Plaud vs Otter vs Fireflies: Which AI Note Taker Fits How You Meet?
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Two are meeting bots that live in your calendar. One is a recorder that lives in your pocket. Where your conversations happen decides the winner.
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Plaud for in-person and phone calls. Otter for solo online meetings. Fireflies for teams.
Meeting bots are excellent at Zoom, Meet and Teams — and nearly useless across a café table or on a phone call. If much of your work happens offline, you need hardware.
- 01
best for in-person & callsPlaud Note Pro
Records rooms and phone calls without a bot, then summarizes in 112+ languages.
$189check price - 02
best for solo online meetingsOtter.ai
Polished live transcripts and an AI chat across your meeting history.
Free–$30/mocheck price - 03
Free–$39/mocheck price
contents (8)
Start with where you talk
Most “best AI note taker” lists compare these three tools as if they were interchangeable. They aren’t. Before looking at a single price, ask: where do your important conversations actually happen?
- Mostly on Zoom, Google Meet or Teams? A meeting bot (Otter or Fireflies) will join automatically and you’ll never think about it.
- In rooms, on job sites, in classrooms or on the phone? A bot can’t sit in on those. You need something that physically records — that’s where Plaud fits.
- A mix of both? Plaud covers in-person and calls with hardware, and online meetings with its desktop app. Otter and Fireflies cover in-person through a phone app.
Feature comparison
| spec | plaudPlaud Note Pro | otterOtter.ai | firefliesFireflies.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| online meetings | Via Plaud Desktop app | Bot joins Zoom, Meet, Teams; bot-free desktop app | ▲Bot for Zoom, Meet, Teams, Webex; bot-free desktop app |
| phone-call recording | ▲Yes — switches automatically | No native call capture | No native call capture |
| transcription | Cloud, speaker labels | Live, speaker labels | ▲Unlimited on all plans |
| languages | ▲112+ | 6 (German & Chinese in beta) | English + 100+ in beta |
| ai summaries | 10,000+ templates, custom templates | Yes + AI chat | Yes (AI credits per plan) |
| free tier | 300 min / month | 300 min / month, 30 min per conversation | Unlimited transcription, 400 min storage |
| paid plan from | $8.33/mo (Pro, billed yearly) | $8.33/mo (Pro, billed yearly) | $10/mo (Pro, billed yearly) |
| security & compliance | SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, ISO 27001/27701 (per Plaud) | SOC 2 Type II, AES-256; HIPAA (Enterprise add-on) | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, ISO 42001; HIPAA BAA on Enterprise |
Plaud: when the meeting isn’t on a screen
Plaud’s advantage is physical. The Note Pro records a room with four microphones, records phone calls through a vibration sensor when it’s attached to your phone, and doesn’t need a bot to “join” anything — which also means nobody sees an unfamiliar participant pop into the call.
Plaud’s free Starter plan includes 300 minutes a month; Pro is $8.33/month billed yearly for 1,200 minutes. Transcripts have speaker labels, summaries come from 10,000+ templates in 112+ languages, and integrations include Google Calendar, Slack, Notion and Linear.
- Works anywhere — no bot, no laptop
- Records phone calls natively
- Broadest language support of the three
- Desktop app covers online meetings too
- Requires buying hardware ($159–$189)
- Less suited to large-team admin and CRM workflows
- Minutes are capped below the Unlimited plan
Otter: the solo professional’s meeting assistant
Otter’s bot joins Zoom, Meet and Teams automatically, writes a live transcript you can follow along with, and lets you ask an AI chat questions across your meeting history. The mobile apps can record in-person conversations through your phone.
The free Basic plan gives you 300 minutes a month but caps each conversation at 30 minutes and allows only three imported files, ever. Pro ($8.33/month billed yearly, or $16.99 monthly) raises that to 1,200 minutes and 90 minutes per conversation. Otter supports English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese, and says it uses AES-256 encryption with SOC 2 Type II certification.
- Excellent live transcription experience
- AI chat across all your meetings
- Mature, well-known product
- 30-minute cap on the free plan
- Fewer languages than Plaud or Fireflies
- No native phone-call capture
Fireflies: built for teams and pipelines
Fireflies is the most team-oriented of the three. Its bot joins Zoom, Meet, Teams and Webex, there’s a bot-free desktop app, and every plan includes unlimited transcription — the limits are on storage and AI credits instead. That makes it a natural fit for sales and customer-success teams that want recordings flowing into a CRM.
The free plan stores 400 minutes; Pro is $10/month billed yearly with 8,000 minutes of storage per seat, and Business removes the storage cap. English is the primary language, with 100+ more in beta.
- Unlimited transcription on all plans
- Bot plus bot-free desktop and Chrome options
- Strong team and CRM workflows
- Most non-English languages are still in beta
- HIPAA BAA only on Enterprise
- Bot-based — no help for offline conversations
Pricing at a glance
| Free plan | Entry paid plan (yearly) | Monthly billing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plaud | 300 min/month | $8.33/mo · 1,200 min | $17.99 |
| Otter | 300 min/month, 30 min per conversation | $8.33/mo · 1,200 min | $16.99 |
| Fireflies | Unlimited transcription, 400 min storage | $10/mo · 8,000 min storage | $18 |
Which should you choose?
- Choose Plaud if you’re a doctor, consultant, salesperson on the phone, student or anyone whose key conversations happen away from a laptop.
- Choose Otter if you’re an individual who lives in video calls and wants great live transcripts with minimal setup.
- Choose Fireflies if you’re rolling out a note taker across a team and care most about integrations and unlimited transcription.
Many people end up pairing them: a Plaud recorder for the real world and a bot for the calendar. If you’re weighing hardware options, see our guide to the best AI voice recorders.
Questions
q.01Can Otter or Fireflies record in-person meetings?
Yes, both have iOS and Android apps that record through your phone's microphone. They're designed primarily around online meetings, though, and you'll be relying on your phone's mic and battery.
q.02Does Plaud work with Zoom or Teams meetings?
Plaud's desktop app can capture online meetings from your computer's audio without sending a bot into the call. The hardware recorders are aimed at in-person conversations and phone calls.
q.03Which AI note taker has the best free plan?
It depends on what you count. Fireflies offers unlimited transcription on its free plan but caps storage at 400 minutes. Otter's free plan includes 300 minutes a month with a 30-minute limit per conversation. Plaud's free Starter plan includes 300 minutes a month, but you need the hardware.
q.04Are these tools HIPAA compliant?
All three describe HIPAA options, but the details differ. Plaud lists HIPAA among its compliance certifications; Otter lists HIPAA as an Enterprise add-on; Fireflies offers a HIPAA BAA on Enterprise with private storage. Confirm with each vendor before handling patient data.
- Fireflies prices, storage and platforms re-checked against Fireflies' official blog, help center and security page.
- First published. Fireflies pricing sourced from a third-party check in August 2026, since fireflies.ai did not display prices at the time.
sources
- plaud.ai/pages/plaud-device-comparison
- plaud.ai/pages/plaud-ai-plan-pricing
- otter.ai/pricing
- otter.ai/apps
- otter.ai/privacy-security
- businesswire.com/news/home/20250710027730/en/Otter.ai-Achieves-HIPAA-Compliance
- fireflies.ai/blog/fireflies-pricing-which-plan-is-right-for-you
- guide.fireflies.ai/articles/2631950139-learn-about-transcription-credits-storage-and-rate-limits-for-meetings
- fireflies.ai/security
specs and prices above were checked against these pages on 2026-10-27.
BVR Editorial Team. We compare recorders and AI note takers using makers' official spec sheets and pricing pages, cross-checked against independent reviews. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
