Earkeep
The Otter.ai alternative with no bot in your call
Last updated: · Reviewed quarterly
Otter.ai joins your call as a visible bot, transcribes in the cloud, and bills $17-30 per user per month. Earkeep never joins anything: it listens on your device all day, transcribes locally, and you mark any stretch as a meeting afterwards.
14-day full trial, no account required.
- No bot joins your call
- Transcribed on your device, not in a cloud
- €39 once, not $17-30 per user per month
The short answer
For scheduled external calls with a visible notetaker, a mobile app and a team workspace, Otter is more complete. For internal and in-person meetings, kept as plain files on your machine for one €39 payment, Earkeep fills the gap.
Why people look for an Otter.ai alternative
Nothing to start, and no bot to invite
Otter captures only once someone starts a session or invites OtterPilot, so the ad-hoc huddle is lost. When the bot comes, it is a named participant; r/sysadmin threads describe IT departments blocking it.
Earkeep has no bot: it listens to the device, for a Zoom call or someone in the room alike.
Transcribed on your device, and yours afterwards
Otter is "fully cloud-dependent", in reviewers' words, and faces a 2025 class-action lawsuit over its data practices. Earkeep uploads nothing. Its transcripts are plain files you own.
Read by the agents you already use, not a chat box in someone else's app
Otter offers AI Chat inside its own app. Earkeep runs your own agents (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor Agent and more) on your local history, and serves Claude Desktop or Cursor over MCP.
Side by side
| Capability | Earkeep | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Always-on capture | Continuous, in the background | Started per session |
| Bot-free | No bot ever joins | OtterPilot joins as a participant |
| Records a meeting you can't attend | Only what your device hears | The bot goes without you |
| Audio processed on your device | Nothing uploaded | Fully cloud-dependent |
| Captures in-person meetings | Any audio on the device | Only inside a joined call |
| Retroactive spans | Or marked by your calendar | Defined at record time |
| AI summary when it ends | No, but an agent you connect writes them from the transcript | Auto-generated after every meeting |
| Labels who said what | Not yet | Learns voices over time |
| Your own agents can read it | ACP agents plus an MCP server | No local API for agents |
| Share with people who weren't there | No, but your agent files the notes where your team already reads | Shared workspaces, comments, highlights |
| Mobile app | Desktop only | iOS and Android, with recording |
| Free tier that doesn't expire | 14 days free, then €39 once | 300 minutes a month |
| One-time purchase | €39, one device | Per user, per month |
| Pricing | €39 once, one device, no subscription | $16.99-30/user/month; free tier capped at 300 min/month |
| Platform | macOS 13+, Windows 10+ | Web, iOS, Android |
Built inNo, but an agent you connect canPartlyNot available
What each one costs by year five
Switching takes an afternoon
- Install it, then forget about it for a day. Earkeep listens from launch. Nothing is migrated.
- Mark yesterday, or connect a calendar. Drag a span where a meeting was, or let Google, Apple, Outlook or any ICS calendar title the spans.
- Cancel the subscription once you trust it. Otter Pro is $16.99/month ($8.33 annually) for 1,200 minutes. Earkeep is €39 once, with every 1.x update.
Which one fits you
Choose Earkeep if
You want everything captured, and the record to be yours.
- What matters is said in huddles and in-person syncs no bot was invited to
- The audio must not leave your device
- You'd rather grep plain files than export from a cloud
- You'd rather pay €39 once than per seat forever
- Your own agents should read your meetings directly
Choose Otter.ai if
Otter does several things Earkeep does not.
- You need a mobile app. Otter records on iOS and Android; Earkeep is desktop-only
- You want the bot to be visible. Some client-facing teams prefer a named notetaker, for disclosure
- You want a collaboration layer. Shared workspaces, comments, highlights, Salesforce and HubSpot
- You need calls recorded that you can't attend
- You need who said what: Otter learns voices, Earkeep doesn't label speakers yet
Earkeep is for product managers, product owners, engineering leads and people managers, whose huddles and 1:1s no bot is invited to.
Other tools people weigh this against
Granola, Fireflies.ai, Fathom, tl;dv, Jamie, MacWhisper, Limitless, Plaud, Read.ai, Notta, or all sixteen side by side.
Frequently asked questions
Is Earkeep a good Otter.ai alternative?
If you want the record, not the bot, yes. It doesn't join calls without you, label speakers, write summaries, or run on a phone.
Does Earkeep replace Otter's AI summaries and chat features?
No. Earkeep keeps the verbatim record and lets your own agents read it, in the app or through MCP.
Can Otter capture in-person meetings?
Only as a session you start in its mobile app. Otter is built around joining video calls as a bot, not capturing in the background.
Is Otter's free tier a real alternative to Earkeep's trial?
Otter's free Basic tier caps at 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes per session, in the cloud. Earkeep's 14-day trial is the full product, local, with no account.
Does switching from Otter to Earkeep mean losing my old transcripts?
No. Export them from Otter (TXT, PDF, DOCX, SRT); Earkeep keeps new transcripts locally from the day you install it.
Try it yourself
14-day full trial, no account required.