Fireflies AI Full Review and Best Alternative

If you're already here, you most likely have at least heard of Fireflies AI and what it can do - transcribe your meetings, highlight key points, and remember what was discussed.

• But the big question is: does it really live up to its claims?
• And more importantly: is it the best option on the market?

In this review, we'll cover their amazing features, pricing, advantages and disadvantages of Fireflies AI. We’ll also introduce you to Jamie AI, a strong alternative to Fireflies AI that addresses some of the concerns users have shared, like the reliance on bots and internet.

By the time you finish reading this, you'll know if Fireflies AI is the right ai meeting tool for you. (also we did a tiny test to check its accuracy compared to Jamie)

Ready? Okay! Let's get started!

Why Wait for a Bot?

Jamie transcribes instantly

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Quick Comparison Table of Fireflies AI vs Jamie

First let me show you a quick look into the comparison between Fireflies ai vs Jamie, if you are here to look for an alternative. This table will guide you through the features you might need, and which tool would provide them for you. As you can see, Jamie excels in providing a privacy focused meeting experience, and Fireflies provides you with meeting analysis, including its features like sentiment analysis and speaker talk time.

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Jamie AI stands out as a privacy focused ai meeting assistant with its offline mode, bot-free experience and unique Executive Assistant Sidebar which has real-time brainstorming, past meeting retrieval and integration with multiple AI models like ChatGPT-4 and Claude. It also has customizable notes, data privacy and capturing action items and decisions. In the other hand Fireflies AI has live transcription, sentiment analysis and speaker talk time analysis so it’s a good choice for teams focused on in-meeting analytics. Both have language support, and yes,a free plan!. As you can see, both tools offer amazing features, but it all comes down to you. Which tool resonates with your needs more?

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What is Fireflies AI

Fireflies.ai is an AI-powered meeting assistant that helps transcribe, summarize key moments, analyze voice conversations, extract key topics discussed, and extract other key metrics from all your voice conversations. It works with popular video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet. It supports 69+ languages and has features like smart search, functionality to track speaker talk time, action item extraction, topic trackers, AI-powered search, and more!

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Fireflies AI Pros & Cons

Pros

• Multi-language support: Transcribes in 69+ languages, enhancing accessibility.
• Smart search: Quickly find questions, metrics, tasks, or specific moments in transcripts.
• Collaboration tools: Add comments, reactions, and soundbites to meeting notes for teamwork.
• AskFred assistant: Provides instant answers, custom summaries, and AI-powered insights.
• Timestamps and emojis: Makes transcripts more readable and engaging.

Cons

• Intrusive bots: Requires a bot to join meetings, which can feel awkward or disruptive.
• Transcription errors: Struggles with accents, background noise, and speaker identification.
• Limited free plan: Most advanced features are locked behind a paywall.
• Basic summaries: Initial summaries lack depth and require extra effort to customize.
• Delays: Transcriptions and summaries take time to process after the meeting.
• Waiting for bot: You must wait for the bot to join the meeting, which can take several minutes.

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Advantages of Using Fireflies AI

• Automated Meeting Notes: Fireflies.ai helps transcribe meetings and summarizes meeting notes.
• AI-Powered Search: With Fireflies' search bar, users can instantly find key topics, action items, and metrics discussed during the meeting.
• Collaboration Features: Team members can jump into meetings and provide feedback in a variety of ways like comments, reactions, and soundbites.
• Conversation Intelligence: Fireflies tracks who spoke the most, the engagement levels, and the most memorable moments. Fireflies act as a coach that tracks your performance and helps you improve.
• Integration: Fireflies seamlessly integrates with tools like Slack and Asana, streamlining workflows and getting meeting recaps to the team.

Drawbacks to Consider

• Language Limitations: Bad handling of multi-language conversations, especially code-switching between English and Swahili, affects transcription quality.
• Transcription Inconsistencies: Variable transcription performance, especially with different accents and informal language.
• Meeting Interruption: Bots in meetings can be annoying to the meeting flow.
• Output Format Limitations: No customizable output formats for meeting minutes, making it hard to fit company templates.
• Processing Delays: Meeting summaries take too long to deliver, and the summary is too long and needs editing.

