Budget AI notetaker for Discord: Free vs premium options (2025)

Free Discord AI notetakers like Scripty and NoteCat offer basic transcription at no cost, while premium options under $20/month including Fireflies Pro at $10/seat/month and Otter Pro at $8.33/user provide unlimited transcription, AI summaries, and cloud storage. The choice depends on your server's recording volume, privacy requirements, and whether you need advanced features beyond raw text transcription.

At a Glance

Free options: Scripty processes everything offline with no data logging, NoteCat offers encrypted storage during beta, and SeaVoice provides basic transcription with 24-hour download links
Sweet spot pricing: Most teams find value in the $3-15/month range with bots like NotesBot offering 5 hours for $3/month after free trials
Accuracy benchmarks: Leading Discord bots achieve 90-95% word error rates for clear audio, with performance dropping for background noise and overlapping speakers
Privacy models: Choose between offline processing (Scripty), encrypted cloud storage (NoteCat), or enterprise compliance certifications (Fireflies with SOC 2 and HIPAA)
Upgrade triggers: Consider paid plans when exceeding 5 hours monthly, needing AI summaries and action items, or requiring CRM integrations and team analytics

Discord voice channels have quietly become the default meeting room for distributed engineering squads, gaming communities, and remote startups alike. As call volume grows, so does the pressure to capture decisions without paying enterprise prices. This guide breaks down what a budget AI notetaker for Discord really costs in 2025, which free bots deliver, and where affordable upgrades make sense.

Why do Discord users need a budget AI notetaker in 2025?

Speech-to-text accuracy is no longer a niche engineering concern. It now underpins meeting notes, call analytics, accessibility tooling, and data pipelines that feed downstream language models, according to transcription benchmark research. For teams that live inside Discord, that accuracy translates directly into searchable records of standups, client calls, and planning sessions.

A "budget" option generally means one of two things:

Zero cost: Fully free bots that run offline or fund themselves through donations.
Under $20/month: Freemium or low-tier paid plans that unlock longer recordings, cloud storage, or advanced summaries.

DiscMeet reports that its AI speech recognition achieves 95%+ accuracy for clear audio, a benchmark that matters when you need to trust your notes. High accuracy paired with low cost is the sweet spot most server admins chase.

Diagram of four key factors—accuracy, privacy, free limits, upgrade path—encircling a Discord microphone icon

What features and costs really matter?

Before comparing bots, pin down the criteria that separate a useful tool from a gimmick.

Criterion	Why it matters
Accuracy	Anything below roughly 90% WER becomes painful to read
Privacy model	Offline processing vs. cloud with SOC-2 compliance
Free tier limits	Minutes per month, storage caps, export formats
Upgrade path	Cost per seat or per server when you outgrow free

Fireflies, for example, advertises SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance, making it viable for regulated teams. On the opposite end, Scripty keeps every byte offline and publishes its code openly, meaning your voice never touches third-party servers.

In recent benchmarks, Whisper-based engines lose to tuned cloud engines in hyper-optimized domains, low-latency streaming, and language coverage beyond major markets. Weigh those trade-offs against your actual call mix.

Accuracy benchmarks: why 90-95 % WER is the cutoff

Discord audio is rarely studio quality. Background game sounds, overlapping speakers, and budget microphones all degrade input. The Zoom AI Quality Report 2025 found that Zoom achieved the best word error rates (WER) score across real meeting scenarios, setting a high bar for any Discord bot to match.

DiscMeet claims its service delivers 95%+ accuracy for clear audio, which aligns with what leading systems achieve under optimal conditions. If your server regularly deals with accents, jargon, or crosstalk, expect to lose a few percentage points and factor that into your choice.

Privacy & compliance pitfalls to watch

Privacy postures fall into three buckets:

Offline and open-source: Scripty processes everything on-device and keeps absolutely no logs about your transcriptions or audio.
Encrypted cloud with no-sale policies: NoteCat stores recordings with industry-standard encryption and states that it does not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer your personal information.
Enterprise cloud with certifications: Fireflies protects meeting data with 256-bit AES and SSL/TLS encryption and signs BAAs for healthcare use.

Always confirm whether the bot logs audio, ships data to external APIs, or trains models on your conversations before you type /join.

Which Discord transcription bots are 100 % free?

If your budget is literally zero, a handful of bots still deliver usable transcription.

Bot	Cost	Key trade-off
Scripty	Free forever	Offline only, no AI summaries
discord-transcriber	Free (open-source)	Requires self-hosting, uses Gemini API
SeaVoice	Free tier	Download links expire after 24 hours

Scripty stands out because its core features will always be free, forever. It runs entirely offline and supports 55 languages, covering over 6 billion speakers worldwide.

Scripty - offline & open-source privacy

Scripty is the only Discord bot that processes speech to text all offline, without sending any of your voice to third parties. Every component, from the core code to the speech algorithm, lives on Codeberg under an open license.

The bot supports 55 languages, covering 6,246,200,000 people worldwide and produces transcriptions in hundredths of a second. The catch: no cloud means no AI-generated summaries or action-item extraction. You get raw text and nothing more.

NoteCat - beta tier with encrypted storage

NoteCat is currently in beta and free to use. It promises secure servers, encrypted storage, and never trains on your data. Advanced speech recognition handles multiple speakers, accents, and technical jargon, then condenses hours of conversation into key points.

Because NoteCat routes audio through Discord, OpenAI, and cloud storage providers, it is not fully offline. Review its privacy policy if your server discusses sensitive material.

Bots with generous free tiers: where's the sweet spot?

Some tools let you start free and scale affordably once you hit limits.

