Is Otter AI free?
Yes — Otter has a permanently free Basic plan: 300 transcription minutes per month, capped at 30 minutes per conversation, plus 3 file imports for the life of the account. Paid plans start at $16.99 per user monthly, or $8.33 per user monthly billed annually, for Pro's 1,200 minutes. Prices as of 2026-07.
Why — the first-principles explanation
"Free" here means metered, not time-limited. There's no 14-day trial clock counting down — Basic stays free indefinitely. What constrains you is two separate ceilings, and the one that bites first is almost never the one people check. Everybody looks at 300 minutes a month and thinks that's five hours, plenty. The ceiling that actually hurts is the 30-minute cap per conversation. A standard business meeting runs 30 to 60 minutes. So the free plan reliably gives you the first half of the thing you wanted transcribed and stops. That cap isn't set arbitrarily — it sits just below the length of a real meeting, which is precisely where it converts people to paying.
The economics force something like this, which is worth understanding rather than resenting. Speech recognition has a hard marginal cost: every minute of audio is real compute the vendor pays for, every time. That makes it unlike a note-taking app, where one more user costs approximately nothing and a generous free tier is cheap marketing. Transcription meters have to exist because the underlying resource is genuinely consumed. The revealing detail is the file imports — 3 for the lifetime of the account, not 3 per month. You can upload a recording three times, ever, and then that door is closed permanently. That's not a usage allowance; it's a demo.
So be honest about what the free plan is good at. It genuinely works for short calls, interviews under half an hour, voice memos, one-on-ones, and kicking the tires before you commit. It does not work for recurring hour-long team meetings, long lectures or webinars, or transcribing a backlog of existing recordings — the lifetime import cap kills that last one outright. If your actual use case is "my weekly hour-long staff meeting," the free plan will frustrate you every single week, by design.
One more thing to notice in the pricing, because the gap is unusually wide. Pro is $16.99 per user per month billed monthly, but $8.33 per user per month billed annually. Run the arithmetic: $203.88 a year versus $99.96 — a difference of $103.92. The annual plan isn't discounted so much as the monthly plan is penalized. You're paying roughly an extra hundred dollars a year for the right to cancel any month you like. That may well be worth it if you're unsure you'll stick with the tool, but you should know that's the trade you're making, rather than reading "save 51%" and assuming you found a bargain.
An example that makes it click
Picture a gym that hands out free memberships with a catch: you can come in as often as you like, up to 300 minutes a month, but a staff member walks you out at minute 30 of every visit.
Sounds generous until you notice the classes run 45 minutes. So every single week, you get three-quarters of the way through, and then you're on the sidewalk while everyone else finishes. You never hit the monthly limit — you don't get the chance. That's the free Otter plan and a one-hour meeting: 300 minutes was never the binding constraint, and the 30-minute walk-out is the whole business model.
Key facts
- Otter's Basic plan is free with 300 transcription minutes per month, a 30-minute maximum per conversation, and 3 file imports for the lifetime of the account (as of 2026-07).
- Pro costs $16.99 per user per month billed monthly, or $8.33 per user per month billed annually, with 1,200 minutes per month, 90 minutes per conversation, and 10 imports per month (as of 2026-07).
- Business costs $30 per user per month billed monthly, or $19.99 billed annually, with unlimited transcription, a 4-hour cap per conversation, and unlimited imports (as of 2026-07).
- Enterprise pricing is custom and requires contacting Otter for a demo (as of 2026-07).
- Pro billed monthly costs $203.88 per user per year versus $99.96 billed annually — a $103.92 difference for the ability to cancel monthly (as of 2026-07).
- The Basic plan is free indefinitely rather than a time-limited trial; its limits reset each monthly billing cycle, except the 3 lifetime imports.
Check whether a free tier or trial is available, then confirm current credits and limits.
▶ The 60-second explainer (script)
Yes, Otter is free — but the free plan's real limit isn't the one you're looking at. The Basic plan is free forever. No trial clock. You get 300 transcription minutes a month, which sounds like plenty. Five hours! Here's the catch nobody reads: each individual conversation is capped at 30 minutes. Your typical work meeting runs 30 to 60 minutes. So the free plan hands you the first half of the meeting and stops. That cap sits just below the length of a real meeting, and that's not an accident — that's where it converts people to paying. There's a sharper one too. The free plan allows three file imports. Not three per month. Three for the lifetime of the account. If your plan was to upload a backlog of old recordings, the free tier is a demo, not a tool. Free works genuinely well for short calls, interviews under half an hour, and voice notes. It does not work for a recurring hour-long staff meeting. If you do upgrade, look closely at the billing. Pro is $16.99 per user monthly, or $8.33 billed annually. That's $203.88 a year versus $99.96 — about a hundred dollars extra for the right to cancel any month. Sometimes worth it. Just know that's the actual trade. All prices as of July 2026.
What authoritative sources say
People also ask
Does the Otter free plan expire?
No. Basic is free indefinitely, not a time-limited trial. Your 300 transcription minutes reset with each monthly cycle. The one exception is file imports, which are capped at 3 for the entire life of the account and never reset.
What happens when I hit the 300-minute limit?
You can't record or import any more conversations until your monthly cycle resets. The counter starts over at the beginning of the next cycle, so the free plan is a monthly allowance rather than a one-time bucket.
Are the 3 file imports per month or total?
Total, for the lifetime of the account — not monthly. This is the single most misread limit on the free plan. If you wanted to transcribe a library of existing recordings, three uploads is all you'll ever get on Basic.
Can I use the free plan for a one-hour meeting?
Not usefully. Basic caps each conversation at 30 minutes, so an hour-long meeting exceeds the per-conversation limit. Pro raises it to 90 minutes and Business to 4 hours (as of 2026-07).
Is annual billing worth it for Pro?
Annual is $99.96 per user per year versus $203.88 billed monthly — you pay about $103.92 extra for the freedom to cancel any month. If you're unsure you'll keep using it past a few months, monthly can still be the cheaper bet.