Source: G2

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Fireflies AI Pricing

• ‍Free Plan: $0 forever
• ‍Pro Plan: $18 per seat/month (billed monthly)
• ‍Business Plan: $29 per seat/month (billed monthly)
• ‍Enterprise Plan: $39 per seat/month (billed annually)

Free vs. Paid Plans

The main difference between Fireflies.ai’s free and paid plans is storage and feature access. The free plan has basic functionality with 800 minutes of storage, limited AI summaries, and the essentials like transcription and recording.

The paid plans (starting at $18/month) have way more features you can benefit from. The pro plan gets 8,000 minutes of storage and unlimited AI summaries. Business ($29/month) and Enterprise ($39/month) get unlimited storage and advanced features like video capture, team analytics, and more security options. The higher tiers also get better support, more integrations, and enterprise-grade security features like SSO and HIPAA compliance.

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Real User Reviews of Fireflies AI

Positive experiences

• High Accuracy: Many reviews comment on the high accuracy of the transcription, which is on par with the human level. Users love that it picks up speaker IDs and key points with minimal errors.
• Smart Search: The smart search functionality lets you search through transcripts quickly, so you can find specific topics, questions, or metrics discussed in meetings.
• User Interface: Reviewers comment that Fireflies AI has a simple interface that’s easy to use even for non-techy people.
• Collaboration Tools: Fireflies AI enables collaboration by allowing team members to comment on transcripts and share insights.

Negative experiences

• Transcription Errors: Despite high accuracy, some users report occasional transcription errors, especially with technical jargon or strong accents. Requires manual proofreading, which can be a con for some.
• Limited Free Plan: The free version of Fireflies AI is panned for its limitations, like restricted access to advanced features like smart searching and the AI assistant. Users feel that these limitations will hinder productivity if you don’t upgrade to a paid plan.
• Integration Issues: Some users have encountered problems when changing their email address or integrating Fireflies with other third-party apps. Technical hiccups that disrupt workflow and require troubleshooting.
• Pricing: A few reviews mention that while the tool has great features, some users feel the pricing is on the higher side compared to competitors especially if you only need basic transcription services.
• Data Privacy: Some reviews mention data privacy issues with AI transcription tools like Fireflies.

Source: (1), (2), (3),(4)

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How to use Fireflies.ai

#1 First invite Fireflies to a live meeting

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#2 Insert the details of your live meeting

Next, input the necessary information Fireflies.ai needs to join your meeting,

• Name of your meeting (optional)
• Meeting link
• Meeting language (the dominant language you will be speaking in)

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#3 Wait till the Fireflies.ai bot joins your meeting

• Now we have to wait till the Fireflies.ai assistant joins the meeting.
• So I timed how long it will take for the Fireflies bot to join the meeting.
• I started to wait at 9:52, it arrived at 9:56. It came in like 4 minutes.
• On top of that, Fireflies needs to stay inside the meeting for at least 3 minutes to process the meeting transcript. Meaning it doesn't transcribe the meeting right away.

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#4 Click "Admit" to let Fireflies bot inside the meeting

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#5 Meeting bot joins your meeting as a participant

Yes, Fireflies.ai sends a bot inside your meeting, the bot then captures the conversation and generates detailed transcripts and summaries within minutes of the meeting ending.

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#6 Testing key features of Fireflies

Had a small conversation in a meeting, with Fireflies.ai's bot and now let's see what Fireflies.ai's transcription and summary look like and a thorough look into their key features section.

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Key Features of Fireflies.ai

Smart Search

AI Filters

The smart search feature has an AI filtration process that lets you find "QUESTIONS", "METRICS", "TASKS", "and DATE AND TIME" mentioned in your transcript. If you click questions, you will get questions in the transcription. If you click two items, for example, questions and metrics, you will get snippets of the transcription that have both questions and metrics mentioned.

Sentiments

Next, you get sentiments that were captured in the meeting. Sentiments vary from "NEUTRAL", "POSITIVE", and "NEGATIVE". When you select any of these options, you get snippets of the transcription on the right side that showcase neutral interactions, positive interactions or negative interactions.

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Speaker talk time sentiment

Next, we get speaker talk time sentiment, which shows who spoke a lot, or less during the meeting. Since I was the only one talking, in two different accounts with my same name, I ended up being the one to talk 100% of the time.

