Fireflies.ai Alternatives, Sorted by What You Need

The best Fireflies.ai alternative depends on the one thing Fireflies isn't doing for you. Most people looking for Fireflies alternatives want notes that never leave their own machine, deeper sales tooling, or something simpler and cheaper for a small team. Each of those has a different shortlist.

• Want notes kept on your own device? Anarlog (the open-source app formerly called Hyprnote) or Granola.
• Run sales or customer success? Avoma or Grain, both built around CRM sync and deal review.
• Want simple and low-cost? Fathom, whose free plan includes unlimited recordings and transcriptions.
• Hosted in the EU? tl;dv, which says its data is hosted and stored in the EU.
• Already pay for Zoom, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365? Check the built-in AI notes before you buy anything.

One thing to know first: "Fireflies always sends a bot" is no longer true. Its desktop app can record without one. So if the bot was your only complaint, you may not need to switch.

Quick comparison

What Fireflies does today

Before replacing it, it's worth knowing what Fireflies currently ships, because a lot of older comparison posts describe an earlier version.

Fireflies' notetaker joins calls as a participant, either automatically from your calendar or when you invite fred@fireflies.ai. It advertises transcription in 100+ languages, an assistant called AskFred for questions about your meetings, and integrations with CRMs, project tools and Slack. Its homepage also says your data is "never used for AI training."

Its desktop app adds a second mode. Fireflies' help guide explains how to record without a bot on Windows or Mac by capturing system audio. The trade-off is stated plainly in that guide: bot-free recording "does not save audio or video files." You get a transcript and summary, but no recording to replay.

On cost, Fireflies' pricing page lists Free, Pro, Business and Enterprise plans, and paid plans are charged per seat. Limits such as storage and recording length vary by plan. Fireflies' billing guide adds a separate AI-credit pool for advanced features like AI Skills and Autofill CRM, while summaries and transcription are "never charged in credits." If your bill grows every time a teammate needs access, that per-seat model is the usual reason to look around.

Bot-free and local AI note takers

These tools capture audio on your own computer, so nothing appears in the participant list. The real difference between them is where your notes end up.

Anarlog (formerly Hyprnote): open source and local-first

If you searched for Hyprnote, you'll now land somewhere else. The project's site says "Hyprnote became Char, then Anarlog," and the GitHub repo redirects to fastrepl/anarlog. The README adds that the team is now building a separate product called Char, while the Anarlog community app "remains open-source, MIT-licensed."

Anarlog listens to your device audio, runs built-in transcription models on-device on supported Macs, and keeps sessions, notes and transcripts in a local SQLite database. For summaries you choose a hosted provider, your own API key, or a local server such as Ollama or LM Studio. Cloud sync and sharing are opt-in. The README lists builds for macOS, Windows and Linux, though the main download on its site is for Apple silicon Macs.

Pick it if: your notes can't go to a vendor's cloud, or you want to audit and fork the code. Watch for: on-device transcription models depend on your hardware, and enterprise components sit under a separate commercial licence.

Granola: you write, the AI fills in

Granola uses your computer's audio rather than a bot. Its site says it "doesn't join your meeting" and transcribes in the background while you type your own rough notes, which it then fills out. It runs on macOS, Windows, iOS and Android.

It isn't local-first, though. Granola's security page says notes are stored in its "US-hosted AWS Virtual Private Cloud," while its pricing page lists "Audio deleted after transcription" on every plan. The free Basic plan keeps 30 days of meeting history, and integrations like HubSpot and Notion start on the paid Business plan, with Salesforce on Enterprise.

Pick it if: you like taking notes yourself and want AI to tidy them up. Watch for: there's no saved audio or video to share as a clip.

Krisp: noise cancellation plus notes

Krisp started as noise cancellation, and its meeting assistant still sits in the same app. It "works directly at the audio level on your device," with desktop apps for Windows and macOS, and offers a bot option for platforms like Zoom when you want one.

Pick it if: background noise is as big a problem as note-taking.

Sales and CRM-focused alternatives

Fireflies pushes notes into CRMs, but it's a general notetaker. These two are built around the deal.

Avoma: coaching, scoring and deal risk

Avoma charges per recorder seat, and its pricing page says "Viewers and Collaborators are always free," so managers and reviewers don't each need a paid seat. It lists native integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Pipedrive and Copper, and can save notes straight to account, opportunity and contact records.

The sales depth comes from paid add-ons, also priced per seat:

Pick it if: you want one tool for call notes and pipeline review. Watch for: the add-ons are where the cost grows, so price the full stack, not just the base seat.

Grain: meeting notes for CRMs and AI tools

Grain calls itself "the AI notetaker for agents and teams." It offers both modes: bot-less transcription from your computer's audio, or a bot when you want a video recording of a meeting you can't attend. Notes and properties sync to HubSpot or Salesforce contacts and deals, and Grain says it delivers meetings to Claude, ChatGPT or other AI tools.

