Top 5 Fireflies Alternatives & Competitors for Automated Notes in 2024

Picture this: the whirlwind of meetings and discussions, where capturing every tidbit, brainstorm, and aha moment is practically an Olympic sport for staying organized and making those savvy decisions. Enter Fireflies, the rockstar of note-taking, a trusted sidekick to many. But hey, even superheroes have understudies!

So, in this quirky quest, we're about to embark on a journey through the top Fireflies alternatives and competitors for automated notes in the year 2024. Whether you feel like Fireflies' pricing is draining your coffee budget or you just fancy a smoother user experience – hold onto your meeting agendas, because we've got a rollicking ride ahead. Buckle up and let's dive into this note-taking escapade!

What is Fireflies?

Before we explore alternatives, let's get to know our starting point - Fireflies. Fireflies is an AI-powered meeting transcription and note-taking tool that has gained recognition for its robust features. It excels in transcribing conversations, making it a valuable asset for businesses looking to maintain detailed records.

Key Features of Fireflies

Fireflies comes armed with a set of features that make it a formidable choice:

• Accurate Transcription: Fireflies boasts impressive transcription accuracy, ensuring your meeting notes are on point.
• Integration Capabilities: It seamlessly integrates with various tools like Zoom, Google Meet, and Slack.
• AI Summaries: The AI-powered summary feature helps you quickly grasp the essence of your meetings.
• Searchable Transcripts: Finding specific information within your notes is a breeze.
• Automated Action Items: It can automatically generate action items based on your discussions.

Pricing

Fireflies offers several pricing plans to cater to different needs, with options ranging from free trials to enterprise plans. However, the cost can add up, especially for larger teams or businesses.

Their Pro plan comes in at $18 per seat per month which comes with Unlimited transcription credits but no video screen capture. To access this and other features you’ll need to pay $29 per seat per month.

Fireflies free plan

• Limited transcription credits
• 800 mins of storage
• Zoom, GMeet and MS Teams integrations
• 69+ languages
• Mobile app

Best Overall Alternative: Claap

In the quest for the best Fireflies alternative, one name shines brightly - Claap. Claap is not just another note-taking tool; it's a game-changer in the world of meeting notes and automated transcription. Designed to empower businesses to work more efficiently, Claap offers a unique blend of asynchronous videos, robust meeting recordings, and comprehensive AI-driven summaries, all in one intuitive platform.

What is Claap?

Claap is more than just a note-taking tool; it's an intelligent video wiki that revolutionizes the way businesses capture and utilize meeting content. Imagine having access to not only textual notes but also video recordings with accurate transcripts and AI-powered summaries – that's Claap in a nutshell.

Claap vs Fireflies: Which Does What Better?

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Let's delve into why Claap stands out as a top Fireflies competitor:

• Screen Recording: Claap integrates screen recording, which is a step ahead of Fireflies. This feature is particularly beneficial for teams that rely on visual aids during meetings.
• Advanced Collaboration: Claap excels in enabling advanced collaboration among team members, providing tools that facilitate a more interactive and engaging meeting experience compared to Fireflies. This includes speaker recognition, video annotation, threads, polls, and more.
• Video Trimming & Stitching: This feature allows users to edit their meeting recordings for clarity and brevity, a capability not found in Fireflies. It’s particularly useful for creating succinct meeting summaries and highlights.

Pros

Let's take a closer look at some of Claap's standout features that make it a good Fireflies alternative:

• Video & Screen Recording: Claap seamlessly integrates video recordings with transcripts and summaries, providing a richer meeting documentation experience. This combination of video and text ensures you have multiple avenues to access and understand your meeting content.
• AI-Powered Summaries: Claap's AI summaries are not mere recaps; they provide context and highlight key points, allowing you to quickly grasp the essence of your meetings without sifting through lengthy notes.
• Customization: The ability to customize transcripts gives you the freedom to structure your meeting documentation in a way that aligns with your specific needs and workflow.
• Competitive Pricing: Claap's pricing structure is designed to be competitive, ensuring that businesses of all sizes can access its powerful features without straining their budgets.

Cons

• Compatibility: the desktop app is currently only available on Mac. Windows is on the way.
• Sentiment Analysis: Compared to high level enterprise products, Claap is missing some of the top tier features like sentiment analysis and tone suggestions. This is reflected in the price however.

Claap pricing

Cost-effectiveness is a significant factor when considering Fireflies alternatives, and Claap doesn't disappoint. 

A Basic Recorder plan is as cheap as $8 per seat per month when you pay yearly. This level comes with unlimited video recordings, however they are capped at 30 minutes per video. 

