Real-time AI meeting transcription, summaries and AI chat for meetings.
Fireflies.ai vs Granola
Features, pricing, strengths and trade-offs — and which one fits your situation.
The verdict
Fireflies.ai is best for teams that want a meeting bot with broad integrations, CRM sync and cross-meeting AI search, while Granola is best for professionals who want bot-free AI notes that build on their own jotted notes. Only Fireflies.ai offers transcribe uploaded files. Fireflies.ai has a medium learning curve, compared with low for Granola. Both Fireflies.ai and Granola offer a free plan, so you can try each before paying.
Which should you choose?
Choose Fireflies.ai if…
- You need teams that want a meeting bot with broad integrations, CRM sync and cross-meeting AI search
- Transcribe uploaded files matters to you
- You're one of: sales and customer success teams, recruiters, remote teams with many recurring meetings
- Wide platform coverage including dialers and file uploads
Choose Granola if…
- You need professionals who want bot-free AI notes that build on their own jotted notes
- You're one of: founders and investors, consultants, product managers
- You want something quicker to learn
- No bot joins the call, so it works with any meeting app
At a glance
| Fireflies.ai | Granola | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Teams that want a meeting bot with broad integrations, CRM sync and cross-meeting AI search | Professionals who want bot-free AI notes that build on their own jotted notes |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price | From $10/seat/mo | From $14/user/mo |
| Learning curve | Medium | Low |
| Platforms | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Chrome extension, API | macOS, Windows, iOS, Android |
| Ideal for | Sales and customer success teams, Recruiters, Remote teams with many recurring meetings, Operations teams building workflow automations | Founders and investors, Consultants, Product managers, People in back-to-back meetings |
Feature comparison
| Fireflies.ai | Granola | |
|---|---|---|
| Records without a bot joining | Yes | Yes |
| Meeting platforms | Zoom, Meet, Teams, Webex, 10+ more | Any (device audio) |
| Transcription languages | 100+ (many in beta) | 30+ languages |
| CRM sync | Paid plans only | Yes |
| Ask AI across meetings | Yes | Yes |
| Speaker identification | Yes | Limited |
| In-person / mobile recording | Yes | Yes |
| Transcribe uploaded files | Yes | No |
| Translation | Limited | Limited |
Security & enterprise
| Fireflies.ai | Granola | |
|---|---|---|
| Business / enterprise plan | Yes | Yes |
| SSO (SAML / OIDC) | Enterprise plan | Enterprise plan |
| SCIM user provisioning | Enterprise plan | Enterprise plan |
| SOC 2 | Type II | Type II |
| ISO 27001 | — | — |
| HIPAA (BAA available) | Enterprise plan | — |
| GDPR DPA | Yes | Yes |
| Data residency options | — | — |
| No training on your data | Yes | Enterprise plan |
| Audit logs | — | — |
| Admin controls | Yes | Enterprise plan |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud (desktop app) |
From each vendor's security documentation. "—" = not confirmed. What to ask vendors · Compare all tools
What each tool does
Fireflies.ai
Fireflies.ai records, transcribes and summarizes meetings across Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and other platforms, either via its notetaker bot or bot-free through its desktop app and Chrome extension. Its AskFred assistant answers questions across your meeting library, and higher tiers add conversation intelligence, CRM sync and API access.
Key features- Notetaker bot for Zoom, Meet, Teams and 10+ other platforms
- Bot-free recording via Mac/Windows desktop app or Chrome extension
- AskFred AI chat across all meetings
- Transcription in 100+ languages with multi-language detection
- Upload and transcribe audio and video files
- Mobile apps for in-person recording
Granola
Granola is an AI notepad that captures meeting audio directly from your device without a bot joining the call. You type rough notes during the meeting and Granola combines them with the transcript to produce structured notes afterwards. It runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android and supports chat across past meetings.
Key features- Bot-free device-audio capture on desktop and mobile
- Enhances your own notes with the transcript using templates
- Chat across meetings and folders
- Mobile apps for in-person meetings
- HubSpot, Attio and Affinity CRM integrations
- MCP connector for Claude and ChatGPT
Pricing
Fireflies.ai
Free plan; Pro $10/seat/mo annual ($18 monthly)
Granola
Free plan: yes (limited). Paid from ~$14/user/mo (Business)
Prices last checked September 2026. Plans change often — confirm on each vendor's site.
Pros and cons
Fireflies.ai
Strengths- Wide platform coverage including dialers and file uploads
- Large integration library including CRMs, Slack and project tools
- Both bot and bot-free capture options
- Speaker talk-time and conversation analytics
- Many languages beyond the main few are marked beta
- CRM integrations and conversation intelligence require higher tiers
- Free plan has limited storage and AI credits
- Bot joining calls can be off-putting to external guests
Not ideal for: People who only want lightweight personal notes without a meeting bot or a large feature set may find a simpler notepad-style tool easier.
Granola
Strengths- No bot joins the call, so it works with any meeting app
- Notes reflect what you flagged as important
- Clean, simple interface with little setup
- Available on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android
- No video recording; audio transcript only
- Speaker attribution is limited compared with bot-based tools
- Free tier keeps only a limited meeting history
- Cannot transcribe uploaded audio or video files
Not ideal for: Teams that need video recordings, clip sharing or detailed per-speaker analytics should choose a bot-based recorder.
Integrations
Fireflies.ai
Granola
FAQ
What is the main difference between Fireflies.ai and Granola?
Fireflies.ai is built for teams that want a meeting bot with broad integrations, CRM sync and cross-meeting AI search; Granola is built for professionals who want bot-free AI notes that build on their own jotted notes. Key differences: Fireflies.ai offers transcribe uploaded files.
Is Fireflies.ai or Granola cheaper?
Fireflies.ai starts from $10/seat/mo and Granola starts from $14/user/mo (as of September 2026). On entry price, Fireflies.ai is cheaper — but compare what each plan includes, since limits differ. Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site.
Do Fireflies.ai and Granola have free plans?
Both Fireflies.ai and Granola offer a free plan, so you can try each before paying.
Which is easier to use, Fireflies.ai or Granola?
Granola is generally quicker to learn (Fireflies.ai: medium, Granola: low learning curve).
What are good alternatives to Fireflies.ai and Granola?
Other meetings tools worth comparing include Otter.ai, Fathom and tl;dv.