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Notey vs Otter.ai
Otter is a cloud service built for online meetings. Notey is an app that transcribes and summarizes recordings on your own phone or Mac, with no account and no minute limit.
At a glance
| Feature | Notey | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | App for iPhone, Android and Mac that syncs a voice recorder or records with your phone | Cloud meeting assistant for web, iPhone and Android, with a bot that joins Zoom, Google Meet and Teams calls |
| Where the AI runs | On your device | On Otter's servers |
| Account | None | Required |
| Price | No subscription | Free Basic plan; Pro $16.99 a month ($8.33 a month billed yearly); Business $30 a month ($19.99 billed yearly), per user |
| Transcription minutes | No limit | 300 a month on Basic (30 minutes per conversation), 1,200 a month on Pro |
| Works offline | Yes, after a one-time model download | No |
| Languages | 52, including English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese and Korean | Mainly English, with French and Spanish |
| Speaker labels | No | Yes |
| Joins video calls | No | Yes |
| Dedicated recorder | Syncs a card-sized recorder over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, from $29.99 | No hardware |
Privacy: on your device or in the cloud
Otter uploads your audio to its servers, where it's transcribed, summarized and stored in your account. That's what makes its web app, sharing and team features work.
Notey does the same work on your phone or Mac. Recordings, transcripts and summaries never leave your device, and there's no account for them to be tied to. If your recordings include client meetings, medical appointments or private conversations, that difference matters.
No minutes to count
Otter's free plan stops at 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes per conversation, and Pro stops at 1,200 minutes. Because Notey transcribes on your device, there's nothing to meter: record a three-hour lecture every day if you like, at no extra cost.
In the room versus on the call
Otter is strongest in online meetings: its assistant joins your Zoom, Meet or Teams call and writes notes as people talk. Notey is built for recordings made in person. Clip a card-sized recorder to your notebook or leave it on the table, then sync it to Notey later, or simply record with your phone.
More languages
Notey's speech model understands 52 languages and writes summaries in the language of the recording, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese and Korean. Otter focuses on English, with support for French and Spanish.
Choose Notey if
- Your recordings are private and you'd rather they never reach a server.
- You record long or frequent conversations and don't want a minute allowance.
- You record in person, with a dedicated recorder or your phone.
- You speak a language Otter doesn't transcribe, or switch between languages.
- You don't want another subscription or another account.
Choose Otter.ai if
- Most of your meetings happen on Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams.
- You need speaker labels showing who said what.
- Your team shares and comments on notes in a web app.
- You want live captions while the meeting is happening.
Questions
Is Notey a free alternative to Otter.ai?
Notey has no subscription and no limit on minutes. Transcripts and summaries are made on your phone or Mac, so there are no server costs to pass on.
Can Notey join my Zoom or Teams meetings like Otter?
No. Notey doesn't send a bot into video calls. It transcribes recordings from a supported voice recorder or your phone's microphone. If you mostly need notes from online meetings, Otter is the better fit.
Does Notey upload my recordings like Otter does?
No. Notey has no servers to upload to. It goes online only once, to download its speech and summary models, and works offline after that.
Does Notey label speakers?
Not yet. Transcripts are timestamped but don't say who is speaking. Otter does identify speakers.
Your privacy-first AI notetaker.
Transcripts and summaries made on your phone or Mac. No cloud, no account, no subscription.