It's close: Dia edges it 8.1 to 8.0, so the right pick depends on what you need. Dia wins on 2 of the 5 scores, Otter.ai on 3.
Office workers who juggle email, docs and meetings in the browser
Students, journalists and teams who want searchable transcripts of every meeting
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Dia | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Category | AI Assistants | AI Assistants |
| Category rank | #12 of 16 | #13 of 16 |
| Developer | The Browser Company | Otter.ai |
| Pricing | Free + paid plans | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | — | ✓ |
| Android | — | ✓ |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web | — | ✓ |
Common questions
Is Dia better than Otter.ai?
It's close: Dia edges it 8.1 to 8.0, so the right pick depends on what you need. Dia wins on 2 of the 5 scores, Otter.ai on 3.
Which is cheaper, Dia or Otter.ai?
Dia: Free browser has no AI; Better Answers is $10 a month and Better Days $100. Otter.ai: Free: 300 minutes a month; Pro is $8.33 a month billed yearly or $16.99 monthly. On value for money, Otter.ai scores higher.
Do Dia and Otter.ai work on the same devices?
Only Otter.ai runs on Web, iPhone & iPad, Android.
Which is more private, Dia or Otter.ai?
Dia scores higher on privacy (8.2/10). History, chats and files are encrypted on your device, and Sync is end-to-end encrypted. AI partners can't train on your data. Dia keeps some unlinked content 30 days to improve itself unless you opt out.
Strengths and weaknesses
Dia
- Calm, uncluttered design from the makers of Arc
- Data is stored and encrypted on your device
- AI partners are barred from training on your data
- New users' free plan has no AI features
- Better Days plan costs $100 a month
- Windows version is still an early build
Dia comes from the team behind Arc and puts an AI chat beside your tabs that can read what's open and pull in context from Slack, Notion and Teams. Its Morning Brief, meeting prep and deck building are aimed squarely at office work. Privacy is better than most AI browsers, with your data stored on your device. Since August 2026, though, new users get no AI on the free plan, and the Windows version is still young.
Full Dia review
Otter.ai
- Years of experience with meeting and lecture transcripts
- Free plan includes 300 minutes a month
- Apps for phone, computer and web
- Free conversations stop at 30 minutes
- Trains AI on recordings with personal details removed, by default
- Faces a class action lawsuit over recording consent
Otter has typed up meetings and lectures for years. It writes live transcripts with speaker labels. Its notetaker can join Zoom, Meet and Teams on its own. AI Chat answers questions across your meetings. A new desktop app records calls and chats outside scheduled meetings. The free plan works but stops each conversation at 30 minutes. Otter trains its AI on recordings with personal details removed. It also faces a class action lawsuit over recording consent.
Full Otter.ai review