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Topic tracker

There's also a topic tracker feature. Topic trackers are keywords you want to monitor in meetings. But unfortunately, here it says, the meeting is not yet transcribed, for us to see the topics. But the transcription is fully completed, so maybe it's an error on their end.

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Meeting Summaries

Fireflies.ai provide a decent good summary that gives it out as "GENERAL SUMMARY". However, you have the option to customize it using AI Credits. Each customization takes away 1 AI credit.

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Sound Bites

Here’s what each option does:

• Drag and Select Transcript: You can manually pick the part of the text you want to turn into a soundbite by selecting it.
• Magic Soundbites: The system automatically picks key moments from the audio or text to create soundbites for you.
• Keyword Soundbites: You type a word or phrase, and the system finds related parts in the audio or text to make soundbites.

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AskFred

Fred is an AI assistant that enhances your meeting experience with:

• AskFred: Instantly answers questions about your notes and transcripts.
• Custom Summaries: Highlights key points and allows customization.
• Transcription Search: Finds relevant content with keywords.
• Integrated GPT Models: Offers nuanced or simple responses.
• Suggested Prompts: Provides questions based on meeting context.
• Tagging: Automatically tags meetings for easy organization.

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Testing Time! Fireflies AI vs Jamie

Quick Comparison Table Before The Test

How We Tested The Tools

To find the best AI notetaker we ran an intense test to challenge transcription accuracy, context understanding, and task identification across Jamie ai and Fireflies.ai.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of our methodology and how each performed.

The Test

We used a Good Morning America video featuring the Shark Tank hosts. We chose this video because it consists of real-world transcription challenges.

For example;

• Crowd Cheers: Non-stop background noise that simulates a chaotic meeting environment.
• 7 Speakers: Multiple accents and speaking styles to test speaker identification.
• Complex Dialogue: Regrets, successes, and emotional milestones.
• Obsolete Item Pitching Game: Fast-paced pitches with humor and sarcasm.
• Hard to Spell Names: Lori Greiner and Robert Herjavec tested spelling accuracy.

How We Scored

We scored the tools on:

1. Meeting Summary and Notes Transcription
2. Action Items and Decisions
3. Data Security
4. Overall Context

1. Meeting Summary and Notes Transcription

Jamie

Pros

• Accuracy: Jamie got nuanced dialogue and humor right,
• Speaker Identification: Identified speakers and summarized context-rich moments accurately.
• Emotion Detection: Detected emotions (Lori struggling to pitch) and noted humor and sarcasm.
  • Example: Jamie captured Barbara’s humor pitch for a rotary phone: “...a weight to get rid of chicken fat and a weapon for cheating boyfriends.”
• Detailed Notes: Jamie organized the meeting into Summaries, Decisions, and Tasks.

Cons

• Minor pronoun and attribution errors (e.g. Kevin O’Leary instead of Barbara).

Score: 9.5/10

See Jamie's full note here.

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Fireflies.ai

Pros

• Meeting Summary: Fireflies got the overall meeting summary right and captured the main points.
• Timestamps and Emojis: Timestamps made the notes more readable and emojis added fun.
• Missed Opportunities: Caught the discussion on “missed investments” but had factual errors (e.g. Barbara’s “Comfy” investment was not a regret).

Cons

• Speaker Identification: Misspelled names like “Lori Grenada” instead of Lori Greiner.
• Shallow: Summaries lacked humor, emotional nuance, and personality.
• Errors in Context: Fireflies attributed pitches to the wrong speakers (e.g. Kevin instead of Mark).

Score: 7/10

See Fireflies.ai's full note here.

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2. Action Items and Decisions

Jamie

Pros

• Got tasks and decisions right like assigning obsolete items to pitch.
• Summaries had actionable items like Barbara winning the challenge.
• No omissions or errors on critical action items.

Cons:

• Nothing. (and we are not lying you can check the notes yourself 😉)

Score: 10/10

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Fireflies.ai

Pros

• Caught some action items like a discussion on missed investments.
• Timestamps on summaries made it easy to find decisions.

Cons

• Paywall: Action items and task filtering were only available on premium plans so free users were limited.
• Missed Details: Didn’t highlight the key decisions like who won the challenge.

Score: 5/10

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3. Data Security

Jamie

pros

• GDPR: Data is stored in Frankfurt, Germany under EU laws.
• Minimal Retention: Audio files are deleted after transcription so your data is private.
• Advanced Encryption: AES-256 encryption for data in transit and at rest.
• Transparency: Clear data usage communication, no data is used for AI training.

