Otter.ai vs Fellow (2026): live transcription or structured meeting workflows?
Otter.ai records and transcribes meetings live, with searchable transcripts, summaries and action items, and a free Basic plan. Fellow is an AI meeting assistant built around collaborative agendas, meeting notes, action items and team workflows, with AI recording and transcription on top.
| Otter.ai | Fellow | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Basic plan free with 300 transcription minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation | Free plan with 5 AI notes and 5 AI recordings per user, for the lifetime of the account |
| Paid tier | Pro from $16.99 a month ($8.33 billed annually) | Team from $7 per user a month billed annually ($11 monthly) |
| Best for | People who want a live transcript they can search later | Teams who run structured meetings with agendas and follow-ups |
| Standout strength | Live transcription with speaker labels, plus a desktop app that needs no bot | Agendas, collaborative notes and action items that turn meetings into tracked work |
| Watch out for | The free plan cuts every call at 30 minutes, and Pro caps workspaces at 5 billed users | The free plan is a trial in practice — 5 lifetime notes run out fast |
Otter wins when the transcript is the product: a live record you can search by speaker, date or keyword, with a free plan that covers short calls. Fellow wins when the meeting is the product: a team that plans with agendas, assigns action items in the notes, and follows up on them next week.
For a solo user, Otter's free plan goes further. For a team that meets every day, Fellow's Team plan is cheaper per person and the workflow — agenda to notes to action items — is what actually fixes bad meetings.
Sources: official pricing pages and 2026 comparison coverage. Otter.ai listing · Fellow listing