# Fireflies AI alternatives: 4 meeting tools worth trying

URL: https://photospells.com/compare/fireflies-ai-alternatives
Type: comparison
Locale: en
Published: 2026-06-29
Updated: 2026-07-04

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> Fireflies AI is a solid meeting assistant, but its AI-credit limits and dated dashboard send plenty of teams looking elsewhere. Here are four real alternatives, tested honestly.

## Alternatives to fireflies-ai

**Winner:** ticnote

**Verdict:** If a Fireflies AI alternative needs to hand you more than a transcript, TicNote is the switch: its Shadow Agent turns meeting sources into calendars, dashboards, and decks that Fireflies simply does not generate. If you just want a dependable notetaker without a bill, Fathom's free plan has no real catch. Otter.ai and tl;dv both earn their keep in narrower cases: live captioning for Otter, sales coaching for tl;dv. Fireflies itself remains a fine choice if conversation analytics for sales is the whole job.

**Methodology:** We compared pricing pages, in-app feature lists, and G2/Trustpilot review data for all five tools as of late June 2026, cross-checking claims like free-tier minutes and per-seat pricing directly on each vendor's own pricing page rather than third-party recaps. Screenshots were captured live from each product's homepage. Review counts and star ratings are cited from G2 product pages where available; TicNote's review base is smaller because it is a newer listing, which we disclose rather than smooth over. We did not run every tool through identical live meetings, so hands-on transcription-accuracy claims are sourced from published reviews and vendor documentation, not our own side-by-side test, and we flag that limit here.


### Criteria

| Criterion | ticnote | fathom-video | otter-ai | tldv |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (paid) | ~$15/mo, unlimited transcription + Shadow Agent | $16-20/mo per user (Premium) | $8.33-16.99/mo per user (Pro) | ~$18/mo per user (Pro) |
| Free tier | 300 min/month transcription, no credit card | Unlimited recordings + AI summaries, no watermark | 300 min/month, 30-min meeting cap | Unlimited recordings/transcripts, 1 user |
| Standout feature | Shadow Agent turns sources into real files: decks, dashboards, reports | Ask Fathom conversational search across your whole call history | Live in-meeting transcription and captions, not just after the fact | Multi-meeting AI search plus Gong-style coaching at a lower price |
| How it joins your calls | Chrome extension, no bot invited | Bot join, or bot-free beta on Mac | Bot joins, plus live captioning | Bot joins Zoom, Meet, Teams |
| G2 rating (review count) | Newer listing, limited public review volume | 5.0/5 (small but consistent sample) | 4.4/5 (496 reviews) | 4.7/5 on G2, weaker Trustpilot score |

### Per-product notes

- **tldv** — best for: Sales teams that want Gong-style coaching without Gong-level pricing, score: 4.2/5
  Worth it specifically for the coaching layer, otherwise Fathom or TicNote cover the basics just as well.
- **ticnote** — *Editor's pick*, best for: Anyone who wants meetings turned into real deliverables, not just notes, score: 4.5/5
  The pick when a transcript alone is not the job to be done and you actually need a report, deck, or calendar out of your meetings.
- **otter-ai** — best for: Teams that live in Zoom and Google Meet and want live captions, score: 4/5
  A fair, cheaper trade for teams that mostly want accurate live transcripts and are not chasing extra AI features.
- **fathom-video** — *Best free plan*, best for: Individuals and small teams who want a great notetaker for $0, score: 4.6/5
  The safest switch if you mainly want what Fireflies does, transcripts and summaries, without paying to start.
- **fireflies-ai** — best for: Sales teams that already depend on conversation analytics, score: 4.4/5
  Still solid for sales conversation intelligence, but the AI-credit ceiling is exactly why people search for an alternative.

## FAQ

### What is the best free alternative to Fireflies AI?

Fathom has the most generous free plan of the group: unlimited recordings, unlimited transcripts, and unlimited AI summaries with no watermark. Fireflies' free tier caps you at 800 minutes a month and limits AI credits.

### Is TicNote better than Fireflies AI?

It depends on the job. For CRM-tied sales conversation intelligence, Fireflies still has the edge. For turning meetings into actual deliverables (reports, decks, calendars) via its Shadow Agent feature, TicNote does something Fireflies does not attempt.

### Does Fathom really have an unlimited free plan?

Yes, as of this writing Fathom's free individual plan includes unlimited recordings, transcriptions, and AI-generated call summaries, with paid tiers adding custom templates, CRM sync, and coaching features.

### Can I switch from Fireflies to another tool without losing my meeting history?

Most alternatives let you export or manually re-upload past recordings, but none of them auto-import your existing Fireflies transcript library. Plan to export anything you need before cancelling.

### Which Fireflies alternative works best with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams?

All four alternatives in this comparison (TicNote, Fathom, Otter.ai, tl;dv) support Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. TicNote is the outlier in how it captures calls: a Chrome extension rather than a bot joining the meeting.

### Is Otter.ai cheaper than Fireflies AI?

On paper, Otter's Pro plan starts slightly lower on annual billing, but the two are close enough in practice that the real difference comes down to features: Otter leans into live in-meeting captioning, Fireflies leans into sales conversation analytics.

### What does tl;dv do better than Fireflies?

tl;dv's coaching layer, tracking talk-time and objections across your whole call history, gets you close to a Gong-style sales tool at a fraction of the price, which is a narrower but real advantage over Fireflies for sales teams.