Alternatives
Fireflies alternatives, by the meter.
Fireflies transcribes everything and meters the intelligence: unlimited transcription on the free tier, with the AI summaries behind the paywall — and a bot joins the call. Here's the field around it, with published figures. I make Snapbak, which appears below — read my card with extra suspicion.
What Fireflies is
Unlimited transcripts; the AI is the upsell.
Fireflies sends a bot into your Zoom, Meet, or Teams calls and transcribes in the cloud. The free tier's transcription is unmetered — the widest door in the bot camp — while the AI summaries and extras sit behind Pro at $10 or Business at $19 per user per month (published pricing, October 2026). The company announced a $1B‑plus valuation via a tender offer in June 2025, in vendor announcements that also claimed profitability since 2023.
- Bot participant; desktop and extension surfaces alongside it.
- Free tier: unlimited transcription, limited AI.
- Pro $10; Business $19 per user per month.
- $1B‑plus valuation announced via tender (June 2025, vendor PR).
The field
Three ways to leave — and one to stay.
Every alternative trades away a different part of what Fireflies does. Match the trade to what your meetings produce and who reads them.
No bot: Granola
The bot‑free leader listens to the meeting apps' audio instead of joining, and trades the minute meter for a history one — 30 days on the free tier, Business at $14 per user per month. Investor money has moved this way; the complaints it answers are the surprise participant and the IT blocklist.
Free AI too: Fathom
Fathom is the bot camp's answer to Fireflies' gate: [its free tier](/alternatives/fathom/) offers unlimited recordings and summaries, with paid plans at $15–25 per user per month. If unlimited transcripts plus unlimited AI for nothing is the draw, this is the published offer to beat.
Already included: Zoom, Meet, Teams
The suites bundle their own recaps, and their retention rules are your admin's existing policies. If your calls already live in one suite, try what you're paying for before adding a per‑seat subscription.
Stay local: Snapbak
Snapbak records your screen — demos, walkthroughs, the call you're presenting — and every capture gets automatic notes computed on your Mac or with your own AI key. The files are local‑first and there's no meter; bot‑free meeting capture is planned for a later release.
The checklist
Four questions before you switch.
Answered for Fireflies, useful for any tool in the bot camp.
Is Fireflies really free?
Its free tier transcribes without a minute cap — the generous part — while the AI features (summaries and beyond) are the limited part (published pricing, October 2026). If your meetings out‑transcribe Otter's 300‑minute meter, Fireflies' free tier is the shape that fits; if you want the AI summaries without paying, that's where it gates.
Does Fireflies need a bot in the call?
For meetings, yes: Fireflies is the bot camp — a participant joins and the cloud transcribes. Its published surfaces include desktop and extension options alongside the bot, but the joining participant is the signature, which is what some clients, IT teams, and universities object to.
Is Fireflies private?
Fireflies processes audio in its cloud, and public reporting includes Illinois biometric‑privacy (BIPA) suits against the company — allegations in ongoing cases, not findings. The checklist that matters regardless of vendor: where audio is processed, how long it's kept, and who can search it.
Fireflies vs Otter — which one?
Both are bots, so the capture model is the same; they differ on the meter and the money. Fireflies' free tier transcribes without a minute cap, while [Otter](/alternatives/otter/) meters at 300 minutes a month; Otter is the larger incumbent, having reported crossing $100M ARR in March 2025. Pick by which limit you'd rather live with — or leave the bot camp entirely: [Granola](/alternatives/granola/) is the bot‑free leader.
Snapbak
No bot, no meter — and the capture suite around it.
Meeting capture is planned for a later release. Today: polished screen recording with auto‑zoom, screenshots with Smart Redact, offline English dictation into any app, and AI notes on every capture — local‑first, free for the first 100 users.