Scroll tables sideways to compare both products.
Happy Scribe vs Otter vs ScreenApp
Consider Happy Scribe if the transcript itself is the deliverable.
It is built around an editor, subtitles and translation, and it sells optional human proofreading on top of the AI transcript. Its free account accepted our meeting file and answered both prompts. The free allowance is small: 10 minutes of AI transcription to try, which one eight-minute file nearly used up.
Consider Otter if you mostly record live meetings and want the lowest Pro price.
Otter Pro has the lowest listed annual price of the three. Its free Basic account also accepted the file and answered both prompts. Uploads are the tight spot: Basic allows 3 file imports for the life of the account.
Consider ScreenApp if you want the recording, the transcript and the AI answers in one place.
Pro accepted the file on both test days and named an owner and a timestamp for the one task it treated as assigned. Its Pro plan is listed at the same annual price as Happy Scribe Pro and costs more than Otter Pro, and the timestamp it cited changed between runs.
All three handled the same file and answered the same two prompts. None of that tells you which is more accurate; the method section explains why.
Which One Should You Pick?
The three are built for different jobs, so the right one depends on what you do with the recording afterwards.
- You hand over subtitles or translations: Happy Scribe. It translates into 80+ languages, exports TXT and SRT on Free, plus PDF and DOCX on Basic, and 15+ formats from Pro, and sells human proofreading from $2.00 a minute in 65+ languages.
- You live in Zoom, Teams or Meet and want the cheapest paid plan: Otter. Pro is $8.33 per user a month on annual billing, with live transcription in the Otter app, plus live notes and captioning for Google Meet and Zoom.
- You record your screen, or want answers across many recordings: ScreenApp. It records screen, window, browser tab, microphone and camera, with system audio, and one AI chat can search every recording you keep.
Language support is the clearest split. Happy Scribe lists 150+ languages, ScreenApp 100+, and Otter 6. If your meetings are not in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Chinese, Otter is out.
Quick Comparison
What each tool returned from the same file and the same two prompts. ScreenApp appears twice because it was the comparison partner on both test days. Word counts use whitespace splitting, headings included, and none of these answers has been checked against a full listen to the audio.
| Result | Happy Scribe Free, 29 Sep | Otter Basic, 22 Sep | ScreenApp Pro, 22 Sep | ScreenApp Pro, 29 Sep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upload accepted | Yes, after a form submit; selecting the file alone did not start it | Yes, after file-picker retries | Yes | Yes |
| Transcript reached the end | Last passage at 7:45, after scrolling | Text saved | Text saved | Last passage at 7:51 |
| Speaker labels | Numbered speakers | Not recorded | Role labels | Numbered speakers and role labels |
| Summary length | 130 words | Not counted | Not counted | 163 words |
| Assigned tasks found | None | One | One | One |
| Proposed or unassigned tasks | 3 | Listed, not counted | Listed, not counted | 4 |
| Owner of the VS Code task | Not assigned; says Speaker 1 volunteered | Not stated | Developer, a role label | Developer, a role label |
| Timestamp cited for it | 6:27-6:35 | 0:00:00 | 6:32 | 6:26 |
| Deadline given | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Sources, checked 2026-09-29: Our upload test results, Our upload test results
Feature Comparison
Everything each product lists, side by side. Happy Scribe comes from its pricing and integrations pages, checked 12 October 2026; Otter from its pricing page, checked 14 October 2026; ScreenApp from our pricing page and product documentation. “Not listed” means we did not find it on those pages, not that the product lacks it.
