screenpipe vs otter.ai

beyond meetings

otter.ai is a meeting tool. it joins your calls, transcribes them, and gives you summaries. that's valuable — but meetings are maybe 10-20% of your workday. what about the article you read at 2pm? the slack thread with the critical decision? the error message you saw while debugging? the email with the contract terms? otter can't help with any of that. screenpipe captures your entire screen continuously, so every moment of your workday is searchable.

data privacy: local vs cloud

every word transcribed by otter lives on their cloud servers. for sensitive meetings — legal discussions, hr conversations, financial planning — that's a real concern. screenpipe processes everything locally on your machine. your data never leaves your device unless you explicitly choose to sync it. for privacy-conscious professionals and regulated industries, this is a fundamental difference.

cost at scale

otter's business plan costs $19.99 per user per month. a team of 10 pays $200/month, or $2,400/year. screenpipe is a one-time purchase per device — no per-user fees, no monthly per-seat charges. for individuals and small teams, the total cost of ownership is dramatically lower.

when otter makes sense

if your workflow is primarily meetings and you need polished, shareable transcripts with team collaboration features, otter is well-built for that. their specialized agents (sales, recruiting) add value for specific roles. but if you want a complete memory of your digital life — not just meetings — screenpipe is the broader, more powerful tool.