Tam vs Otter
Otter is the best-known transcription app. Tam costs half as much, records without a bot, transcribes 12 languages instead of three and switches between them by itself, and remembers who's speaking. Otter is ahead on team features, integrations and Android.
Otter facts from otter.ai and help.otter.ai on October 23, 2026. Tam facts current. If something's wrong, tell me: hello@heytam.app.
Side by side
| Tam | Otter | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $49.99 a year (≈$4.17 a month) or $6.99 a month | Pro $99.96 a year ($8.33 a month) or $16.99 monthly; Business $30 monthly, less yearly |
| Limits on paid | Unlimited recording | Pro: 1,200 minutes a month, 90 minutes per conversation |
| Free plan | 15 minutes a month, every feature | 300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 file imports ever |
| Platforms | iPhone, Mac | iPhone, Android, web, Chrome extension |
| Bot joins the call | Never: Mac records the call's audio itself | OtterPilot joins Zoom, Meet and Teams as a participant |
| In-person recording | Yes, iPhone and Mac | Yes, phone app |
| Languages | 12, detected automatically, mixed in one recording | English, French, Spanish, chosen per recording |
| Who said what | Live, and voices remembered by name on every device | Speaker labels, trainable in some plans |
| Notes | Summary, decisions, action items, checked against the transcript; templates; your own instructions | AI summary, action items, chat |
| Live interpreter | Yes (Talk, iPhone) | No |
| Integrations, team workspace | Share as text only | Calendar, Slack, CRM, team plans |
| Account | None | Required |
Choose Otter if
- You're on Android or need a web app.
- Your team shares one workspace and you want calendar, Slack and CRM integrations.
- 300 free minutes a month in English, French or Spanish is all you need.
Choose Tam if
- You don't want a bot in your calls, or a recording that stops at 90 minutes.
- Your conversations mix languages, or happen in one Otter doesn't transcribe: Vietnamese, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian, German, Italian.
- You want Tam to recognize the people in your life by voice, not label them Speaker 1 and Speaker 2.
- You want a live interpreter in the same app on your iPhone.
- You'd rather pay $49.99 a year than $99.96, and skip the account.
Where Tam falls short of Otter today
No Android, no web app, no team workspace, no integrations, and Otter's free plan has more minutes. Tam is one person's note-taker for iPhone and Mac.
Questions
Is Tam a good Otter alternative for in-person meetings?
Yes. Tam records the room from your iPhone or Mac, tells speakers apart live and remembers people's voices by name, in 12 languages switched automatically. Otter's phone app records in person too, but transcribes three languages and caps free conversations at 30 minutes.
Is Tam cheaper than Otter?
Yes. Tam Pro is $49.99 a year or $6.99 a month with unlimited recording. Otter Pro is $99.96 a year ($8.33 a month) or $16.99 monthly, with 1,200 minutes a month and 90 minutes per conversation, as of October 23, 2026.
Does Otter send a bot to meetings?
Yes, OtterPilot joins video calls as a participant. Tam never sends a bot: on the Mac it records both sides of the call from your computer's audio, and on the iPhone it records the room.
Does Otter work in Vietnamese or Portuguese?
Otter transcribes English, French and Spanish. Tam transcribes 12 languages, including Vietnamese, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean and Japanese, and follows when people switch.