| Feature | Happy Scribe | Otter | ScreenApp |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recording and capture | |||
| Meeting bot | Happy Scribe: Yes: a notetaker for Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams that auto-joins from Google or Outlook calendars | Otter: Yes, for Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet | ScreenApp: Yes: meeting bot for Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams |
| Recording without a bot | Happy Scribe: Happy Scribe says it supports recording Zoom, Meet and Teams calls from a Mac or phone with no bot joining | Otter: Yes: its desktop app records without a bot joining the call | ScreenApp: Yes: screen, window, browser tab, microphone and camera, with system audio |
| Live transcription | Happy Scribe: Yes: a live transcript while recording in the iOS and Android apps | Otter: Yes: live transcription in the Otter app, plus live notes and captioning for Google Meet and Zoom | ScreenApp: Yes: live transcript while recording (beta) |
| Apps | Happy Scribe: iOS and Android apps, with the desktop app marked Soon on the pricing page | Otter: Mac and Windows desktop apps, iOS and Android apps and a Chrome extension | ScreenApp: Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows apps, iOS and Android apps and a Chrome extension that records tab, screen, mic and camera |
| Files and imports | |||
| Imports | Happy Scribe: Yes: YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, Box and Dropbox | Otter: Yes: automatic sync of audio and video files from Dropbox and of cloud recordings from Zoom | ScreenApp: Yes: YouTube, Vimeo and direct media links |
| Longest recording | Happy Scribe: 45 minutes on Free, 90 on Basic, no limit from Pro | Otter: 30 minutes on Basic, 90 on Pro | ScreenApp: 45 minutes on Free, 2 hours on Pro |
| Transcription and subtitles | |||
| Transcription languages | Happy Scribe: 150+ | Otter: 6 (English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Chinese) | ScreenApp: 100+ |
| Speaker labels | Happy Scribe: Yes: automatic speaker detection | Otter: Yes, from Basic | ScreenApp: Yes: speaker identification, with renaming |
| Custom vocabulary | Happy Scribe: Yes: 1 style guide and 1 glossary on each plan, unlimited on Business | Otter: Yes: custom vocabulary for names, jargon and acronyms, 5 terms on the free Basic plan and more on paid plans | ScreenApp: Yes: custom vocabulary for transcription |
| Translation | Happy Scribe: Yes: into 80+ languages | Otter: Not listed on the Otter pages we checked | ScreenApp: Yes: transcript and caption translation into 99 languages |
| Human proofreading | Happy Scribe: Yes: human proofreading from $2.00 a minute in 65+ languages | Otter: Not listed on the Otter pages we checked | ScreenApp: Not on ScreenApp's pricing page |
| AI notes and questions | |||
| Summaries | Happy Scribe: Yes: AI meeting summaries and notes | Otter: Yes: automated summaries with action items and outlines | ScreenApp: Yes: AI chat with any recording, plus action items with an owner and deadline, and decisions listed separately |
| Questions across recordings | Happy Scribe: Yes: Happy Scribe lists AI Chat and MCP questions across every meeting a team recorded | Otter: Yes: AI Chat within and across meetings | ScreenApp: Yes: one AI chat that searches and answers from every recording in your library, or a single folder |
| AI chat on the free plan | Happy Scribe: 3 files a month | Otter: 20 queries a month | ScreenApp: 10 chats a month |
| Exports and integrations | |||
| Export formats | Happy Scribe: Yes: TXT and SRT on Free, plus PDF and DOCX on Basic, and 15+ formats from Pro | Otter: Yes: mp3 and txt on the free plan, plus pdf, docx and srt from Pro, with bulk export from Business | ScreenApp: Yes: PDF, DOCX, TXT, SRT and VTT, on every plan |
| Integrations | Happy Scribe: Yes: Zapier (5,000+ apps), YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, Box and Dropbox | Otter: Yes: Zapier from Pro, with Salesforce and HubSpot sync | ScreenApp: ScreenApp works with Zapier, Slack and Notion through the API; there are no native Slack, Notion or Zapier apps |
| Connector for AI assistants | Happy Scribe: Yes: an MCP server for Claude and ChatGPT | Otter: Yes: an MCP server for AI assistants on every plan, including the free Basic plan | ScreenApp: Yes: an MCP connector on every plan, including Free |
| Security | |||
| Certifications | Happy Scribe: Yes: SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR compliance | Otter: Yes: HIPAA compliance as a paid add-on on the Enterprise plan | ScreenApp: Yes: SOC 2 Type 2; HIPAA compliance and a BAA are not available |
| Single sign-on | Happy Scribe: Yes: SSO/SAML through sales on Business and Enterprise | Otter: Yes: SSO and SCIM on Enterprise, with a 100-user minimum | ScreenApp: No: SSO and SAML are not available |
Sources, checked 2026-10-14: Happy Scribe pricing, Otter pricing, ScreenApp Chrome extension, ScreenApp supported languages, Otter meeting assistant, ScreenApp meeting bot repository, Happy Scribe home page, ScreenApp desktop apps, ScreenApp mobile apps, ScreenApp recording limits, ScreenApp pricing, Transcription accuracy and languages, ScreenApp audio translator, AI chat troubleshooting, Otter AI Chat FAQ, Slack integration options, Happy Scribe integrations, ScreenApp trust center
Strengths and Trade-offs
Strength
The editor showed timestamps, numbered speakers and the closing passage of the meeting. Its AI chat returned the shortest summary of the three and kept the requested headings. Subtitles, translation and paid human proofreading are part of the same product.
