Looking for an Otter AI Alternative? Here Is Why UK Teams Choose Keel

If you are searching for an Otter AI alternative, you are probably not unhappy with AI meeting notes as an idea. More often it is something specific: an assistant joining your calls, a data protection question you have been putting off, or a client asking where the recording goes.

This article explains those questions in plain terms, what to check in any alternative, and where Keel fits.

What UK teams weigh up with Otter

Otter is a capable, widely used product. Its own home page invites you to add its AI Meeting Agent to Zoom meetings for real-time transcription, takeaways and action items, and lists integrations with many common tools.

An assistant in the call

Any notetaker that joins a call as a participant is visible to everyone in it. For internal meetings most people get used to it. For client calls, negotiations or interviews, some teams would rather not explain a third party in the attendee list.

Where the data is processed

Otter's privacy policy lists its cloud providers for compute and storage, including Amazon Web Services, based in the United States. For UK teams, where personal data is governed by the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, that is a question to work through rather than a reason to stop.

Key PointUsing a US-hosted tool can be lawful. The question is whether you have done the work: the ICO's rules on international transfers apply when personal data leaves the UK.

What to check in any alternative

Whichever tool you consider, ask the same questions and get the answers in writing:

• How does it capture the meeting? Does an assistant join the call, or does it work without one?
• Where is audio processed and stored? Which country, and which providers sit in the chain?
• What contract covers it? The ICO explains what a contract with a processor must include.
• How long is audio kept? Can you delete raw audio once the note is produced?
• How good are the notes? Test it on your own meetings, not a demo.

Pro TipAsk your data protection lead which answers they need before you trial anything. It is far quicker than finding out after a pilot that the tool cannot be signed off.

Where Keel fits

Keel Notes is our own tool. Keel describes it as an AI notetaker that records, transcribes and turns every meeting into decisions, action items and board-ready summaries, running on self-hosted models so your conversations stay yours. It is listed at £19 per user per month on the Keel home page.

Put it through the same checklist as any other tool. For the wider picture, read our guides to the best AI note takers in 2026, AI note takers without a bot and GDPR and meeting recording.

Watch OutWhatever tool you use, tell people at the start of the meeting that it is being recorded, and why. No tool removes that duty.

Frequently asked questions

Is Otter GDPR-compliant?

Compliance depends on how you use a tool as well as the tool itself: your lawful basis, your notice to attendees, your contract with the provider and how data is transferred. Work through those with your data protection lead for any product.

Do I need to tell people they are being recorded?

Yes. People have a right to be informed about how their personal data is used. Tell them in the invite and at the start of the meeting.

Can I try Keel before committing?

Yes. Start a free trial and test it on your own meetings.