Scribbl vs Otter.ai: Botless vs Bot (2026 Comparison)

If you are choosing between Scribbl and Otter.ai, here is the short answer. Pick Scribbl if you do not want a bot ever joining your calls and you want notes wired into ChatGPT or Claude so the follow-up actually gets done; it is botless, works with Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams, and has a free plan with no credit card. Otter.ai, by contrast, typically sends its Otter Assistant bot into the call. The one decision that changes your day to day is the capture method, and the rest of this comparison breaks it down row by row with current 2026 details.

Scribbl vs Otter.ai at a glance

Scribbl and Otter.ai both turn a live meeting into a transcript, a summary, and action items. Where they split is the question your attendees notice first: does something join the call. The table below is organized around the decisions buyers actually make, so read it, then jump to the section for whichever row decides it for you. Figures are directional as of June 2026; confirm Otter's current limits and prices on its own pricing page, since they change.

Decision factor	Scribbl	Otter.ai
Capture method	Botless: nothing joins the call	Otter Assistant bot joins the call
Visible to attendees	No bot, nothing announced, no email to guests	Yes, the bot appears as a participant
Platforms	Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams	The major meeting platforms
How it runs	Chrome extension (Meet) + desktop app (Zoom, Teams)	Web app plus a joining assistant
Free plan	10 meetings/mo across Google Meet, Zoom and Teams, no credit card	Yes, 300 transcription minutes a month (commonly 30 min per conversation)
Post-call AI	Summary, action items, ChatGPT or Claude searching one Smart Collection at a time, and Automations do the follow-up	Summaries, in-app chat, and the Otter MCP server for ChatGPT and Claude
Best at	Notes with no bot, wired into your own AI, with the follow-up done	Live transcription, with a bot in the call
G2 rating	4.9 from 725 reviews on G2	Large review base, solid score (check G2 for current)
Used by	10,000+ organizations	Established, large user base
Recording consent	Disclose and get consent; no bot to admit	2025 recording-consent class action (allegation)

If you are weighing more than two tools, here is the wider field side by side. Fathom is another popular notetaker buyers shortlist against Otter, so it is included here for context. Treat the Otter and Fathom cells as directional 2026 ranges and confirm each on the vendor's own pricing page; the Scribbl column is the durable set of facts.

Feature	Scribbl	Otter.ai	Fathom
No bot ever joins the call	Yes	– No	– No
Nothing announced, no email to attendees	Yes	– No	– No
Google Meet	Yes	Yes	Yes
Zoom	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Teams	Yes	Yes	Yes
Free plan, no credit card	Yes	Limited	Free tier
Connects to ChatGPT or Claude	Yes	Yes	Yes
Summary and action items	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rating	5.0 from 3,000 reviews on the Chrome Web Store; 4.9 from 725 reviews on G2	Check G2	Check G2
Used by	10,000+ organizations	Large base	Large base

Capture method: Otter's bot vs Scribbl botless

Capture method is the whole Scribbl vs Otter comparison in one section. Otter.ai generally relies on a bot, the Otter Assistant, that joins your meeting based on your calendar. When it works, it sits in the call, records, and produces a transcript and notes afterward. The trade is that the bot is visible. Other attendees see it join, it may need to be admitted, and on client or external calls it can feel like a recording device showed up uninvited. Some teams disable or remove the bot, which then means the notes never get captured at all.

Scribbl takes the botless route. Nothing joins the call, so there is no extra participant in the attendee list, nothing is announced when the call starts, and no notification is sent to the people you are meeting with. For sales calls, client meetings, interviews, and any conversation where a visible recording bot would change the tone, botless capture is the difference between getting notes and skipping the tool entirely. If you want the deeper argument, see our explainer on the botless AI notetaker.

Scribbl

Participants (2)

You

Client

No bot in the room. Nothing joins the call.

Scribbl vs Otter after the call: connect your meetings to the AI you already use

There is a second difference between Scribbl and Otter that matters once the call ends. Both connect to ChatGPT and Claude: Otter through the Otter MCP server, Scribbl through its connector on Pro. What Scribbl adds is what happens around that connection, so the work gets done, not just the notes. Smart Collections sort your meetings by themselves into groups you describe in one sentence, and narrow what Claude or ChatGPT searches to one group, so you can ask "What were the main objections in my sales calls this week?" and get an answer from just those calls. Automations take the next step for you: draft the follow-up email, log notes in HubSpot or Pipedrive, post to Slack or Teams, or open a Jira, Linear or Asana ticket, and by default they ask before they change anything. You can also tell Scribbl the job in plain words and it runs with your own Claude.

Scribbl

In ChatGPT or Claude

You: Draft the follow-up from today's client call.

Assistant: Here is a recap, the two decisions, and next steps for each owner.

