Fireflies alternatives (Nov 2026): Otter, Fathom, Read AI, and Granola by price, free plan, bot or no bot, and who owns the meeting notes after a switch

What this alternatives guide covers

This page is for an ops lead, founder, or team manager who pays for Fireflies today and is checking whether another meeting notetaker would cost less or fit better. A named person owns the meeting notes archive before and after any switch.

Facts come from the pricing pages of Fireflies, Otter, Fathom, Read AI, and Granola, all read on 3 November 2026. We did not record your meetings, so test on your own calls.

The useful split is by how each tool joins a meeting and what the free tier allows. Most send a notetaker into the call; Granola captures audio on your computer instead. Seat prices are close, so the free tier and the people who need a paid seat matter more.

Ground rules: every recorded meeting has a stated reason; people outside your company are told when a call is recorded; old transcripts are exported before any account is closed. This page is not a ranking.

Major features (with how someone uses them)

Examples at a glance: each feature has a concrete example from a real job plus a short Try this you can run this week.

1. Count who actually records meetings

What it is: Fireflies lists Free at $0, Pro at $10 a seat a month billed annually ($18 monthly), Business at $19 ($29 monthly), and Enterprise at $39, annual only (Fireflies pricing).

Teams often pay for every seat when only a few people run the meetings that matter. Price each alternative for those people first.

Concrete example (ops manager at a 30-person agency) She finds 30 Fireflies seats but only nine people recorded a client call last month, so she prices every alternative for nine paid seats and leaves the rest on free tiers.

Try this

Count real recorders:

Open your Fireflies admin page and write down how many seats you pay for, how many people recorded a meeting last month, and which features those people used (summaries, search, downloads, CRM sync). Price each alternative for the people who actually record, not for every seat.

2. Otter: free minutes and a cheaper Pro

What it is: Otter lists a Basic plan with 300 monthly transcription minutes, Pro at $8.49 a user a month billed annually ($16.99 monthly) with 1,200 in-app recording minutes, and Business at $30 a user a month, which showed a three-month discount when we read it (Otter pricing).

Otter suits people who record short calls or in-person conversations on a phone. Check the per-meeting length limits against your longest calls. See Fireflies vs Otter for that pair.

Concrete example (founder of a 5-person consultancy) He records client calls on Otter Basic for two weeks, counts the minutes used, and only buys Pro when he runs past the free limit.

Try this

Test the free minutes:

Use Otter Basic for two weeks on your normal calls, write down the minutes used, and compare with the 300-minute free limit before paying.

3. Fathom: free plan, paid team features

What it is: Fathom lists a free plan with unlimited recordings and instant call summaries. Team is $15 a user a month billed annually ($19 monthly) and Business $25 ($34 monthly), both with a 2-user minimum and CRM sync on Business (Fathom pricing).

A free plan with unlimited recordings suits individuals. Teams pay for shared folders, highlights, and CRM updates. See the Fathom review for details.

Concrete example (sales lead at a 12-person software company) She moves three reps to Fathom’s free plan for a month, then prices Business only for the reps who need call notes written into the CRM.

Try this

Split free and paid users:

Put people who only need their own notes on a free plan, and list who truly needs shared folders or CRM sync before buying team seats.

4. Read AI: meeting reports and coaching

What it is: Read AI lists a free plan, Pro at $15 a user a month billed annually ($19.75 monthly) with unlimited transcripts and premium integrations such as Notion, Salesforce, and HubSpot, and Enterprise at $22.50 ($29.75 monthly) with audio and video playback (Read AI pricing).

Read AI adds meeting reports and a personal meeting coach on top of transcripts. If you mostly want searchable notes, compare it on transcripts and integrations only. See Fireflies vs Read AI.

Concrete example (team lead at a 20-person nonprofit) He runs Read AI free on his weekly team meeting for a month and checks whether anyone reads the reports before asking for paid seats.

Try this

Check if reports get read:

Run the free plan on one recurring meeting for a month and ask attendees whether they used the summary or report at least once.

5. Granola: no bot in the call

What it is: Granola’s pricing page lists bot-free capture of device audio. Basic is $0 with limited meeting history; Business is $14 a user a month with unlimited notes and history, integrations with Notion, HubSpot, and Zapier, and API access; Enterprise is $35 (Granola pricing).