If you want something more powerful, the Power Recorder option is as cheap as $24 per seat per month and comes with unlimited everything. An Enterprise plan is also available for businesses that need CRM integrations, advanced privacy, SSO, API, and more.

Claap’s free plan

• 10 minutes per user
• 10 minutes per video
• Maximum 20 recorders per space
• Chrome extension and Desktop app
• Video annotations
• Notion and Slack integrations

Best Free Alternative: Otter

For those who are looking for a budget-friendly alternative to Fireflies, Otter emerges as a compelling choice. Otter is an AI-driven transcription and note-taking tool that not only offers robust features but also provides a generous free plan, making it an attractive option for budget-conscious users.

What is Otter?

Otter is designed to cater to a wide range of users, including those who are just starting their journey with note-taking tools or need an economical option. Its standout feature is its free plan, which offers impressive AI transcription capabilities without breaking the bank.

Pro

While Fireflies is known for its advanced features, Otter's free plan makes it an appealing choice for users who don't require the full spectrum of capabilities provided by Fireflies. Let's delve into why Otter is a noteworthy Fireflies competitor:

• Free Plan: Otter's complimentary offering is a significant draw, especially for those starting out or operating on a limited budget. This plan allows users to access essential features without financial constraints, unlike Fireflies.
• User-Friendly Interface: Otter is designed with simplicity in mind, making it more approachable for users who may find Fireflies' array of features overwhelming.
• Real-time Transcription: Otter provides real-time transcription capabilities, ensuring that you can capture discussions as they happen, which can be especially useful for live meetings.
• Slide Capture: Otter has the capability to copy the text from slides as well as voice to make sure it doesn’t miss a single detail in the meeting.
• Chat Capabilities: Recently, Otter AI Chat has been launched. This allows deeper collaboration so you can get answers to meetings questions instantly by using your database of transcripts.

Cons

• Poor Meeting Analytics: Some tools provide deeper analytics of meeting content, such as sentiment analysis, trend identification, and detailed participant engagement metrics, which are beyond the basic transcription services of Otter.ai.
• No Integrated Video Recording: Unlike some of its competitors, Otter.ai primarily focuses on audio transcription and may not offer integrated video recording or the ability to directly capture and sync video content with notes.
• Automated Action Item Extraction: Some note-taking tools have the capability to automatically identify and extract action items or tasks from meeting transcripts, a feature that might not be as developed in Otter.ai.
• Limited AI Summaries: While Otter.ai offers transcription services, it may not provide as advanced AI-powered summarization of meetings as some other tools do. These summaries are often context-aware and highlight key discussion points more effectively.
• Non-Customizable Transcripts: Advanced customization options for transcripts, such as adding annotations, custom tags, or editing layouts, might be more limited in Otter.ai compared to some other platforms.
• Missing Integration with a Wider Range of Business Tools: While Otter.ai integrates with popular platforms, other tools might offer a broader range of integrations, particularly with specialized business applications.
• No Speaker Identification and Attribution: Some competitors might offer more advanced speaker identification and attribution features, which are crucial in multi-speaker environments to accurately track who said what.
• Unlimited Access is Expensive: Otter does not have an unlimited option. Thye offer an Enterprise service for high demand accounts but the price of this can become expensive.
• Privacy scandals: Otter has a history of audio files being sent to third parties. Of course, Otter has now made efforts to rectify this, however, stories from customers are still off putting to read.

Otter Pricing

While Otter's free plan is its standout feature, it also offers paid plans for users who require additional features and usage limits. 

A Pro account costs $17 per seat per month and comes with 1200 minutes of transcription. That includes a maximum session time of 90 minutes. You can also import up to 10 audio or video files per month. 

Their Business plan costs $40 per user per month and allows 6,000 monthly minutes and sessions of up to 4 hours. 

Otter’s free plan

• Otter AI chat
• Zoom, MS Teams and Google Meet integrations
• 300 transcription minutes
• 30 minutes per sessions
• Up to 3 audio or video files

Best Live Meeting Alternative: Notta

For those who prioritize real-time transcription and note-taking during live meetings, Notta emerges as a top contender among Fireflies alternatives. Notta specializes in providing instant transcription and note-taking capabilities, ensuring that you never miss a critical moment during your live discussions.

What is Notta?

Notta is designed with one primary goal in mind: to deliver real-time transcription and note-taking during live meetings. This specialized focus sets it apart and makes it a standout choice for users who rely heavily on live discussions and require immediate access to accurate transcriptions.

