GILD verdict
If meetings live in Teams and people also need Copilot in Word and Outlook, start with Copilot in Teams.
The same license covers both and keeps transcripts and recaps under Microsoft 365 policies. Choose Otter when meetings cross Zoom, Meet, in-person, and imported recordings, or when meeting notes are the only job and a separate seat costs less than a Copilot license. Either way, decide whether outside attendees' notetakers may join your Teams meetings.
The University of Alabama's 20-person pilot found Otter's transcription less reliable than Microsoft 365 Copilot's, and Ohio State's IT office advised staff to reconsider Otter in favor of Teams after the 2025 class action. In a Microsoft 365 company, Otter has to justify a separate seat, because Copilot in Teams already takes notes for licensed users. Copilot stores transcripts in OneDrive and SharePoint under your existing policies. Otter records Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, and in-person meetings, and keeps the record in its own workspace.
What teams report
Evaluated 2
The University of Alabama
Alabama's IT office ran a one-month Otter pilot with 20 employees, who found its transcription less reliable than Microsoft 365 Copilot's; it then allowed paid Otter only with restrictions (October 1, 2024).
“Compared to Microsoft 365 Copilot’s transcription, most users found Otter.AI to be less reliable. The pilot concluded with a decision to allow the professional and business versions of Otter.AI on campus, but only with restrictions.”
Office of Information Technology, University central IT, The University of AlabamaThe University of Alabama OIT, , write-up The Ohio State University
After the class action over Otter's recording, Ohio State IT advised staff to reconsider Otter and recommended the recording and transcription in Teams and CarmenZoom (August 22, 2025).
“Ohio State provides university-approved tools such as Microsoft Teams and CarmenZoom that allow you to record and transcribe your video meetings. Use them.”
Ohio State IT, University central IT, The Ohio State UniversityOhio State IT, , write-up
Choosing between Otter and Microsoft Copilot
Choose Otter if
- Meetings span Zoom and Google Meet as well as Teams, or happen in person and on the phone.
- You want to send a notetaker to meetings nobody can attend, import recorded files, or replay audio beside the transcript.
- Only meeting notes are needed: Otter Business is US$19.99 per user per month billed annually, with no Microsoft 365 plan required.
Choose Microsoft Copilot if
- Meetings run on Teams, and you want recaps, questions, and follow-ups to stay inside Microsoft 365 with its existing admin, retention, and compliance controls.
- People also need Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, which the same license covers.
- Admins want meeting policies to decide whether Copilot runs only during a meeting with no saved transcript, or during and after it.
Side by side
| Dimension | Otter | Microsoft Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Where it works | Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams through the notetaker or the desktop app, plus in-person, phone, and imported recordings | Teams meetings and events with up to 1,000 attendees. Not in end-to-end encrypted meetings |
| PriceList prices in US dollars. | Business US$19.99 per user per month billed annually, or US$30 monthly. Pro US$8.33 billed annually | Microsoft 365 Copilot US$30 per user per month paid yearly, or US$31.50 paid monthly on an annual commitment, plus a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan. Copilot Business from US$18 paid yearly, reduced from US$21, for up to 300 users |
| Who can use it | Anyone with an Otter account, including people outside your organization who send a notetaker to your meetings | Each participant with a Copilot license prompts privately. Facilitator, included with the license, posts notes everyone in the meeting sees |
| Recording and transcript | Keeps audio, transcript, summary, and action items in Otter until deleted, or for an Enterprise retention period | Copilot during and after the meeting needs transcription, stored with recordings in OneDrive and SharePoint. Only-during-the-meeting mode keeps no transcript after the meeting |
| Consent and admin control | User-level pre-recording emails, enforced workspace-wide on Enterprise. Admins set auto-join and turn the notetaker off per member | Teams meeting policies set the Copilot default, can require explicit recording consent from participants, and an organizer turning Copilot off also turns off recording and transcription |
| Model training | The privacy policy lists training Otter's own AI on de-identified audio and transcripts. Each user can set Help improve Otter to Don't allow sharing, and Enterprise workspaces are opted out by default | Prompts, responses, and data accessed through Microsoft Graph are not used to train foundation models |
| Beyond meetings | AI Chat across meetings and connectors, an MCP server, CRM syncs, and Enterprise APIs | Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Copilot Chat, plus agents such as Researcher and Analyst |
| 50 people, 20 meeting hours each a monthList prices; Copilot also covers mail, documents and search for the same seat. | About US$1,000 a month on Business at US$19.99 a seat billed annually, in two workspaces at this headcount. GILD's calculation from published rates, read Oct 28, 20261 | US$1,050 a month on Copilot Business at US$21 a seat paid yearly, over an existing qualifying Microsoft 365 plan. GILD's calculation from published rates, read Oct 28, 20269 |
| What named teams did | Alabama allowed paid Otter only with restrictions after a 20-person pilot; Ohio State asked staff to reconsider it after the class action1516 | Alabama's pilot users found Copilot's transcription more reliable; Ohio State pointed staff to Teams and CarmenZoom1516 |
What practitioners report, side by side
Each product's figures come from its own practitioners, for the group you pick.