No bot means clients do not see a notetaker join. It also means you still need to tell people the call is being transcribed, and your device must capture the audio. See the Granola review.

Concrete example (recruiter at a 15-person search firm) Candidates disliked a bot joining interviews, so she tests Granola for two weeks, tells each candidate at the start that she takes AI notes, and checks note quality against her own.

Try this

Say it out loud:

If you try a bot-free tool, write one sentence you will say at the start of every recorded call, and use it for every external meeting during the test.

6. Export your notes before you cancel

What it is: Fireflies lists downloads of transcripts, summaries, and recordings on Pro and higher, not on Free (Fireflies pricing). Export what you need before you downgrade or cancel.

We did not find a one-click import of Fireflies notes into the alternatives on the pages we read, so plan to keep an export archive rather than move every transcript.

Concrete example (office manager at an 18-person accounting firm) Before cancelling, she exports client meeting transcripts from the last year into the firm’s document system, then runs the new tool alongside Fireflies for two weeks.

Try this

Export first:

List the meetings you must keep (client calls, board, hiring), export them while you still have a paid plan, and only then cancel or downgrade Fireflies.

Pricing context (November 2026)

Fireflies (pricing page, read 3 Nov 2026): Free $0; Pro $10 a seat a month billed annually or $18 monthly; Business $19 or $29 monthly; Enterprise $39, annual only.

Otter (pricing page): Basic free with 300 monthly minutes; Pro $8.49 billed annually or $16.99 monthly; Business $30 a user. Fathom (pricing page): Free plan; Team $15 or $19 monthly; Business $25 or $34 monthly; 2-user minimum on Team and Business.

Read AI (pricing page): Free; Pro $15 or $19.75 monthly; Enterprise $22.50 or $29.75 monthly. Granola (pricing page): Basic $0; Business $14; Enterprise $35 a user a month.

Uncertainty: Otter showed a three-month discount on Business, and Granola did not show a monthly and yearly toggle to us, so its billing period is not stated here. Free-plan limits change often. Check each live pricing page on the day you buy.

When it’s useful (honest take)

Stay on Fireflies when your team uses its search, downloads, and integrations and the seat count matches the people who record. Look at Otter or Fathom when a free plan covers most people, Read AI when meeting reports matter, and Granola when a bot in the call is the problem.

A switch is a poor idea right before a busy hiring or sales season, or when nobody has exported the old notes. Saving a few dollars a seat is not worth losing client call history.

Related options (educational)

FAQ

Is there a free alternative to Fireflies?

Yes. As listed on 3 November 2026, Otter Basic includes 300 monthly transcription minutes, Fathom has a free plan with unlimited recordings, Read AI has a free plan, and Granola Basic is free with limited history. Fireflies also has its own free plan.

Is there a Fireflies alternative without a bot?

Granola’s pricing page lists bot-free capture of device audio, so no notetaker joins the call. You should still tell people the meeting is being transcribed.

Is Otter cheaper than Fireflies?

On list price, Otter Pro is $8.49 a user a month billed annually, against Fireflies Pro at $10 a seat. Monthly billing is $16.99 and $18. The plans include different limits, so compare on your own usage.

Can I move my Fireflies transcripts to another tool?

We did not find a one-click import on the pages we read. Fireflies lists downloads of transcripts, summaries, and recordings on Pro and higher, so export what you need before you downgrade.

Who should own meeting notes after a switch?

One named person, usually in ops. They decide which meetings are recorded, keep the export archive, and close old seats once the new tool is working.

Optional next step (if seats overlap)

If you pay for Fireflies plus Zoom or Teams AI notes and a chat assistant that also summarises calls, map which tool owns meeting notes before the next renewal. Map the overlap with the $19 AI toolkit audit or the $9 AI toolkit spreadsheet. Email Audit $19 or Toolkit spreadsheet $9.

Checkout is live via Stripe. After you pay, we email delivery (spreadsheet) or intake next steps (audit).

Related: GoHighLevel · Predis.ai · Fireflies review · Fireflies vs Otter · Fireflies vs Read AI · Otter review · Fathom review · Granola review · Three checks before another AI seat · Meetings & notes hub