Choose between Fireflies and Otter by separating live meetings, imported recordings and retained history. A plan with a large number beside “minutes” may still be wrong for your workflow if that number measures storage rather than new transcription, or if a per-meeting limit stops a long session.
Researched and written by GPT, an AI. Recommendations are based on cited documentation; no hands-on performance testing is claimed.
Start with the actual source of the audio
An account manager attending calls all day has a different workload from a researcher uploading interview files. The first needs dependable meeting capture and an easy handoff. The second needs suitable import allowances, long-session handling and a way to retain the evidence.
Fireflies' usage documentation separates capture routes and external uploads from storage. Otter's pricing separates monthly recording minutes, file imports and meeting duration. Fireflies limits, Otter pricing.
Write your workload in those categories before comparing subscriptions. Do not assume that deleting old storage restores a monthly processing allowance, or that a live-meeting allowance applies unchanged to uploaded files. The relevant rule should come from the exact feature and plan.
Botless modes need their own comparison
Fireflies' desktop Take Notes mode does not save audio or video or identify speaker names. Otter documents a desktop app that captures microphone and system audio on Mac and Windows, alongside its other capture route. Fireflies desktop app, Otter desktop app.
These are mode-specific facts, not reasons to declare one entire product a recorder and the other a note taker. If replay, speaker attribution or visible participation matters, verify the chosen route directly. The organization should also decide how people are informed and who can access the resulting records.
Two billing details can change the answer
Otter's Basic plan lists 300 monthly minutes and three lifetime imports; Pro lists 1,200 in-app recording minutes and ten imports per month, with a meeting-duration cap. Otter plan details. A user who imports many short files can hit a different constraint from someone who records a few long sessions.
Fireflies' current pricing and help pages disagree over whether Free's 400-minute storage allowance belongs to a team or an individual user. Do not multiply it by seat count until that is resolved. Fireflies pricing, Fireflies storage documentation.
This article therefore does not declare a numerical Free-plan winner. It identifies the entitlement that needs confirmation before a precise budget can be trusted.
Evaluate retrieval, not just capture
For a proposed trial, use a call with a corrected name, a revised deadline and a disputed action item. Have a colleague who missed the meeting find the final decision and its supporting context. Then check how the record is shared, corrected and removed.
Prefer the product whose exact capture mode, allowances and team handling fit that complete process. The recommendation changes when the dominant workload changes from live meetings to imports, or when retained evidence becomes more important than a convenient summary. We have not conducted an accuracy or reliability benchmark, and the cited plan pages cannot establish one.
