Otter vs Fireflies vs Notta: Free AI Meeting Notes Compared

The short answer

Otter, Fireflies, and Notta describe their free tiers with different allowances, so the largest headline is not automatically the best fit. Otter documents a 300-minute monthly pool, a 30-minute limit per conversation, and three lifetime file imports; a separate 2026 comparison reports the same 30-minute ceiling for an individual recording or import. Fireflies documents unlimited transcription and AI summaries, while its upload guidance still imposes a 150-minute ceiling and consumes one transcription credit per file. Notta’s current plan card lists 120 minutes per month and up to three minutes per conversation, and its bot guide specifies a three-minute maximum for supported web-meeting sessions.

Choose conditionally. Otter is the clearest option when a typical item fits inside 30 minutes and three lifetime imports are enough. Fireflies is the better candidate when longer imported recordings matter, but its upload-credit requirement remains relevant. Notta is best treated as a way to inspect a very short workflow before deciding whether its paid tiers deserve consideration. These recommendations compare documented limits, not transcription accuracy.

Readers who later need a paid service can consult TechNest’s monthly AI plan comparison.

Free-plan limits at a glance

The chart preserves each provider’s documented item definition: an Otter recording or import, a Fireflies uploaded file, and a Notta conversation. The 180-minute axis is a fixed editorial scale that leaves visible headroom above the largest documented value; it is not a product entitlement.

Otter: check both the monthly pool and each item

An Otter plan description states that Basic is free with 300 monthly transcription minutes, a 30-minute cap per conversation, and three lifetime file imports. A separate 2026 HypeScribe comparison reports that each individual recording or import is capped at 30 minutes.

That creates two independent checks. First, a representative recording must fit the per-item limit. Second, the expected total must fit the monthly pool. Unused monthly minutes do not make a longer import fully accessible, and the lifetime import count is not a recurring monthly allowance. Otter is therefore the most predictable choice here for short, repeated captures that do not depend on frequent file imports.

Fireflies: a longer upload ceiling with a credit control

The current Fireflies Free-plan feature guide documents unlimited transcription and unlimited AI summaries for the Free plan. A separate Fireflies Free-plan upload description says supported uploads can be as large as 100MB and 150 minutes per file, with one transcription credit consumed per file.

The word unlimited therefore should not be interpreted as removing every route-specific control. For an existing recording, the 150-minute file ceiling is generous relative to the other two documented free-tier limits in this comparison, but the credit requirement still affects repeated uploads. Fireflies is the strongest conditional option when longer imported items matter more than having a simple monthly minute pool. Readers planning retained recordings may also find TechNest’s free cloud-storage comparison useful when separating processing limits from storage decisions.

Notta: a monthly pool behind a short item limit

The current Notta pricing page lists 120 transcription minutes per month, up to three minutes per conversation, 50 file uploads per month, and 10 AI summaries per month for Free. A separate Notta Bot guide says the Free plan can transcribe Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Webex sessions with a maximum time limit of three minutes.

The three-minute ceiling dominates those documented conversation and supported web-meeting routes. A larger unused monthly balance and a 50-upload allowance do not extend that per-item limit. Notta Free is consequently most defensible for examining a short sample workflow, not for covering an ordinary uninterrupted web meeting.

A practical selection method

Start with one representative, non-sensitive recording and compare its duration with the ceiling for the route you intend to use. Eliminate any option that cannot accommodate it. Next, consider recurring volume: Otter and Notta publish monthly pools, while Fireflies uses unlimited wording but retains an upload-credit control. Finally, distinguish file count, transcription credits, AI summaries, and minutes; none of those units should be treated as equivalent.

No accuracy winner is declared. Before adopting any service, review names, specialist vocabulary, speaker changes, export behavior, deletion controls, and organizational recording requirements with non-sensitive material.