Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover transcription & show notes. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| AssemblyAI | Otter.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Not listed | From $16.99 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Usage-based | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | None |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web | Not stated |
| Covers | Transcription & Show Notes | Transcription & Show Notes, AI Content Tools, Audio & Podcasting |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Podcast |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
Speech to text you call as an API
AssemblyAI is a speech to text API rather than an app: you send audio and get back a transcript, with speaker labels and summarisation available on the same call. Both pre-recorded and live streaming are covered, and the free tier is generous enough to build something real before paying anything. It is bought by people writing software, not by people who want a transcript this afternoon.
Our note
At fifteen cents an hour the price is not the thing to agonise over, so pick on accuracy for your audio and on whether you want speaker labels in the same call. Deepgram is the direct comparison and the two trade places depending on the recording.
Searchable transcripts of calls and recordings
Otter sits in a meeting or takes a file and returns a transcript with the speakers separated, which is where show notes, a follow-up post or a list of clips can start. Search across everything you have ever recorded is the part people keep paying for. Three hundred free minutes a month is five hours, so a weekly interview show fits and a daily one does not.
Our note
Otter for talking, Descript for publishing. If the transcript is the product this is faster and cheaper, and if the transcript is how you edit the audio, pay for Descript instead and skip this one.
Only on this side
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.