Score: 10/10

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Fireflies.ai

pros

• SOC 2 and GDPR: Basic data protection.
• Encryption: Data was encrypted during transfer and at rest.

cons

• Fireflies.ai is secure and protects user data.

Score: 10/10

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Conclusion

• Jamie: Jamie performed well in the test and can be an amazing AI note-taking assistant for professionals looking for detailed meeting notes with great accuracy, context, and especially data privacy. Jamie also has its executive assistance feature that helps you in real-time no matter what task you would be doing.
• Fireflies.ai: Fireflies produce decently good summaries, accurate sentiment analysis, and Ask fred feature is also an amazing tool for when you have additional questions to ask about the meeting context.

Jamie AI excels in providing detailed transcription, decision capture, and security, making it a great choice for smooth and efficient meetings.

Need Offline Notes?

Jamie transcribes without Wi-Fi.

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What’s the Best Alternative to Fireflies AI?

Jamie AI is the best alternative to Fireflies.ai and here's why.

1. No Intrusive Bots

Unlike Fireflies, Jamie does not send bots to join meetings. It works in the background to record and transcribe, offering a smooth, private experience.

2. Superior Meeting Summaries

Jamie provides detailed, context-rich meeting notes, capturing decisions, action items, and even emotional nuances like humor or sarcasm. Fireflies often misses these finer details.

3. Accurate Speaker Identification

Jamie excels at identifying speakers and organizing notes accordingly, even in complex scenarios with multiple participants or accents.

4. Offline and In-Person Transcription

Jamie can transcribe offline and in-person meetings without requiring internet access—a feature Fireflies lacks.

5. No Waiting for Bots

With Jamie, there’s no need to wait for a bot to join your meeting. Simply press the "Start Meeting" button, and you’re good to go—Jamie starts recording and transcribing immediately.

6. Customizable Notes

Jamie allows you to tailor meeting summaries to fit your team’s workflow or specific needs. Fireflies offers limited customization without extra credits.

7. Privacy-First Approach

Jamie deletes audio files after transcription and stores data securely in Germany under GDPR compliance. Fireflies' privacy practices are good but less transparent.

8. Executive Assistant Sidebar

Jamie’s Sidebar (accessible via CTRL + J) lets you brainstorm, draft emails, and retrieve past meeting insights—all from one tool. This feature replaces the need for additional apps like ChatGPT.

9. Multi-Model AI Support

Jamie lets you choose between its own AI model or others like GPT-4 or Claude, giving you flexibility for various tasks.

10. Affordable for All Needs

Jamie’s pricing plans, including a free version, offer excellent value with features like detailed notes, transcription, AI executive assistance, and more.

Need Action Items Fast?

Jamie lists them instantly.

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Our Experience with Fireflies AI

Setup & Integration

Setting up Fireflies AI is relatively straightforward. It integrates seamlessly with popular video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. It also supports collaboration tools such as Slack, Notion, and Asana, which makes sharing meeting notes easier. However, Fireflies requires access permissions for integration, which might feel intrusive to some users. Its onboarding process provides clear instructions, but additional technical setup for more advanced features (like CRM integration) can be a bit time-consuming.

Accuracy of Transcriptions

Fireflies AI performs well in environments with minimal background noise and a limited number of speakers. However, in challenging scenarios with multiple speakers, heavy accents, or background noise, transcription accuracy significantly drops. While it captures the gist of conversations, it struggles with speaker identification and mishears specific terms or phrases, especially for hard-to-pronounce names. Additionally, it lacks the depth to capture nuances such as humor or emotions.

Ease of Use

The user interface of Fireflies AI is intuitive, with clearly labeled features and options for navigating notes and summaries. The use of timestamps and emojis enhances readability. However, some critical features like filtering action items or decisions are locked behind a paywall, which limits functionality in the free version. While the tool is generally easy to use, the lack of customization and minor technical issues with syncing can make it feel less streamlined compared to competitors.

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Who Should Use Fireflies AI?

Ideal Use Cases

Fireflies AI is suitable for:

• Teams needing basic transcription and summaries for online meetings.
• Users who prioritize integrations with tools like Slack, Google Meet, and Asana.
• Those comfortable with bots joining meetings and waiting for summaries.

