You finish a one-hour client call. Now you need to:

• Remember what was discussed
• Extract action items
• Send follow-up notes
• Update your CRM

This takes another 30-45 minutes.

AI meeting assistants like Fireflies and Otter do this automatically in seconds. But which one should you choose?

This guide compares both tools honestly—including what they're not good at.

The Quick Answer

Choose Fireflies if:

• You need CRM integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.)
• You have multi-language meetings
• You want detailed AI-generated summaries
• Your team needs centralized meeting insights

Choose Otter if:

• You need real-time live transcription
• You primarily hold English-only meetings
• You want the simplest, cleanest interface
• You're an individual user or very small team

Budget conscious? Otter has a better free tier for individuals. Fireflies offers more value at paid tiers for teams.

What Are AI Meeting Assistants?

Both Fireflies and Otter join your meetings (Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams) as a participant and:

1. Record audio (with permission)
2. Transcribe in real-time (speech to text)
3. Generate summaries (AI extracts key points)
4. Identify action items (tasks mentioned in the meeting)
5. Store searchable transcripts (find past discussions instantly)

Think of them as a note-taker that never misses anything.

Head-to-Head Comparison

Feature	Fireflies	Otter
Transcription accuracy	~90% (better with accents)	85-95% (English-focused)
Languages supported	60+ languages	English, Spanish, French
Live transcription	❌ No	✅ Yes
AI summaries	✅ Excellent (5-part Super Summaries)	✅ Good (basic summaries)
CRM integrations	✅ 40+ (HubSpot, Salesforce, etc.)	❌ Limited
Meeting platforms	Zoom, Meet, Teams, Webex, etc.	Zoom, Meet, Teams
Custom vocabulary	❌ No	✅ Yes (add industry terms)
Team collaboration	✅ Strong (channels, comments)	✅ Basic
Search functionality	✅ Excellent	✅ Excellent
Mobile apps	✅ iOS & Android	✅ iOS & Android
Free tier	800 min storage (limited features)	300 min/month transcription
Paid plans start at	$18/month per user	$10/month per user

Fireflies: Deep Dive

What Fireflies Does Best

1. Multi-Language Support (60+ Languages)

If your team holds meetings in Spanish, Dutch, German, French, or any of 60+ languages, Fireflies handles it. Otter is English-only (with basic Spanish/French).

Real scenario: You're a Dutch CEO with international clients. Fireflies transcribes calls in Dutch, English, German—whatever language is spoken.

2. CRM Integration

Fireflies automatically syncs meeting notes to:

• Salesforce (logs calls, updates opportunities)
• HubSpot (creates timeline events, updates contacts)
• Slack (posts summaries to channels)
• Notion, Asana, ClickUp (creates tasks from action items)
• 40+ other tools

Real scenario: Your sales rep finishes a client call. Fireflies automatically updates the deal in HubSpot with meeting notes, action items, and next steps—zero manual entry.

3. AI Super Summaries

Fireflies generates 5-part summaries:

1. Overview (meeting purpose in 2-3 sentences)
2. Action Items (who needs to do what)
3. Key Topics (main discussion points)
4. Questions (unresolved questions from the meeting)
5. Sentiment (tone analysis—positive, neutral, negative)

You can customize which sections appear and even create custom AI Apps to extract specific information (pricing mentioned, objections raised, competitor names, etc.).

4. Team Analytics

See across all meetings:

• Talk time per person
• Most discussed topics
• Questions asked vs. answered
• Sentiment trends over time

Use case: Identify if your sales team is talking too much and not listening enough.

What Fireflies Doesn't Do

❌ No live transcription during the meeting (you get the transcript after) ❌ No custom vocabulary (struggles with niche industry jargon) ❌ More expensive than Otter at the Pro tier ($18 vs. $10/month)

Fireflies Pricing (2025)

Plan	Price	Features
Free	$0	800 min storage, basic transcription, limited AI summaries
Pro	$18/user/month	8,000 min/month, AI Super Summaries, CRM integrations, video playback
Business	$29/user/month	Unlimited transcription, custom AI Apps, advanced integrations, team analytics
Enterprise	Custom	SSO, dedicated support, custom data retention

Free tier is enough if: You have fewer than 5 meetings per month and don't need integrations.

Upgrade to Pro if: You need CRM sync, better summaries, and hold 10+ meetings/month.

Otter: Deep Dive

What Otter Does Best

1. Real-Time Live Transcription

Otter transcribes while the meeting is happening. You can:

• See words appear on screen in real-time
• Highlight important moments during the call
• Add photos to specific points in the transcript
• Collaborate live (teammates can see and edit together)

Real scenario: You're in a client meeting and want to remember an exact quote. Highlight it live, and Otter saves it as a key moment.

Use case: Great for in-person meetings where you want to follow along on your laptop while someone speaks.

2. Custom Vocabulary

Add industry-specific terms, product names, acronyms, or client names to Otter's dictionary. It will transcribe them correctly.