Overall signal
Leaders and teams rate Microsoft Copilot −3, 66 points above Otter at −69. Most of the gap is in complaints, with 28 of Otter's 36 sources negative against 13 of Microsoft Copilot's 40.
The score counts the authors from leaders and teams that take a side, one vote each with their latest view, and is how far positive votes lead negative ones, per 100 votes, so Microsoft Copilot's −3 rests on votes split 12 positive, 13 mixed and 13 negative. Each of Otter's authors wrote one source here, so each source is one vote.
A lead of a fifth of the votes reads positive and a lead of half strong positive, with the same lines below zero. The dots show each source, positive, mixed, negative. Run a pilot on a month of real meetings to measure how much each summary needs editing before it is shared.
Footprint on the AI Knowledge Work stack
They differ on five of 7 layers. Otter owns one that Microsoft Copilot does not, and Microsoft Copilot owns two that Otter does not. Coverage is each product's placement on this stack, as its product page shows it. Core is a job the product owns; Supports and Touches are jobs it helps with. Coverage says nothing about how well a product does them.
| Layer | Otter | Microsoft Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Assist | ||
| AI assistant | Touches | Core |
| Find | ||
| Web research | Touches | Supports |
| Enterprise search | Supports | Core |
| Create | ||
| Meeting notes | Core | Supports |
| Analyze | ||
| Data analysis | Touches | Supports |
The 2 layers where they match
| Layer | Otter | Microsoft Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Create | ||
| Documents | Supports | Supports |
| Automate | ||
| Automation | Supports | Supports |
What practitioners praise
Among leaders and teams, Microsoft Copilot alone has three praise themes that reach 5 sources from 3 authors. Meeting Recaps and Enterprise Data Terms lead, at 5 of 5 and 5 of 7.
| Praised for | Otter | Microsoft Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting Recaps | Not a theme in its sources | 5 of 5 |
| Enterprise Data Terms | Not a theme in its sources | 5 of 7 |
| Agents & Cowork | Not a theme in its sources | 4 of 10 |
Each count is the sources that praise a theme, or raise it as a concern, out of those that discuss it. A row pairs the two products when both carry a theme under the same or an equivalent name.
A count ending in "so far" has under 5 sources from 3 authors among leaders and teams. "Not a theme in its sources" means GILD found no theme of that name in that product's sources.
What practitioners raise as concerns
Among leaders and teams, Microsoft Copilot alone has four concern themes that reach 5 sources from 3 authors. Admin Controls and Oversharing lead, at 6 of 6 and 5 of 5. Otter alone has three concern themes that reach 5 sources from 3 authors. IT Control and Uninvited Notetaker lead, at 14 of 18 and 12 of 12.
| Raised as a concern | Otter | Microsoft Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| IT Control | 14 of 18 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Uninvited Notetaker | 12 of 12 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Privacy & Consent | 10 of 10 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Admin Controls | Not a theme in its sources | 6 of 6 |
| Oversharing | Not a theme in its sources | 5 of 5 |
| License Cost & Confusion | Not a theme in its sources | 5 of 6 |
| Low Adoption | Not a theme in its sources | 4 of 5 |
16 sources
- Otter.ai pricing
- Otter Help Center: Otter Notetaker Overview
- Otter Help Center: Otter Desktop App (Mac & Windows)
- Otter Help Center: Recording Permissions with Otter
- Otter.ai Privacy Policy (effective June 16, 2026)
- Otter Help Center: Provide feedback to Otter
- Otter Help Center: Set a custom Data Retention policy
- Microsoft 365 Copilot for enterprise: pricing
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Business: pricing
- Microsoft Learn: Manage Microsoft Copilot in Teams meetings and events
- Microsoft Learn: Facilitator in Microsoft Teams
- Microsoft Learn: Manage Teams recording policies for meetings and events
- Microsoft Learn: Configure transcription and captions for Teams meetings
- Microsoft Learn: Data, Privacy, and Security for Microsoft Copilot
- The University of Alabama OIT: Otter.ai pilot (Oct 1, 2024)
- Ohio State IT: Otter.ai and your privacy (Aug 22, 2025)