Notabium vs Otter.

Previous-version reference. This page documents the previous product. The features described below are not available in the current release.

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

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.

Storage location, retention settings, access controls and the current provider configuration are being verified. The previous operator’s security and privacy statements do not establish guarantees for the new environment.

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

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. Currently unavailable
• 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

1. Export your Otter transcripts. Otter -> Conversation -> Export -> .txt or .docx (paid feature, batch export not great).
2. Check availability and add the browser extension.
3. Import your Otter exports into your Notabium library.
4. Record your next meeting in Notabium. Compare.
5. Cancel Otter when you are sure. They pro rate the unused term.

FAQ

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