Pros

In the realm of live meeting support, Notta takes the lead, positioning itself as a robust Fireflies competitor. Here's why:

• Real-Time Transcription: Notta’s ability to provide instant transcription during live meetings is unparalleled. This feature is particularly vital for businesses that need to capture and review discussions in real-time.
• Speaker Identification: Notta enhances the clarity of transcripts by identifying individual speakers, an essential feature for meetings with multiple participants. This capability is not only helpful for keeping track of the discussion but also for referencing and accountability purposes.
• Integration: Notta's integration with popular video conferencing platforms streamlines the process of setting up and using the tool during your live meetings.
• Great Translation Features: Notta comes with great transcription features that make it stand out above the rest. Upload any audio file type and it immediately translates and transcribes your audio for you.
• Works as a Meeting Scheduler: Create shareable events that connect with your calendar automatically.
• Mobile App: Transcribe and translate on the go using Notta’s handy mobile app.

Cons

Let's dive into some of Notta's weaker attributes and what makes this AI-note tool a less attractive option.

• Complexity for Simple Needs: For users who have basic transcription or note-taking needs, Notta AI's range of features, especially those tailored for complex meeting environments, might be more than what's necessary. This could lead to paying for features that aren't required.
• Low Limits for Paid Plans: Even when paying for their Business plan, you only get 2,400 minutes of transcription per user. This is a high amount, however, for some teams this isn’t enough.
• Maximum 20 Seats Per Account: While they do have an Enterprise option, their Business plan won’t work for anything bigger than 20 person teams. That means a higher price tag for any company that wants a bigger scale solution.
• No Screen Recording: Notta only works as a transcription tool. It does not record video, therefore meaning that the product does not work as a full meeting recording solution. Team members can only catch up via text.
• Bad Collaboration UI: Leaving comments and making decisions is harder than other options. No annotation capabilities make it harder to align with your team.

Notta Pricing

Notta offers competitive pricing plans tailored to meet the needs of businesses that prioritize live meeting support. 

Their Pro plan costs $14 per seat per month and gives you just 1 seat and 1,800 minutes of transcription per month. 

Their Business plan requires a minimum of 2 seats and costs $60 per seat per month with 2,400 minutes of transcription. This does come with a maximum of 20 seats. If you want more minutes or more seat you’ll need their custom Enterprise plan.

Notta’s free plan

• 120 minutes of transcription
• Max 5 minute duration
• Live recording transcription
• Online meeting transcription
• Edit transcripts
• Speaker identification

Best One-Person Team Alternative: Fathom

For solo entrepreneurs and small teams, finding the right note-taking tool can be a game-changer. Enter Fathom, a user-friendly and cost-effective alternative to Fireflies. Fathom is designed with the unique needs of one-person teams and small businesses in mind, offering simplicity and affordability without sacrificing essential features.

What is Fathom?

Fathom caters to the often-overlooked segment of one-person teams and small businesses. Its streamlined approach and budget-friendly pricing make it an ideal choice for those who don't need the complexity and higher costs associated with larger team or enterprise solutions.

Pro

While Fireflies may offer a broader range of features, Fathom's simplicity, quick setup, and affordability make it a standout Fireflies competitor for solo entrepreneurs and small teams:

• Simplicity: Fathom’s ease of use is a major selling point. It offers a streamlined interface, removing any unnecessary complexities. This makes it an ideal choice for individuals or small teams who need a simple yet effective tool.
• Cost-Effective: Targeting small-scale users, Fathom’s pricing model is more affordable compared to Fireflies, which may be more cost-intensive for larger teams or enterprises.
• Intelligent Meeting Highlights: Once you’re in a meeting, click on Fathom to create highlights that will appear later in your recording.
• Full Transcripts: Get a full transcript of any meeting along with speaker identification
• Free Option is Very Powerful: Fathom offers unlimited calls to unlimited team members. It does reserve its strong features for its paid version, Fathom Teams.

Cons

Fathom is a very strong option, however, it does have some drawbacks:

• Only Supports 6 Languages: Other options offer 100+ language options, however, Fathom only supports English, Spanish, Italian, German, French, and Portugese.
• No Screen Recording: Fathom doesn’t work as a screen recording tool, meaning no asynchronous capabilities for this option. 
• Poor Embed Options: Fathom doesn’t embed well in emails, Linear or other tools just yet, meaning you have to send URLs out to your team, creating more noise in their browsers.

Fathom Pricing

Fathom's pricing is tailored to meet the specific needs of one-person teams and small businesses. 

Fathom also offers a Fathom Teams product that costs $32 per seat per month for a Standard Plan, and $39 per seat per month for a Pro plan which includes CRM sync, SSO and advanced access controls.

Fathom’s free plan

• Unlimited minutes
• Unlimited users
• Salesforce, Hubspot, Notion and Slack integrations.

