Crisp
Otter.ai
| Feature | Crisp | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $25/mo | Free / from $16.99/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | startups, small-businesses, saas-companies, e-commerce | remote-teams, managers, sales-teams, journalists, students |
| Founded | 2015 | 2016 |
| Live Chat | ✓ | ✗ |
| Chatbot | ✓ | ✗ |
| Shared Inbox | ✓ | ✗ |
| Knowledge Base | ✓ | ✗ |
| Campaigns | ✓ | ✗ |
| Status Page | ✓ | ✗ |
| Video Chat | ✓ | ✗ |
| Live Transcription | ✗ | ✓ |
| Meeting Summary | ✗ | ✓ |
| Action Items | ✗ | ✓ |
| Speaker Id | ✗ | ✓ |
| Zoom Integration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Search | ✗ | ✓ |
| Highlights | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Crisp Pros
- Very generous free tier (2 seats included)
- Per-workspace pricing instead of per-seat
- Built-in chatbot builder with no-code
- Clean and modern interface
✗ Crisp Cons
- Limited advanced automation compared to Intercom
- Chatbot AI less sophisticated than competitors
- Fewer integrations than larger platforms
✓ Otter.ai Pros
- Real-time transcription during meetings
- Joins Zoom/Teams/Meet automatically
- AI-generated action items and summaries
- Searchable transcript archive
✗ Otter.ai Cons
- Accuracy drops with accents or crosstalk
- Free tier limited to 300 minutes/month
- Occasional missed speaker attribution
The Verdict
Crisp is built for startups and small businesses, with a focus on live-chat and chatbot. Otter.ai targets remote teams and managers and leads with live-transcription and meeting-summary.
On pricing, Otter.ai is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $16.99/mo compared to $25/mo for Crisp. That $8.010000000000002/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.
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.