Notta vs Otter.ai: Many Languages or an English Team

The short answer: if one person in your team runs customer or research interviews in several languages, Notta fits: it transcribes 58 languages, handles two languages in one call, and Pro costs $8.17 a month billed annually, $97.99 for the year, or $13.49 month to month, for a single seat (Notta pricing, Notta homepage). If a team of up to five meets in English and wants whole meetings on a free plan before paying, Otter.ai fits: Basic gives 300 minutes a month, and Pro costs $8.33 a user billed annually or $16.99 monthly, for up to 5 billed users (Otter pricing). Both checked on 26 October 2026.

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Run your own month through both:

1. Interview minutes, translation included. For example, 14 interviews a month at 50 minutes is 14 x 50 = 700 minutes, inside Notta Pro's 1,800 and Otter Pro's 1,200. If six of them also need an English version, Notta draws transcription time again for each translation, 6 x 50 = 300 more, so 1,000 in all (Notta usage rules). On Otter, an interview in Portuguese or Dutch never gets that far, because Otter transcribes six languages (Otter languages).
2. The people who need to open the transcripts. Notta's Free and Pro plans are one seat each, and sharing a workspace starts on Business, $16.67 a seat billed annually (Notta pricing). Otter Pro already holds up to 5 billed users. If a second researcher reads every interview, that row costs more than the minutes.
3. What each tool could not take. For two weeks, log the meetings in an unsupported language, the sessions longer than the plan's cap and the files over the monthly import allowance. The limit you hit most often is the one you would be paying to lift.

The free plans and the first paid plans

Sources: the Notta pricing page, Notta's import article and the Otter pricing page, all read on 26 October 2026.

How they differ in practice

Two languages on the same call

Notta's desktop app transcribes in real time across 58 languages and handles bilingual calls in 23 language pairs, with both languages captured in one transcript (Notta Desktop). Every plan gets four bilingual sessions a month free, and add-ons cover more (Notta pricing). Otter can translate a finished transcript through Otter Chat, which helps a reader, but the meeting itself has to be in one of its six languages (Otter languages). A Dutch customer who switches to English halfway through is a Notta call.

One researcher, or a small team

Notta prices the single seat low and makes collaboration a Business feature. Otter prices the team in from Pro, with up to five billed users sharing one plan (Otter pricing). Neither choice is a trick; they suit different org charts. A consultant alone picks Notta's seat; a five-person marketing team in English gets more from Otter's.

What the other people on the call see

Notta's desktop page leads with "Bot-free recording. No participant notification." and its own FAQ then adds that you remain responsible for informing participants under applicable law and your company's policy (Notta Desktop). Otter's Notetaker joins as a visible participant, and its desktop app can also record without a bot (Otter homepage); an email warning every invitee before the Notetaker records is an Enterprise-only setting (notification article). With either tool, say at the start of the call that it is recorded and why. What else to tell people before a recording turns into content is in the customer calls use case.

What each costs

US dollars, checked on 26 October 2026. Notta, from its pricing page: Free; Pro $8.17 a month billed annually ($97.99 a year) or $13.49 monthly; Business $16.67 a seat billed annually ($199.99 a year) or $27.99 monthly, with unlimited transcription; Enterprise quoted from 51 seats; a 7-day Business trial. Otter.ai, from its pricing page: Basic free; Pro $8.33 a user billed annually or $16.99 monthly; Business $19.99 billed annually, or $30 monthly after an introductory $24 for first-time subscribers; Enterprise by demo.

An agent step: from twelve interviews to one deck

Notta Brain searches across your meetings and files, lets you pin the sources with @, and builds reports, presentations and infographics that export to PowerPoint or PDF; Notta's own example request is "Turn these project meetings into a presentation for leadership" (Notta Brain). After a round of customer interviews, pin the twelve recordings and ask for a findings deck with one slide per theme and the interview and timestamp under every claim. Notta's FAQ warns that answers can change when the same question is asked again, so treat the deck as a draft: a person opens each cited interview and checks the line before anyone outside research sees a slide.

On Otter, the same question goes through AI Chat or, from the free plan, its MCP server in Claude or ChatGPT (Otter pricing); Granola vs Otter.ai covers that route.

The second meter

The deck above runs on Notta Brain's AI credits, not on your transcription minutes. Every plan includes 1,000 Brain credits a month, Notta's FAQ states that transcription plans do not automatically add Brain credits, and a separate Brain add-on sells 8,000 credits a month for $93.59 a year (Notta pricing, Notta Brain). The slides and infographics on Notta's homepage are billed on a meter that the plan you bought does not grow. Try both before paying: Otter Basic on your English meetings and Notta's 7-day Business trial on one full multilingual interview cost nothing.

The deciding job

Choose Notta if your job is interviews and recordings in more than one language, by one person, with transcripts translated and turned into a deliverable afterwards.

Choose Otter.ai if your job is English-language meetings for a team of up to five, starting on a free plan, with a notetaker that can attend when you cannot.

The Notta workflow for interviews is in how to transcribe and translate interviews with Notta, and background in the Notta entry.

FAQ

Does Otter.ai transcribe Dutch or Portuguese?

No. Otter supports English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese (Simplified), per its language article.

Will other people on the call know Notta Desktop is recording?

Not from the app: no bot joins and no participant entry appears. Notta's desktop FAQ says you are still responsible for informing participants.

Do Notta Brain questions use my transcription minutes?

No. Brain uses AI credits, 1,000 a month on every plan, with more sold as an add-on (Notta pricing).