Best Enterprise Alternative: Gong

For larger enterprises seeking a comprehensive solution that goes beyond traditional note-taking, Gong emerges as a heavyweight contender among Fireflies alternatives. Gong is not just a note-taking tool; it's a powerful platform that combines meeting transcription, analytics, and coaching to help enterprises extract actionable insights from their interactions.

What is Gong?

Gong is designed for businesses that require advanced analytics, coaching, and in-depth insights into their meetings and interactions. It's more than just a note-taking tool; it's a strategic asset for enhancing team performance and decision-making.

Pros

When it comes to catering to the needs of larger enterprises, Gong excels, positioning itself as a formidable Fireflies competitor. Here's why Gong stands out:

• Deal Intelligence: Gong's deal intelligence feature is particularly noteworthy. It analyzes customer interactions across various platforms (emails, calls, meetings) to provide insights into sales deals. This feature helps sales teams understand what's working and what's not in their sales tactics, providing real-time guidance on how to steer conversations for better outcomes.
• Revenue Intelligence: Gong's revenue intelligence platform goes beyond traditional CRM data. It provides a more holistic view of customer interactions and sales processes. This allows for a deeper understanding of the customer journey and enables sales teams to make data-driven decisions that align with their revenue goals.
• Conversation Analysis with AI: While many tools offer conversation transcription, Gong uses advanced AI to analyze these conversations for key elements like customer sentiment, spoken keywords, competitive mentions, and buyer engagement levels. This analysis provides actionable insights that can help in refining sales strategies and customer engagement.
• Coaching and Training Recommendations: Gong uniquely uses its conversation intelligence data to offer personalized coaching and training recommendations for sales representatives. By analyzing successful sales calls and identifying best practices, Gong can guide sales teams on effective communication strategies, helping to improve their overall performance.

Cons

Gong is a big player in the business of meeting recording, but it also has its share of problems.:

• Very Expensive: Gong requires a minimum spend of $9,000 per year and requires an installation cost of roughly $5,000. It is easy to spend upwards of $40,000 per year for reasonably sized sales teams.
• Specialized for Sales: This product is very intelligent and tailored much more towards salespeople. Using this in your product or tech teams could feel like using a Tesla as a golf buggy.
• Inaccurate Analysis: Gong has a ton of powerful features that read your tone, however, reports from users show they are not always accurate.
• Complicated UI: It’s hard to find video recordings using the inbuilt search bar.

Gong Pricing

Gong's pricing is tailored to meet the needs of larger enterprises, with customizable plans and features. That means they do not offer a free trial and they do not publicize their pricing.

They do require a minimum spend of $9,000 per year per account, and there is an installation cost of roughly $5,000.

Which Fireflies Alternative is Right For You?

Now that we've explored a range of Fireflies alternatives, the question remains: which one is the right fit for you and your business needs? Choosing the perfect alternative depends on several factors, including your budget, the size of your team, and the specific features that matter most to you.

Claap - The Best Overall Alternative

Ideal for: Businesses of all sizes looking for a comprehensive note-taking and meeting documentation solution.

Why Choose Claap: Claap's integration of video, AI-powered summaries, customizable transcripts, and competitive pricing make it a compelling choice for those who want to capture every detail of their meetings with ease.

Otter - The Best Free Alternative

Ideal for: Budget-conscious users, students, freelancers, or small teams with basic transcription needs.

Why Choose Otter: Otter's generous free plan, user-friendly interface, and real-time transcription capabilities are perfect for those who want to leverage AI transcription without the financial commitment.

Notta - The Best Live Meeting Alternative

Ideal for: Businesses heavily reliant on live meetings and real-time transcription.

Why Choose Notta: Notta's real-time transcription, speaker identification, and seamless integration with video conferencing platforms make it an excellent choice for those who need immediate access to accurate meeting notes.

Fathom - The Best One-Person Team Alternative

Ideal for: Solo entrepreneurs and small teams seeking simplicity and cost-effectiveness.

Why Choose Fathom: Fathom's user-friendly interface, affordability, and quick setup are tailor-made for one-person teams and small businesses looking for a straightforward note-taking solution.

Gong - The Best Enterprise Alternative

Ideal for: Larger enterprises in need of advanced analytics, coaching, and in-depth insights from meetings.

Why Choose Gong: Gong's advanced analytics, coaching and training features, and seamless integration make it a strategic asset for enhancing team performance and decision-making in larger organizations.

Consider your unique requirements, budget constraints, and the specific features that align with your business goals when making your choice. Each of these Fireflies alternatives offers a distinct set of advantages, ensuring that there's a perfect match for every user, regardless of their needs and preferences.