Quick answer
The short version
Fireflies.ai is best for English-first sales and remote teams that want meetings transcribed automatically and synced straight into a CRM. It is less ideal if you handle privacy-sensitive calls, need EU AI Act compliance, or run mostly non-English meetings — and the per-seat pricing adds up as your team grows.
Our verdict
The most feature-packed AI notetaker for English-first sales and remote teams — as long as you are comfortable with its privacy trade-offs.
Use Fireflies if you want automatic transcription, searchable meeting history, and deep CRM sync. Think twice if you record legally sensitive calls, need EU compliance, or run a mostly non-English team.
What we liked
- Automatic transcription that stays unlimited even on the free plan
- AskFred lets you chat with and search across your entire meeting history
- Deep integrations: Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Notion, Greenhouse and more
- Upload existing MP3/MP4 files to transcribe recordings you already have
What could be better
- Real privacy concerns: mandatory calendar access and ongoing BIPA lawsuits over voiceprints
- Free plan gives just 400 minutes of storage for the whole team combined
- AI credits are a one-time shared pool, not a monthly refresh
- Accuracy drops on strong accents, and the UI is English-only
What is Fireflies.ai?
Fireflies.ai is an AI meeting assistant that automatically joins your video calls on Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex, records and transcribes them in real time, then generates summaries, action items and a fully searchable transcript. The goal is simple: never take manual meeting notes again, and push what was said straight into the tools your team already uses.
Its standout is AskFred, a chat-style AI you can ask about any past meeting — for example, “what did we agree on pricing last Tuesday?” — plus full-text search across your entire meeting history. For sales and recruiting teams, the CRM and ATS sync is the real draw.
Key features
- Automatic transcription: the bot joins calls and transcribes in real time, with support for 100+ languages.
- AI summaries and action items: an overview, key topics and follow-ups extracted from the conversation.
- AskFred: ask questions about any meeting and search across your whole history.
- Speaker identification and talk-time analytics: see who spoke and for how long.
- Soundbites: clip and share short audio or video moments from a call.
- File upload transcription: drop in MP3, MP4, WAV or M4A files you already have.
- Chrome extension for Google Meet: capture calls without the bot joining.
- Integrations: Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Slack, Notion, Asana, Greenhouse and more.
Fireflies.ai pricing
| Plan | From (per seat / month) | Storage | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 400 min (whole team) | Trying the core transcription |
| Pro | $18 ($10 billed yearly) | 8,000 min / seat | Individuals & small teams (adds recording + downloads) |
| Business | $29 ($19 billed yearly) | Unlimited | Teams wanting analytics + multi-language |
| Enterprise | $39 (annual, contact sales) | Unlimited | Security & compliance: SSO, HIPAA, audit logs |
All paid plans are billed per seat, so cost multiplies with team size. AI credits (20–50 depending on plan) are a one-time shared pool, not a monthly refresh. Figures reflect Fireflies’ 2026 pricing — confirm current rates on fireflies.ai before subscribing.
Pros and cons
Fireflies’ biggest strength is how much it does out of the box. Transcription stays unlimited even on the free plan, AskFred makes months of meetings searchable in seconds, and the integration list is genuinely deep — if you live in Salesforce or HubSpot, notes land where you need them without lifting a finger. Being able to upload existing recordings for transcription is an underrated bonus.
The trade-offs are real, though. The free plan’s 400 minutes of storage is shared across your whole team, so a busy team fills it in days. AI credits are a one-time pool rather than a monthly allowance, and add-on bundles can auto-renew, which has caught some users out. Accuracy is strong for clear English but slips on heavy accents, and there is no automatic per-call language detection.
Privacy: read this before you deploy it
This is the part most reviews skip. Fireflies requires Google or Microsoft calendar access at signup, and that access cannot be revoked without deleting your account. Users have reported the bot staying on a call and continuing to record after the host leaves. As of 2026 there are active lawsuits alleging its speaker-recognition feature creates voiceprints of participants without written consent, under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). And because of its sentiment-analysis features, it is currently not aligned with the EU AI Act — a genuine risk for European businesses. None of this makes Fireflies unusable, but if you handle sensitive or regulated conversations, factor it in.
Who should use Fireflies.ai?
- Sales teams that need call notes synced automatically into Salesforce or HubSpot.
- English-first remote teams with a high volume of meetings to keep track of.
- Recruiters logging interview transcripts into an ATS like Greenhouse or Lever.
- Anyone who wants to search back through months of past meetings by keyword.
- People with existing recordings to transcribe via file upload.
Alternatives to consider
If privacy is your priority, tl;dv and Otter.ai are common comparisons, and both handle the core “join, record, summarise” job. Teams that want tighter compliance controls sometimes prefer tools that do not auto-join calls at all. But for sheer breadth of integrations and searchable history, Fireflies remains one of the most complete options.
Verdict — is Fireflies.ai worth it?
If you run an English-first team drowning in meetings and want notes to flow automatically into your CRM, Fireflies is one of the most capable AI notetakers you can buy, and the free plan makes it easy to try. Just go in clear-eyed: budget per seat, treat the AI credits as a finite pool, and make a deliberate call on the privacy trade-offs before you roll it out company-wide.
Frequently asked questions
Is Fireflies.ai free?
Yes. Fireflies has a free plan with unlimited transcription, but storage is capped at 400 minutes for the whole team combined and there is no video recording or transcript download. Paid plans start at $10 per seat per month billed yearly.
Is Fireflies.ai safe and private?
It depends on your needs. Fireflies requires calendar access that cannot be revoked without deleting your account, and there are active BIPA lawsuits over voiceprints as well as EU AI Act concerns. For everyday internal meetings it is widely used; for legally sensitive or regulated calls, review its privacy terms carefully first.
How accurate is Fireflies transcription?
Fireflies claims 90%+ accuracy and it is strong on clear English audio. Accuracy noticeably drops with heavy accents or poor audio, and there is no automatic per-call language detection — you set the language manually.
Does Fireflies work with Zoom, Google Meet and Teams?
Yes. The Fireflies bot can join Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex calls automatically. There is also a Chrome extension for Google Meet if you prefer not to have the bot join.