Trade-off
The free allowance is 10 minutes, too little for more than one run of our eight-minute file. The editor also loaded text only up to the three-minute mark until we scrolled. Its action answer put the VS Code task under proposed work even though it named the speaker who volunteered.
Strength
The lowest listed annual Pro price of the three, and a monthly minute allowance on the free plan. Basic produced transcript text, a native summary and answers to both prompts without a payment.
Trade-off
Imports are limited: 3 for the life of a Basic account and 10 a month on Pro. Its action answer cited 0:00:00, the start of the recording, which the other two transcripts do not support.
Strength
Recording, transcript and prompted answers open together. Both action answers named the task, an owner label and a supporting timestamp, and both used the same label, Developer.
Trade-off
The cited timestamp moved between runs: 6:32 on 22 September and 6:26 on 29 September, while its own transcript showed the offer at 6:32. Its 29 September summary also listed adding VS Code as an agreed decision. Pro is listed at the same annual price as Happy Scribe Pro and above Otter Pro.
Price Comparison
Standard USD prices from each vendor’s pricing page: Happy Scribe checked 12 October 2026, Otter 14 October 2026. The annual column is the monthly equivalent with annual billing. Otter charges per user, and Happy Scribe includes 1 user seat on Free and Basic, 3 on Pro and 5 on Business. Confirm checkout totals and team terms before buying.
| Plan | Annual Billing, per Month | What It Counts |
|---|---|---|
| Happy Scribe Free | Free | 10 trial minutes, 3 AI chat files a month |
| Happy Scribe Basic | $8.50 | 1,440 AI minutes a year |
| Happy Scribe Pro | $19 | 7,200 AI minutes a year |
| Happy Scribe Business | $59 | 72,000 AI minutes a year |
| Otter Basic | Free | 300 minutes a month, 3 lifetime imports |
| Otter Pro | $8.33 | 1,200 minutes and 10 imports a month |
| Otter Business | $19.99 | Per user; see vendor page for limits |
| ScreenApp Free | $0 | 3 trial uploads, 2 transcriptions |
| ScreenApp Pro | $19 | 50 transcriptions and 500 uploads a month |
| ScreenApp Max | $34 | Unlimited transcriptions and uploads |
Sources, checked 2026-10-12: Happy Scribe pricing, Otter pricing, ScreenApp pricing
Monthly billing costs more on all three. ScreenApp Pro is $30 and Otter Pro $16.99 when billed monthly; check Happy Scribe pricing for its monthly rates. We tested Happy Scribe Free, Otter Basic and ScreenApp Pro; the paid rows are there for the subscription decision.
Allowances and Limits
The three vendors meter different things. Happy Scribe counts AI minutes, Otter counts minutes and imports, ScreenApp counts transcriptions and uploads. Read down a column, not across a row.
| Allowance | Happy Scribe | Otter | ScreenApp |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free transcription | 10 trial minutes of AI transcription, subtitling and translation | 300 minutes a month | 2 transcriptions |
| File uploads on the free plan | Limited by the trial minutes | 3 imports for the life of the account | 3 trial uploads |
| Longest recording on the free plan | 45 minutes | 30 minutes per conversation | 45 minutes |
| AI questions on the free plan | 3 files analyzed a month | 20 queries a month | 10 chats a month |
| Extra usage | Paid plans can buy AI minutes from $0.20 a minute | Not checked | Max removes the monthly caps |
| What our one upload used | 10 minutes shown before upload; AI chat afterwards showed 1/3 plan files analyzed | One import, leaving 2 | One Pro upload each day; allowance not reached |
Sources, checked 2026-10-14: Happy Scribe pricing, Otter pricing, Our upload test results, Our upload test results, ScreenApp recording limits, ScreenApp pricing, Otter AI Chat FAQ
Sources: Happy Scribe plans, checked 12 October 2026; Otter plan allowances, checked 14 October 2026; ScreenApp plans. The last row is our own observation from the test accounts.
Test Results
One File, Two Prompts, Two Days
We used the same trimmed Product Marketing Meeting recording every time: 480.04 seconds long and 12,341,615 bytes, with its SHA-256 hash recorded so the bytes were identical. It went to Otter Basic and ScreenApp Pro on 22 September 2026, and to Happy Scribe and ScreenApp Pro on 29 September 2026. ScreenApp therefore appears twice in the results, once per day.
After each upload we asked the same two questions in each tool’s own AI chat, summary first, then action items.
Read the Identical Test Prompts
Summary: Summarize this meeting in no more than 180 words. Use headings Discussion, Agreed Decisions, and Unresolved Proposals. Include only information supported by the transcript. Do not invent decisions, owners or deadlines.
