Fireflies vs Otter.ai vs Free Browser Tool — Which Meeting Notes App?
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Fireflies.ai and Otter.ai are the two most popular AI meeting notes tools. They both join your Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet calls, record and transcribe the audio, and generate a summary. They are genuinely useful — when you can record.
There is a category of meetings where recording is not possible or appropriate. That is where a notes-based approach makes more sense. Here is an honest breakdown of all three options.
What Fireflies.ai Does and What It Costs
Fireflies.ai is a meeting intelligence platform. Its core product: a bot that joins your Zoom, Google Meet, or Teams call, records audio, transcribes in real time, and generates an AI summary with action items afterward.
Key features:
- Joins calls automatically via bot invite or calendar integration
- Speaker-labeled transcripts with timestamps
- AI summaries, action items, and searchable archive
- Integrations with Slack, Asana, HubSpot, Salesforce, and more
Pricing (as of early 2026):
- Free — limited transcription minutes per month, storage limits, watermarked summaries
- Pro (~$10/month) — unlimited transcription, full summaries, integrations
- Business (~$19/month) — team features, analytics, CRM sync
Limitation: requires recording consent from all participants. Does not work for in-person meetings, sensitive conversations, or platforms it does not support.
What Otter.ai Does and What It Costs
Otter.ai is similar to Fireflies in core function — live transcription and AI summaries — but with a stronger focus on individual users and education. Its OtterPilot bot joins calls; it also has a mobile app that can transcribe in-person audio.
Key features:
- Real-time live transcription with speaker identification
- AI summaries and action items
- Mobile app for in-person meetings (records audio and transcribes)
- Direct Zoom and Google Calendar integration
Pricing (as of early 2026):
- Free — 300 minutes/month transcription, basic AI summaries
- Pro (~$10/month) — 1,200 minutes, advanced AI features
- Business (~$20/month) — team features, admin controls
Limitation: the free tier is more generous than Fireflies but still limited. The mobile transcription is a differentiator for in-person use, but still requires audio recording.
Sell Custom Apparel — We Handle Printing & Free ShippingWhat the Free Browser Tool Does Differently
The free browser tool (Badger AI Meeting Notes) takes a different approach: you bring the text, the AI organizes it.
Instead of joining the call and recording, it accepts any text input:
- Rough notes you typed during the meeting
- A transcript copied from Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet after the meeting
- Chat logs from async Slack or Teams discussions
- Exported transcripts from Fireflies or Otter themselves
It outputs: a summary, key decisions, action items with owners and deadlines, and next steps. No bot joining the call. No recording. No account. No monthly limit. Runs entirely in your browser.
The trade-off: it does not work in real time and it cannot generate a full searchable transcript. It is a post-meeting processing tool, not a live meeting intelligence platform.
Head-to-Head: When Each Tool Wins
| Situation | Best Tool |
|---|---|
| Virtual meeting, recording OK, want real-time transcript | Fireflies or Otter |
| In-person meeting, can record audio | Otter (mobile app) |
| Meeting where recording is not appropriate (HR, legal, sensitive) | Free browser tool |
| You already have notes or a transcript | Free browser tool |
| Client meeting, client did not consent to recording | Free browser tool |
| Need searchable archive of all past meetings | Fireflies or Otter |
| Free, no account, no limit | Free browser tool |
| Team wants CRM or project tool integration | Fireflies (business tier) |
The free browser tool is not trying to compete with Fireflies and Otter on their core use case (live call transcription). It solves the meeting documentation problem for all the situations where recording does not work.
Can You Use All Three Together?
Yes — and for many teams, that is the right answer.
A practical multi-tool workflow:
- Use Fireflies or Otter for recorded virtual meetings where you need the full transcript and archive
- Use the free browser tool for meetings that cannot be recorded — feed it the rough notes from those meetings
- Use the free browser tool to re-process Fireflies or Otter transcripts if you want a cleaner, shorter summary than their auto-generated one
They are not in conflict. Recording-based tools and notes-based tools serve different slices of your meeting calendar. Using both covers the whole calendar without paying for features you do not need on every call.
Try the No-Recording Alternative Free
Paste any notes or transcript — get a clean summary and action items with no account, no recording, no limit.
Open Free AI Meeting Notes ToolFrequently Asked Questions
Is Fireflies.ai free to use?
Fireflies has a free tier with limited monthly transcription minutes and storage. For regular use with more than a handful of meetings per month, the Pro plan (~$10/month) is more practical. The free tier is enough to test the product.
Is Otter.ai better than Fireflies for small teams?
Both work well for small teams. Otter is often preferred for individual users and small teams because of its more generous free tier and mobile app. Fireflies tends to be preferred for teams wanting deeper integrations with CRM and project tools.
What is the best free alternative to both Fireflies and Otter?
For notes-based meeting processing (no recording required), the free browser tool here works without any account, usage limits, or monthly fees. It does not record or transcribe live — it processes text notes and transcripts after the meeting.
Do Fireflies and Otter work with Microsoft Teams?
Both support Microsoft Teams, though the integration depth varies. Fireflies has a Teams app. Otter has a Teams integration. Check current documentation for both since integration features are updated frequently.