Otter is strongest when a team wants automatic sharing. Second is for sensitive calls where capture should be intentional, local, and never emailed to attendees unless you decide to send it.
$19 one-time payment
Otter's default behaviour is to email a transcript summary to every meeting participant after the call. This is designed to be helpful. It's also opt-out, not opt-in — which means people who attended your meeting get Otter emails whether or not they use Otter.
Second never contacts anyone. Your notes stay on your Mac. Sharing is manual, intentional, and entirely up to you.
Otter is a mature product that does transcription well. It doesn't have a CLI, no agent integration, and limited cross-meeting intelligence. Second is built around the idea that your meeting notes should be as useful to your AI agent as they are to you — structured, searchable, and queryable from the terminal.
Otter's free plan has reduced significantly over the years — from 6,000 to 1,200 minutes per month. Paid plans have had similar changes. Second is $19 once. Pay once and keep your meeting history local.
Otter uploads audio to the cloud for processing. That's how most transcription tools work. Second transcribes locally, using Apple Silicon. Your audio never leaves your device.
| Feature | Second | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19 one-time | $17/month ($204/year) |
| Auto-joins calendar meetings | ✓ (default on) | |
| Emails attendees after calls | ✓ (default on) | |
| Audio stays on your Mac | ||
| CLI for AI agents | ||
| Cross-meeting intelligence | ||
| Works offline | ||
| Notes survive if app disappears | ✓ local files |
Download Second — $19 one-time payment · No cloud meeting archive