A free Otter alternative with offline transcripts.
Is Noted a good Otter alternative?
Noted is a free Otter alternative for Mac and Windows that turns your meetings into text on your computer, so recording and transcripts work without internet, with no 30-minute cap per meeting and every note kept, on the free plan too. Like Otter’s desktop app, Noted takes notes with no bot in the call. Otter is the better pick if you need phone apps, a notetaker that joins the call for you, Salesforce, HubSpot or Zapier links, or SSO. Both are below.
At a glance
| Noted | Otter | |
|---|---|---|
| Bot in the call | No. Noted takes notes from your computer’s audio. | Your choice: “Schedule your AI Meeting Agent to automatically join all your Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet meetings”, or “record bot-free on desktop or Chrome” (home page). |
| Where speech becomes text | On your computer. Audio never leaves it. | Not said on the pages we read; Otter lists “Live transcription” on every plan (pricing). |
| Works without internet | Yes, once you’re signed in and the voice is downloaded: recording, transcripts and dictation need no connection. AI meeting notes, Polish, Ask, Live Answers and screen answers need one. | Not said on Otter’s pricing page or its desktop app post; we have not tried Otter without a connection. |
| Where notes are kept | On your computer, unless you share a note by link; Noted has no other cloud copy of them. | Otter’s privacy policy names cloud providers, including Amazon Web Services, for compute and data storage (privacy policy). |
| Meeting history on the free plan | Every note, for as long as you keep it. | Conversation history on Basic is the “25 most recent”; unlimited on Pro (pricing). |
| Meeting length on the free plan | Recording and transcripts have no limit. | “30 minutes” per conversation and “300 monthly transcription minutes” on Basic (pricing). |
| Asking about your meetings | Ask answers from your notes and your documents in Knowledge, with sources. Free, and unlimited on Pro. | “AI Chat within and across meetings”, “20 per user (3 per conversation)” queries a month on Basic (pricing). |
| Dictation in any app | Free, with no word limit, in 35 languages. Hold ⌃ Shift Space on a Mac or Ctrl Alt Space on Windows. | Otter’s pricing and home pages don’t list dictation. |
| Help during the call | Live Answers (Pro) hear a question on the call and answer it as it’s asked, from your documents in Knowledge and your past meetings. Screen answers (Pro) answer from a capture of your screen. Only you see them. | “Live transcription” on every plan (pricing). |
| Training on your data | No. Our AI providers keep none of it and don’t use it to train their models; we would train our own only with your separate opt-in. | “training our proprietary AI technology on de-identified audio recordings and on transcriptions (which may contain Personal Information)” (privacy policy). |
| Phone apps | No. Noted’s downloads are for Mac and Windows. | “iOS and Android apps” on Basic (pricing). |
| Integrations and team features | None. | Salesforce, HubSpot and Zapier on Pro; “Otter MCP server” on Basic; SSO and SCIM on Enterprise, with HIPAA compliance as an extra (pricing). |
| Pricing | Free, and Pro (your first month or two of Pro are free); see Noted’s pricing. | Basic, Pro, Business and Enterprise (Otter’s pricing). |
Weighing more apps? Noted, Wispr Flow, Granola, Otter and Superwhisper side by side.
Where is Otter better?
- Phone apps. Otter has “iOS and Android apps” on its free Basic plan (pricing). Noted’s downloads are for Mac and Windows.
- A notetaker that joins for you. Otter can “automatically join all your Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet meetings” (home page). Noted records your computer’s audio, so the app has to be running on your computer during the call.
- Integrations. Salesforce, HubSpot and Zapier on Pro, and an “Otter MCP server” on Basic (pricing). Noted has none.
- Teams and compliance. SSO and SCIM on Enterprise, with HIPAA compliance as an extra (pricing). Noted has neither.
Where is Noted better?
- Long meetings, on Free. Noted’s recording and transcripts have no limit. Otter Basic allows “30 minutes” per conversation and “300 monthly transcription minutes” (pricing).
- Every note, on the free plan. Noted keeps every note for as long as you keep it. Otter Basic’s conversation history is the “25 most recent” (pricing).
- No cloud copy of your notes. Your notes stay on your computer, unless you share a note by link; Noted has no other cloud copy of them. Otter’s privacy policy names cloud providers, including Amazon Web Services, for compute and data storage (privacy policy).
- Not used for training. Our AI providers keep none of what Noted sends and don’t train on it, and we would train our own models only with your separate opt-in. Otter’s privacy policy lists “training our proprietary AI technology on de-identified audio recordings and on transcriptions (which may contain Personal Information)” (privacy policy).
Also in Noted, not counted as a difference. Speech becomes text on your computer, and audio never leaves it. Once you’re signed in and the voice is downloaded, recording, transcripts and dictation work without internet; AI meeting notes wait until you’re back online. Otter’s pricing page and desktop app post don’t say where Otter turns speech into text or whether it works without a connection, and we have not tried Otter without one. Dictation is free in Noted, with no word limit, in 35 languages; Otter’s pricing and home pages don’t list dictation. Live Answers (Pro) hear a question on your call and answer it from your documents in Knowledge and your past meetings, without you typing; screen answers (Pro) answer from a capture of your screen. Only you see them. Otter’s pricing lists “AI Chat within and across meetings”; we have not compared the two.
Knowledge and Ask are free in Noted: add your documents once, and Ask answers from them and your notes, with sources. Dictation also works in the terminals Dictate into Claude Code and Cursor lists.
Privacy, layer by layer
Where speech becomes text
Dictation, recording and transcripts are free forever; speech becomes text on your computer.
What cloud features send
Cloud features, such as Polish (dictation cleanup), AI meeting notes and Ask, send the text they need to our AI providers.
Where your notes are kept
Your notes stay on your computer, unless you share a note by link; Noted has no other cloud copy of them. Audio never leaves your computer. It isn’t kept after your note is written, unless you turn on Keep audio for 7 days.
More detail: how meeting notes work without a bot, recording both sides of a call (Mac), AI note taker consent and how to stop Otter and Fireflies joining your calls.
How do I switch from Otter?
- Download Noted for Mac or for Windows, open it and create your free account.
- If Otter’s notetaker joins your calls on its own, turn off its auto-join, so you don’t record twice: how to stop Otter joining.
- Join your next call on Zoom, Google Meet, Teams or a Slack huddle, and click Start meeting in Noted, or press ⌘ Shift N on a Mac or Ctrl Alt G on Windows. Tell people you’re taking notes, as you would with any recording.
- Hang up: the notes and to-dos are ready. Add the documents you work from to Knowledge, so Ask can answer from them.
FAQ
Is Noted free?
Yes. Dictation, recording and transcripts are free forever; speech becomes text on your computer. Free includes a generous monthly quota of AI meeting notes and Polish, reset on the 1st (UTC). Pro makes AI meeting notes, Polish and Ask unlimited, and adds Live Answers and screen answers.
Does Noted join my meetings?
No. Noted takes notes from your computer’s audio, so nobody sees a bot. Let people know you’re taking notes, as you would with any recording.
Does Noted work on Windows?
Yes. Noted runs on Mac (macOS 13 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel) and Windows (Windows 10, version 1903 or later, 64-bit).
Is Noted on iPhone or Android?
No. Noted’s downloads are for Mac and Windows.
Sources
Otter’s own pages. Checked 14 November 2026.
- otter.ai/pricing
- otter.ai/privacy-policy (effective 16 June 2026)
- otter.ai
- otter.ai: Introducing the Otter Desktop App for Mac and Windows (7 October 2025)
Noted is not affiliated with Otter. The name is used only to identify the product compared.