Otter.ai vs Sembly (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Otter.ai grades higher than Sembly: 3.0 against 2.4 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. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and 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
Sembly
AI meeting agent that records, summarizes and drafts follow-ups
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- Skip it if you need SSO, SCIM, the API or webhooks, which are Enterprise only at an unpublished price, with HIPAA as an add-on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 Sembly if
- Fits if you want a bot that joins calls from your calendar
- Works for consultants who send follow-ups, status reports and decks to clients
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 1 meeting hour a month
- Watch out: Studio credits meter the deck and document work, and extra credits are sold separately
- Pricey if you want multi-meeting chat or custom templates, since those start at Pro, $20 a user a month
- Watch out: MAX needs at least 3 users and Enterprise at least 10
- Skip it if you use a platform beyond Zoom, Meet, Teams or Webex
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAOtter.aiVery good | 2.4GPASemblyFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | C$10 a month on Basic, billed yearly, for one user, just above the cheaper quarter's $8.33. Pro is $20 a user and MAX $30. |
| 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. | CThe free plan covers 1 meeting hour a month, with a 7-day trial on paid plans. |
| 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. | BCalendar capture, transcripts in 45+ languages, tasks, decks and documents from meeting content, client folders and integrations. Nothing on the listing shows a gap in the core note-taking job. |
| 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 connect a calendar and set up clients and brand packages. |
| 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 only, with Slack, HubSpot, Jira, Asana, Salesforce, Zapier and MCP, but no desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | reading the transcript while the meeting's on | a notetaker that joins your calls and drafts follow-ups |
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 Sembly. 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. Sembly starts at $10 a month and scores 2.7.
Otter.ai scores higher and starts $1.67 a month lower. Of the other AI meeting note takers on the chart, 2 score higher than Otter.ai for less, and 14 score higher than Sembly 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
- Sembly also covers tasks.
At a glance
| Otter.ai | Sembly | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $8.33 per user / month, billed annually | $10 per month, billed annually ($14 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. | 1 hour of meeting capture per month, transcripts, notes and summaries, tasks, basic AI chat and 750 Studio credits a month. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of Otter Business. | 7-day free trial on Basic, Pro and MAX |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Otter.ai Inc | Sembly AI, Inc. |
| Price read from | otter.ai | sembly.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.
Sembly
- The free plan covers 1 meeting hour a month; all other plans are unlimited for capture.
- Studio credits meter the AI deliverable work; extra credits are sold separately on paid plans.
- MAX needs at least 3 users and Enterprise at least 10.
- The pricing page lists capture for Google Meet, Teams, Zoom and Webex only, and the dashboard runs in a browser.
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.
Sembly
- Calendar-based meeting capture
- Records Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex meetings from a synced calendar, and can attend meetings you skip.
- Transcripts in 45+ languages
- Word-for-word transcripts with named speakers, plus notes with a summary, topics, decisions, risks and next steps.
- Tasks with owners and deadlines
- Commitments raised in a meeting become tasks that can be confirmed and then sent on to project management tools.
- Decks and documents from meetings
- Generates proposals, status reports and follow-up emails from meeting content, exported as editable PowerPoint and Word files.
- Clients and brand packages
- Organizes work by client and applies a brand package to generated files. Limits rise from 5 clients on Free to 500 on MAX.
- AI chat across meetings
- Free and Basic chat about a single meeting. Pro and above can ask questions across several meetings.
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.
Sembly
Free$0
1 meeting hour a month, notes, tasks, basic AI chat, 1 month of meeting history and 750 Studio credits.
Basic$10
per month, billed annually ($14 billed monthly)
One user. Unlimited online meetings, 12 months of history, standard video, 2,500 Studio credits a month.
Pro$20
per user / month, billed annually ($29 billed monthly)
Up to 40 users. Adds custom note templates, multi-meeting AI chat, consent tracking, MCP and 3,000 credits.
MAX$30
per user / month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly)
3 to 500 users. Adds unlimited history, HIPAA compliance, custom SSO, audit log, HD video, 3,500 credits.
EnterpriseCustom
For 10 or more users or custom contracts and DPAs; adds a dedicated success manager and onboarding.
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.
Sembly
- Annual discount
Save 30% with annual billing
Sembly's pricing page shows annual billing at 30% off: Basic $10 instead of $14, Pro $20 instead of $29 and MAX $30 instead of $39 per month.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Otter.ai or Sembly?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Otter.ai starts at $8.33 per user / month, billed annually, and Sembly starts at $10 per month, billed annually ($14 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 Sembly?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Otter.ai and Sembly have a free plan.
Which platforms do Otter.ai and Sembly run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Otter.ai lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps and a browser extension. Both list a web app. 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.