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Otter.ai vs tl;dv

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. Otter.ai publishes a starting price ($8.33); tl;dv does not. Both have a free tier. Both ship a public API.

Otter.aiMeeting transcription with per-plan minute and length capstl;dvMeeting recorder that clips moments and syncs to CRM

Side by side

FactOtter.aitl;dv
CategoryMeeting AssistantsMeeting Assistants
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at$8.33 month—
Public APIYesYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, Chrome Ext, APIWeb, Chrome Ext, macOS, Windows, API
CompanyOtter.aitldx Solutions GmbH
Launched20162020
Last verifiedSep 6, 2026Sep 6, 2026

What our research says

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

tl;dv

tl;dv earns its place when the recording has to end up somewhere else, in a CRM field or a shared clip, rather than sitting in an archive nobody reads. As a pure note-taker it is unremarkable.

Pros

  • Clip-and-share is faster in practice than pointing colleagues at a timestamp
  • CRM sync is a first-class feature rather than a Zapier afterthought
  • Free tier is a real plan, not a trial
  • Desktop apps and an extension cover the three major conferencing platforms

Cons

  • Billing is euro-only, which creates FX exposure for non-EU buyers
  • The API is v1alpha1 and explicitly unstable
  • Free plan cannot retrieve meeting content through the API at all
  • The 40% annual discount is permanent marketing, so the monthly rate is the real price

Which one fits

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

Choose tl;dv if you need

  • Sales teams that need call outcomes landing in the CRM without manual entry
  • Distributed teams sharing a 90-second clip instead of a 45-minute recording
  • Researchers and PMs tagging moments across many user interviews

More comparisons

All Otter.ai alternatives →All tl;dv alternatives →Browse all Meeting Assistants →