The 3 best alternatives to Otter transcription app - Android Police

Otter, a transcription and voice recorder service focused on boosting productivity, has announced it's changing its service for all users - and not entirely for the better. While we gain access to a couple of free new tools, Otter is reducing features across the board for free and paid customers. The monthly subscription fee is also increasing (although the annual price remains the same).

Whether free or paid, you'll acquire access to two new features. Otter Assistant can join and record meetings on your behalf, and Automated Outline will create a summary of your meeting after it's concluded. They're neat features but aren't likely to appease users considering the drastic reductions across the board.

Otter's new Automated Outline in action

While users will find reductions to things like monthly transcription minutes and custom vocabulary frustrating, removing unlimited conversation archives from the free tier might cause issues. Once the new plan kicks in on September 27th, free users will only be able to access their most recent 25 recordings. If you want to access previous recordings, you'll need to either delete existing listings or upgrade to the Pro plan. You can see the complete list below or check out Otter's FAQ for a detailed breakdown.

Whether you agree that these new changes are fair or not, they may entice you to consider a different service. Here are three of the best voice transcription alternatives to Otter. While they aren't built for recording meetings like Otter, they won't struggle to do so, and none have a conversation history cap.

The three best alternatives to Otter

Speechnotes

Speechnotes' interface is a little dated, but don't let that dissuade you. It's an accurate transcription app handy for recording quick voice notes and meetings. It will require manual editing once you've finished your meeting, but it can automatically back up your meeting notes to Google Drive. Best of all, it'll still record when your screen is off or the app is sent to the background, so you can join a meeting on your phone while Speechnotes records in the background.

Transkriptor

Transkriptor requires a subscription fee like Otter, but if you aren't bothered about the additional features included by Otter, Transkriptor might be the best option. Unfortunately, it doesn't offer real-time transcription; you'll upload your sound file after your meeting and wait for the app to transcribe it. However, it offers accurate transcriptions, and it's easy to edit the files it produces. You can even record a meeting separately and upload the audio file to Transkriptor.

Easy Voice Recorder Pro

Easy Voice Recorder is one of the best voice recorder apps for Android; While it doesn't offer a transcription feature, it offers plenty of elements to ensure you get accurate and precise recordings. There is a free version, but the Pro upgrade nets you vital features like automatic cloud backup, audio editing, and more. Use the Pro version on its own, or grab the free version and upload your recording to a service like Transkriptor for transcriptions.

Otter isn't as good value anymore, but it's still useful

Otter's changes might leave some upset, but it's still a great tool to record and transcribe your meetings. The recent changes seem designed to shift users towards the Pro plan, and even though it suffers similar feature reductions as the free plan, access to your entire recording history is a significant plus, which means Otter can still be handy. Of course, today's alternatives are certainly quality competitors, and if you are looking for something new to record your meetings and other voice notes on one of our favorite Android phones.