Otter.ai vs Plaud (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Otter.ai grades higher than Plaud: 3.0 against 2.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 4, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Otter.ai grades higher on ease of use and platforms. Plaud grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Otter.ai
Live meeting transcription with summaries and AI chat
Plaud
AI voice recorder devices with an app for transcripts and summaries
Which one is for you
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- Skip it if you need SSO, SCIM, the API or webhooks, which are Enterprise only at an unpublished price, with HIPAA as an add-on
Pick Plaud if
- Fits if you record in-person talks and calls on a recorder
- Works for people who want a bot-free way to capture online meetings on a computer
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you add the recorder: $189 for the Note Pro, on top of the plan
- Tight if you talk a lot: Starter is 300 minutes a month, Pro 1,200
- Watch out: many integrations are labelled preview, and Plaud One is shown as pre-order
- Watch out: the Team offer of $20 a user a month for the first year ends November 30, 2026, then $25
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAOtter.aiVery good | 2.8GPAPlaudGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPro is $8.33 a month on the yearly plan, which is right about where meeting notetakers start, and $16.99 if you pay monthly. Pro is still metered at 1,200 minutes a month and 90 minutes a meeting, and unlimited meetings wait for Business at $19.99, the dear end of this lot. Middling money, then. | B$8.33 a month on Pro, billed yearly, for 1,200 minutes, at the cheaper end of the category. Monthly it's $17.99, and the recorder is a separate buy, from $189 for Note Pro. |
| Free plan and trial | CBasic hands you 300 transcription minutes a month, but a conversation stops at 30 minutes, you get 3 file imports ever, and only your 25 most recent conversations stay open. Short calls are fine; anything longer runs into a cap. | BStarter is free with 300 transcription minutes a month and 112+ languages. That covers light use. |
| Features | BIt covers the whole job: live transcription with speakers labelled, a summary of every conversation on every plan, AI Chat, file imports and exports, and a notetaker that joins Zoom, Teams and Meet or records bot-free from your desktop. Nothing here its rivals don't do, mind, and AI Chat is capped on every plan. | BRecorder devices, transcription, 10,000+ summary templates, bot-free desktop capture, search and folders. Connectors such as Notion, Slack and Salesforce are in preview. |
| Ease of use | A4.8 from about 83,000 App Store ratings. Connect your calendar and the notetaker turns up to your meetings by itself. | CNo store rating on record. You buy and pair a recorder, or use the apps, and choose templates. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and a browser extension. It works with Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Slack and Notion, and with Salesforce, HubSpot and Zapier from Pro. An MCP server is on every plan, though the API and webhooks are Enterprise only. | BWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, with Zapier, Notion, Slack and MCP, though those connectors are marked preview. |
| Best for | reading the transcript while the meeting's on | pocket voice recorders with transcription plans |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Otter.ai and Plaud. How we grade
Price against what you get
Otter.ai starts at $8.33 a month for each person and scores 3.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Plaud starts at $8.33 a month and scores 2.7.
Otter.ai scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other AI meeting note takers on the chart, 2 score higher than Otter.ai for less, and 8 score higher than Plaud for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Otter.ai also covers chat assistant.
- Plaud also covers templates.
At a glance
| Otter.ai | Plaud | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $8.33 per user / month, billed annually | $8.33 per month on Pro, billed annually ($17.99 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Basic plan: 300 transcription minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 lifetime file imports, 20 AI Chat queries a month and access to the 25 most recent conversations. | Starter plan: 300 transcription minutes a month, 112+ languages, summary templates, Plaud Desktop and export and sharing. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of Otter Business. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Otter.ai Inc | Plaud Inc. |
| Price read from | otter.ai | plaud.ai |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Plaud
- The devices are separate purchases; the Note Pro page lists $189, and the plans are for transcription minutes.
- Pro is capped at 1,200 minutes a month; Unlimited runs up to 24 hours a day.
- A Team launch offer of $20 per user a month for the first year, then $25, ends November 30, 2026.
- Many integrations are labeled preview, and Plaud One is shown as pre-order.
Key features
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.
Plaud
- Recorder devices
- Plaud Note, Note Pro, NotePin and NotePin S capture in-person talks and calls; the Note Pro page lists it at $189.
- Transcription in 112+ languages
- Recordings, imported audio and desktop captures are transcribed, with a monthly minute allowance on each plan.
- Summaries from templates
- Choose from 10,000+ summary templates or build custom ones; the vendor says summaries are traceable to the transcript.
- Bot-free desktop capture
- Plaud Desktop records online meetings without a meeting bot and can detect when a meeting starts.
- Searchable knowledge base
- Timeline view, nested folders, merged recordings and search by keyword, name or topic.
- Connectors in preview
- Google Calendar, Zapier, MCP, Notion, Slack, Linear and Salesforce connections are all marked as preview.
Plans
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.
Plaud
Starter$0
300 transcription minutes a month; all plans include 112+ languages and 10,000+ summary templates.
Pro$8.33
per month, billed annually ($17.99 billed monthly)
1,200 transcription minutes a month for one user.
Unlimited$20.00
per month, billed annually ($29.99 billed monthly)
Unlimited transcription minutes, up to 24 hours a day, for one user.
Team$25
per user / month, billed annually ($35 billed monthly)
Everything in Unlimited plus shared team files, centralized billing, seat and device management and priority support.
Ways to pay less
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.
Plaud
- Annual discount
Save up to 54% with annual billing
Plaud's pricing page shows Pro at $8.33 a month annually against $17.99 monthly, and Unlimited at $20.00 against $29.99.
- Education
10% off for students, educators and healthcare
Plaud lists 10% off for students and grads, educators, healthcare workers, military and first responders.
- Other savings
Team launch offer: $20 per user for the first year
Annual Team seats are $20 per user a month for the first year, then $25. The page says the offer ends November 30, 2026.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Otter.ai or Plaud?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Otter.ai starts at $8.33 per user / month, billed annually, and Plaud starts at $8.33 per month on Pro, billed annually ($17.99 billed monthly). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Otter.ai or Plaud?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Otter.ai and Plaud have a free plan.
Which platforms do Otter.ai and Plaud run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Otter.ai lists a browser extension. Both list a web app and macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.