TOOL REVIEW
Otter AI for D&D: Review and a Better Alternative
Otter vs. Archivist: Otter's free tier is too short for a real session, and the paid plan that fixes that costs more than Archivist's starting price.
Published September 28, 2026 · 4 min read· Reviewed September 21, 2026
By Greg H. & Greg W., co-founders of Archivist
← Back to GM GuidesThe Short Answer
Archivist is the better choice for D&D and TTRPGs. Otter is a good meeting transcriber, but its free tier is too short for a real session, and the paid plan that fixes that costs more than Archivist's starting price.
Otter: its free tier caps at 30 minutes, and Business, the cheapest plan that reaches 4 hours, costs $30 a month, more than Archivist's starting price. It also can't join Discord, only Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams.
Archivist: its Discord bot joins the voice channel where that table already plays. On Zoom, Google Meet, or in person, you upload the recording instead. Uploads run up to 6 hours, which is no practical limit for a session. Campaign tracking is included, starting at $10 a month.
Otter vs Archivist, at a Glance
| Stage | Capability | Otter | Archivist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free tier | 300 min/mo, 30 min cap per recording | Free 30-day trial (two sessions), then $10/mo |
| Cost | Cheapest plan that fits most sessions | Business: $30/mo ($19.99/mo billed annually), still caps at 4 hrs | $10/mo, uploads up to 6 hours |
| Recording | Joins Zoom, Google Meet, or Teams automatically | Yes | No. Accepts an uploaded audio file or transcript if you can download one from the meeting |
| Recording | Joins Discord automatically | No | Yes |
| After Recording | Automatic summary or notes | Yes, generic meeting-style | Yes, TTRPG-shaped |
| After Recording | Tracks characters, quests, and locations | No | Yes |
| After Recording | Persistent memory across sessions | No | Yes |
The Bottom Line
Otter's math doesn't work for a TTRPG table. The cheapest plan that fits most sessions still stops at 4 hours, and it costs more than Archivist's starting price. See Otter's plans.
Archivist starts at $10/month. Its Discord bot joins the voice channel. Otter's bot joins Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams, in the call where that table already plays. On those calls, or in person, you upload the recording to Archivist. Uploads run up to 6 hours. Either way you get a recap, timeline, and tracked campaign entities. See how Archivist works.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Otter good for D&D sessions?
Otter is a capable general transcription and meeting-summary tool built around Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, not Discord or tabletop play. Its free tier also caps recordings at 30 minutes, short of a typical two-to-five-hour session. A voice it has never heard is labeled Speaker 1 or Speaker 2 until you tag it. On Zoom and Google Meet, Otter can take names from the meeting's participant list. It still does not track characters, quests, or locations.
Does Otter have a Discord bot?
No. OtterPilot automatically joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet calls through your calendar, but it cannot join a Discord voice channel. A Discord-based TTRPG group would need Otter's own recording app for that session instead, or to import audio captured some other way.
What is Otter's first paid tier, and what does it include?
Pro is $16.99 a month, or $8.33 a month billed annually, for one person. It raises the free tier to 1,200 transcription minutes a month and 90 minutes per recording. It adds a custom vocabulary of 100 names and 100 other terms, and OtterPilot covers two meetings at once. That's still short of a typical multi-hour TTRPG session.
What is the best Otter alternative for D&D and TTRPGs?
Archivist. Its Discord bot joins the voice channel. Otter's bot joins Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams. For those calls, or an in-person game, you upload the recording instead. Uploads run up to 6 hours. Either way Archivist produces a transcript, recap, timeline, and tracked campaign entities, without Otter's per-minute plan limits.
How much does Otter cost for a full D&D session?
Otter's free tier caps at 30 minutes per recording. Pro is $16.99 a month, or $8.33 a month billed annually, and caps at 90 minutes. Both stop short of a typical two-to-five-hour session. Business, the cheapest plan that gets close to a full session, is $30 a month, or $19.99 a month billed annually, for one person. That's more than Archivist's $10 a month starting price, and it still cuts off at 4 hours.
Skip Otter’s Session-Length Caps
Archivist's 30-day trial includes two full sessions, no 30-minute cap and no per-minute plan to watch. Record a real game and see the recap, timeline, and tracked entities it produces.