AudioScribe vs Otter.ai

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors.

The short answer

Entry price: AudioScribe from $19.99/mo, Otter.ai from $8.33/seat/mo — different billing units, so no direct winner
Free plan: Both have one
Public API: Otter.ai has one; not confirmed by us for AudioScribe
Higher Trust score: Otter.ai — 94 vs 77 for AudioScribe
Best fit: AudioScribe: Building a searchable archive of interviews or lectures · Otter.ai: Teams that live in Zoom, Meet or Teams and want notes without a note-taker

From our own records as of each tool's last check. Anything we have not confirmed is left out rather than guessed. How we verify

AudioScribeTranscribes audio and video, then lets you full-text search the transcript and question it in chat.

Otter.aiMeeting transcription with per-plan minute and length caps

Side by side

Fact	AudioScribe	Otter.ai
Category	Speech-to-Text & Transcription	Meeting Assistants
Pricing model	Freemium	Freemium
Starts at	$19.99/mo	$8.33/seat/mo
Public API	Not confirmed	Yes
Trust score	77 / 100	94 / 100
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android	Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Chrome extension, API
Company	AudioScribe Technologies LLC	Otter.ai
Launched	—	2016
Last verified	Oct 16, 2026	Oct 15, 2026

What our research says

AudioScribe

A transcription service that treats the transcript as a searchable archive rather than a one-off download, which matters if you accumulate hundreds of recordings. The 10-hour per-file ceiling is generous. The free tier's 25-minute cap makes it useless for real meetings, so you are effectively evaluating a paid product.

Pros

Unlimited transcripts on the $19.99 plan with a 10-hour per-file ceiling
Full-text search plus a chat layer across stored transcripts
Speaker identification and 18 languages on the paid tier
Native iOS and Android apps alongside the browser app

Cons

No public API mentioned anywhere on the site
Free tier caps files at 25 minutes, which excludes most meetings
No street address disclosed for the LLC; the terms only name Delaware law

Otter.ai

Still the default for English-language meeting notes, and the free tier is unusually usable. What determines the right plan is not features but the per-conversation ceiling: 30 minutes on Basic and 90 on Pro means a standard hour-long review truncates on the free tier and a workshop truncates on Pro. Pick the tier by your longest recurring meeting.

Pros

300 free minutes a month makes evaluation real rather than token
Annual Pro at $8.33 is roughly half the month-to-month rate
An MCP server is exposed from the free tier, so assistants can query transcripts without the paid API
Business removes the minute cap entirely rather than raising it

Cons

The API and webhooks require Enterprise, which is quote-only
Per-conversation ceilings (30 min free, 90 min Pro) cut recordings mid-meeting
Basic allows three file imports in total, not per month
Month-to-month pricing is roughly double annual at both self-serve tiers

Which one fits

Choose AudioScribe if you need

Building a searchable archive of interviews or lectures
Long single recordings up to ten hours
People who want transcription on phone and desktop

Choose Otter.ai if you need

Teams that live in Zoom, Meet or Teams and want notes without a note-taker
Accessibility use, where live captions matter as much as the transcript
Recruiters and researchers who need searchable interview records across a workspace