Example:

• Add "Genial Agency" so Otter doesn't write "General Agency"
• Add "n8n" so Otter doesn't write "N-A-T-E-N"
• Add medical terms, legal jargon, technical acronyms

3. Simplest Interface

Otter has the cleanest, most intuitive UI. Less overwhelming than Fireflies if you just want:

• Record meeting → Get transcript → Done

Best for: Solo users or small teams who don't need complex features.

4. Better Free Tier (for Individuals)

Otter's free plan gives you 300 minutes of transcription per month (~5 hours). Fireflies gives you 800 minutes of storage (but limited AI features).

If you're an individual user who attends 5-10 meetings per month, Otter's free tier is better.

What Otter Doesn't Do

❌ English-focused (only English, Spanish, French—Fireflies has 60+ languages) ❌ Limited integrations (no HubSpot, Salesforce, or deep CRM sync) ❌ Weaker AI summaries (basic summaries, not as detailed as Fireflies) ❌ Less team collaboration (no channels, limited multi-user features)

Otter Pricing (2025)

Plan	Price	Features
Free	$0	300 min/month, 30 min per conversation, basic transcription
Pro	$10/user/month	6,000 min/month (100 hours), advanced search, custom vocabulary
Business	$20/user/month	Unlimited transcription, team billing, priority support, user management
Enterprise	Custom	SSO, centralized billing, dedicated account manager

Free tier is enough if: You're an individual with fewer than 10 meetings/month.

Upgrade to Pro if: You need more than 300 minutes or want custom vocabulary.

The Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Sales Team (5-10 People)

Best choice: Fireflies Business ($29/user/month)

Why:

• Automatically logs sales calls to HubSpot/Salesforce
• Extracts objections, pricing discussions, competitor mentions
• Team analytics show who's talking too much
• Multi-language support for international clients

ROI: Save 2-3 hours per rep per week on manual CRM updates.

Scenario 2: Solo Consultant or Freelancer

Best choice: Otter Pro ($10/month)

Why:

• Simple, clean interface
• Real-time transcription during client calls
• Affordable at $10/month (vs. Fireflies at $18)
• 100 hours of transcription per month is plenty

Use case: Transcribe client calls, send them the notes immediately.

Scenario 3: International Team (Multi-Language)

Best choice: Fireflies Pro ($18/user/month)

Why:

• Supports 60+ languages (Otter is English-only)
• Team members in Netherlands, Spain, Germany can all use it
• Transcribes meetings in the language spoken

Real scenario: Your Dutch CEO has calls in Dutch, German, and English. Fireflies handles all three.

Scenario 4: Customer Success Team

Best choice: Fireflies Pro ($18/user/month)

Why:

• Automatically logs customer calls to your CRM
• Sentiment analysis detects unhappy customers
• Action items automatically create tasks in Asana/Notion/ClickUp
• Search all past customer conversations instantly

Use case: A customer mentions a feature request. Search all past calls to see how many times it's been requested.

Scenario 5: Individual Knowledge Worker (Tight Budget)

Best choice: Otter Free

Why:

• 300 minutes/month is enough for ~5-10 meetings
• Simple interface, no learning curve
• Free forever

Use case: You attend 5-7 internal meetings per week and want transcripts without paying anything.

Feature-by-Feature Breakdown

Transcription Accuracy

Fireflies: ~90% accuracy. Handles accents, multiple speakers, and background noise better.

Otter: 85-95% in quiet environments. Drops to ~70% with heavy accents or corporate jargon.

Winner: Fireflies (slightly better overall, especially with diverse speakers)

AI Summaries

Fireflies: 5-part Super Summaries (overview, action items, topics, questions, sentiment). Customizable with AI Apps.

Otter: Basic summaries (key points, action items). Less detailed.

Winner: Fireflies (significantly better for extracting insights)

Integrations

Fireflies: 40+ integrations including HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack, Notion, Asana, ClickUp, Zapier.

Otter: Zoom, Meet, Teams, Dropbox, basic Zapier.

Winner: Fireflies (essential for teams using CRMs or project management tools)

Live Transcription

Fireflies: ❌ No live transcription (transcript appears after meeting ends)

Otter: ✅ Real-time live transcription during meeting

Winner: Otter (only tool with live transcription)

Language Support

Fireflies: 60+ languages

Otter: English, Spanish, French only

Winner: Fireflies (essential for international teams)

Ease of Use

Fireflies: More features = slightly more complex interface

Otter: Simplest, cleanest UI. Easiest to learn.

Winner: Otter (better for non-technical users)

Pricing Value

Fireflies: More expensive but includes more features (CRM sync, better AI)

Otter: Cheaper, but limited features at lower tiers

Winner: Tie (depends on your needs—Otter for budget, Fireflies for features)

The Honest Downsides

Fireflies Weaknesses

1. No live transcription: You can't see the transcript during the meeting, only after.
2. More expensive: $18/month vs. Otter's $10/month at Pro tier.
3. Complexity: More features can feel overwhelming if you just want simple transcription.
4. Learning curve: Takes 1-2 weeks to understand all features.

