Quick Answer 💡

Otter AI offers the most generous free plan with 300 monthly minutes. Fireflies provides unlimited transcription but only 800 minutes storage. Most "free" plans have significant hidden limitations that make them impractical for regular use.

🆓 Complete Free Plans Breakdown

Otter AI

300 minutes85-90%

✅ What You Get:

• 3 audio imports
• 30 min per recording
• Team collaboration
• Basic editing

❌ Limitations:

• No live captions
• Limited AI features
• No integrations

Best for: Students & small teams $10/month English, French, Spanish

Fireflies AI

Unlimited transcription90-95%

✅ What You Get:

• AskFred AI assistant
• Manual uploads
• Basic summaries

❌ Limitations:

• Only 20 AI credits/month
• No auto-join meetings
• No integrations

Best for: Testing AI features $10/month 100+ languages

Descript

60 minutes92-98%

✅ What You Get:

• Text-based editing
• Overdub voice cloning
• Screen recording

❌ Limitations:

• Watermarks on exports
• Limited AI features

Best for: Content creators $12/month 22 languages

Notta

120 minutes90-95%

✅ What You Get:

• Real-time transcription
• Meeting templates
• Export options

❌ Limitations:

• 10 minute max per file
• No advanced AI

Best for: Personal use $8.25/month 104 languages

TurboScribe

90 minutes daily95-99%

✅ What You Get:

• 3 transcriptions daily
• Multiple formats
• Fast processing

❌ Limitations:

• Daily limit resets
• Basic features only

Best for: High daily volume $10/month 98+ languages

Trint

0 ongoing90-95%

✅ What You Get:

• 7-day trial
• Professional editor
• Collaboration tools

❌ Limitations:

• No permanent free plan
• 5 minutes per file in trial

Best for: Professional testing $15/month 40+ languages

🚨 Hidden Limitations They Don't Advertise

Otter AI

Hidden Restrictions:

• Automatic meeting joins require Pro plan
• Live captions need paid plan
• Advanced search limited

Real-World Impact:

300 minutes = ~5 hours of meetings per month

Fireflies

Hidden Restrictions:

• Can't auto-join meetings
• AI features heavily restricted
• No CRM integrations

Real-World Impact:

800 minute storage fills up quickly with unlimited transcription

Descript

Hidden Restrictions:

• Watermarks on all exports
• No AI features
• Limited collaboration

Real-World Impact:

60 minutes = 2-3 podcast episodes or meetings

⏱️ How Far Do Free Minutes Actually Go?

Monthly Meeting Scenarios:

Light User (1-2 meetings/week):

~120 minutes needed → Otter AI, Notta work well

Regular User (1 meeting/day):

~300-500 minutes needed → Only Otter AI barely sufficient

Heavy User (Multiple daily meetings):

1000+ minutes needed → All free plans inadequate

Smart Free Plan Strategy:

✅ Use Otter AIfor important meetings (300 min/month)

✅ Supplement with Nottafor overflow (120 min/month)

⚡ TurboScribefor daily quick transcriptions (90 min/day)

💡 Pro tip:Rotate free trials across services for testing

🎯 Accuracy: Free vs Paid Reality Check

95-99%

TurboScribe Free

Best free accuracy

90-95%

Fireflies & Notta

Good for most use cases

85-90%

Otter AI Free

Sufficient for meetings

Reality Check: Free plans often use older AI models. Expect 5-15% lower accuracy than paid tiers, especially with accents, background noise, or technical terms.