Fireflies.ai vs Otter.ai: Languages, Team Size and the API

The short answer: for up to five people meeting in English, Otter.ai is the cheaper seat: Otter Pro costs $8.33 per user each month on yearly billing, against $10 for Fireflies.ai Pro. Past five people, or with calls in Dutch, Portuguese or any language outside Otter's six, Fireflies.ai fits: Otter's Pro plan stops at 5 billed users and its Business plan costs $19.99 billed annually, while Fireflies transcribes 100+ languages and lists API access on its Free plan (Otter pricing, Fireflies pricing, Otter language list, checked on 26 October 2026).

Disclosure: I may earn a commission through some links on this site. It does not change what this page says.

What Otter.ai changes, for an English-speaking team, is the price of starting. Its free Basic plan gives 300 transcription minutes a month and includes its MCP server, so an assistant like Claude can read your meetings before you pay anything (Otter pricing). Otter's Notetaker can be set to attend calendar meetings on Zoom, Google Meet or Teams, including ones you skip (Notetaker overview). The job Otter wins: a small English-speaking team that wants meeting notes and a replay at the lowest seat price.

Fireflies.ai wins once the team, the languages or the plumbing grow. It transcribes 100+ languages, has no published cap on how many seats share a plan, and opens its API from the Free plan (homepage, pricing). Its bot, Fred, does the same calendar job as Otter's Notetaker; the difference is what you can build around it.

Count these before a trial:

1. Your headcount against Otter's caps. Otter's plan table lists a maximum of 5 billed users on Pro and 25 on Business (Otter pricing). For example, six people billed annually: Otter must be Business, 6 x $19.99 = $119.94 a month, while Fireflies Pro stays at 6 x $10 = $60 (Fireflies pricing). At four people the order flips: 4 x $8.33 = $33.32 on Otter Pro against 4 x $10 = $40.
2. Last month's calls by language. Otter transcribes English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese, and its help page answers "No" for others (Otter language list). One recurring Dutch meeting is enough to rule it out.
3. Your long meetings. Count the meetings over 90 minutes last month, Otter Pro's limit, and over 2 hours, Fireflies Pro's (Otter pricing, Fireflies pricing). Workshops and webinars are where these caps bite.

Limits, free tier then first paid tier

Three things that decide it

Languages

This is the fastest filter for any European team. Fireflies lists 100+ languages and auto-detection from meeting to meeting (homepage). Otter covers six and offers translation of an existing transcript through Otter Chat (Otter language list), which helps a reader but cannot transcribe a meeting held in Dutch.

The API door

Fireflies documents its API for every plan: Free gets 30 requests a minute and 500 a day, and a Free user's first request starts a 14-day trial at Pro limits (limits). Otter's Public API is available to Enterprise workspaces, at 10 requests a second (API article). If you want meetings flowing into n8n, a warehouse or your own agent without an enterprise contract, only one of these opens the door.

Team size

Otter's caps of 5 and 25 billed users per plan turn a growing team into a plan change (Otter pricing). Fireflies bills any teammate added to the workspace, and recap links reach other people free (pricing FAQ).

What you would pay

Checked on 26 October 2026, per user per month in US dollars. Fireflies.ai charges nothing on Free, $10 for Pro on a yearly plan ($18 month to month), $19 for Business ($29 monthly) and $39 for Enterprise, which it sells annually only (pricing). Otter.ai (pricing): Basic $0; Pro $8.33 billed annually or $16.99 monthly; Business $19.99 billed annually, and on monthly billing $24 for first-time subscribers' first three months, then $30; Enterprise quoted.

Otter's monthly Business card shows $24 with $30 struck through and "20% off for 3 months+" beneath it (pricing). The card leads with the price a new team pays for the shortest time, which is how an introductory rate brings a team onto Business; budget the $30 from month four.

One agent step: transcribe the recordings you already have

Fireflies' uploadAudio mutation takes the URL of an audio or video file, a title, a language code such as de for German, and a webhook that fires when transcription completes; private files can use bearer or basic authentication (upload documentation). A workflow tool or an agent can send last quarter's webinar recordings this way and file each transcript when the webhook arrives. A person spot-checks names and figures in each transcript before it feeds a summary, a blog post or a CRM note. On Otter, the comparable route is its Zapier import, with Zapier listed from Pro and imports capped at 10 a month there (Zapier import article, pricing).

Recording people brings a notice duty either way. Fireflies can send invitees a notice email 60 minutes ahead, with a decline link that keeps Fred away (consent guide); Otter's pre-recording email to all invitees is an Enterprise feature (notification article). When transcripts are headed for content, the customer calls use case lists what to tell people first.

The use case each wins

Choose Otter.ai if

• Your team is five people or fewer and meets in English.
• You want an MCP connection on the free plan to test an assistant first.
• Meetings rarely run past 90 minutes.

Choose Fireflies.ai if

• Calls run in languages outside Otter's six.
• The team is six or more, or growing.
• You want to send recordings and transcripts through your own automations without an Enterprise contract.

FAQ

How many people can share Otter.ai Pro?

Five billed users, per the plan table on the pricing page; Business allows 25 and Enterprise has no cap.

Does the Fireflies.ai Free plan really include the API?

Yes, at 30 requests a minute and 500 a day, with the first request starting a 14-day trial at Pro limits (limits).

Can either one capture a call with no bot present?

Yes. Otter's desktop app records botless on Mac and Windows (desktop app article); Fireflies records Google Meet through its Chrome extension and other calls through Take Notes in its desktop app (consent guide).