Otter.ai vs Votars (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Otter.ai grades higher than Votars: 3.0 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 4, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Otter.ai grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. Votars grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan.
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
Votars
Multilingual transcription and meeting notes with live translation
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- Skip it if you need SSO, SCIM, the API or webhooks, which are Enterprise only at an unpublished price, with HIPAA as an add-on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 Votars if
- Fits if your meetings are in more than one language and you need them translated
- Works for one person on a Windows or Mac laptop who wants notes on the phone too
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 30 minutes per recording, 300 minutes a month and 20 summaries
- Pricey if you go for teams, as Business is $14.67 per seat on yearly billing with a seat selector
- Watch out: translation and downloadable transcripts are paid features
- Watch out: AI summaries are counted monthly on every plan below Enterprise
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAOtter.aiVery good | 2.4GPAVotarsFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | BPersonal is $8 a month on yearly billing, a little under the $8.33 that starts the cheaper quarter of meeting-note tools. Monthly billing is $11.99. |
| 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. | C300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per recording, 50 transcribed files and 20 AI summaries. A few meetings and you are at the edge. |
| 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. | CLive transcription, translation, summaries, action items, recording and mind maps. Translation and downloads need Personal, and summaries are counted each month on every plan below Enterprise. |
| 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 Zoom, Teams or Meet and set up a workspace. |
| 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, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, with Zoom, Teams and Meet. Only three integrations are listed and no API. |
| Best for | reading the transcript while the meeting's on | multilingual transcription and meeting notes |
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 Votars. 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. Votars starts at $8 a month and scores 2.3.
Otter.ai scores higher, and starts $0.33 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI meeting note takers on the chart, 2 score higher than Otter.ai for less, and 7 score higher than Votars 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.
- Votars also covers reports.
At a glance
| Otter.ai | Votars | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $8.33 per user / month, billed annually | $8 per month, billed annually ($11.99 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. | 300 minutes of recording a month, up to 30 minutes per recording, 50 transcribed files and 20 AI summaries. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of Otter Business. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Otter.ai Inc | Votars |
| Price read from | otter.ai | votars.ai |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Nov 13, 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.
Votars
- The free plan caps recordings at 30 minutes and 300 minutes a month.
- Translation and downloadable transcripts need Personal or higher.
- Business is priced per seat and the page shows a seat selector for adding people.
- AI summaries are counted per month on every plan below Enterprise.
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.
Votars
- Real-time transcription
- Transcribes a live microphone, web meetings, uploaded audio or video, and webpage audio, with speaker identification on every plan.
- Translation
- Transcript translation and real-time translation are available from the Personal plan; the site lists 74 languages.
- Summaries and action items
- AI summaries are capped per month: 20 on Free, 100 on Personal, 500 on Business and unlimited on Enterprise.
- Meeting recording
- Records and transcribes in Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, including on the free plan.
- Document and mind-map output
- The homepage lists Word, Excel, PowerPoint and mind-map output, plus one-click sharing of results.
- Workspace sharing
- Business adds shared workspaces with permission management for teams of up to 99 people.
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.
Votars
Free$0
300 recording minutes a month, 30 minutes per recording, speaker identification and Zoom, Teams and Meet recording.
Personal$8
per month, billed annually ($11.99 billed monthly)
1,800 minutes a month, 90 minutes per recording, 100 files, 100 AI summaries, translation and downloadable transcripts.
Business$14.67
per seat / month, billed annually ($21.99 billed monthly)
Unlimited minutes, 300 minutes per recording, 200 files, 500 AI summaries, workspace sharing; teams of up to 99 people.
EnterpriseCustom
For more than 99 seats: unlimited AI summaries, custom prompts and templates, security and compliance management.
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.
Votars
- Annual discount
Save 33% with annual billing
The pricing page shows Personal at $8 and Business at $14.67 a month when billed annually, marked 33% off the monthly price.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Otter.ai or Votars?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Otter.ai starts at $8.33 per user / month, billed annually, and Votars starts at $8 per month, billed annually ($11.99 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 Votars?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Otter.ai and Votars have a free plan.
Which platforms do Otter.ai and Votars run on?
As of Nov 13, 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.