Action items: List only explicitly assigned action items from this meeting. For each, give the task, owner, deadline including timezone if stated, and supporting timestamp. Write "Not stated" for missing details. Separately list proposed or unassigned work. Do not invent commitments.
What the Answers Said
The recording contains a moment where one speaker says they did not add VS Code to the list but can add it. Happy Scribe’s transcript puts that at 6:27 and ScreenApp’s at 6:32. The three tools read it differently. Otter and ScreenApp called it an assigned action item. Happy Scribe called it proposed work and said the speaker volunteered, which is arguably the more careful reading of “I can add that in”. Whether an offer counts as an assignment is a judgment call that only a human listen can settle.
The timestamps are where the answers part ways most clearly. Happy Scribe cited a range around its own transcript line. ScreenApp cited 6:32 on 22 September and 6:26 on 29 September for the same moment, a few seconds apart and both close to the offer. Otter cited 0:00:00, the start of the recording, which neither of the other transcripts supports.
The summaries all used the three requested headings, and both counted ones stayed under the 180-word limit. They disagreed on what was decided. ScreenApp’s 29 September summary listed adding VS Code integrations as an agreed decision. Happy Scribe kept its agreed decisions to grouping announcements into themes, reusing launch material and highlighting community contributions. Both left the monthly-active-users measurement unresolved. None of the summaries has been scored for omissions.
ScreenApp Action Items, 22 September
Otter Summary, 22 September
What We Did Not Test
Not tested in these runs
- Live meeting capture
- The meeting bots
- Calendar sync
- Integrations
- Export file contents
- Sharing to another person
- Subtitles
- Translation
- Happy Scribe's human proofreading
- Languages other than English
- Speaker identity accuracy
We did not test any paid Happy Scribe or Otter plan or measure processing time. There is no word error rate, because nobody has listened to the whole clip and corrected a reference transcript.
How We Tested
Dates
22 and 29 September 2026
Plans tested
Happy Scribe trial, Otter Basic, ScreenApp Pro
Browser
Chrome incognito on macOS
Input
Identical MP4, matched by SHA-256
Runs
One upload per product per day
Prompts
Summary, then action items
Otter and ScreenApp ran on 22 September 2026, Happy Scribe and ScreenApp on 29 September, all in Chrome incognito on the same Mac in Sri Lanka. ScreenApp had processed the file before, so caching may have helped it, and we report no timing. Happy Scribe showed 10 available minutes with English (US) machine transcription; Otter Basic was set to English (US); ScreenApp Pro used its defaults.
We used assisted browser interaction in our own accounts. Happy Scribe only started uploading after we submitted its upload form, and Otter accepted the file only through its Browse Files route after a few failed attempts. We saved every answer as text and as a cropped screenshot. Word exports from Happy Scribe and ScreenApp were downloaded but not opened. Running assisted uploads was our decision in our own accounts and does not imply either vendor’s consent.
Happy Scribe’s free minutes allowed only one run of the file, and Otter’s and ScreenApp’s 22 September summaries were not word-counted.
ScreenApp Pty Ltd publishes this page and sells ScreenApp. Read the results with that in mind, and check the details against your own recording.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which of the Three Is Cheapest?
On annual billing, Otter Pro has the lowest listed price, ScreenApp Pro and Happy Scribe Pro are listed at the same monthly equivalent, and Happy Scribe Basic is cheaper than both Pro plans. The plans ration different things, so compare them against your own usage: AI minutes on Happy Scribe, minutes and imports on Otter, transcriptions and uploads on ScreenApp. See the price table.
Which Is the Most Accurate or the Fastest?
We do not know, and we would rather not guess. None of the transcripts was scored against a reference a person corrected, and the upload quirks plus ScreenApp’s earlier run make any timing misleading. The action-item differences above are things to check, not a ranking.
Which Supports the Most Languages?
Happy Scribe lists 150+, ScreenApp 100+, and Otter 6: English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Chinese. We tested English only.
Can I Try All Three for Free With the Same File?
Why Does ScreenApp Appear Twice in the Results?
The Otter and Happy Scribe runs happened a week apart, and the file was uploaded to ScreenApp again on each day as the comparison partner. Keeping both runs visible shows that ScreenApp’s owner label stayed the same while its cited timestamp moved.
Try the Same File Yourself
Open ScreenApp, explore Happy Scribe or explore Otter. Upload one recording to each, ask the same two questions, and check the owners, timestamps and decisions against the audio before you trust any of them. For each tool on its own, see Happy Scribe vs ScreenApp and Otter vs ScreenApp.