PurposeFit Comparison · Productivity & meetings
Otter.ai vs Fireflies.ai for UK small businesses (2026)
How we research: this comparison is based on each vendor’s official documentation, help centre and published pricing, read on 18 October 2026. We haven’t tested these tools hands-on for this page, and we haven’t been paid to include any tool. Checked 18 October 2026, prices change.
Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai both join your Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet calls, transcribe them and write a summary. For a UK small business the real differences are the free-plan limits, the price per seat, and what happens to your recordings afterwards. Here’s how they compare on each vendor’s own published pricing and documentation.
Our verdict
Otter.ai is the better-value all-rounder: its paid Pro plan is cheaper than Fireflies Pro on both annual and monthly billing, and the free Basic plan gives 300 transcription minutes a month to try it on real calls. Visit Otter.ai ↗
Pick Fireflies.ai instead Fireflies.ai if you don’t want your recordings used to train the vendor’s AI (Fireflies says it doesn’t; Otter’s privacy policy says it trains on de-identified recordings), or if your free-plan calls run past 30 minutes — Otter Basic caps each conversation at 30 minutes, and Fireflies’ pricing page lists no per-conversation cap.
Otter.ai vs Fireflies.ai at a glance
| Otter.ai | Fireflies.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Basic: 300 monthly transcription minutes, up to 30 minutes per conversation, 25 most recent conversations, 3 lifetime file imports | Free: transcription listed as “unlimited” (with an asterisk the page doesn’t explain), limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of storage per team, 20 AI credits |
| Paid from (annual billing) | Pro US$8.33 per user/month | Pro US$10 per seat/month |
| Paid from (monthly billing) | Pro US$16.99 per user/month | Pro US$18 per seat/month |
| Next tier | Business US$19.99 per user/month annually (US$30 monthly) | Business US$19 per seat/month annually (US$29 monthly) |
| Meeting length / storage | Pro: up to 90 minutes per meeting, 1,200 minutes; Business: up to 4 hours per meeting | Pro: 8,000 minutes of storage per seat; Business: unlimited storage |
| Meeting platforms | Joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet (all plans, per the pricing page) | Joins calls from your calendar; Chrome extension can record without the bot |
| CRM and integrations | Salesforce, HubSpot and Zapier listed on Pro | Integrations listed on every plan |
| Where data is stored | AWS, US West region | US (AWS/GCP) by default; Enterprise private storage can be in the EU, still processed in the US |
| Used to train AI? | Privacy policy says it trains its proprietary AI on de-identified audio and transcripts | Fireflies says meeting data is not used for AI training |
Prices as shown in US dollars on otter.ai/pricing (“Prices in USD”) and fireflies.ai/pricing, checked 18 October 2026. Introductory and region-specific offers excluded. Neither page says whether VAT is included. VAT: UK VAT (standard rate 20%, see GOV.UK) may be added at checkout unless the vendor says otherwise; if you’re VAT-registered, check how the supplier invoices you and ask your accountant how to record it.
Pick Otter.ai if…
- You want the lowest per-seat price: Pro is US$8.33 a month billed annually, or US$16.99 monthly.
- Your free-plan calls are short — Basic covers 300 minutes a month but caps each conversation at 30 minutes.
- You need longer single meetings on a paid plan: up to 90 minutes on Pro and up to 4 hours on Business.
- You’re comfortable with Otter’s training policy, or you’ve read it and decided the de-identification is acceptable for your calls.
Pick Fireflies.ai if…
- You don’t want meeting content used for AI training — Fireflies’ data guide says it isn’t.
- You want a free plan whose pricing page lists no per-conversation cap, and you can live with 400 minutes of stored meetings per team.
- Notes need to flow into a CRM or project tool; Fireflies lists integrations on every plan.
- You’d sometimes rather record without a bot joining, using the Chrome extension (you still need to tell people).
Privacy note for UK businesses
A meeting recording is personal data, so UK GDPR applies whichever tool you choose: tell participants before you record, have a lawful basis, sign the vendor’s data processing terms and set a retention period. Both tools store data in the US by default — Otter on AWS in the US West region (Otter help centre), Fireflies on AWS/GCP in the US, with EU storage only for Enterprise private storage (Fireflies data storage). Fireflies lists SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. Otter’s privacy policy (effective 16 June 2026) says it trains its proprietary AI on de-identified audio recordings and transcriptions; Fireflies says customer data isn’t used for training. Read the ICO guidance on international transfers. This is general information, not legal advice.
For the full set-up steps, see our guide to AI meeting notes in a UK small business.
FAQ
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Sources
Official pages read on 18 October 2026. Checked 18 October 2026, prices change — always check the vendor’s own page before you buy.