Fireflies.ai alternatives: where to go and how to take your meetings with you
Seven AI note takers, one reason to switch for each, and a six-step exit plan.
The short answer: Fathom if you want to stop paying, since its free plan records and transcribes with no cap on the number of meetings. Otter.ai for the cheapest paid plan ($8.33 a month billed annually). Granola if you never want a bot in your calls again. Read AI for a free allowance that renews every month. MeetGeek or Jamie if your data needs to live in the EU. Bluedot if you want a full paid suite at a mid-range price. One thing before you pick: a full Fireflies export takes 24 to 48 hours to arrive, and the download link dies after 7 days. Request it before you cancel. We compared all seven tools and re-read their pricing pages in 2026.
Some links are affiliate links. The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
Why people leave Fireflies.ai, one reason at a time
Fireflies does what it says: a bot joins your call, records it, transcribes it and writes a summary. Its free plan even transcribes with no stated cap. People leave for other reasons: a bill that moves on its own, a bot that shows up uninvited, legal risk, and where the data goes. Six reasons, each checked against Fireflies' own pages or its users.
AI credits that top up without asking
Transcription doesn't cost credits. Custom summaries, questions to the AskFred assistant during a call, the Daily Digest and Meeting Prep do, and those last two are on by default. You get a one-time pot of 20 credits on Free and Pro, 30 on Business. On a paid plan, once they run out, Fireflies' help center says it automatically subscribes you to the lowest credit tier: $5 a month for 50 credits. On Free you just hit a paywall. One reviewer says credits made the tool cost much more than expected.
A free plan with a small storage cap
Free promises unlimited transcription, but storage stops at 400 minutes for the whole team, AI summaries are limited and each recording ends at 2 hours. Four 90-minute calls a week fill that in under a month. Pro is $10 per seat per month billed annually ($18 monthly) with 8,000 minutes of storage per seat. Business is $19 annually ($29 monthly) for unlimited storage.
A bot that joins meetings you didn't pick
Once it's connected to your calendar, the Fireflies notetaker can join calls you never meant to record, including ones colleagues invite you to. Zoom's and Microsoft's community forums have whole threads on how to block it, and the University of Waterloo bans third-party meeting bots outright. If your prospects keep asking "who is Fireflies Notetaker?", that's a sales cost, not just an annoyance.
Two BIPA class actions in Illinois
Two proposed class actions have reportedly been filed against Fireflies.AI Corp. in Illinois: Cruz v. Fireflies.AI Corp. in late 2025 and Fricker v. Fireflies.AI Corp. in the Northern District of Illinois in 2026. They allegedly claim the tool captured participants' voiceprints without consent, in breach of BIPA, the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. These are allegations, not rulings. But if your legal team reads the news, expect questions.
Your data is processed in the US
Fireflies runs on US servers. Its Private Storage option keeps files in the EU, but its own security FAQ says the data is still processed in the United States. Fireflies lists GDPR and SOC 2 on its pricing page. For a US-only team that's fine. For a team with European clients, "stored in the EU, processed in the US" is still a transfer to document.
Cancellations that don't always stick
On Trustpilot, Fireflies scores well: 4.5 out of 5 across 887 reviews. But 13% of reviews are one star, and most of those are about money: a cancelled plan that kept billing, a refund that never came. A Better Business Bureau complaint went unanswered. Not a flood, but enough to cancel carefully and keep proof (step 6 below).
You're leaving because… go to…
The right Fireflies alternative depends on what's pushing you out. Usually only one line applies. Each card jumps to the full write-up below.
Unlimited recordings and transcripts on the free plan, no end date.
Your guests don't want a bot in the callGranolaCaptures your device audio, never joins the meeting, deletes audio after transcribing.
You want the cheapest paid planOtter.aiPro at $8.33 a month billed annually, six transcription languages.
Your data has to stay in the EUJamieHosted in the EU on every plan, including free.
You want to choose EU or US storageMeetGeekPick the region yourself; Pro at $9.99.
You want a free tier that renews monthlyRead AI5 meeting transcripts every month, 20+ languages.
