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
| Attribute | Otter.ai | Shadow |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Meeting | Meeting |
| Pricing | FREEMIUM | FREEMIUM |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Deployment (differs) | Cloud | Local |
| Platforms (differs) | Web, iOS, Android | macOS |
| Model support | — | — |
| Vendor (differs) | Otter.ai | Taper Labs |
| Capabilities (differs) |
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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
When to pick which
Both cover Transcription (STT), Summarization, and Meeting notes.
Pick Otter.ai if you need Voice agent and Chat with documents.
- Voice agent (secondary capability)
- Chat with documents (secondary capability)
Pick Shadow if you need Dictation and Task management.
- Dictation (secondary capability)
- Task management (secondary capability)
They also differ on:
- Deployment
- Cloud · Local
- Platforms
- Web, iOS, Android · macOS