Kahubi vs Otter.ai
Otter.ai is one of the best-known transcription tools, built mainly for business meetings: live notes, summaries and action items. Research interviews have different needs. The recording belongs to a participant, the ethics approval says where it can go, and the transcript is data you will code and quote. Here is how the two compare.
What Otter.ai does well
Credit where it's due: these are real strengths, and for some workflows they are exactly what you need.
- Live transcription and notes during meetings
- Joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet calls automatically from your calendar
- Meeting summaries and action items
- A free tier for trying it on your own meetings
Where Kahubi differs
Processed in the EU, never used for training
Kahubi transcribes with European providers and never uses your recordings or transcripts to train AI models. Otter processes data in the United States, and its privacy policy allows training on de-identified data. For participant recordings under GDPR, that difference often decides what your ethics board will approve.
Built for many languages
Kahubi transcribes 99+ languages with speaker labels, including Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, German and Arabic. As of October 2026 Otter supports a handful of major languages, including English, Spanish, French and Japanese.
Transcripts become research data
After transcription, Kahubi’s interview flow suggests codes you accept or rewrite, groups them into themes, and keeps every code linked to the passage and timestamp. The findings section is drafted from your confirmed themes, with quotes you can trace.
Optional redaction of personal details
Kahubi can mask names and other identifying details in the transcript, which helps with pseudonymisation before analysis or sharing with co-authors.
Feature comparison
| Capability | Otter.ai | Kahubi |
|---|---|---|
| Chats with your full library | No | Yesthe agent reads, searches, and cites your whole library |
| Edits a real LaTeX manuscript (compiled to PDF) | No | YesLaTeX → PDF compile built in, plus .docx and .tex export |
| Systematic review flow with PRISMA support | No | Yesdefine → search → screen → written review (PRISMA, MOOSE, Cochrane) |
| Statistics on your CSVs (t-tests, ANOVA, regression…) | No | Yesfrom t-tests to PCA and Cronbach’s alpha, results land in your draft |
| Interview transcription processed in the EU | Partialstrong meeting transcription; processed in the USA | Yesspeaker labels, 99+ languages, EU-based providers |
| Learns your writing voice from your papers | No | Yesa style profile learned from your own publications |
Last reviewed October 2026. Based on each product's public materials. Features change, so verify details on their site. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Choose Otter.ai if…
You need live notes for English business meetings and the recordings are not research data under an ethics approval.
Choose Kahubi if…
You are transcribing research interviews, focus groups or patient conversations and need EU processing, no training on your data, many languages and analysis in the same place.
Kahubi pricing
Simple monthly plans, cancel anytime. A real free tier to start with, and predictable monthly cost on every paid plan.
Try Kahubi on a small project
For a single ongoing study
For active researchers
For labs and heavy users
Kahubi vs Otter.ai: common questions
Is Otter.ai GDPR compliant for research interviews?
What is a GDPR-friendly alternative to Otter.ai?
Can Kahubi record meetings like Otter?
How much transcription is included?
Try the Kahubi side of the comparison
Sign up free, import your library in minutes, and run one real task (a screening round, an analysis, a draft) before you decide.