Fireflies Lives in My CRM. Otter Lives in My Notes. They Don't Compete.

Fireflies clicked for me the day its summaries started landing in Salesforce with the right account attached. As a solo operator I don't need that, but on a sales team the 'auto-log the call and pull the action items' loop is the whole point. Its search across every past call is genuinely good.

Otter is the tool I use when I'm the one talking and need a brain backup. The live transcript on my phone during an interview, the ability to grab a quote later, the lighter interface. It feels like a notebook that happens to listen, not a surveillance system for the revenue org.

I tried Otter in a pipeline where Fireflies shined and the CRM handoff was missing. I tried Fireflies for a one-on-one where Otter's simplicity was all I wanted. Both felt wrong in the other's seat.

Verdict: Fireflies if your meetings are pipeline; Otter if your meetings are memory. Pick by what happens after the call, not by who speaks.

Frequently asked questions:

Q: Which one transcribes accented English better?

A: Otter, clearly. With an Indian-accented client call, Otter's live transcript needed about half the corrections Fireflies did. For non-English languages, check each tool's current list — both are still English-first.

Q: Can I import existing recordings instead of using the bot?

A: Yes, both accept uploads. Fireflies gives more storage on the free tier, so it is the better dump for an archive of old recordings; Otter caps imports more aggressively.

Q: Do these bots annoy meeting guests?

A: Sometimes. Both show up as a named participant, and a few guests found it odd. I started announcing it at the start of calls — that was the fix. You can also record locally in Otter's mobile app instead of sending a bot.