Wave vs Otter.ai: Which AI Meeting Recorder Is Better?

Otter.ai was one of the first mainstream AI transcription tools, and it's still one of the most widely used. Wave came later with a different philosophy — give people multiple ways to record instead of locking them into a single method. Both produce transcripts and AI summaries, but the range of scenarios they cover is very different. Here's an honest breakdown.

The Core Difference: One Method vs. Four

Otter.ai is built around a single recording method: a bot that joins your virtual meetings. Connect it to Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams, and Otter sends an AI assistant into the call. This works well for scheduled video calls, but it means everyone in the meeting sees the bot join, and it's limited to those specific platforms.

Wave gives you four ways to record. You can send a meeting bot to Zoom, Meet, or Teams calls (just like Otter). You can use the desktop app on Mac or Windows to capture system audio from any call without anyone knowing. You can dial into a meeting or make phone calls through Wave's built-in VoIP dialer, which shows your real number. Or you can use the mobile app on iPhone or Android to record in-person conversations by setting your phone on the table. The difference isn't that Wave lacks bots — it's that bots are one option among four, not the only option.

Transcription Quality

Both apps produce accurate transcripts with speaker labels. Otter benefits from clean digital audio when it joins a virtual call directly, which generally means fewer errors. Wave's transcription engine is optimized for real-world audio captured through a phone microphone — background noise, overlapping voices, varying distances from speakers. In practice, both deliver usable transcripts, but the edge cases differ. Otter handles a quiet home office Zoom call slightly better; Wave handles a noisy conference room or coffee shop conversation far better, because it's built for exactly those scenarios.

AI Summaries

After recording, both apps generate AI-powered summaries. Otter provides real-time summaries during the meeting and a polished summary afterward, with action items and key topics extracted. Wave generates summaries after the recording ends, with key points, action items, and a structured overview of the conversation. Both are genuinely useful — the main difference is timing, not quality.

Feature Comparison

• Recording methods: Wave offers four (meeting bot, desktop app, VoIP dialer, mobile mic). Otter offers one (meeting bot).
• In-person meetings: Wave handles these via the mobile app. Otter requires uploading a separate recording.
• Phone calls: Wave records calls through its built-in VoIP dialer. Otter cannot record phone calls.
• Virtual meetings: Both can join Zoom, Teams, and Meet. Wave also captures system audio via its desktop app without any bot joining.
• Bot visibility: Otter always uses a visible bot. Wave offers a bot option but also has bot-free methods (desktop and mobile recording).
• Platform: Wave is available on iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows, and web. Otter is desktop-first with a mobile app.
• Speaker identification: Both support speaker labels. Otter identifies speakers via meeting profiles; Wave uses voice fingerprinting.
• Collaboration: Otter offers shared workspaces, comments, and highlights for teams. Wave focuses on individual productivity with easy export and sharing.
• Integrations: Otter connects to Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, Salesforce, and HubSpot. Wave integrates with an open API and MCP protocol for AI assistants.
• Privacy: Wave does not use your data to train AI models and is SOC-2 compliant. Otter's data practices have drawn scrutiny, and their bot's presence in calls raises consent questions in some jurisdictions.
• Pricing: Both offer free tiers. Wave's paid plan is straightforward with unlimited recording. Otter's pricing scales by team size and features.

Privacy and Consent

This is where the comparison gets interesting. Otter always uses a bot, so every participant sees the recording. In many workplaces, this is fine — everyone expects meetings to be recorded. But in client calls, interviews, or sensitive conversations, a recording bot changes the dynamic.

Wave gives you the choice. Use a bot for internal meetings where recording is standard. Use the desktop app or mobile recorder when you want to capture audio without a bot in the participant list. Wave is SOC-2 compliant and does not train AI models on your recordings or transcripts. For anyone handling confidential information — lawyers, therapists, HR professionals, journalists — having bot-free recording options matters.

That said, recording without others' knowledge carries its own legal obligations. Many jurisdictions require all-party consent for recording conversations. Wave makes the recording discreet, but the legal responsibility to inform participants still falls on you.

Where Otter Wins

Otter is the better choice if your work revolves around scheduled virtual meetings on Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet, and you want tight integration with those platforms. The ability to have a bot automatically join every meeting on your calendar, transcribe it, and push notes to your CRM is powerful for sales teams and account managers. Otter's collaborative workspace features — shared notes, comments, highlight reels — also make it a stronger fit for large teams that need to work together on meeting content.

Where Wave Wins

Wave is the better choice if your meetings happen in different places — not just on Zoom. A student recording lectures uses the mobile app. A consultant on a client call uses the VoIP dialer. A remote worker on back-to-back Zoom calls uses the desktop app or meeting bot. Wave covers all of these because it offers multiple recording methods instead of locking you into one.

Wave also wins on flexibility around privacy. When recording is expected, use the bot. When discretion matters, use the desktop app or mobile recorder. No data is used for AI training, and the app is SOC-2 compliant. For professionals in regulated industries, having the option to record without a bot is a meaningful advantage.

The Verdict

If you spend most of your day in back-to-back Zoom calls and want automated transcription with team collaboration features, Otter.ai is a solid tool built for that workflow. But if you need a meeting recorder that works everywhere — in-person, on the phone, in a lecture hall, at a coffee shop, and on video calls — Wave is the more versatile choice. But if your work is entirely virtual meetings with a team that needs shared workspaces and CRM integrations, Otter's collaborative features are more mature for that specific workflow.