Avoma vs Otter.ai for meeting automation

Here's what you should look for in an AI meeting automation tool:

• Transcripts that create a word-for-word record of the meeting. For example, a one-hour product development meeting generates a searchable document containing every feature discussion, technical requirement, and team decision.

• Action items are pulled directly from the conversation. When someone says "John will update the wireframes by Friday," the AI automatically creates a tracked task with the assignee and deadline.

• Meeting summaries distill hour-long conversations into 2-3 paragraphs. A 45-minute sprint planning meeting becomes a concise overview of sprint goals, resource allocation, and key decisions.

• Topic segmentation breaks discussions into labeled sections. A client call covering multiple projects is automatically divided into sections like "Website Redesign," "Q1 Marketing Campaign," and "Budget Review."

Other key features

In addition to the quality of these deliverables, we'll want to look at a number of other key factors:

• Ease-of-use: does it have a simple, intuitive setup that works for non-technical users?

• In-person meeting support: can it transcribe audio from live recordings or uploaded files, not just virtual calls?

• Security and privacy: how is customer data handled on the platform?

• Integrations: can it connect with your existing stack, like HubSpot, Notion, or Slack?

• Functionality: does it go beyond transcriptions and actually help you take action?

• Languages: can it transcribe and summarize meetings in different languages?

• Desktop and mobile apps: can you access it on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android for on-the-go meetings?

Understanding Avoma and Otter.ai

Avoma is an AI meeting assistant that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings. It converts conversations into organized notes with topics like pain points and next steps, while supporting agenda templates, live collaboration, and CRM integration. The platform automatically logs calls and follow-ups into systems like Salesforce and HubSpot, making it popular with sales and customer success teams. It offers transcription with claimed 95% accuracy, supports 20+ languages, and functions via web interface and mobile apps.

The service operates on a tiered pricing structure, with a free plan allowing approximately 10 meetings monthly, and paid plans ranging from $19 to $129 per user monthly. Avoma includes automation for note-taking and CRM data entry, integrates with platforms like Zoom and Slack, and works for both online and in-person meetings through its mobile recording capability. Some users find it overly complex for basic transcription needs, occasionally experience joining delays, and note that higher tier pricing may be costly for small teams.

Otter.ai is an AI note-taking service that provides live transcription for meetings and conversations. It works with audio from real-time meetings or uploaded recordings, automatically identifying speakers and generating summaries with highlights. The core functionality includes searchable transcripts, meeting capture for both online and in-person conversations, and integration with platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams through an assistant that can join meetings automatically.

The service offers a free plan with 600 minutes of transcription monthly, with paid tiers starting at $10/month for additional minutes and features. While primarily focused on English transcription, it also supports Spanish and French. Otter.ai works through web browsers and mobile apps (iOS and Android) without requiring a desktop application, and can push content to other systems like HubSpot and Notion through its OtterPilot feature which also handles summary generation and follow-up actions.

Comparing Avoma and Otter.ai

Avoma

• Avoma functions as an end-to-end meeting solution with transcription, summaries broken into topics, and built-in CRM integration for sales teams. While it offers a comprehensive platform with good accuracy even with accents and jargon, many users find it too complex for simple needs and the high-tier pricing structure can be prohibitive for smaller teams.

• The platform handles in-person meetings via its mobile app and supports 20+ languages for real-time transcription. Despite its robust feature set, Avoma's integration ecosystem falls short of truly streamlining workflows, and users often still find themselves manually organizing action items and insights after meetings.

Otter.ai

• Otter.ai provides live transcription during meetings with automatic summaries, speaker identification, and integrations with common video conferencing tools. The tool excels at capturing meeting content but produces verbose, unstructured transcripts that make finding key takeaways difficult, and transcription accuracy suffers with complex audio.

• The platform works for in-person meetings through its mobile app and offers a generous free tier with 600 minutes per month. Despite its integration capabilities, Otter lacks the depth needed to meaningfully connect meeting outcomes to workflows, requiring users to still manually transfer insights to project management systems.

Avoma works best for sales and customer success teams that need CRM integration and structured meeting notes. Its higher pricing tiers reflect its comprehensive feature set but may not be justifiable for individuals or small teams needing basic transcription. The platform's organization of notes into topics like pain points and next steps provides value specifically for sales conversations, though users must still do significant work to act on these insights.

Otter.ai suits general meeting transcription needs where simplicity and ease of use are priorities. With lower pricing and a more generous free tier, it's accessible for students, journalists, and small businesses who need basic transcription without complex features. However, users consistently report having to spend time reformatting verbose transcripts into usable summaries, limiting the tool's ability to save time on post-meeting tasks.

Another alternative: Circleback

Circleback provides best-in-class AI-powered meeting notes and automations. We support over 100 languages and automatic participant identification in both in-person and online meetings.

• Automatically-identified and assigned action items

• AI-enabled search across all meetings

• Automations with 100+ app integrations

• Industry-leading security with SOC 2 Type II, EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and HIPAA compliance

• Ability to capture both online and in-person meetings with desktop and mobile apps