Fireflies.ai alternatives, tool by tool
For each tool: why switch to it, who it's for, its catch, how to get there from Fireflies, and what it costs. Prices are what each vendor shows in 2026, per user per month. "Annually" means the monthly price when you prepay the year.
Fathom: the free plan that replaces a paid Fireflies seat
Best free planWhy switch to Fathom. Fireflies' free plan transcribes but keeps only 400 minutes. Fathom's is "Free forever" with unlimited recordings and transcripts. AI summaries are capped on free, yet for a founder or an account exec who mostly needs to find what was said, that's often enough. In user threads comparing Fireflies, Otter and Fathom, Fathom keeps coming up as the best balance.
Who it's for. Solo consultants, founders and small sales teams who live on video calls and don't want another bill.
Who it's not for. Teams with an EU hosting requirement: Fathom's pricing page doesn't say where data is stored. Ask before you sign.
The catch. Bot-free recording exists, but it's a beta feature and Mac only. Team pricing needs at least 2 users. Fathom supports transcripts in 38 languages; if your calls aren't in English, run one real meeting through it first.
How to switch. Fathom doesn't import your Fireflies history, so keep the export as an archive. Connect your calendar to Fathom and disconnect Fireflies the same day, or two bots will join every call.
Price. Premium at $16 a month annually, $20 monthly. Team at $15 per user annually, $19 monthly. Business at $25 per user annually, $34 monthly, with a 2-user minimum.
- Free
- unlimited recordings and transcripts
- Paid
- Premium $16/mo annually
- Languages
- 38
- Catch
- bot-free is a Mac beta
Otter.ai: the cheapest paid plan with a searchable archive
Cheapest paidWhy switch to Otter.ai. Price first: Pro is $8.33 a month billed annually, against $10 at Fireflies. Then the archive: users who've run both often keep Otter for its searchable history, where you can find a phrase from a call three months ago. Otter transcribes in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese.
Who it's for. Small teams who want a cheap paid seat and meetings in one of those six languages.
Who it's not for. Teams that need EU hosting: the pricing page says nothing about EU storage.
The catch. Free gives you 300 minutes a month but cuts each conversation at 30 minutes, shows only your 25 most recent conversations and allows 3 file imports for the life of the account. A one-hour call doesn't fit on free.
How to switch. Save your 3 free imports for the Fireflies recordings you still need to work on (MP3 or MP4 from your export). For everything else, the TXT transcripts are a fine archive.
Price. Pro at $8.33 a month annually, $16.99 monthly. Business at $19.99 annually, $30 monthly.
- Free
- 300 min/mo, 30 min per conversation
- Paid
- Pro $8.33/mo annually
- Languages
- 6
- Catch
- 3 imports for life on free
Granola: meeting notes with no bot in the call
Bot-freeWhy switch to Granola. Granola never joins your meeting. It captures audio from your device ("Bot-free, device-audio capture") and deletes the audio once the transcript is done. No mystery participant in the list, no prospect asking who's listening. Given the BIPA suits against Fireflies, that design is the point. Granola also lists SOC 2.
Who it's for. Executives, investors, consultants and recruiters who take their own notes and want AI to fill the gaps without changing the room.
Who it's not for. Anyone who needs to replay a clip: the audio is gone after transcription. Or a team that must prove EU hosting, which the pricing page doesn't state.
The catch. The free Basic plan keeps only 30 days of history. And no bot doesn't mean no consent: you still need to tell people you're transcribing.
How to switch. Nothing to import. Disconnect the Fireflies bot from your calendar, install the desktop app, and keep your Fireflies export as an archive.
Price. Basic at $0, Business at $14, Enterprise at $35 per user per month.
- Free
- Basic, 30 days of history
- Paid
- Business $14/mo
- Edge
- no bot, audio deleted
- Catch
- no audio to replay
Read AI: a free allowance that renews every month
Monthly free tierWhy switch to Read AI. Its free plan gives you 5 meeting transcripts per month, and that allowance resets every month instead of burning a lifetime quota. For someone with a handful of external calls a week, that's a real free plan. Read AI lists 20+ languages on its free plan (its meeting reports section says 16+).
