Otter AI alternatives for captions and transcripts

Otter writes meeting notes. If you also leaned on it for accessibility, to caption calls for someone who cannot hear them or to caption recordings you post on your site, these six do those jobs: Fireflies.ai, Rev and Sonix, and the captions built into Teams, Meet and Zoom. Every Yes below was read on the maker's own page. For the caption editors themselves, see closed captioning software compared.

Fig. 1A laptop shows a call of blank tiles above caption lines and one line wears the focus ring

The verdict by use case

Best like-for-like switch from Otter
Fireflies.ai
It joins Zoom, Meet and Teams calls as Otter does, shows a live transcript, and its downloads on Pro and up include SRT with speaker labels.
Best when the words must be right
Rev
Human transcriptionists and captioners to order, an editor for text, timing and speaker names, and SRT and WebVTT among its caption files.
Best if your calls already run in Teams
Microsoft Teams
Live captions with no extra bot, a CART captioner when someone needs one, and a transcript with speaker names you can download as .vtt.

Side by side

Scroll sideways to see all vendors.

How the Otter AI alternatives compare on captions, transcripts and caption files
Requirement	Fireflies.ai	Rev	Sonix	Microsoft Teams	Google Meet	Zoom
Live text on screen during a call	Yes	Not stated	Check with the vendor	Yes	Yes	Yes
A human captioner can caption a live call	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated	Yes	Not stated	Yes
Keeps a transcript of the meeting	Yes	Check with the vendor	Check with the vendor	Yes	Yes	Yes
Transcribes a recording you upload	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated
Names who is speaking	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not stated	Not stated
Lets you correct the text	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not stated	Not stated
Exports an SRT caption file	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated
Exports a WebVTT caption file	Not stated	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not stated	Not stated
Human transcripts or captions to order	Not stated	Yes	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated

The vendors

Fireflies.ai

What it is: An AI notetaker that records and transcribes Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls, with a live transcript and uploads of your own files.
Who it fits: A team that wants the same meeting-notes job Otter does, and an SRT file for any call it later posts as video.

Live text on screen during a callYes
Names who is speakingYes
Lets you correct the textYes
Exports an SRT caption fileYes
Human transcripts or captions to orderNot stated

Fireflies.ai plans page

Rev

What it is: AI transcripts and captions, or files done by human transcriptionists and captioners, with an editor for text, timing and speaker names.
Who it fits: A business posting recorded webinars, trainings or interviews where names and terms must be right before anyone reads them.

Transcribes a recording you uploadYes
Names who is speakingYes
Lets you correct the textYes
Exports a WebVTT caption fileYes
Human transcripts or captions to orderYes

Rev captions page

Sonix

What it is: A browser transcription service for uploaded audio and video, with a text editor, speaker detection and subtitle export.
Who it fits: Someone who records first and transcribes later, such as a podcast or a recorded class, and needs the caption file.

Live text on screen during a callCheck with the vendor
Transcribes a recording you uploadYes
Names who is speakingYes
Lets you correct the textYes
Exports a WebVTT caption fileYes

Sonix website

Microsoft Teams

What it is: Live captions and live transcription built into Teams meetings, with a CART captioner option and a transcript that names each speaker.
Who it fits: A business already on Microsoft 365 that holds its calls, trainings and webinars in Teams.

Live text on screen during a callYes
A human captioner can caption a live callYes
Names who is speakingYes
Exports a WebVTT caption fileYes
Saves the captions after the callNo

Teams live captions help

Google Meet

What it is: Live captions each person turns on for themselves, and saved transcripts on paid Google Workspace editions.
Who it fits: A business on Google Workspace whose calls already run in Meet.

Live text on screen during a callYes
Keeps a transcript of the meetingYes
Names who is speakingNot stated
Exports a WebVTT caption fileNot stated

Meet live captions help

Zoom

What it is: Automated live captions, captions typed by a person in the meeting, a feed for an outside captioner, and a separate saved transcript.
Who it fits: A business that runs customer calls, trainings or webinars in Zoom.

Live text on screen during a callYes
A human captioner can caption a live callYes
Keeps a transcript of the meetingYes
Saves the captions after the callNo

Zoom captions help

What Otter does, and what it leaves to you

Otter sells itself as an AI meeting agent. It can join your Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet calls on its own, transcribe them live with speaker recognition, and transcribe audio and video files you upload; its desktop app records without a bot joining the call. Its pricing page lists transcription in six languages. The free Basic plan, when we read it, allowed 300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation and three file imports in all, with SRT export only on the paid plans.

Otter is built for notes: summaries, action items and a searchable record. Its home page does not mention captions. That matters on this site, because the two accessibility jobs people hand it, captions for someone in a live call and captions for a recording you publish, each ask for something a set of notes does not give you. Otter is the reference point here, so it is described but not scored.

Captions for someone who is in the call

If a deaf or hard-of-hearing colleague, client or customer joins your calls, ask them what works. A live transcript in a notetaker's own window and captions inside the meeting window are not the same thing to the person reading them, and some people will want a human captioner.

