5 Best Fireflies.ai Alternatives in 2026 (Free and Paid)

Fireflies.ai is one of the stronger AI meeting notetakers, particularly for sales and customer teams: unlimited transcription on every plan, CRM sync, conversation analytics. People look for an alternative for a few reasons. The free plan's 400-minute team storage cap means recordings roll off. Per-seat pricing adds up across a team. Some want something lighter for one person. And some realize that notes and action items are not the thing they actually need from the recording.

Here are the five alternatives we'd recommend, by the job. Pricing verified August 20, 2026.

The short version

• Free meeting notes with no storage cap: Fathom
• Cheapest live note-taker for one person: Otter.ai
• Turning recordings (podcasts, interviews, webinars, calls) into show notes, posts and clips: Castmagic
• Editing the recording itself: Descript
• Light internal notes you may already be paying for: your meeting platform's built-in AI notes

Why people switch from Fireflies

• The storage cap. Free is 400 minutes per team and Pro is 8,000 per seat; recordings beyond that roll off unless you move to Business.
• Per-seat pricing. $10 to $39 per seat adds up for larger teams.
• It's built for teams. Individuals often don't need conversation intelligence or CRM sync and would rather pay less.
• Notes are the end of the line. If the recording needs to become content, Fireflies doesn't write it.

The 5 best Fireflies.ai alternatives

1. Fathom: best free alternative

Fathom's free plan includes unlimited recordings and transcriptions with instant AI summaries, clips and search, which removes Fireflies' storage cap at the free tier. It records Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls and produces summaries immediately after.

Choose Fathom if: you want free meeting notes without worrying about storage.

Skip it if: you need CRM sync and analytics on the free plan; those are on Fathom's paid Team and Business tiers.

Pricing: Free; Premium $20/user/month monthly or $16 annually; Team $19/$15; Business $34/$25; Enterprise custom.

2. Otter.ai: best for an individual note-taker

Otter is the closest like-for-like alternative and slightly cheaper on the entry paid tier. It joins Zoom, Teams and Meet, transcribes and summarizes, and its AI Chat answers questions across meetings. The trade-off is that Otter meters minutes: 300 a month and 30 per conversation on free, 1,200 and 90 minutes on Pro, unlimited only on Business.

Choose Otter if: you're one person, your meetings are under 90 minutes, and you want the lowest price for live notes.

Skip it if: you transcribe uploaded recordings (rationed below Business) or you need team analytics.

Pricing: Free; Pro $16.99/user/month monthly or $8.33 annually; Business $30/$19.99; Enterprise custom. See Fireflies vs Otter.ai and our Otter.ai pricing guide.

3. Castmagic: best for turning recordings into content

Castmagic solves a different problem than a notetaker. It doesn't join your call; you import the recording (from Zoom, Google Drive, a link or an upload) and it produces the transcript plus everything you'd publish from it: summary, show notes, timestamps, blog draft, newsletter copy, social posts and clips. If you've been exporting Fireflies transcripts and writing content from them, this removes that step.

Choose Castmagic if: your recordings are podcasts, interviews, webinars, coaching calls or YouTube videos and the goal is to publish.

Skip it if: you want a bot taking notes in every internal meeting.

Pricing: Hobby from $21/month billed annually (5 hours), Starter $79/month (20 hours), Business $790/month. No free plan. See Castmagic pricing.

4. Descript: best if you need to edit the recording

Descript transcribes audio and video and lets you edit the media by editing the text, with filler-word removal and studio-sound cleanup. If the recordings you run through Fireflies are really interviews or episodes you need to cut, Descript does transcription and editing in one.

Choose Descript if: you produce podcasts or videos.

Skip it if: you only need meeting notes.

Pricing: Free (60 min/month, watermarked); Hobbyist $24/month monthly or $16 annually; Creator $35/$24; Business $65/$50. See our Descript pricing guide.

5. Your meeting platform's built-in AI notes

Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams each now include AI meeting summaries on their paid tiers. They're less capable than Fireflies (no CRM sync, no cross-meeting intelligence, no uploads) but for light internal use they may already be covered by what you pay.

Choose this if: you only need occasional internal summaries.

Skip it if: you need anything beyond the basics.

How to choose

• Your problem is storage on the free plan: Fathom.
• Your problem is paying team prices as an individual: Otter.ai.
• Your problem is "the transcript is done and now I have to write everything": Castmagic.
• Your problem is the recording needs editing: Descript.

FAQ

What is the best free alternative to Fireflies.ai?

Fathom. Its free plan includes unlimited recordings, transcriptions and AI summaries with no storage cap, which is the limit that pushes people off Fireflies' free plan.

Is Otter.ai better than Fireflies?

For individuals, Otter's Pro plan is slightly cheaper ($8.33 vs $10 per month billed annually). For teams, Fireflies is usually better: unlimited transcription on every plan, CRM sync and analytics, versus Otter's minute caps.

Which Fireflies alternative is best for podcasters?

Castmagic for turning episodes into show notes, posts and clips; Descript for editing them. Fireflies, Otter and Fathom are built for meetings rather than published content.

Can Castmagic replace Fireflies?

If you use Fireflies to transcribe recordings and then write content from them, yes, and it removes the writing step. If you use Fireflies as a live notetaker in every meeting, no; Castmagic works from imported recordings.

How much does Fireflies.ai cost?

Pro is $10 per seat per month billed annually ($18 monthly), Business $19 ($29 monthly), Enterprise $39 annual-only, plus a free plan. See our Fireflies pricing guide.