Who it's for. Managers and small teams who record a few important calls a month and want a predictable free tier.
Who it's not for. Heavy users: 5 transcripts a month is roughly one external call a week. And teams with strict hosting rules: we couldn't confirm Read AI's data location on its pricing page, so ask.
The catch. The paid ladder climbs fast. Pro is $15 a month annually ($19.75 monthly), Enterprise $22.50 ($29.75 monthly), Enterprise+ $29.75 ($39.75 monthly).
How to switch. Use the free month to run Read AI on your most important calls while Fireflies is still active on the rest, then disconnect Fireflies from your calendar once you're happy.
Price. Pro at $15 a month annually, $19.75 monthly.
- Free
- 5 transcripts per month
- Paid
- Pro $15/mo annually
- Languages
- 20+
- Catch
- pricey upper tiers
MeetGeek: choose EU or US storage yourself
Storage of your choiceWhy switch to MeetGeek. MeetGeek lets you choose whether your data lives in the EU or the US. Fireflies only stores in the EU as an option, and still processes in the US. It records, transcribes in 100+ languages and summarizes, so it maps closely to what you use Fireflies for today. We rate it 4.0 out of 5 in our full MeetGeek review.
Who it's for. Teams that want a like-for-like Fireflies replacement with control over the storage region.
Who it's not for. Anyone hoping to run everything on free: the free tier is a few hours a month.
The catch. The free Basic plan gives you 3 hours of transcription a month. Transcripts stay 3 months, audio 1 month, so download anything you want to keep.
How to switch. Pick the storage region when you create the account, before the first recording. Then connect your calendar and disconnect Fireflies the same day. Our MeetGeek pricing breakdown walks through each tier.
Price. Pro at $9.99 and Business at $17 per user per month.
- Free
- 3 hours of transcription/mo
- Paid
- Pro $9.99/mo
- Data
- EU or US, your call
- Our score
- 4.0/5
Bluedot: a paid suite with a short trial
Mid-range paidWhy switch to Bluedot. If you already know you'll pay, Bluedot's Pro plan is sold as "No limits, with video". It's a straight swap for teams that want recordings with video and don't want to count minutes.
Who it's for. Teams that already know they'll pay and want to compare one more paid option side by side with Fireflies.
Who it's not for. Anyone looking for a free plan: Bluedot gives you 5 meetings for the lifetime of the account, which is a trial, not a tier. Teams with hosting rules should also ask, since the pricing page doesn't say where data lives.
The catch. It costs more than Fireflies at every level. Basic is $14 a month annually ($18 monthly), Pro $20 ($25 monthly), Business $32 ($39 monthly).
How to switch. Spend your 5 free meetings on real calls that matter, not on a dry run with yourself, and compare the summaries with what Fireflies produced for similar meetings.
Price. Basic at $14 a month annually, $18 monthly.
- Free
- 5 meetings, lifetime
- Paid
- Basic $14/mo annually
- Pro
- $20/mo annually, with video
- Catch
- pricier than Fireflies
Jamie: EU-hosted notes on every plan
EU hostedWhy switch to Jamie. Jamie's pricing page says "Hosted in EU & GDPR compliant" on every plan, free included. For a US company with European clients, or a European team using an English-language tool, that removes the "processed in the US" question Fireflies leaves open.
Who it's for. Teams that sell into Europe, consultancies with EU clients, and anyone whose DPA (data processing agreement) has to name an EU host.
Who it's not for. Long meetings on a free plan: free caps each meeting at 30 minutes.
The catch. Free gives you 10 AI notes a month with that 30-minute limit. Paid plans start higher than Fireflies: Plus at $24 a month and Pro at $46 a month billed annually; Team is $37 per seat per month billed annually.
How to switch. Before you move, ask Jamie for its DPA and subprocessor list and file them with your Fireflies export. That's the paper trail your legal team will want.
Price. Plus at $24 a month, Pro at $46, Team at $37 per seat annually.