The meeting platforms are where a person can caption a call. Teams names a CART (Communication Access Real-time Translation) captioner as one source of its live captions. Zoom lets the host type, assign an attendee to type, or turn on a caption API token so an outside captioning service feeds the meeting. None of the notetakers we read says it carries a human captioner. Who to book for that seat is in captioning services compared.

What WCAG says about calls

In WCAG 2.2, 1.2.4 Captions (Live) is Level AA. W3C's Understanding note for 1.2.4 says it was written for broadcast of synchronized media and is not meant to require captions on two-way calls between people through web apps. A webinar you stream to the public is broadcast; a sales call is not.

Captions also vanish when the call ends. Since Zoom's 24 to 26 May 2026 rollout, captions can no longer be saved or downloaded after a meeting; saved text needs the separate Meeting transcript setting. Teams says it does not save captions either and points to its transcript. Turn the transcript on before the call if anyone will need the words afterwards.

When the recording goes on your website

A recorded webinar or training on your site is prerecorded media. In WCAG 2.2, 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded), Level A, asks for captions for all prerecorded audio in synchronized media. A recording with no picture, such as a podcast, falls under 1.2.1 and needs a transcript instead. The Justice Department's web guidance puts the video case plainly: “Videos can be made accessible by including synchronized captions that are accurate and identify any speakers in the video.”

A meeting transcript saved as a Word file is not a caption file. Captions need timings, so you want an SRT or WebVTT file. Of the six here, Fireflies.ai exports SRT, Rev and Sonix export both, and Teams downloads its transcript as a .vtt file. Our SRT vs VTT comparison shows which file each video host takes.

A transcript's caption file is not always a good one

Rev says the .srt and .vtt files from an AI transcription order are timed less precisely than files from an AI captions order, and cannot be opened in its caption editor; it tells you to order captions if you need caption files. Check any notetaker's caption file the same way before you post it.

Then edit. W3C says automatically generated captions do not meet user needs or accessibility requirements unless they are confirmed to be fully accurate, and that they can be a starting point (see W3C on captions). Names, sounds that carry meaning and who is speaking are where drafts go wrong; the edit pass is laid out in closed captioning software compared, and every media criterion is in our guide to video caption requirements.

Before you leave Otter

Export what you need from Otter first
On Otter's free Basic plan the export list is TXT and MP3; the paid plans add PDF, DOCX and SRT. Save the conversations you will want later before the account lapses.
Copy your names and terms
Otter lets you teach it names and terms. If the tool you move to takes a list of names and terms, load the same one; it is the cheapest way to cut the edit.
Test on one real recording
Use a call with your own staff names, product names and an accent or two, not a demo clip. Read the whole transcript against the audio.
Check the caption file before you post it
Paste the SRT or WebVTT file into the caption check on our captioning software page to see timing, speakers and line length.
Tell people a notetaker is in the call
Bot or no bot, the people on the call should know their words are being recorded and written down.

How we compared

Vendor pages read on November 2, 2026

Listed: tools people name as Otter alternatives that also do an accessibility job, meaning live text in a call, a caption file for a recording, or human-checked words. Three are services you add; three are the captions built into meeting platforms many small businesses already use. Summaries, action items and other note features are not scored. Otter is the reference point, so it is described but not scored.

A Yes means the maker's own page said so when we read it. Not stated means we did not find it there, not that the product lacks it. Check with the vendor means the page only hints at it. Rev's and Zoom's help pages were read in a browser. We checked each maker, and Otter, for a website overlay or widget product and found none.

Verdicts are editorial: no vendor can buy a verdict position or displace another vendor.

No overlay widget is listed. By an overlay we mean a third-party widget or toolbar script sold as making a site conform without changing its source. In April 2025 the FTC approved a final order that bars one overlay vendor from claiming, without evidence to support it, that its automated products can make any website WCAG-compliant. Read the FTC's announcement of the order.

Nothing here is legal advice. For a specific case, ask a lawyer.

Questions

Is Otter good enough for captions?

As a first draft, it can be. W3C says automatically generated captions do not meet user needs or accessibility requirements unless they are confirmed to be fully accurate. That holds for every AI tool on this page: someone still has to check the text against the audio before it is published as captions.

Is there a free Otter alternative?

For live calls, Google Meet's help page says all users can turn on its live captions. For recordings, Rev's free plan included 45 AI transcription and caption minutes a month in English when we read it, and Sonix offered 30 minutes free. Free minutes buy the draft; the edit still takes a person's time.

Do I need a bot in the call?

No. The captions built into Teams, Meet and Zoom need no extra participant. Otter says its desktop app records without a bot joining, and Fireflies.ai lists a Chrome extension that records without its bot. Either way, tell the people on the call that it is being recorded.

Will one of these make my videos ADA compliant?

No tool can certify that. The Department of Justice has no regulation setting detailed web standards for businesses open to the public; its position is that the ADA's general rules still apply to websites. Its guidance says videos can be made accessible with synchronized captions that are accurate and identify any speakers. A tool gets you a draft of those captions; checking them is your part. This is general information, not legal advice. For your own situation, ask a lawyer.

Why are there no accuracy percentages on this page?

Several makers print one. Each is measured on the maker's own test audio, not on your calls, so a figure from one cannot be held against a figure from another. Test each tool on one of your own recordings instead, with your staff and product names in it, as the steps above describe.