Our verdict
Otter.ai and Circleback are both general-notetaker tools for restaurants. On our independent rubric, Otter.ai scores 4.4/5 versus 4.1/5 for Circleback. Otter.ai is the cheaper entry point (Free (Basic); Pro $8.33/user/mo annual ($16.99 monthly)). Choose Otter.ai if you're Teams running mostly Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams calls or Users who want to search and query a large meeting archive by chat; choose Circleback if you're Teams that want accurate notes plus auto-assigned action items or Users with technical vocabulary needing precise transcription.
Side-by-side comparison
| Metric | Otter.ai | Circleback |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial score | 4.4/5 | 4.1/5 |
| G2 rating | — | — |
| Capterra rating | — | — |
| Starting price | Free (Basic); Pro $8.33/user/mo annual ($16.99 monthly) | Individual $20.83/user/mo; Team $25/user/mo |
| Free tier | ||
| Free trial | ||
| Integrations | 7 · Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet… | 7 · Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams… |
| Best for | Teams running mostly Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams calls, Users who want to search and query a large meeting archive by chat, Buyers who want a free tier to evaluate before paying | Teams that want accurate notes plus auto-assigned action items, Users with technical vocabulary needing precise transcription, Buyers who want heavy meeting automation across 1,000+ apps |
| Category | general-notetaker | general-notetaker |
| Founded | 2016 | 2023 |
| HQ | Mountain View, California, USA | New Castle, Delaware, USA |
A teal check marks the stronger option on each measurable row. Ratings are sourced from G2/Capterra with attribution on each listing.
Otter.ai
- Free Basic tier with 300 monthly minutes for evaluation
- Mature natural-language chat across all past meetings
- Live shared notes visible to all participants
- Affordable annual Pro pricing (~$8.33/user/mo)
- Pro plan is capped at 1,200 recording minutes per month
- Bot-based capture only; no fully bot-free mode
- Enterprise pricing is custom-quoted via demo
Circleback
- Highly accurate transcription, including technical terms
- Reliable auto-assigned action items
- 1,000+ app integrations and automations
- Strong founding team (ex-Stripe, ex-Tableau)
- No free subscription tier (trial only)
- Young company (founded 2023)
- Limited deal/revenue intelligence
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