- Free
- 10 AI notes/mo, 30-min meetings
- Paid
- Plus $24/mo
- Data
- hosted in the EU
- Catch
- pricier than Fireflies
All 7 alternatives side by side
Our default picks: Fathom to stop paying, Otter.ai for the cheapest seat, Granola to drop the bot. For a 5-person team billed annually, Fireflies Pro costs $50 a month, Otter Pro $41.65, MeetGeek Pro $49.95, Read AI Pro $75 and Granola Business $70. The table gives one row per tool: the free plan on the left, the first paid price and where your data lives on the right.
| Free plan | First paid plan and data | |
|---|---|---|
| Fireflies.aiWhere you're leaving | Unlimited transcription, 400 min of storage per team, 2 h per recording | Pro $10 annually ($18 monthly); US servers |
| FathomBest free plan | Unlimited recordings and transcripts, limited AI | Premium $16 annually ($20 monthly); hosting not stated |
| Otter.aiCheapest paid | 300 min a month, 30 min per conversation | Pro $8.33 annually ($16.99 monthly) |
| GranolaBot-free | Basic, 30 days of history | Business $14; audio deleted after transcription |
| Read AIMonthly free tier | 5 transcripts a month | Pro $15 annually ($19.75 monthly) |
| MeetGeekStorage of your choice | 3 hours of transcription a month | Pro $9.99; EU or US storage |
| BluedotMid-range paid | 5 meetings, lifetime | Basic $14 annually ($18 monthly) |
| JamieEU hosted | 10 AI notes a month, 30-min meetings | Plus $24; hosted in the EU |
Per user per month, before tax, as shown by each vendor in 2026.
Leaving Fireflies.ai in six steps
Order matters. Step one protects your money, the middle steps protect your recordings, the last one protects your card. Plan one to two weeks from start to finish.
Turn off everything that burns AI credits
Day 1On a paid plan, Fireflies auto-subscribes you to the $5-a-month, 50-credit tier once your credits run out. Turn off Daily Digest and Meeting Prep first, since both are on by default and use credits you never asked to spend. Then check billing to make sure no credit subscription has already started.
Why first? Because you'll keep using Fireflies during the transition, and every automatic summary can trigger that small add-on.
- Saved
- $5 a month
- Risk if skipped
- an add-on that outlives your plan
List everything that depends on Fireflies
Day 1Write down connected calendars, team workspaces and, above all, automations: notes pushed to your CRM, Slack or Notion usually go through Zapier, Make or an AI connector. Our guides to Fireflies with Zapier, Fireflies with Make and Fireflies with Claude show what each trigger does, so you know what to rewire.
One row per automation, with its equivalent in the new tool: that's your cutover checklist.
- Time
- about an hour
- Risk if rushed
- a CRM that stops getting notes
Request the full account export
CriticalAny Fireflies user can request a full account export: audio as MP3, video as MP4, transcripts as TXT and metadata as JSON. It arrives within 24 to 48 hours, and the download link is only valid for 7 days.
Request it on a week when you'll actually be around to download it. Store it outside Fireflies, in a shared team drive, with a short readme on how the folders are organized.
- Delay
- 24 to 48 hours
- Link valid
- 7 days
Run the new tool on a few meetings first
Week 1Compare both tools on real meetings, but never with two bots in the same call: your guests would see two strangers. Use file imports instead (3 on Otter's free plan) with recordings from your export, or an internal meeting where everyone knows what's going on.
Check three things: names and jargon spelled right, action items that match what was agreed, and how long you spend fixing the summary.
- Time
- one week
- Key check
- quality on your real calls
Unplug the Fireflies bot from every calendar
Cutover dayAs long as a calendar stays connected, the bot keeps joining calls, including ones colleagues invite you to. Disconnect the calendar in Fireflies for every team member, then revoke Fireflies' access in your Google or Microsoft account permissions.
Then send regular contacts a short note: the new tool's name, what it records, and how to opt out. That's also the practical answer to the consent questions raised by the BIPA suits.
- Where
- Fireflies, then Google or Microsoft
- Risk if skipped
- a bot that keeps joining
Cancel and keep proof
LastOnce the export is downloaded and opens correctly, cancel from your account, screenshot the confirmation screen and keep the email. Some users report being charged after cancelling; with dated proof, a card dispute is quick.
