Read AI and Otter.ai both join your Zoom, Meet, and Teams calls to transcribe and summarize them — but they charge for completely different things. Read AI starts free (5 meetings/mo); Pro is $15/user/mo billed annually ($19.75 monthly) with unlimited transcripts, Speaker Coach analytics, and copilots for email and messages. Otter.ai starts free (300 minutes/mo, 30 minutes per meeting); Pro is $8.33/user/mo billed annually ($16.99 monthly) with 1,200 minutes a month. Bottom line: Otter.ai is the cheaper, transcript-first pick at roughly half Read AI's price; Read AI is the pick if you want coaching and cross-surface AI help.
The pricing models are the real story here. Otter.ai sells you minutes — every paid plan has a per-meeting cap, so long calls can get cut off. Read AI sells you seats — paid plans get unlimited transcripts, but video playback only unlocks on Enterprise. Below is the full breakdown so you can match the tool to how you actually meet.
| Read AI | Otter.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free (5 meetings/mo); Pro $15/user/mo annual | Free (300 min/mo); Pro $8.33/user/mo annual |
| How you pay | Per seat: unlimited transcripts on paid plans; free tier capped at 5 meetings | Per minute: 300 / 1,200 / unlimited minutes by plan, plus per-meeting caps (30 min / 90 min / 4 h) |
| Video playback | Enterprise ($22.50/user/mo annual) and up | Enterprise only (custom pricing) |
| Coaching & analytics | Speaker Coach with measured-meeting metrics | AI Chat on transcripts; no coaching layer |
| Beyond meetings | Read for Email / Messages copilots on Pro+ | Transcription only — no email or chat copilots |
| Integrations | Notion, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Confluence, Zapier, webhooks (Pro+) | Salesforce, HubSpot, Zapier (Pro); custom AI workflows, API (Business/Enterprise) |
| Best for | People wanting meeting analytics plus copilots across email and chat | Budget-conscious users who just need solid transcripts |
AI meeting notes with Speaker Coach and email/message copilots — the meeting assistant that keeps working after the call.
Free (5 meetings/mo); Pro $15/user/mo annual ($19.75 monthly), unlimit
Try Read AI →Real-time transcription with OtterPilot — the meeting bot that shows up so you don't have to.
Free Basic (300 min/mo, 30-min sessions); Pro $16.99/mo monthly or $8.
Try Otter.ai →Pick Otter.ai for the cheapest capable AI note-taking — Pro at $8.33/user/mo annual is nearly half Read AI's price, and the transcripts are solid. Pick Read AI when unlimited transcripts, Speaker Coach analytics, or the email/message copilots justify the premium. One caution for Otter: its 90-minute per-meeting cap on Pro can cut long calls mid-recording, where Read AI's 4-hour cap on paid plans is far more forgiving.
Only if you use what Otter.ai does not have: unlimited transcripts on paid plans, Speaker Coach analytics, and the Read for Email/Messages copilots. For transcripts alone, Otter.ai Pro at $8.33/user/mo annual is the better value.
Otter.ai's free plan gives 300 transcription minutes a month but caps each meeting at 30 minutes; Read AI's free plan gives 5 meetings a month with no minute math. Both are light-use tiers that run out fast for heavy meeting users.
Read AI unlocks audio/video playback on Enterprise ($22.50/user/mo annual); Otter.ai reserves video replay for Enterprise (custom pricing). Neither is generous here — if playback matters, Fathom offers it on its free tier.