Best Fireflies AI Alternatives for 2026 | AI Stack Guides
Best Fireflies AI Alternatives for 2026
Fireflies has been the default AI meeting note tool for many teams since 2022. The reasons users leave in 2026 are specific. First, the bot joins calls with a "Fred from Fireflies" name that participants find awkward. Second, the storage costs scaled up: a 50-person team running 14 calls a week each will hit the $19 per user pro tier and still need Business at $39 for unlimited storage. Third, the AI summary quality has been steady but competitors have pulled ahead, particularly on speaker identification across noisy calls. Below are 6 alternatives, with the case for staying on Fireflies at the bottom.
Top alternatives
1. Otter AI
$8.33/mo Pro (annual), $20/mo Business. What it does better: live transcription quality is the best in 2026 across noisy backgrounds. The "live captions during the call" feature is more accurate than Fireflies. Cheaper. What it does worse: weaker action-item extraction. The summary is mostly a transcript paraphrase. Pick Otter if your team needs accurate transcripts of customer interviews or sales calls and is comfortable extracting actions yourself.
2. Zoom AI Companion
Included with Zoom One Business at $18.32/user/mo. What it does better: zero setup. Already in your Zoom calls, no bot to admit. The summary lands in chat 60 seconds after the call ends. What it does worse: only works on Zoom calls. If your team uses Google Meet for half the calls, you lose half the data. Pick if 90 percent of your meetings are Zoom and you already pay for Business.
3. Loom AI
$15/user/mo Business. What it does better: best for async meetings, not live ones. Record yourself talking through a doc, Loom AI generates a transcript, summary, and chapter markers. What it does worse: not designed for live multi-party calls. Pick Loom if your team is async-heavy with under 6 live meetings a week per person.
4. Slack AI for Huddles
$10/user/mo add-on to Slack Pro. What it does better: huddles and Slack-native calls get auto-summarized. The summary lands in the channel. What it does worse: only works on Slack huddles, not external Zoom or Meet calls. Pick if your team runs all internal sync on Slack huddles.
5. Microsoft Copilot for Teams
$30/user/mo on top of Microsoft 365 Business Standard. What it does better: native to Teams meetings, summary in OneNote, action items in Planner. What it does worse: pricing is steep, only works on Teams calls, and the summary quality lags Otter and Fireflies in 2026 testing. Pick only if you already run Microsoft 365 with Teams as the primary call tool.
6. Granola
$18/mo Pro. What it does better: no bot in the call. Granola records via your machine's audio, then runs the AI summary locally. Privacy-conscious teams love it. What it does worse: limited to one user's machine, harder for distributed retros where 4 people want the recording. Pick if you are a solo PM, founder, or sales rep who runs 12 calls a week and dislikes the "bot in the room" feel.
Pricing comparison
| Tool | Per user | Bot in call | Multi-platform | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fireflies | $10 to $39/mo | Yes (named) | Yes | Mixed Zoom/Meet/Teams |
| Otter AI | $8.33 to $20/mo | Yes (named) | Yes | Transcript-first teams |
| Zoom AI Companion | Included w/ Zoom Business | No (native) | Zoom only | Zoom-heavy teams |
| Loom AI | $15/mo | N/A | Async only | Async-heavy teams |
| Slack AI Huddles | $10/mo (add-on) | No | Slack only | Slack-first teams |
| Copilot Teams | $30/mo | No (native) | Teams only | Microsoft 365 shops |
| Granola | $18/mo | No (local) | Any (local audio) | Privacy-first solos |
Who should stay on Fireflies
If your team uses 3+ meeting platforms (Zoom for clients, Meet for partners, Teams for one big customer), Fireflies' multi-platform coverage is still the most complete in 2026. The CRM sync (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive) is more mature than competitors. If you have built workflows around Fireflies' channels and topic detection, the migration cost is real. Stay if multi-platform coverage and CRM sync are core, leave if you live mostly on one platform.
FAQ
Why do people dislike the Fireflies bot showing up?
Customer-facing calls feel awkward when "Fred from Fireflies" silently joins. Customers ask who Fred is. Some sales teams hide it by renaming, but it shows in the participant list. Granola, Zoom AI Companion, and Copilot have no bot.
Can I export Fireflies data before switching?
Yes, CSV of transcripts and summaries. Recordings export as MP4. Plan 2 to 4 hours per 1,000 meetings to download in batch.
What about call coaching for sales?
Fireflies has it on Business tier. Gong is the standalone leader at $1,200 per seat per year. If sales coaching is the use case, Gong is the alternative, not Otter.
Does any tool work offline?
Granola runs the recording locally then uploads for AI summary. Otter has an offline transcription mode in 2026 that processes the audio when the device reconnects.
Is the AI summary quality really different in 2026?
Otter and Granola edge out Fireflies on speaker identification. Copilot Teams lags. Zoom AI Companion is roughly tied with Fireflies. Test with your own call types before committing.
Most Fireflies churn in 2026 lands at Otter for the price and accuracy combo, or at Zoom AI Companion for teams already on Zoom Business. If your team is privacy-conscious or you hate the bot-in-call feel, Granola at $18/mo is the right move.