Comparisons

Fireflies.ai vs Plaud

Compare pricing, recording options, notes, and follow-up—with the plan limits and tradeoffs that matter to your team.

At a glance

Fireflies.ai

Live assistance and a broad integration catalog

Price

Free; Pro from $10/user/month annually

Pricing details

Prices are per user/month: Pro is $10 with annual billing or $18 month-to-month; Business is $19 or $29; Enterprise is $39 with annual billing. Storage, AI credits, video, advanced integrations, and governance differ by plan.

Free option: Yes. Unlimited transcription requires both Auto-join and Share-all; otherwise initial transcription credits, storage limits, and plan-gated summaries or AI features apply.

Good for

  • Live meeting help
  • Lots of integrations at a low price

Watch for

  • Bot-free mode loses media and names
  • Free unlimited requires share-all

Plaud

Dedicated recorders, templates, and Agent workflows

Price

Devices list at $159–$189; AI plans priced separately

Pricing details

Standard device prices are $159 for Note or NotePin, $179 for NotePin S, and $189 for Note Pro; promotions may lower these prices. Pro costs $99.99/year or $17.99/month; Unlimited costs $239.99/year or $29.99/month. Team requires at least two seats and costs $25/user/month with annual billing or $35 with monthly billing. Launch offers reduce those rates to $20 for the first year or $28 through November 30, 2026, respectively. Agent credits are separate from transcription.

Free option: Starter is free with a device and includes 300 transcription minutes/month. Pro includes 1,200/month; Unlimited and Team allow up to 24 hours/day. Unused monthly minutes do not roll over. Paid Team users can record on desktop without buying hardware.

Good for

  • Phone-mounted and wearable recorders
  • Templates, Skills, and Routines

Watch for

  • Separate Agent credit allowance
  • Hardware for portable capture

Features and limits

Ratings show documented breadth, not overall product quality. Open a row for specifics.

Capture options

FirefliesBroad support
PlaudBroad support

Fireflies.ai

Bot, bot-free desktop, mobile, and SDK-based capture

Fireflies has unusually broad capture. The modes differ: desktop bot-free capture works across apps but drops stored media and named speaker labels; the bot preserves the richer meeting record.

EvidenceFireflies bot-free desktop recordingFireflies desktop app

Plaud

Dedicated recorders, bot-free desktop, and imports

Press and hold a device’s recording control to start. Note and Note Pro capture calls and room audio; NotePin and NotePin S capture in-person conversations. Desktop records computer audio without a meeting bot and offers manual, prompted, or automatic recording. Team users can record on desktop without hardware; individual Starter activation requires a bound device.

EvidencePlaud devicesPlaud recording controlsPlaud desktopPlaud desktop requirementsPlaud Team requirements

Desktop and mobile

FirefliesBroad support
PlaudAvailable with limits

Fireflies.ai

Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android

Desktop supports system-audio recording and live assistance. Mobile supports in-person recording, reviewing meetings, search, sharing, and tasks.

EvidenceFireflies desktop appFireflies mobile app

Plaud

Recorders, iOS, Android, web, macOS, and Windows

Mobile apps manage devices and recordings; web and desktop provide access to the same account or workspace. Desktop records from a Mac or Windows computer. Without a Plaud device, Team capture is through desktop or audio imports. A native Apple Watch recorder is not documented; NotePin is separate wearable hardware.

EvidencePlaud desktopPlaud desktop requirementsPlaud Team requirements

In-person capture and speaker labels

FirefliesBroad support
PlaudBroad support

Fireflies.ai

Mobile and desktop room capture

iOS and Android can capture in-person conversations. Fireflies documents that mobile recordings often do not auto-detect speakers, so names may need manual correction. Bot-free desktop can also hear room/system audio, with its own media and generic-label caveats.

EvidenceFireflies mobile appFireflies speaker labels

Plaud

Portable hardware with automatic speaker labels

All four Note/NotePin models record in-person conversations and support speaker-labeled transcription. NotePin S has a tactile button and highlight control; the original NotePin uses a pressure-sensitive control and lacks device highlights. Both need charging and transfer recordings for processing. Neither NotePin model supports phone-call recording.