Otter Weaknesses

1. English-focused: Only English, Spanish, French. No German, Dutch, Portuguese, etc.
2. Limited integrations: No HubSpot or Salesforce integration (dealbreaker for sales teams).
3. Weaker AI summaries: Basic summaries lack the depth of Fireflies' Super Summaries.
4. Less team collaboration: No channels or advanced multi-user features.

Cost Comparison: Which Is Cheaper?

For Individuals

Usage	Best Choice	Monthly Cost
1-5 meetings/month	Otter Free	$0
10-20 meetings/month	Otter Pro	$10
20+ meetings/month	Fireflies Pro	$18

Winner for individuals: Otter (better free tier and cheaper Pro plan)

For Teams (5 users)

Plan	Fireflies	Otter
Pro tier	$90/month (5 × $18)	$50/month (5 × $10)
Business tier	$145/month (5 × $29)	$100/month (5 × $20)

Winner for teams: Otter is cheaper, but Fireflies offers more value (CRM sync, better AI, multi-language).

ROI consideration: If Fireflies saves each team member 2 hours/week on CRM updates and note-taking, that's 10 hours/week saved. At $50/hour value, that's $500/week = $2,000/month in saved time.

Break-even: Fireflies pays for itself if it saves your team just 3 hours per month total.

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose Fireflies if:

✅ You use a CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce) and want automatic sync

✅ Your team has 3+ people who need meeting transcripts

✅ You hold meetings in multiple languages

✅ You want detailed AI summaries with action items and sentiment

✅ You need team analytics (talk time, topics, sentiment trends)

✅ You integrate with project management tools (Notion, Asana, ClickUp)

Ideal user: Small business CEO with a sales/customer success team

Choose Otter if:

✅ You're an individual user or very small team (1-3 people)

✅ You primarily hold English-only meetings

✅ You want real-time live transcription during calls

✅ You need custom vocabulary for industry jargon

✅ You prefer the simplest, cleanest interface

✅ Budget is tight and you want the cheapest option

Ideal user: Solo consultant, freelancer, or knowledge worker

The Third Option: Use Both

Some teams use both:

• Otter for internal team meetings (live transcription, simple interface)
• Fireflies for client calls and sales meetings (CRM sync, better summaries)

Cost: Otter Pro ($10) + Fireflies Pro ($18) = $28/month per user

When this makes sense: If your team really values live transcription but also needs CRM integration for client-facing calls.

Alternatives to Consider

If neither Fireflies nor Otter fits:

Fathom ($0, free forever)

• Completely free (no paid tiers)
• Good transcription and summaries
• Limited integrations
• Best for: Budget-conscious teams

tldv ($0-$20/month)

• Free tier is generous
• Records Zoom, Meet, Teams
• Good for internal meetings

Avoma ($19-$79/month)

• Enterprise-grade features
• Revenue intelligence for sales teams
• More expensive, better for larger teams

Implementation Tips

Getting Your Team to Use It

1. Start with yourself first: Use it for 2 weeks, understand the value.
2. Share one impressive result: Show your team a detailed summary from a 1-hour meeting.
3. Make it a policy: "All client calls must have Fireflies/Otter in the meeting."
4. Address privacy concerns: Both tools have security features and can be disabled for sensitive meetings.

Best Practices

1. Announce the Bot "I'm using an AI assistant to take notes—it will join in a moment. Let me know if you'd prefer I turn it off."

2. Name Your Bot Rename "Fireflies Notetaker" to "[Your Name]'s AI Assistant" so it's less robotic.

3. Review Transcripts Spend 2 minutes reviewing transcripts after each call. AI isn't perfect—catch errors.

4. Share Selectively Don't auto-share all transcripts. Share only relevant excerpts with your team.

5. Use Action Items Both tools extract action items. Copy them directly into your task manager.

Privacy & Security

Both Fireflies and Otter are GDPR compliant and SOC 2 certified.

Key privacy features:

• End-to-end encryption for recordings
• Control who can access transcripts
• Delete recordings anytime
• Exclude sensitive meetings

Best practice: Add to your meeting invite: "This call will be recorded and transcribed by [Tool Name]. Please let me know if you'd prefer we don't record."

The Bottom Line

For most small business CEOs: Choose Fireflies.

Why? The CRM integrations, multi-language support, and detailed AI summaries save significant time—especially if you have a team.

For individual consultants/freelancers: Choose Otter.

Why? It's cheaper, simpler, and the live transcription feature is genuinely useful for solo users.

Free trial both: Fireflies and Otter both have free tiers. Test them with 5-10 real meetings before paying.

Next Steps

1. This week: Sign up for free accounts on both Fireflies and Otter
2. Test each tool in 5-10 meetings (mix of internal and client calls)
3. Compare transcripts side-by-side: Which is more accurate for your use case?
4. Decide based on: Accuracy, features you'll actually use, and budget
5. Upgrade to paid: Once you've confirmed value

Pro move: Create a custom integration using their APIs (both have them) if you have specific workflow needs.

Want help implementing meeting automation in your business? We help small companies choose and set up AI meeting assistants that integrate with their CRM and project management tools—saving hours every week.