Pick Otter.ai if…
you want a real-time transcript and AI Chat over notes, and 1,200 minutes a month is enough.
Both record Zoom, Meet and Teams calls with a bot. The split is in where the limits sit: Otter's free plan caps transcription minutes, while tl;dv records and transcribes without limit for free but caps AI notes at about 10 meetings a month.
Pick Otter.ai ($16.99/mo per user) for live transcripts and AI Chat at a noticeably lower monthly price. Pick tl;dv ($29/mo monthly, less billed annually) if you're on a sales or customer team and want unlimited free recording plus 5,000+ integrations and API access.
| App | Free tier | Paid from | Top plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otter.ai | Yes | $16.99/mo | $30/mo | Teams already living in Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet who want automatic notes and searchable transcripts |
| tl;dv | Yes | $29/mo | $39/mo | Sales and customer-facing teams that want unlimited free recording plus deep CRM and workflow integrations |
Monthly prices in US dollars before tax, from each vendor's official pricing (US list price; weekly-billed plans converted to a monthly figure). Updated November 2, 2026
| Otter.ai | tl;dv | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 300 transcription minutes/mo | Unlimited recordings & transcripts, AI notes ~10 meetings/mo |
| Entry paid plan | Pro: 1,200 minutes/mo, up to 90-min meetings | Pro: unlimited AI notes, custom templates, API access |
| Integrations | Salesforce, HubSpot & Zapier on Pro | 5,000+ app integrations, even on Free |
| Business plan | Business: unlimited meetings, up to 4 hours, 3 concurrent bots | Business: sales coaching insights, team analytics |
| Weak spot | Accuracy dips with heavy accents or crosstalk | Heavier AI features need Pro or Business |
you want a real-time transcript and AI Chat over notes, and 1,200 minutes a month is enough.
you record many calls, want them all kept for free, and plan to push notes and clips into a CRM.
Recording and transcription are unlimited on the free plan, in 30+ languages. AI notes are the limit — about 10 meetings a month before you need Pro.
Otter on monthly billing: Pro is $16.99/mo per user against $29/mo for tl;dv Pro. tl;dv's annual billing narrows the gap.
tl;dv leans further into sales: its Business plan adds sales coaching insights and team analytics, and it integrates with 5,000+ apps. Otter Pro covers Salesforce and HubSpot but focuses on transcription.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.