Notabium vs Otter.
Otter is the most recognised brand in AI meeting notes. Notabium is the one that lets you record straight from your browser, or send a notetaker only when you choose. Here is the full comparison, by someone who has used both.
The 60 second answer
- Pick Otter if you live inside a sales CRM that integrates with it, you do not mind a bot showing up in your meetings, and you are comfortable with audio being uploaded to Otter's servers.
- Pick Notabium if you want recording, transcription, AI summaries, and chat in your browser, you want the option to send the Notabium Notetaker only when you cannot attend, and you want it all in one app.
Pricing
| Otter | Notabium | |
|---|---|---|
| Pro (record + transcribe + summarize + chat) | $17/mo | €19.99/mo |
| AI summaries included | paid tiers | yes |
| Bot included | forced | yes, opt in |
| Team | $30/mo (Business) | from €39.99/mo for 3 seats |
| Trial | card required | 7-day free trial, card required |
Architecture
Otter is a cloud product. Their bot, Otter Pilot, joins every meeting as a visible participant. The audio is streamed to Otter's servers, processed there, and the transcript is stored on their account system. Their entire business model assumes that data is theirs to process.
Notabium is a cloud product too, with a difference in how the audio gets captured. You can record straight from your browser with the Notabium extension, or send the Notabium Notetaker to join the call for you. Either way, transcription and AI summaries run in Notabium's cloud (ElevenLabs Scribe for transcription, Claude for summaries). Recordings and transcripts are encrypted in transit and at rest, scoped to your account, and deletable any time.
The bot question
This is where most people decide. When you use Otter, a bot called Otter.ai or Otter Pilot joins every meeting whether you want it there or not. It shows up in the participant list. Some attendees ask about it. In sales, therapy, legal, and medical conversations, an always-on bot is a real problem.
Notabium gives you the choice per call. For meetings you attend, record straight from your browser with the Notabium extension - nothing extra joins the participant list. The recorder reminds you to confirm everyone has been told the call is being recorded, because consent is the right default.
If you cannot make a meeting, send the Notabium Notetaker instead. It joins as a clearly named participant, announces that the call is being recorded, never speaks, never acts on your behalf, and delivers the recording to your library after the call. It is a passive, consent-forward notetaker - not a stealth bot.
Feature parity
| Otter | Notabium | |
|---|---|---|
| Live transcription | yes | yes |
| AI summary | yes | yes |
| Bot in every meeting | forced | never forced |
| Record without a bot joining | no | yes, in browser |
| Notetaker announces itself | visible bot | yes, consent-forward |
| Shareable video links | audio only | video + transcript |
| Encrypted in transit + at rest | yes | yes |
| Per-meeting AI summary | paid | included on Pro |
| Mobile app | yes | v2 roadmap |
| Slack / Salesforce integrations | mature | Notion/Obsidian/Linear (Pro) |
Where Otter still wins
Otter has been doing this since 2016. Their mobile app is genuinely good, the live caption rendering is fast, and their CRM integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot) are mature enough that a sales team can stop touching the data manually. If your stack runs on those tools and your customers do not care about the recording bot, Otter remains a fine choice.
Their voice search is also better than ours right now: ask Otter "what did we decide about pricing" and it finds the right clip. We are building that for Notabium with three weeks later search, but Otter shipped it first.
Where Notabium wins
- Everything in one plan. Recording, transcription, AI summaries, chat, and the notetaker are all on Pro at €19.99/mo - with a 7-day free trial.
- No bot in every call. Record from your browser when you attend; send the notetaker only when you cannot.
- Consent-forward by design. The notetaker names itself and announces recording; the browser recorder prompts you to confirm participants were informed.
- Video share links. The Loom workflow inside the meeting tool.
- The notetaker when you want one. Schedule the Notabium Notetaker only for meetings you cannot attend.
- Smart templates. A different summary style per meeting type, all generated in Notabium's cloud with Claude.
How to switch
- Export your Otter transcripts. Otter -> Conversation -> Export -> .txt or .docx (paid feature, batch export not great).
- Start your Notabium trial and add the browser extension.
- Import your Otter exports into your Notabium library.
- Record your next meeting in Notabium. Compare.
- Cancel Otter when you are sure. They pro rate the unused term.
FAQ
Is Notabium really an Otter alternative?
For freelancers, regulated industries, and anyone tired of a bot auto-joining every call, yes. For large sales teams deeply embedded in Otter's CRM integrations, the answer depends on whether the price and control gains outweigh the integration rebuild.
Will my Otter Notion integration still work?
Otter's integration ends when you cancel. Notabium has its own Notion connector. After each meeting, click Send to Notion and the summary lands in the database you pick.
Does Notabium work on iOS or Android?
Not yet. Mobile is on the v2 roadmap. For now, Notabium records in your browser and can send the notetaker to your calls. If a native mobile app is the deal breaker, Otter still wins.
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