Quick verdict: Granola and Fireflies both turn meetings into searchable notes, but they record in opposite ways. Granola never sends a bot into your call — it captures audio from your device and builds on notes you jot yourself, for a flat $14 per user/month. Fireflies sends its “Fred” bot into the meeting and gives you a searchable archive, AI chat over past calls, and sales-call analytics from $10 per seat/month on annual billing. Pick Granola if bots in meetings bother you or your clients; pick Fireflies if you want a team-wide meeting archive with analytics.
Both tools transcribe and summarize automatically. The real decision is how the audio gets captured, what happens to your notes afterward, and how the pricing scales. This is a research-based comparison using each vendor’s published pricing and documentation — no hands-on testing claims.
Granola vs Fireflies at a glance
| Feature | Granola | Fireflies |
|---|---|---|
| How it records | No bot — captures device audio directly | Bot joins the call (also Chrome extension, desktop and upload options) |
| Free plan | Yes — meeting history limited to the last 30 days | Yes — limited storage and AI credits |
| Cheapest paid plan | Business: $14/user/month (monthly billing only) | Pro: $10/seat/month billed annually ($18 monthly) |
| Higher tiers | Enterprise: $35/user/month | Business: $19/seat/month annual ($29 monthly); Enterprise: $39 annual |
| AI chat over meetings | Chat over your notes and transcripts | AskFred — natural-language Q&A over your full meeting history |
| Conversation intelligence | No talk-time or sentiment analytics | Yes — talk-time, sentiment and topic tracking on Business and above |
| Languages | Multi-language transcription | 100+ languages |
| Integrations | Notion, Slack, HubSpot, Zapier and more on Business | 50+ integrations including CRM and ATS tools; full CRM sync needs Business+ |
| Best for | Bot-free, private-feeling notes for individuals and teams | Searchable meeting archives and sales/call analytics at scale |
How each one captures the meeting
Granola’s whole identity is the missing bot. It listens through your computer or phone audio, so nobody on the call sees an extra participant join. You type rough notes during the meeting, and Granola uses the transcript to expand them into a structured summary afterward — your own notes shape what the AI produces. The tradeoff is on you: because no bot announces itself, telling people they are being recorded is your responsibility, and Granola does not keep the audio once the transcript is made.
Fireflies is the classic bot model. Fred joins Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and other platforms as a visible participant, records, transcribes, and files the meeting into a searchable team archive. That visibility is a feature for compliance-minded teams, and it unlocks extras a device-audio app cannot easily match: video recording, soundbites, and a bot that can be scheduled across a whole company’s calendar automatically. Fireflies also offers bot-free capture options, but the bot archive is the core product.
What does each one cost?
Granola keeps pricing unusually simple: a free Basic plan whose history only reaches back 30 days, then Business at $14 per user/month and Enterprise at $35. There is no annual discount — the price is the price, billed monthly. The catch for solo users is that there is no individual paid tier: the jump from free is straight to a team plan with shared folders and centralized billing.
Fireflies is cheaper at entry and more complicated. Pro is $10 per seat/month billed annually (or $18 month-to-month), Business is $19 annual ($29 monthly), and Enterprise is $39 on annual billing. The free plan includes transcription with limited storage and a capped allowance of AI credits, so heavy users of the AI summaries and AskFred can find the meter running sooner than the headline price suggests.
Search, AI chat and analytics
This is where the two products aim at different buyers. Granola is a notepad first: excellent for the person in the meeting who wants their own notes cleaned up, with AI chat over those notes afterward. Fireflies is an archive first: AskFred answers questions across months of team meetings, and the Business tier adds conversation intelligence — who talked most, sentiment, topic trackers — that sales and customer-success managers use for coaching. If you have never once wished you could search every call your team has ever had, you are paying for Fireflies features you will not open. If that search is the point, Granola will feel thin.
For a deeper look at each tool on its own, see our Granola review and our Fireflies.ai review.
Which should you pick?
Pick Granola if a visible bot changes the mood of your calls, your company blocks meeting bots, or you mainly want your own notes made useful. The flat $14 price is predictable and there is no annual commitment.
Pick Fireflies if you want a searchable record of every team meeting, AI answers across that history, and conversation analytics for sales or support calls. It is also the cheaper paid entry point at $10 per seat on annual billing, and the stronger choice for larger teams.
Bottom line: Granola wins on capture style and simplicity; Fireflies wins on archive depth, analytics and team scale. The bot question alone settles it for most buyers.
Frequently asked questions
Does Granola really work without a meeting bot?
Yes. Granola captures audio directly from your device instead of joining the call as a participant, and it deletes the audio after transcription. Because no bot announces the recording, you are responsible for telling attendees.
Is Fireflies free?
Fireflies has a free plan with transcription, limited storage and a limited allowance of AI credits. Paid plans start at $10 per seat/month billed annually for Pro.
How much does Granola cost?
Granola’s paid plans are Business at $14 per user/month and Enterprise at $35 per user/month, billed monthly with no annual discount. The free plan keeps 30 days of meeting history.
Which is better for sales teams?
Fireflies. Its Business tier adds conversation intelligence — talk-time analytics, sentiment and topic tracking — plus deep CRM integrations built for sales coaching and pipeline reviews.