Pick it if: your reps want notes in the CRM and in their AI assistant without copy and paste.

Simple and low-cost Fireflies alternatives

Fathom

Fathom is the easiest place to start if cost is the issue. Its free plan includes "Unlimited recordings + transcriptions," instant AI summaries, clips, and search across calls. You can pick bot capture or bot-free capture, though bot-free is a "Beta feature for Mac." Paid plans are priced per user, and the Business plan adds CRM field sync that updates records after meetings.

Pick it if: you're a freelancer or small team that wants recordings and summaries without a budget conversation.

tl;dv

tl;dv records with or without a bot ("NO BOT REQUIRED," in its own words), transcribes in more than 30 languages, and drafts follow-up emails and next steps. Its homepage shows a "Hosted and stored in the EU" badge and claims GDPR compliance and SOC 2 security. Paid plans are priced per seat.

Pick it if: you're in Europe and data location matters to your legal team.

MeetGeek

MeetGeek suits occasional use. Its free plan includes 3 hours of transcription a month, bot or bot-free recording, and transcription in over 100 languages, with recordings capped at 2 hours per meeting. Unlimited integrations, including Zapier, Make and n8n, are listed on paid tiers.

Otter.ai also belongs in this conversation. We compared it with Fireflies and the rest of the field in our Otter.ai alternatives guide, so it's not repeated here.

AI notes already built into Zoom, Meet and Teams

Before paying for a third-party notetaker, check what your meeting platform already includes. Your notes stay inside an account your company already manages, under admin settings you already control.

A few details matter here:

• Zoom dropped the "AI Companion" label for its built-in features in 2026. Its June 24, 2026 ZoomMate announcement says the features "are still built right into Zoom Workplace," and that eligible paid plans "continue to include core AI features at no additional cost." ZoomMate itself is a new add-on product.
• Google Meet's notes are single-language. Google's help page lists eight supported languages and says meetings with multiple spoken languages aren't currently supported.
• Teams recap needs transcription on. Microsoft's meeting recap guide says AI summaries need a transcribed meeting of five minutes or longer.

The catch is coverage. Built-in notes work best when every meeting happens on one platform. If you jump between a client's Zoom, a partner's Teams and your own Meet, a cross-platform notetaker still earns its place.

How to choose a Fireflies alternative

Answer these in order and the shortlist mostly picks itself:

1. Does audio have to stay on your machine? Yes: Anarlog. If you just don't want audio stored: Granola, which deletes audio after transcription.
2. Is this for a sales team? Avoma for coaching and forecasting, Grain for notes that flow into CRMs and AI assistants.
3. Is cost the main issue? Fathom's free plan, or MeetGeek for light use.
4. Are you in the EU? tl;dv.
5. Do you meet on one platform only? Try Zoom, Meet or Teams' built-in notes first.

Whichever you pick, tell people they're being recorded. A visible bot announces itself, but a botless recorder doesn't, so the disclosure is on you. Our guide to choosing an AI notetaker covers consent rules and how to get minutes people actually use. If someone else's notetaker shows live scores during your calls, our explainer on Read Meeting Navigator covers what that dashboard measures.

Where Taku fits

A notetaker gives you a transcript. What you do next, like turning a week of calls into a follow-up plan or a research brief, is usually a pile of one-off prompts. Taku is an AI-native desktop workspace where you can mirror ready-made AI apps and workflows, run them on your own files, and keep the ones that work. It isn't a meeting recorder. Taku is in Beta, and the Mac app is available now.

FAQ

What is the best free Fireflies.ai alternative?

Fathom, for most people. Its free plan includes unlimited recordings and transcriptions. If you want notes stored locally instead, Anarlog's community app is open source and can run without a cloud account.

Is there a Fireflies alternative that doesn't join the meeting?

Yes. Anarlog, Granola and Krisp capture audio from your own device. Fathom, tl;dv, Grain and MeetGeek offer bot-free modes too. Fireflies' own desktop app can also record without a bot, though it doesn't save audio or video in that mode.

What happened to Hyprnote?

It was renamed. The project's site says "Hyprnote became Char, then Anarlog." The open-source meeting notepad continues as Anarlog under the MIT licence, while the team builds a separate product called Char.

Fireflies vs Fathom: which is better?

Fathom is simpler, and its free plan includes unlimited recordings and transcriptions. Fireflies advertises 100+ languages and integrations across CRMs, project tools and Slack. Pick Fathom for small teams that mostly need recordings and summaries, and Fireflies if notes must reach many tools.

Fireflies vs Avoma for sales teams?

Avoma goes deeper on sales, with call scoring, deal risk alerts and forecasting as add-ons, and viewer seats that aren't charged. Fireflies is the broader general-purpose notetaker.

Is Fireflies open source?

No. Fireflies is a proprietary hosted service. If you need code you can read, audit and run yourself, Anarlog is the open-source option in this list.