8 Best Fireflies Alternatives in 2026 (Free & Paid)

Research reviewed October 2026 — confirm pricing before you buy.

Why people look for Fireflies alternatives

Fireflies’ “Fred” bot records and transcribes Zoom, Meet, Teams, and dialer calls — but the pricing has hidden layers. Advanced AI features burn separately metered credits on top of the seat price ($10/seat Pro, $19/seat Business), the bot visibly joins every call (off-putting on client calls), and the free plan’s storage cap burns out in days. Users also complain about speaker-labeling errors with overlapping speech, summaries that need a cleanup pass, and slow support.

Quick-pick comparison

1. Granola — the best bot-free pick

Granola is an AI meeting notepad that captures device audio locally — no bot ever joins the call, so clients never see a participant they didn’t invite. You jot quick notes during the meeting and Granola merges them with the transcript into structured summaries afterward. The free tier covers unlimited AI meeting notes (only the last 30 days visible), and Business is $14/month per user with an MCP server feeding notes into Claude or ChatGPT.

2. Fathom — the best free pick

Fathom offers the most generous free plan in the category: unlimited recordings, transcription, and storage, with recording, searchable transcripts, summaries, clips, and CRM sync. Advanced AI summaries are capped at about 5 calls a month on free; Premium is $16/month annual ($20 monthly) for unlimited. It joins as a visible bot by default, though bot-free capture is in beta on Mac.

3. tl;dv — the best for clips

tl;dv is strongest at clip-and-share: highlight moments live, build shareable video clips, and search a library across calls. The free plan includes unlimited recordings and transcripts, but only 10 lifetime AI summaries and recordings are deleted after 3 months. Pro is $18/seat/month annual for unlimited summaries. Ideal for user research and internal highlights; weaker on CRM automation.

4. Tactiq — the cheapest paid pick

Tactiq is a lightweight Chrome/Edge extension that live-transcribes meetings in the browser — no bot, just a discreet side panel. Pro is $8/month annual ($12 monthly) for unlimited transcripts with 10 AI credits a day, the cheapest paid entry here. One caveat: Zoom needs host captions enabled and meetings must be joined via the browser, not the Zoom app.

5. Notta — the best transcription-accuracy value

Notta is transcription-first, with a meeting bot, mobile and desktop apps, and a dedicated hardware recorder for in-person meetings — 58 transcription languages. The free plan covers 120 transcription minutes a month, and Pro is $8.17/month billed annually ($13.49–13.99 monthly) for 1,800 minutes. Some reviews flag misleading trial billing and terminology errors in technical fields, so check the billing terms carefully.

6. Read AI — the best coaching insights

Read AI adds a meeting coach to the notes: engagement scoring, speaker metrics, and topic readouts, plus cross-meeting search that also summarizes your email and messages. The free tier covers 5 transcripts a month (one-hour cap), and Pro is $15/month annual for unlimited transcripts and premium integrations. Audio/video playback and compliance features sit on Enterprise tiers, though.

7. Supernormal — the best flat-team pricing

Supernormal is the only tool here that turns meetings into drafted deliverables — pitch decks, creative briefs, proposals — via templates and an AI document generator, with botless desktop capture. Team is $20/month flat for 50 shared credits across unlimited seats (with rollover) — no per-seat tax. Some third-party pages still show old seat-based pricing; the credit model is the current one. Trade-off: credits instead of unlimited generation, and no video recording.

8. Krisp — the best for call quality

Krisp started in noise cancellation and added AI note-taking: it cleans audio (removing background noise and echoes) and transcribes locally with no bot joining the call. Core is $8/month annual ($16 monthly) for unlimited AI notes and noise cancellation, and the free plan covers unlimited transcription with 2 AI notes a day. Note-taking is less mature than dedicated tools — summaries run less detailed — but the cleaner audio makes for cleaner transcripts.

Verdict

For most teams fleeing Fireflies: Fathom if you want the most free recording and transcription, Granola if a bot on client calls is the dealbreaker. Tactiq and Krisp are the cheapest paid routes at $8/month, Notta wins for transcription-heavy multilingual work, tl;dv for highlight reels, Read AI for coaching data, and Supernormal for turning calls into documents on flat team pricing.

FAQ

Is Fireflies still free in 2026?

Yes — there’s a free forever plan with unlimited transcription, but the free storage cap is small (sources report 400–800 minutes depending on whether you read Fireflies’ blog or third-party reviews), and AI summaries are limited. Teams burn through the cap in days.

Which Fireflies alternative has the best free plan?

Fathom — unlimited recordings, transcription, and storage on free, with advanced AI summaries capped at about 5 calls a month. tl;dv’s free plan also includes unlimited recordings and transcripts (10 lifetime AI summaries).

Can I take meeting notes without a bot joining the call?

Yes. Granola captures device audio locally with no bot ever joining; Tactiq works as a discreet browser side panel; Supernormal uses a desktop app; and Krisp transcribes on-device. Fireflies and Fathom (by default) join as visible bots.

What’s the cheapest paid alternative to Fireflies?

Tactiq Pro at $8/month annual, Krisp Core at $8/month annual, or Notta Pro at $8.17/month annual — all undercut Fireflies Pro’s $10/seat annual price (and its $18 monthly price) without the separate AI-credit metering.

Prices checked Oct 6, 2026 — verify before buying, plans change often.