NotesBot offers a 30-minute free trial with all features, then pricing tiers starting at $3/month for 5 hours. It supports over 100 languages, delivers AI summaries with speaker tracking, and posts full transcripts plus MP3 recordings directly to Discord.

DiscMeet uses AI to identify action items, decisions, and key discussion points, posting notes in Discord threads for collaborative editing. A free trial requires no credit card.

Read AI provides 5 free meetings per month and holds SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and HIPAA certifications. It is not Discord-native but can capture audio from any conferencing tool.

The sweet spot for most small teams is a bot that includes 5 to 10 hours of free recording, then charges $3 to $15/month when usage climbs.

What premium Discord note-takers cost under $20/month?

Once you outgrow free minutes, several paid plans stay below the $20 mark.

Service	Plan	Price	Included
Fireflies Pro	Annual	$10/seat/month	Unlimited transcription, 8,000 min storage
Otter Pro	Annual	$8.33/user/month	1,200 in-app minutes, advanced AI workflows
Heda Pro	Monthly	$10/user/month	Flat fee per server, unlimited transcription

Fireflies Pro delivers unlimited transcription, unlimited AI summaries, and 8,000 mins of storage/seat. Otter Pro adds advanced meeting templates, team vocabulary, and Zapier integrations.

Heda markets itself as Discord-native, charging a flat fee per server, not per user. That pricing model favors large communities where per-seat costs balloon quickly.

Icon-based chart contrasting Otter, Fireflies, and Heda on Discord focus, pricing model, and compliance

Fireflies vs. Otter vs. Heda - which pays off?

All three tools land in the same price band, so the decision hinges on workflow fit.

Otter.ai scores an 8.8 on Speech-to-Text in G2 reviews, making it a preferred choice for accurate transcription. Its entry-level pricing is $240/user/year, equivalent to $20/month, right at the budget ceiling.

Fireflies emphasizes conversation intelligence and CRM integrations. Users praise its analytics: "Impressed by Fireflies' analytics. It helps tracks my team conversations," one CEO noted on the Fireflies pricing page.

Heda is purpose-built for Discord. Setup takes under a minute, and the /join command starts transcription immediately. One community manager reported, "We've reduced repeated questions by 40% since our support sessions became searchable," according to Heda testimonials.

Factor	Otter	Fireflies	Heda
Discord-native	No	No	Yes
Per-user pricing	Yes	Yes	Per server
Free tier	300 min/month	800 min/month	None public
Compliance	SOC 2	SOC 2, HIPAA	Not stated

Choose Otter if transcription accuracy is paramount, Fireflies if you need CRM sync and team analytics, or Heda if your entire workflow lives inside Discord.

Where does Harmony's Discord-first bot land on the price curve?

Harmony is an AI-driven meeting note and transcription service built specifically for Discord voice channels. The bot joins calls via the /record command, captures multi-channel audio, and delivers AI summaries plus speaker analytics.

Harmony's infrastructure leverages APIs, SDKs, and WebRTC capabilities trusted by thousands of developers. That backbone supports low-latency, real-time transcription without routing audio through consumer-grade intermediaries.

Pricing follows a tiered model. The Basic tier is free and includes up to 10 verifications per day, suitable for casual users and students. The Pro tier costs £49/month or £490/year and unlocks unlimited verifications, sentiment analysis, and deepfake detection.

Compared to Fireflies Pro at $10/seat/month, Harmony's Pro tier sits higher on the price curve but bundles features like speaker analytics and conversational chat (AskHarmony) that competitors charge extra for. For servers already invested in Discord, the native integration removes friction that plagues browser-based tools.

Key takeaway: Harmony slots between free open-source bots and enterprise incumbents, offering a balanced upgrade path for teams that need more than raw transcription but less than full CRM orchestration.

Choosing the right budget AI notetaker for your server

The right pick depends on three variables:

Volume: Under 5 hours/month? Stick with Scripty or NoteCat. Over 30 hours? A paid plan almost always saves time.
Privacy posture: Regulated industries need SOC 2 or HIPAA compliance. Hobbyist servers can lean on offline processing.
Workflow depth: If you only need text, free bots suffice. If you want action items, calendar sync, and follow-up reminders, invest in a platform that manages your calendar, creates meeting prep docs, and executes post-meeting actions.

Harmony checks all three boxes for Discord-first teams. It ensures that your data does not flow out of your private cloud when deployed on-premises, and the team can deploy Harmony to your own existing infrastructure within a day.

Start with a free trial, measure your actual recording hours, and upgrade only when limits pinch. The 2025 market offers more budget-friendly options than ever, so there is no reason to leave decisions undocumented.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the key features to consider in a budget AI notetaker for Discord?

Key features include accuracy, privacy model, free tier limits, and upgrade paths. Accuracy should be above 90% WER, privacy can range from offline processing to cloud compliance, and free tiers often have limits on minutes and storage.

Which Discord transcription bots are completely free?

Scripty, discord-transcriber, and SeaVoice offer free transcription services. Scripty is notable for its offline processing and open-source code, while discord-transcriber requires self-hosting.

What are the privacy considerations for Discord notetakers?

Privacy considerations include whether the bot processes data offline, uses encrypted cloud storage, or complies with certifications like SOC 2. It's important to check if the bot logs audio or uses data for training.

How does Harmony's AI notetaker compare to other options?

Harmony offers a Discord-first integration with features like multi-channel transcription and AI summaries. It provides a balanced upgrade path between free bots and enterprise solutions, with a focus on privacy and workflow integration.

What are the cost-effective premium options for Discord notetakers?

Fireflies Pro, Otter Pro, and Heda offer premium plans under $20/month. They provide features like unlimited transcription, AI summaries, and compliance certifications, catering to different workflow needs.