Otter.ai Alternatives for iPhone with a Free Tier (2026)

The best Otter.ai alternative for iPhone depends on where your audio comes from. For recordings you make or receive on your phone (lectures, interviews, voice messages, languages beyond Otter's six), use Audio Notes AI. For calendar meetings with a bot or a team, Fireflies or Fathom are closest to Otter. For a free built-in option, use Apple Voice Memos. Free plans are where these apps differ most, so this page counts them. Every rival figure comes from the vendor's own pages, read on October 29, 2026.

Try Audio Notes AI free on the App Store — your first 3 notes or 60 minutes of transcription are included, no card required.

Is Otter.ai free?

Yes, with limits. Otter's Basic plan gives 300 transcription minutes a month, a 30-minute cap per conversation, 3 lifetime audio or video file imports, the 25 most recent conversations and 20 AI Chat questions. It includes live transcription, speaker identification and a bot that joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. Pro is $16.99 a month, or $8.33 a month billed annually. Otter's pricing page lists AI transcription in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese.

Those limits explain why people look elsewhere: a lecture is longer than 30 minutes, three imports run out in a week, and six languages leave out most of the world. Meetings, the thing Otter is built for, are the part of this list where it is hardest to beat.

Free plans compared

Figures are from each vendor's pricing page or App Store listing on October 29, 2026. Plans change, so check the vendor before you pay.

1. Audio Notes AI — best for recordings, not meetings

Record in the app (up to 90 minutes) or share a voice message, audio file or video to it, and get a transcript, a summary and action items in about 30 seconds. Speech AI covers 60+ languages including Cantonese, the app translates into yours, and you can ask questions about the recording in a chat. Shared notes are encrypted on your iPhone with AES-256 and the links expire after 24 hours. There is no meeting bot and no calendar sync.

Honest limits: transcription runs on a server, so you need internet; the transcript has no speaker labels; and the free allowance of 3 notes or 60 minutes is a one-time amount that never resets. See Audio Notes vs Otter for the side-by-side, or how to transcribe voice messages.

Try Audio Notes AI free on the App Store — your first 3 notes or 60 minutes of transcription are included, no card required.

2. Apple Voice Memos — best free forever

Built in and private. Apple says transcripts work on iPhone 12 or later in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. It has no summaries, translation, chat or importing from other apps. See Audio Notes vs Apple Voice Memos.

3. Fireflies — closest to Otter for teams

The free plan lists unlimited transcription (with an asterisk), limited AI summaries and 400 minutes of storage, in 100+ languages. A bot joins calendar meetings. The iPhone app records in-person conversations, uploads files up to 150 minutes each and adds Fireflies to live calls. Pro is $10 per seat a month billed annually, or $18 monthly. See Fireflies alternative.

4. Fathom — best free plan for video calls

Fathom's free plan includes unlimited recordings and transcripts, instant AI summaries, and a choice of a bot or a bot-free mode (listed as beta). Its iPhone app is meant for in-person conversations; it states that capturing Zoom, Meet and Teams calls remains desktop-based. Paid plans start around $15 a month per user.

5. Granola — notes without a bot, on a laptop

Granola captures your device's audio instead of joining the call. Its free Basic plan keeps 30 days of meeting history; Business is $14 per user a month. The iPhone app starts notes from the Lock Screen and can take notes on outbound phone calls. See Granola alternative.

6. Notta — free only for very short clips

The free plan gives 120 minutes a month and 50 uploads a month, but only up to 3 minutes per conversation. Pro is $8.17 a month billed annually, with up to 5 hours per recording. Notta lists 58 transcription languages. See Audio Notes vs Notta.

7. Voicenotes — notes that follow you across devices

The free Basic plan has unlimited recordings and 100 transcription minutes a week shared across meetings, memos and dictation, with 30 days of history. Pro is $9 per user a month. It runs on iOS, Android, macOS and Windows. See Audio Notes vs Voicenotes.

Aiko: not free, but one payment

Aiko costs $24 once, transcribes on your device in 100 languages, and has no live transcription or speaker detection. It needs iOS 26. See Audio Notes vs Aiko.

Which one should you pick?

• Voice messages, lectures, interviews, imported files, or a language Otter lacks: Audio Notes AI.
• Short private recordings, no account: Apple Voice Memos.
• Recurring Zoom, Teams or Meet calls for a team: Otter, Fireflies or Fathom.
• Meetings on a laptop, no bot: Granola.
• A one-time payment, on-device: Aiko.

More: best meeting minutes apps for iPhone, best free transcription apps for iPhone, best iPhone transcription apps, transcribe audio in any language, Cantonese voice-to-text.

FAQ

Is Otter.ai free?

Yes, with limits: 300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation and 3 lifetime file imports on the Basic plan, as of October 2026.

What is the best free Otter.ai alternative for iPhone?

For recordings and voice messages, Audio Notes AI (first 3 notes or 60 minutes free, 60+ languages). For free forever, Apple Voice Memos on iPhone 12 or later. For video meetings, Fathom.

Which Otter.ai alternatives work without a meeting bot?

Audio Notes AI, Aiko and Granola have no bot, and Fathom offers a bot-free mode that its pricing page calls beta. Fireflies and Otter use a bot for calendar meetings.

Which Otter.ai alternative supports more languages?

Otter lists six. Fireflies lists 100+, Aiko 100, Audio Notes AI 60+ including Cantonese, Voicenotes 60+ and Notta 58.

Can I import a recording instead of recording live?

Yes in most. Otter's free plan allows 3 lifetime imports; Audio Notes AI imports audio, video and voice messages through the share sheet; Fireflies takes uploads up to 150 minutes per file; Notta's free plan allows 50 uploads a month.

Download Audio Notes AI free on the App Store — your first 3 notes or 60 minutes of transcription are included, no card required.