Check next month's statement, including the $5 credit tier.
- Keep
- screenshot and confirmation email
- Watch
- next month's statement
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
What makes a Fireflies switch go wrong
The same mistakes show up every time a team swaps note takers. None of them is technical. They're small oversights, and each one costs more than the ten minutes it would have taken to avoid.
Letting the export link expire
The full-export link lasts 7 days. Miss it and you request again, then wait another 24 to 48 hours, sometimes after your plan has ended. Download the day the email lands.
Forgetting the credit add-on
Cancelling Pro doesn't necessarily stop the $5 AI credit subscription. Check both lines in billing, and check your statement the month after.
Two bots in one meeting
Plugging in the new tool before unplugging Fireflies puts two bots in every call. For a prospect, that's an invitation to wonder who's listening. Unplug one, plug in the other, same day.
Assuming bot-free means consent-free
Granola and Fathom's bot-free mode don't add anyone to the call, but people still need to know you're transcribing. Consent is exactly what the Fireflies suits allegedly turn on.
Burning lifetime quotas on dry runs
Bluedot's 5 free meetings and Otter's 3 free imports are for the life of the account. Spend them on calls that tell you something, not on a dummy call with yourself.
Comparing prices that don't compare
Some vendors quote annual prices up front, others monthly; some cap minutes, others meetings. Bring everything back to one case: your seat count, billed annually. Our ranking of the best AI meeting note takers goes beyond these seven, and our MeetGeek alternatives cover another starting point.
- Daily Digest and Meeting Prep turned off
- No AI credit subscription active
- Zapier, Make and CRM automations listed
- Full export requested, downloaded within 7 days, stored outside Fireflies
- New tool compared on real meetings
- Storage region picked at sign-up (MeetGeek)
- Fireflies calendar disconnected for every team member
- Regular contacts told about the new tool
- Cancellation done, screenshot and email kept
- Next month's statement checked
Fireflies.ai alternatives: frequently asked questions
What is the best free alternative to Fireflies.ai?
Fathom, for most people. Its free plan has unlimited recordings and transcripts with no end date, while Fireflies Free stops at 400 minutes of storage per team. If you want no bot at all, Granola's free Basic plan works but keeps only 30 days of history. Read AI gives 5 transcripts a month that renew.
Fireflies vs Fathom: which one should I pick?
Fathom if you want to pay nothing and mainly need recordings and transcripts. Fireflies if you rely on its integrations and accept AI credits. On paid plans, Fireflies Pro is $10 a month annually and Fathom Premium $16, so Fathom wins on free, Fireflies on the cheapest paid seat.
Fireflies vs Otter: which is cheaper?
Otter. Pro is $8.33 a month billed annually against $10 for Fireflies Pro. Otter's free plan is tighter, though: 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes per conversation, against unlimited transcription with 400 minutes of storage on Fireflies Free.
Is there a Fireflies alternative without a bot?
Yes. Granola captures device audio on every plan, free included, and deletes the audio after transcribing. Fathom also records without a bot, but only as a Mac beta. Either way, tell people you're transcribing.
What is the Fireflies.ai lawsuit about?
Two proposed class actions have reportedly been filed in Illinois, one in late 2025 and one in 2026, under BIPA, the state's biometric privacy law. They allegedly claim Fireflies captured participants' voiceprints without consent. Nothing has been decided; these are allegations. The practical takeaway applies to any tool: get consent from everyone on the call.
How do I export everything before cancelling Fireflies?
Request the full account export. It includes MP3 audio, MP4 video, TXT transcripts and JSON metadata, arrives within 24 to 48 hours, and the link expires after 7 days. Do it before you cancel and make sure the files open.
Which Fireflies alternative keeps data in the EU?
Jamie is hosted in the EU on every plan. MeetGeek lets you choose EU or US storage when you create the account. Fireflies' own Private Storage keeps files in the EU but processes them in the US. Our MeetGeek review covers its setup in detail.
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