• Business$19.99

  per user / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly)

  Unlimited meetings and file imports, up to 4 hours per meeting, 3 concurrent meetings, activity logs and usage analytics.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Adds SSO, SCIM, domain capture, the Otter API and webhooks, video replay and a HIPAA compliance add-on.

Bubbles

• Annual discount

  Yearly billing lowers the member price

  Pro Teams is $12 a member billed yearly against $15 billed monthly. Pro Personal is $18 against $22.

Otter.ai

• Annual discount

  Save 51% on Pro and 33% on Business annually

  Otter's pricing page shows Pro at $8.33 per user per month on annual billing against $16.99 monthly (labeled save 51%), and Business at $19.99 against $30 (save 33%).

• Education

  20% off Pro for students and teachers

  Individual students and teachers with an email address ending in .edu get 20% off Otter Pro: $6.67 per month billed annually ($79.99) or $13.59 month to month.