Alternative: If you want a tool that works instantly without waiting for bots, and also handles in-person and offline meetings, Jamie AI is a better choice.

Limitations for Certain Users

Fireflies may not be ideal for:

• Privacy-conscious users who are uncomfortable with bots joining meetings.
• Professionals who need detailed, context-rich summaries with speaker identification.
• Those who need flexibility for offline or in-person meeting transcriptions.

Jamie AI overcomes these limitations by offering bot-free, accurate meeting notes and robust privacy protections.

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Final Verdict

Is Fireflies AI Right for You?

Fireflies AI can be a good fit if you need meeting analysis, such as sentiment analysis, speaker talk time, and the AI chat function. However, if you are not a fan of bots joining the meeting, and your clients or workflow consists of working with multiple video conferencing platforms, and sometimes even offline, Fireflies might not be the best for you. Fireflies AI features are mostly behind a paywall, so the free version doesn't offer access to these features. This includes basic AI features like action items, decisions, etc.

If You Want Bot-Free Meeting Experience

Jamie AI offers bot-free operation, detailed summaries, offline meeting support, and robust privacy features—making it a strong choice for professionals and teams who values human connection without intrusive bots joining the meeting. Jamie also comes with AI features that not under pay wall in the free plan, so you have the freedom to truly test all Jamie's cool features, without any commitment.

Why Miss Key Moments?

Jamie captures them all.

Try Jamie for Free

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FAQs: Fireflies AI

1. Is Fireflies AI Safe?

Yes, Fireflies AI is generally safe. It is SOC 2 and GDPR-compliant and uses encryption to protect data during transfer and at rest. However, some users have raised concerns about its privacy policies, especially since data is processed on external servers. If privacy is your top concern, Jamie AI offers a stronger privacy-first approach by storing data securely in Germany and deleting audio files immediately after transcription. Jamie AI also ensures that your data is never used for training AI models, unlike some big tech companies like Amazon, which may use customer data for their own purposes.

2. How Much Is Fireflies AI?

Fireflies AI offers four pricing tiers:

• Free Plan: $0/month (basic features and limited storage).
• Pro Plan: $18 per seat/month (billed monthly).
• Business Plan: $29 per seat/month (billed monthly).
• Enterprise Plan: $39 per seat/month (billed annually).

While these prices may suit some, Jamie AI provides better value by offering detailed meeting notes, transcription, and customization options, starting with a generous free plan and affordable premium plans.

3. What Is Fireflies.ai Used For?

Fireflies.ai is used to transcribe, summarize, and analyze meetings. It works with popular platforms like Zoom and Google Meet to create searchable transcripts, track speaker talk time, and extract action items or metrics.

If you want a tool that provides more accurate transcription, customizable summaries, and in-person meeting support, Jamie AI is a more versatile and reliable alternative.

4. Is Fireflies.ai Free?

Yes, Fireflies AI has a free plan, but it is limited to basic features like 800 minutes of storage and restricted AI summaries. Advanced tools, such as action item filtering, are only available in paid plans.

Jamie AI, on the other hand, offers a free forever plan with essential features and flexible upgrades for those who need premium services.

5. Is Fireflies.ai Any Good?

Fireflies AI is a good tool for basic meeting transcription and summarization, especially if you don’t mind bots joining your meetings. However, its limitations, such as transcription inaccuracies and shallow summaries, can make it less suitable for professional use. Jamie AI is an excellent alternative for those who prioritize detailed notes, accurate speaker identification, and instant meeting support without relying on bots.

6. How Do I Remove Fireflies AI for All Meetings?

To remove Fireflies AI from meetings:

• Revoke Fireflies’ access to your calendar or meeting platform.
• Remove the Fireflies integration from tools like Zoom or Google Meet.
• Reach out to Fireflies support for additional assistance if needed.

With Jamie AI, you don’t need bots to join your meetings, so there’s no risk of disruption or the hassle of removing integrations.

7. Who Owns Fireflies AI?

Fireflies AI is owned by Fireflies.ai, Inc., a US-based company founded by Krish Ramineni and Sam Udotong. If you’re looking for a reliable alternative, Jamie AI is independently developed with a focus on privacy, accuracy, and user convenience—making it an excellent choice for professionals worldwide.