Otter.ai vs Shadow
A side-by-side comparison of Otter.ai and Shadow, two Meeting tools, drawn from Ignaite's continuously-verified listings.
Compared from listings verified as of
Otter.ai
MeetingAI meeting notetaker — live transcription, summaries, and AI chat for meetings.
View Otter.aiAt a glance
The honest brief
Otter.ai
One of the longest-running meeting notetakers with cross-meeting AI chat and a bot that auto-joins Zoom/Meet/Teams.
- Real-time transcription with speaker ID
- Summaries and action items per meeting
- Auto-joins major video platforms
- Mobile apps for in-person capture
- Free tier caps lifetime file imports at 3
- Transcription accuracy varies by audio
- Summaries can miss nuance
- Privacy concerns over auto-join bot
Shadow
Captures meetings at the OS level without joining as a bot, with transcription kept on-device — unlike notetakers that send a visible participant into the call.
- On-device transcription for privacy
- Smart screenshots and post-meeting Skills
- Auto-detects calls across many apps
- Generous free tier; Plus is just $8/mo
- Mac only — no Windows/web
- AI features require the paid Plus tier
- Younger product, smaller review base