Otter.ai vs Wave AI
We give Otter.ai and Wave AI the same GPA: 3.6 out of 4.0. Otter.ai grades higher on the free plan. Wave AI grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
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
Wave AI
AI note taker and recorder for meetings, calls and lectures
How we grade them
| 3.6GPAOtter.aiExcellent | 3.6GPAWave AIExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPro is $8.33 a month if you pay for the year, a little under what meeting notetakers usually start at. Pay monthly and it's $16.99, about double. And Pro is still metered, at 1,200 minutes a month and 90 minutes a meeting. Unlimited meetings wait for Business at $19.99. | APro is $80 a year on the web. That's $6.67 a month for unlimited recording, transcripts and summaries on every device, when Fireflies asks $10 a month for its Pro. Just don't buy it in the app stores, where it's $100. |
| Free plan and trial | BBasic gives you 300 transcription minutes a month for nothing. But a conversation stops at 30 minutes, you get 3 file imports ever, and only your 25 most recent conversations stay open. Fine for short calls, tight for anything longer. | C30 minutes a month, and recordings, imports, phone calls and bot meetings all come out of it. That's one short meeting. Fathom's free plan lists unlimited recordings. At least nothing you've made gets locked. |
| Features | ALive transcription with the speakers labelled, a summary of every conversation on every plan, and AI Chat for asking what was said. The notetaker joins Zoom, Teams and Meet from your calendar, or the desktop app records with no bot in the call. | AIt records from a phone, a watch, a browser or a desktop app, with a bot or without one, and gets both sides of a phone call. Speaker names, 76 languages, your own summary templates and a chat that searches every recording. |
| 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. | A4.9 from about 12,100 App Store ratings. You press one red button and talk. One reviewer, a self-confessed horrible note taker, calls it a job saver. |
| 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. | AiPhone, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux (in beta), the web, a Chrome extension, Apple Watch and Wear OS. It sends notes to Notion, Google Docs and OneNote, and there's an API, Zapier and a connector for Claude and ChatGPT. |
| Best for | reading the transcript while the meeting's on | recording in-person chats and phone calls |
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 Wave AI. How we grade
Where they differ
- Otter.ai starts at $8.33 per user / month, billed annually. Wave AI starts at $6.67 per month, billed annually ($80 per year); $15 billed monthly.
- Only Wave AI lists a Linux app.
- Wave AI also covers templates.
At a glance
| Otter.ai | Wave AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $8.33 per user / month, billed annually | $6.67 per month, billed annually ($80 per year); $15 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. | 30 minutes of audio per calendar month across recordings, imports, phone calls and bot meetings, with AI transcription and summaries. Unused minutes do not roll over. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of Otter Business. | Free trial of Pro offered on the pricing page; its length is not stated |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Otter.ai Inc | Mohrer Associates LLC |
| Price read from | otter.ai | wave.co |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Otter.ai
- Reading a live transcript while a meeting or lecture is still going
- Students and teachers, who get a discount on Pro with a .edu address
- People who want the same notes on web, desktop and phone
Wave AI
- Recording in-person conversations and meetings from a phone or watch
- Phone calls that need both sides transcribed and summarized
- Households sharing one App Store subscription through Family Sharing
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.
Wave AI
- The Free plan is a pool of 30 minutes a month, and imported files, phone calls and bot-recorded meetings all count toward it.
- Prices depend on where you buy: Pro is $80 a year on the web but $100 through the App Store or Google Play, and the vendor says prices vary by country.
- Teams needs at least 5 seats, and the $7.50 rate applies only from 20 seats; smaller teams pay $8 to $8.33 per user a month.
- Browser recording is microphone-only and capped at 3 hours a session, and offline recordings are transcribed only once the device is back online.
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.
Wave AI
- Recording on every device
- Record from a phone, an Apple Watch or Wear OS watch, the desktop app, a browser or the Chrome extension. Phone recording continues in the background and with the screen locked.
- Meeting bot or bot-free capture
- A bot can join Zoom, Google Meet and Teams calls from a connected calendar or a pasted link. The desktop app instead records the microphone and system audio with no bot in the call.
- Phone call recording
- Calls dialed from Wave's keypad, or bridged in while already in progress, are recorded on both sides, transcribed and summarized, with your own number shown as caller ID.
- Transcripts and custom summaries
- Transcripts carry speaker labels in 76 languages, and Voice ID remembers a named speaker for later recordings. Summaries use built-in templates or ones you save yourself.
- Wave Assistant
- The assistant searches and chats across the whole recording history, answering questions such as what was decided in a series of meetings from the relevant sessions.
- Sharing, exports and API
- Sessions export to Notion, Google Docs, OneNote, Evernote, PDF or DOCX, or go out as a public link. A developer API, an MCP server for Claude and ChatGPT, and Zapier are available.
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.
Wave AI
Free$0
30 minutes of recording a month with AI transcription and summaries, on iOS, Android and the web. Earlier recordings stay in the library.
Pro$6.67
per month, billed annually ($80); $15 billed monthly
Unlimited recording, transcription, summaries and action items on every device, with exports to PDF, OneNote and email. $100 a year if bought in the app stores.
Teams$7.50
per user / month, billed annually ($90), at 20+ seats
5-seat minimum: $8.33 per user a month for 5 to 9 seats and $8 for 10 to 19. Everything in Pro, plus centralized billing and an admin dashboard.
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.
Wave AI
- Annual discount
$80 a year instead of $15 a month
On the web, Pro costs $80 billed annually, which the pricing page shows as $6.67 a month, against $15 a month on monthly billing.
- Other savings
20% less on the web than in app stores
The pricing page lists annual Pro at $80 on the web and $100 through the App Store or Google Play, and labels the web price 20% less.
- Other savings
Family Sharing on App Store subscriptions
A Wave Pro subscription bought through the App Store extends to everyone in an Apple Family Sharing group at no extra cost, each with a private account.
