Otter.ai sends a bot and captures slides. Shadow is invisible and records your full screen. Compare features, privacy, and price.
Shadow and Otter.ai both transcribe and summarize meetings automatically — but they approach the problem very differently. Otter.ai sends a bot called OtterPilot into your call as a visible participant. Shadow runs silently on your Mac, captures both audio and screen throughout the meeting, and never appears in the call at all. Here's the full comparison.
Otter.ai's OtterPilot joins your meeting as a participant. Everyone in the call can see "Otter.ai" in the participant list. It can be configured to auto-join meetings from your calendar, join only when you're the organizer, or join on demand — but in all cases, it's visible.
Shadow doesn't join anything. It runs locally on your Mac, detects when a meeting starts, and records audio directly from your device along with smart screenshots of your screen. The call proceeds as if nothing is recording, because nothing is — as far as other participants can see.
No bot. OtterPilot is visible to everyone in the meeting. For sales calls, client meetings, investor conversations, or any high-trust interaction, a visible bot shifts the dynamic. Shadow removes that variable entirely.
More complete screen capture. Otter.ai does take screenshots — but only of slides shared during the meeting, inserted as snapshots into the transcript. Shadow records your full screen throughout the entire call. If a client shares a live dashboard, walks through a spreadsheet, or demos a product, Shadow captures it all. Otter.ai only catches what's explicitly presented as a slide.
Follow-up email drafting. After every meeting, Shadow writes the follow-up email. Otter.ai gives you a transcript and summary, but the email is manual.
Language support. Shadow handles 100+ languages across all plans. Otter.ai's free plan is limited to English, French, and Spanish — a significant gap for international teams.
Privacy. Shadow transcribes on your device — audio doesn't leave your Mac. Otter.ai processes everything through its cloud servers via OtterPilot. For teams handling sensitive conversations, the architectural difference matters.
Transcription accuracy. Otter.ai is widely considered one of the strongest transcription engines available, particularly for English. If raw transcript quality is your top priority, Otter.ai is a serious contender.
Windows support. Shadow is macOS-only. Otter.ai works across all platforms and devices.
Generous free plan for light users. Otter.ai's free plan gives 300 minutes of transcription per month — enough for several meetings. Shadow's free plan covers 25 lifetime meetings before requiring an upgrade.
Real-time live transcript. OtterPilot displays a live, scrollable transcript during the meeting — useful if you want to reference what was said mid-call. Shadow focuses on post-meeting output rather than real-time display.
Established platform with broad integrations. Otter.ai has native connections to Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Salesforce at the Business level — mature tooling for larger teams.
OtterPilot connects to your meeting platform and streams audio to Otter.ai's servers for processing. Your meeting content is transcribed, stored, and summarized in the cloud. Otter.ai states it doesn't use meeting data for training on paid plans, but the data still travels through and is stored on their infrastructure.
Shadow transcribes locally. Audio doesn't leave your Mac. AI features for summaries use external APIs, but these can be disabled for fully local processing. For regulated industries or sensitive conversations, Shadow's architecture is structurally more private.
You're a sales rep on a discovery call.OtterPilot joins. Your prospect sees it. Shadow is invisible, captures the full screen including any materials your prospect shares, and drafts the follow-up before you've moved on. Shadow wins.
You need the most accurate English transcript possible.Otter.ai's transcription engine is one of the best. If your primary need is transcript fidelity — for legal, research, or documentation purposes — Otter.ai is worth considering.
You're on Windows.Shadow isn't available yet. Otter.ai works on any device.
Your meeting is in a language other than English.Shadow supports 100+ languages on all plans. Otter.ai's free plan only covers three. Shadow wins for multilingual teams.
You want to capture a live product demo or shared dashboard.Otter.ai captures slide screenshots. Shadow records the full screen throughout the call. Shadow gives you more complete visual context.
Choose Shadow if:
Choose Otter.ai if:
Does Otter.ai join meetings as a bot? Yes. Otter.ai uses OtterPilot, a bot that joins your meeting as a visible participant. All attendees can see it in the participant list. It can be set to auto-join via calendar integration.
Does Otter.ai capture screen content? Partially. OtterPilot takes screenshots of slides when they are shared during the meeting and embeds them in the transcript. It does not record the full screen. Shadow records the full screen throughout the entire meeting.
Is Shadow cheaper than Otter.ai? Shadow is $8/month. Otter.ai Pro is $8.33/month billed annually ($16.99/month billed monthly). At annual billing the prices are similar, but Shadow includes features Otter.ai's Pro plan doesn't — follow-up email drafts, BANT insights, and full screen capture.
Can Shadow replace Otter.ai? For Mac users, Shadow covers Otter.ai's core functionality — transcription, summaries, action items — and adds screen capture, automatic meeting detection without a bot, and follow-up email drafting. Shadow does not yet support Windows.
Which is better for enterprise teams? Otter.ai has more mature enterprise tooling — Salesforce integration, SSO, admin controls — on its Business and Enterprise plans. Shadow's webhook support enables automation via Zapier, Make, and n8n, but for large-scale enterprise CRM deployments, Otter.ai's native integrations are more established.
This article was written by Chad Oh, Shadow's AI writer. While we strive for accuracy, AI-generated content may contain errors. If you spot something off, let us know.
