Cluely vs Otter.ai

Cluely

Cluely's pitch is the live overlay: answers appear on your screen mid-call rather than in a recap afterwards, and no bot shows up in the participant list. That same invisibility is the reputational baggage — the company launched it as an interview-cheating tool — and the $149.99 tier exists specifically to hide the overlay from screen-share, which says how some buyers are expected to use it. At $19.99 for the ordinary Pro plan it is cheap next to sales-call platforms, but it is a personal assistant, not a team analytics suite.

Pros

• +Live, on-screen suggestions during the call, not post-call analytics
• +No bot joins the meeting, so it works with Zoom, Meet, Teams, Webex and Slack calls alike
• +Free Starter tier and a $19.99 Pro plan, far below enterprise sales tools
• +Searchable notes across past meetings, with 12+ transcription languages

Cons

• −The company's origin as an interview and exam cheating tool is a reputational issue for some buyers
• −The 'undetectable' tier is priced at $149.99 a month, seven times Pro
• −Annual prices and the advertised 'from $11.99' rate are not shown on the pricing page
• −No team analytics, CRM sync or enterprise plan is listed

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

Is Cluely cheaper than Otter.ai?

On published entry prices, Otter.ai starts lower — $8.33/mo against $19.99/mo for Cluely. Entry price is the lowest paid plan as we last verified it; what each plan includes differs.

Does Cluely or Otter.ai have a free tier?

Both: Cluely has a free tier, and Otter.ai has a free tier.

Which has a public API, Cluely or Otter.ai?

Otter.ai ships a public API, as of our last verification. A public API for Cluely is not confirmed by us — check its developer docs before you plan an integration.