Scribbl vs Otter free plan and pricing

Scribbl and Otter both let you start without paying. Scribbl has a free plan with no credit card required, and what you get on day one is botless notes. The free plan covers 10 meetings a month across Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams (the desktop app handles Zoom and Teams), every one with the video, a transcript with speaker names, AI notes and action items, and Pro is $13 per user per month billed annually, or $20 monthly. You can see Scribbl's plans on the pricing page.

Otter's free Basic plan includes 300 monthly transcription minutes, commonly with a 30-minute limit per conversation. Above it, Otter Pro is $16.99 per user per month billed monthly, or $8.33 per user per month billed annually ($99.96 a year), and Business is $30 monthly, or $19.99 billed annually, with Enterprise through sales. Those prices come from Otter's pricing page, checked October 7, 2026; confirm the current number there before you buy.

The durable takeaway: both are free to start, so the better question is not price but capture method. Scribbl's free plan gives you notes with no bot in the room; Otter's free plan gives you bot-based transcription with a monthly minute cap. Decide on the experience first, then weigh paid tiers only if you outgrow free.

Scribbl and Otter G2 ratings and reviews

Head-to-head comparison pages often lead with star averages and review counts, so here is the honest picture. Scribbl is rated 5.0 from 3,000 reviews on the Chrome Web Store and 4.9 from 725 reviews on G2, and is used by more than 10,000 organizations. Otter.ai is a long-established product with a large G2 review base and solid ratings, typically in the low-to-mid 4-star range across thousands of reviews. Both review counts and scores move over time, so check G2 for the current numbers before you decide.

The thing a star average will not tell you is why people switch. For Scribbl, the reason is almost always the same: they wanted meeting notes without explaining a bot to everyone on the call. A high rating is a signal; the capture method is the decision.

Who should pick Scribbl over Otter

Pick Scribbl if any of your meetings are with clients, prospects, or external parties where a recording bot changes the room, if you want to start free with no credit card, if you need capture across Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams without anything joining the call, and if you want your notes wired into ChatGPT or Claude, sorted by Smart Collections, and followed up by Automations so the follow-up work actually gets done. Sales teams in particular tend to land here; see Scribbl for sales.

Otter suits people who want a transcript on screen during the call and don't mind a bot joining it.

If you are weighing several transcription tools at once, our Read AI vs Otter.ai breakdown covers the bot-based field in more depth, and best Otter alternatives lays out the wider landscape.

Scribbl vs Otter FAQ

What is the main difference between Scribbl and Otter.ai?

The capture method. Scribbl is botless: it works through its Chrome extension on Google Meet and Scribbl Desktop on Zoom and Teams, so no bot ever joins, nothing is announced, and no email goes to attendees. Otter.ai typically uses the Otter Assistant, a bot that joins your call as a visible participant. Everything else flows from that one decision: whether something shows up in the room or not.

Does Scribbl send a bot into my meeting like Otter.ai?

No. Scribbl is botless, so nothing joins the call and nothing is announced to other attendees. Otter typically uses an Otter Assistant bot that joins as a visible participant. That difference in capture method is the main reason people pick one over the other, especially on client, sales, and external calls where a recording bot changes the tone.

Is Scribbl free, and is Otter.ai free?

Both have a free plan. Scribbl's free plan covers 10 meetings a month across Google Meet, Zoom and Teams, needs no credit card, and gives you botless notes on day one. Otter's free Basic plan includes 300 monthly transcription minutes, commonly with a 30-minute limit per conversation. Confirm Otter's current limits on its own pricing page, since they change. The durable point: Scribbl is free to start with no card, and what you get for free is notes with no bot in the room.

Does Scribbl work with Zoom and Microsoft Teams, or only Google Meet?

Scribbl works with Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. The Chrome extension covers Google Meet, and the desktop app covers Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Otter also supports the major platforms. The practical difference is how each one captures the call, botless versus a bot that joins, not which platforms are on the list.

How are Scribbl and Otter.ai rated on G2?

Scribbl is rated 4.9 from 725 reviews on G2 and 5.0 from 3,000 reviews on the Chrome Web Store, and is used by more than 10,000 organizations. Otter.ai is an established product with a large G2 review base and solid ratings, typically in the low-to-mid 4-star range. Review counts and scores move over time, so check G2 for the current numbers; the gap that matters day to day is the capture method, not the star average.

Does Scribbl connect to ChatGPT or Claude?

Yes, on Pro. Connect Scribbl once and Claude or ChatGPT can search the transcript and notes of every meeting. Otter connects to ChatGPT and Claude too, through the Otter MCP server. What Scribbl adds is Smart Collections, which narrow that search to one group of meetings, so you can ask "What were the main objections in my sales calls this week?", and Automations, which do the follow-up on each meeting: draft the email, log notes in HubSpot or Pipedrive, or post to Slack or Teams, asking before they change anything by default.

Can I use Scribbl without telling people I am recording?

Botless does not mean secret. Recording and consent laws vary by region, and some places require all-party consent. The right move with any tool, Scribbl or Otter, is to tell people you are taking AI notes and get consent. Scribbl simply removes the awkward bot from the room; it does not remove your responsibility to be transparent.