Around
Otter.ai
| Feature | Around | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $10.99/mo | Free / from $16.99/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.2 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | remote-teams, quick-standups, pair-programming, distributed-teams | professionals, journalists, students, remote-teams |
| Founded | 2020 | 2016 |
| Floating Video | ✓ | ✗ |
| Auto Leveling | ✓ | ✗ |
| Noise Cancellation | ✓ | ✗ |
| Screen Sharing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reactions | ✓ | ✗ |
| Virtual Backgrounds | ✓ | ✗ |
| Live Transcription | ✗ | ✓ |
| Meeting Summaries | ✗ | ✓ |
| Speaker Identification | ✗ | ✓ |
| Search | ✗ | ✓ |
| Collaboration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Integrations | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Around Pros
- Lightweight and fast
- Minimal floating interface
- Good noise cancellation
- Reduces meeting fatigue
✗ Around Cons
- Limited features vs Zoom
- Smaller user base
- No recording on free
✓ Otter.ai Pros
- Accurate transcription
- Real-time notes
- Meeting summaries
- Zoom integration
✗ Otter.ai Cons
- English-centric
- Free plan limited
- Occasional errors
The Verdict
Around is built for remote teams and quick standups, with a focus on floating-video and auto-leveling. Otter.ai targets professionals and journalists and leads with live-transcription and meeting-summaries.
On pricing, Around is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $10.99/mo compared to $16.99/mo for Otter.ai. That $5.999999999999998/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Both tools are a solid fit for remote teams — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.