Comparing meeting-transcription tools: align minutes, exports and AI credits first

Align the metering: per user, per team or per meeting

Otter.ai Basic lists 300 minutes per user per month and up to 30 minutes per conversation. Pre-recorded audio or video imports are 3 files for the lifetime, not 3 per month. Pro lists 1,200 minutes per user per month, 10 imported files per month and up to 90 minutes per meeting, with SRT and other exports.[1][2]

Fireflies.ai splits its free tier into three separate limits: transcription, storage and AI credits. The hero text says “Unlimited transcription” with an asterisk, while the comparison table says “Limited” for the same row. Storage is listed as 400 minutes per team on the pricing page, while the official transcription, storage and rate-limits help page still heads its storage table “Storage per user” with Free at 400 minutes. The unit is inconsistent between the two, so this site marks it pending and does not treat it as a team allowance. Nor does it certify unlimited transcription.[4][8]

Article sources[1][2][4][8]

Prices: keep monthly, annual-equivalent and promotional figures apart

Otter.ai lists Pro at USD 16.99 per user per month when billed monthly. The annual view shows only a per-month equivalent of USD 8.33 per user. This site did not obtain an exact ordinary yearly charge, so it does not multiply by 12 to invent one. A 50% offer for India-issued cards has its own eligibility and is not the ordinary ongoing price.[2][3]

Fireflies.ai shows only a “$” symbol, with no currency code. Pro is quoted at $18 per seat per month on monthly billing (currency pending confirmation); annual billing is shown as a per-month equivalent. A monthly quote and an annual monthly equivalent are different numbers and cannot be used to derive a yearly total.[5]

• Record the monthly quote, the annual monthly equivalent and any one-off payment in separate columns.
• When you see a discount, ask about eligibility (region, card issuer, new users) and duration before putting it in a budget.
• For several users, multiply by the per-user or per-seat figure, then check for a minimum seat count.

Fireflies.ai: AI credits are a separate bill

The official guide says standard meeting transcription, note-taking and recap emails are covered by the plan and do not use AI credits; credits apply only to more advanced AI features. The Free plan comes with 20 one-time bundled credits shared across the team, and on upgrade the new plan's starting credits replace the old ones rather than stacking.[6]

When credits run out they can be bought as an add-on, available only on paid plans. The guide lists tiers from 50 credits ($5 per month, currency pending confirmation) up to 10,000 credits, and unused purchased credits do not carry over to the next billing cycle. Advanced AI charges depend on request complexity, so a credit count does not translate into a fixed number of tasks.[6]

Two official texts give opposite answers on auto-upgrade, and this site does not pick one. (1) The AI-credits help page says that when base credits run out and no add-on is subscribed, the lowest tier ($5 per month for 50 credits, currency pending confirmation) is subscribed automatically; if one is already subscribed it moves up a tier; free users only see a paywall and are not charged automatically; it can be turned off under Settings → Billing. (2) Section 7(g) of the terms of service says Auto-Upgrade is off by default and needs your express affirmative consent to enable; without it, features that use credits pause once the allotment is exhausted until the next subscription period or until you buy more credits. Whether you can be charged automatically is pending; rely on the billing settings in your own account.[6][7]

Keep this checklist before paying

• Meetings: how many per week, how long, and do they often exceed the free per-meeting cap?
• Allowance: are minutes per user or per team? Are imports monthly or lifetime?
• Export: do you need SRT, a text transcript or a recording download, and in which tier is each?
• AI: do you rely on summaries and Q&A, do they use credits, and who buys the credits?
• Price: monthly, annual-equivalent and promotional figures, with currency and taxes stated?
• Unknowns: what has no official statement? Mark it pending rather than filling in a number.

These are editorial checking steps. We did not register an account, upload a meeting or test transcription accuracy, and we do not judge which tool transcribes Chinese better. Prices and allowances can change, so confirm on the official page before you pay. This guide only checks official material and includes no hands-on task testing; task testing on this site is not yet done.