name: Otter.ai FinOps Framework
description: >-
  FOCUS-aligned FinOps cost management guidance for Otter.ai API and platform
  usage. Covers cost allocation, optimization strategies, and forecasting for
  teams integrating Otter.ai's meeting transcription and AI meeting intelligence
  capabilities into their operations.
version: '1.0'
framework: FinOps Framework FOCUS 1.0
url: https://otter.ai/pricing
cost_model:
  type: subscription_plus_usage
  description: >-
    Otter.ai uses a per-seat subscription model with four tiers (Basic, Pro,
    Business, Enterprise). API access is exclusive to Enterprise customers.
    Usage is metered in transcription minutes for file imports and in-app
    recording, with monthly caps enforced per plan tier.
  billing_dimensions:
    - name: Seats
      description: Per-user monthly subscription fee
      unit: user_per_month
      plans:
        - plan: Basic
          price: 0.00
          currency: USD
        - plan: Pro (monthly)
          price: 16.99
          currency: USD
        - plan: Pro (annual)
          price: 8.33
          currency: USD
        - plan: Business (monthly)
          price: 30.00
          currency: USD
        - plan: Business (annual)
          price: 19.99
          currency: USD
        - plan: Enterprise
          price: custom
          currency: USD
    - name: Transcription Minutes
      description: >-
        Usage-based transcription consumption measured in minutes per month.
        Overages are enforced by hard limits per plan rather than overage charges
        on most tiers; Enterprise contracts may include negotiated overage rates.
      unit: minutes_per_month
    - name: Audio/Video File Imports
      description: Number of file imports per month for offline transcription
      unit: imports_per_month
    - name: API Calls (Enterprise)
      description: >-
        REST API call volume for Enterprise customers. Priced as part of
        Enterprise contract; no separate per-call fee is publicly listed.
        Pay-as-you-go API pricing at $0.02 per minute of audio transcribed
        may be available under certain Enterprise agreements.
      unit: requests_per_minute
      rate: 0.02
      rate_unit: per_audio_minute_transcribed
cost_allocation:
  recommended_tags:
    - key: team
      description: Allocate seats and API usage to the owning team or department
    - key: project
      description: Track transcription costs per project or initiative
    - key: cost_center
      description: Map seat licenses to finance cost centers for chargeback
    - key: environment
      description: Distinguish production API usage from development/test workloads
  strategies:
    - name: Seat-based allocation
      description: >-
        Assign each licensed seat to a cost center or department. Use Otter's
        admin dashboard to audit active users and deactivate unused seats monthly.
    - name: Workspace segmentation
      description: >-
        Use Otter workspaces to group meetings by team or project, enabling
        usage visibility per organizational unit.
    - name: API usage tracking
      description: >-
        Enterprise customers should instrument API call logging with team/project
        metadata in request headers to enable granular cost allocation for
        transcription API usage.
optimization:
  strategies:
    - name: Right-size plan per user role
      description: >-
        Audit user meeting frequency and transcription needs. Assign Basic or Pro
        seats to low-frequency users; reserve Business seats for power users with
        daily meeting loads above 4 hours.
    - name: Annual billing commitment
      description: >-
        Switch eligible users from monthly to annual billing to achieve up to 50%
        savings on Pro seats ($16.99/mo to $8.33/mo) and ~33% on Business seats
        ($30/mo to $19.99/mo).
    - name: Deactivate idle seats
      description: >-
        Review the admin dashboard monthly. Deactivate or downgrade seats for
        users who have not recorded a meeting in 30+ days.
    - name: Prefer in-app recording over file imports
      description: >-
        File import minutes are counted against a separate cap on Business plans
        (6,000/mo). For high-volume import workloads, negotiate import allowances
        in Enterprise contracts rather than purchasing additional Business seats.
    - name: API request batching
      description: >-
        Enterprise API consumers should batch transcript retrieval requests and
        use webhook-driven polling instead of active polling to minimize
        unnecessary API calls against the 500 req/min limit.
forecasting:
  guidance: >-
    For subscription costs, forecast based on headcount growth using the per-seat
    rates above. Enterprise contracts are typically annual with mid-four-figure
    to five-figure total contract values ($15,000–$35,000/year average).
    For API transcription usage, estimate average meeting duration per user
    multiplied by meeting frequency, then apply the $0.02/minute rate for
    Enterprise pay-as-you-go API agreements.
  typical_enterprise_contract_range:
    low: 15000
    average: 17400
    high: 35000
    currency: USD
    period: annual