# Open-source alternatives to Otter.ai

> Open-source alternatives to Otter.ai that run locally, allow commercial use and need no paid API include whisper.cpp (meeting transcription; MIT; runs on CPU). FluidVoice and Scriberr cover all 3 Otter.ai jobs.

Otter.ai: Paid AI meeting assistant that transcribes meetings live, labels speakers and writes summaries. Pricing: Free Basic plan (300 min/month); Pro $16.99/month, or $8.33/month billed annually (checked 2026-10-15). Facts checked 2026-10-15.

## Projects

| Project | Jobs | Runs locally | Commercial use | Paid services | Hardware |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [whisper.cpp](https://repoquarry.dev/projects/whisper-cpp) | speech-recognition | Yes, CPU-only or GPU, fully offline | Yes, MIT code and weights | None required | CPU fine; memory from ~273 MB (tiny) to ~3.9 GB (large) |
| [Whisper](https://repoquarry.dev/projects/whisper) | speech-recognition | Yes, CLI and Python package run on your own machine | Yes, MIT code and weights | None required | Required VRAM per model from ~1 GB (tiny, base) to ~10 GB (large); turbo ~6 GB. CPU use is not discussed in the README |
| [faster-whisper](https://repoquarry.dev/projects/faster-whisper) | speech-recognition | Yes, Python library runs on CPU or NVIDIA GPU | Yes, MIT code and MIT-tagged default model weights | None required | CPU works (small model int8: ~1.5 GB RAM in README benchmark); GPU needs cuBLAS and cuDNN 9 for CUDA 12 (large-v2 int8: ~2.9 GB VRAM on an RTX 3070 Ti 8GB). These are benchmark figures, not stated minimums |
| [WhisperX](https://repoquarry.dev/projects/whisperx) | speech-recognition, speaker-identification | Yes, CLI and Python package on GPU or CPU | BSD-2-Clause code and MIT Whisper weights allow it; diarization adds CC-BY-4.0 attribution terms, and alignment model licences vary by language and are not stated | None required; diarization needs a free Hugging Face read token and accepting the pyannote model's user agreement | Under 8 GB GPU memory for large-v2 with beam\_size=5; CPU mode supported (int8); CUDA toolkit 12.8 for GPU |
| [Meetily](https://repoquarry.dev/projects/meetily) | speech-recognition, meeting-summaries | Yes, desktop app; transcription and storage stay on your machine | Yes; MIT code, MIT and CC-BY-4.0 weights (credit NVIDIA if you ship Parakeet) | None required with Ollama; cloud LLMs and Meetily PRO are optional paid extras | Windows installer needs an AVX2 x64 CPU; RAM and VRAM needs not documented |
| [FluidVoice](https://repoquarry.dev/projects/fluidvoice) | speech-recognition, speaker-identification, meeting-summaries | Yes, native macOS app; transcription runs on-device | GPLv3 app allows commercial use; weights licences vary by model and are not all documented | None required; cloud AI enhancement via your own OpenAI, Groq or custom provider key is optional | Apple Silicon Mac for all models (Intel Macs via Whisper only); ~1 GB disk per voice model, ~3.5 GB for Fluid Intelligence |
| [Scriberr](https://repoquarry.dev/projects/scriberr) | speech-recognition, speaker-identification, meeting-summaries | Yes, self-hosted server with a browser UI; fully offline | Yes; MIT code, MIT and CC-BY-4.0 weights with attribution | None required; OpenAI API optional for summaries and chat (free Hugging Face token for diarization) | CPU image for machines without NVIDIA GPU; CUDA images for GTX 10 to RTX 50 series. RAM not documented |

## Common questions

### Is there a free, open-source alternative to Otter.ai?

Yes. FluidVoice, Scriberr, WhisperX, Meetily and whisper.cpp are free to download and run on your own computer without paid API keys. FluidVoice and Scriberr cover every job we list for Otter.ai; the others cover only part of it, so check which job you need.

### Can I do meeting transcription locally without an Otter.ai subscription?

Yes, with whisper.cpp (MIT), faster-whisper (MIT) and WhisperX (BSD-2-Clause). Check the hardware notes and licence conditions on each page before you start.

### Can I do speaker identification locally without an Otter.ai subscription?

Yes, with FluidVoice (GPL-3.0), WhisperX (BSD-2-Clause) and Scriberr (MIT). Check the hardware notes and licence conditions on each page before you start.

### Which Otter.ai alternatives can I use commercially?

Confirmed: faster-whisper, Meetily, Scriberr, whisper.cpp and Whisper. With conditions: FluidVoice and WhisperX. This is not legal advice; read each licence.

### Does any open-source project replace all of Otter.ai?

FluidVoice and Scriberr cover every job we list for Otter.ai.

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Source: RepoQuarry (https://repoquarry.dev/alternatives/otter-ai). Data licence: CC BY 4.0. Quotes are from project documentation and belong to their authors.