Best Fireflies Alternatives for AI Meeting Notes
Fireflies.ai is one of the most widely used AI meeting assistants — it records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings across Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and other platforms. But it’s not the only option. Depending on how you work, alternatives may offer better fit for your meeting style, note-taking preferences, or budget.
This guide covers the best Fireflies alternatives for AI meeting notes, what each one does differently, and who each one fits.
Sources: fireflies.ai, fireflies.ai/pricing, fathom.video, otter.ai, granola.so. Published June 2026. Verify current pricing and features directly with each provider.
Why Look for a Fireflies Alternative?
Fireflies works well for many teams, but common reasons to consider alternatives include:
- Cost — Fireflies free plan has storage and AI summary limits; paid plans add up per seat
- Note-taking style — some users want to participate in notes, not just receive a bot-generated summary
- Meeting diversity — if you take in-person calls or phone meetings, Fireflies bot-only approach doesn’t apply
- Privacy — some teams and clients are uncomfortable with bot participants in calls
- CRM integration — some teams need tighter integration with specific sales tools
Quick Comparison
| Tool | Best For | Key Differentiator | Free Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fathom | Video call users wanting auto-capture | Generous free tier; Zoom/Meet/Teams integration | Yes (well-known free tier) |
| Otter.ai | Transcription-first workflows | Real-time transcription; speaker identification | Yes (limited minutes) |
| Granola | Mixed meeting types; active note-takers | Local app; works for in-person; no bot on call | Yes (verify at granola.so/pricing) |
| tl;dv | Teams using video recordings for async review | Clip-sharing and timestamped highlights | Yes |
| Fireflies (reference) | All-in-one recording + CRM + search | Strong CRM integrations; search across transcripts | Limited |
Fathom
Fathom is the most direct Fireflies alternative for video call users. It records, transcribes, and summarizes Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams calls automatically — a bot joins the call, captures everything, and delivers a structured summary with action items when the meeting ends.
Fathom’s primary advantage over Fireflies for many users is its free tier. The individual free plan is generous enough for regular use, which has made it widely adopted as a first AI notetaker for people evaluating the category.
Pricing: Free plan for individual users. Paid plans for team features, CRM integrations, and additional storage. See fathom.video/pricing for current limits and team pricing.
Who it’s for: Knowledge workers and sales professionals who primarily attend scheduled video calls and want passive, automatic meeting capture. Teams that want shareable summaries without requiring everyone to take notes.
Honest caveat: Like Fireflies, Fathom requires a bot to join calls. It has limited usefulness for in-person meetings, phone calls, or any meeting format without a video platform. Check recording consent requirements for your jurisdiction before using any bot-based recorder.
Otter.ai
Otter.ai is one of the oldest AI transcription tools and offers a different balance than Fireflies. Its core strength is real-time live transcription with speaker identification — you can watch the transcript appear as the meeting happens. Otter works across video platforms and also has a mobile app that works for in-person meetings.
Otter’s AI meeting summaries and action item extraction are more recent additions — its original identity is transcription-first, not summary-first. For users who want a transcript they can search, edit, and work from, Otter’s tooling is strong.
Pricing: Otter.ai has a free plan with limited monthly transcription minutes. Paid plans expand limits and add team collaboration features. See otter.ai for current plan details.
Who it’s for: Teams and individuals who prioritize accurate, searchable transcription over AI summary output. Journalists, researchers, and academics who need verbatim transcripts. Users who want live captions during meetings. Teams who take mixed meeting types including in-person.
Honest caveat: Otter’s AI summary quality has improved but its core product has historically been the transcript, not the summary. If automated summaries and action item extraction are your primary need, evaluate Fathom or Fireflies against Otter for summary quality specifically.
Granola
Granola is the most distinct alternative to Fireflies because it takes a fundamentally different approach. Rather than sending a bot to join your calls, Granola is a notepad application you open during meetings. You write your own notes while Granola captures audio locally on your machine, then its AI produces an organized, enhanced version of your notes after the meeting.
This means Granola works for any meeting — video calls, phone calls, in-person meetings, and even informal conversations — not just scheduled video calls where a bot can participate.
Pricing: Granola has a free plan and paid plans with additional features and team collaboration. See granola.so/pricing for current plan details.
Who it’s for: Founders and knowledge workers who have diverse meeting types including in-person. Users who prefer active note-taking rather than passive bot capture. Teams where having a bot on calls is not acceptable. Users who want notes that blend their own thinking with AI organization.
Honest caveat: Granola requires more effort than Fireflies or Fathom — you need to open the app and write during meetings. If you want fully hands-off meeting documentation, Granola is not the right fit. Its value is highest for users who already have a note-taking habit and want AI to enhance what they capture.
tl;dv
tl;dv (too long; didn’t view) is a meeting recorder focused on video clips and highlights. It records video calls and lets you create timestamped clips, highlight reels, and shareable moments from meetings. This makes it particularly useful for product teams doing customer interviews, user research sessions, or any meeting where the ability to share a specific moment of the recording matters.
tl;dv has expanded into AI summaries and notes, but its differentiator remains the video-first, clip-centered workflow.
Who it’s for: Product managers and UX researchers doing customer interviews. Teams that review meeting recordings asynchronously and need to highlight key moments. Sales teams creating deal-specific video clips for handoffs.
How to Choose
- You attend mostly video calls and want zero-effort capture: Fathom (free tier is strong) or Fireflies (if you need their specific CRM integrations)
- You need accurate, searchable transcripts: Otter.ai
- You take mixed meeting types (video + in-person + phone): Granola
- You need to share video clips from meetings: tl;dv
- Budget is the constraint: Fathom’s free tier is the most generous for video call users
For a direct comparison between Fathom and Granola, see the Fathom vs Granola comparison. For a broader comparison including Otter and Fireflies, see the Otter vs Fireflies vs Fathom guide.