EvidencePlaud devicesPlaud recording controlsPlaud plans

Recordings, playback, and clips

FirefliesAvailable with limits
PlaudAvailable with limits

Fireflies.ai

Bot mode saves AV; bot-free desktop saves neither

This is the key evaluation detail: bot meetings can preserve audio/video and named speakers, while desktop bot-free mode produces notes/transcript without recording files and uses Speaker 1/Speaker 2 labels.

EvidenceFireflies bot-free desktop recording

Plaud

Saved audio, highlights, exports, and desktop screenshots

Keep and play back audio, export recordings and text, and mark important moments. Desktop can attach screenshots and typed notes to enrich summaries. Screenshots are not a continuous meeting-video recording. MCP and CLI can retrieve audio download links, full speaker-labeled transcripts, and generated notes.

EvidencePlaud devicesPlaud desktopPlaud plansPlaud Agent creditsPlaud MCPPlaud CLI

Notes, action items, and search

FirefliesBroad support
PlaudBroad support

Fireflies.ai

Notes, search, and a workspace-wide assigned task feed

Fireflies offers meeting search, AI apps, and live assistance. It automatically creates and assigns meeting tasks, lets teams manage all accessible tasks in one feed, and can turn action items into trackable work in several project tools. Usage credits and plan gates still apply to advanced AI apps and assistant capabilities.

EvidenceFireflies pricing guideFireflies AI creditsFireflies Tasks Feed

Plaud

Templates, action items, and questions across recordings

Plaud generates speaker-labeled transcripts, default summaries, and action items. Template summaries offer different views of a conversation. Ask Plaud searches across transcribed files with references; Agent can create documents and take actions in connected apps. Default meeting outputs use transcription allowances, while Agent questions and new work use separate credits.

EvidencePlaud plansPlaud cross-recording questionsPlaud Skills and RoutinesPlaud Agent credits

People, companies, and context

FirefliesAvailable with limits
PlaudAvailable with limits

Fireflies.ai

Meeting channels and cross-meeting search

The meeting library is searchable and collaborative, but the product is less centered on a unified relationship timeline combining meetings, email, calendar, people, and companies.

EvidenceFireflies pricing guide

Plaud

Recording knowledge base and connected Agent context

Plaud Intelligence organizes recordings into a searchable knowledge base. Agent can use shared Team recordings and connected tools to answer questions and complete tasks. The cited documentation does not establish dedicated person/company pages with rolling summaries and email relationship timelines.

EvidencePlaud cross-recording questionsPlaud Intelligence Team updatePlaud Skills and Routines

Automatic sharing and workspace defaults

FirefliesBroad support
PlaudAvailable with limits

Fireflies.ai

Enterprise rules can auto-route, share, and enforce privacy

Enterprise admins can match meeting title, host, participants, or internal/external type, then route to a channel, share with users or teams, or enforce privacy. Recaps default to teammates plus anyone with the link; review that setting before rollout.

EvidenceFireflies Rules EngineFireflies recap privacy defaults

Plaud

Personal sharing, Team member access, and Routines

Personal plans include sharing and exports. Team files are private until shared with workspace members, with member-restricted links rather than public external links. Routines can deliver notes through connected tools, but this does not grant access to the source recording or establish workspace-wide sharing defaults.

EvidencePlaud plansPlaud Team sharingPlaud Intelligence Team updatePlaud Skills and Routines

Automations

FirefliesBroad support
PlaudBroad support

Fireflies.ai

Meeting rules, AI apps, CRM workflows, and automatic task handoff

Fireflies can automatically create and assign tasks, then route them to Linear, Asana, Monday.com, Planner, Salesforce, and other systems with meeting filters on eligible plans. It also supports specialized AI apps. The experience spans several feature systems rather than one simple general condition/action canvas.

EvidenceFireflies Rules EngineFireflies pricing guideFireflies Tasks FeedFireflies Linear integration

Plaud

Conditional Routines, Skills, and connected actions

Plaud Intelligence replaces AutoFlow with Routines, which can run on schedules or conditions such as a completed recording. Skills define reusable tasks and can be shared on Team. Existing AutoFlows do not carry over automatically. Running Skills and Routines consumes Plaud Credits, separate from transcription minutes.

EvidencePlaud Skills and RoutinesPlaud Agent credits

Integrations

FirefliesBroad support
PlaudBroad support

Fireflies.ai

100+ integrations plus Zapier and API

Breadth is a major advantage across CRM, collaboration, storage, dialers, and productivity tools. Verify the plan required for each connector and direction of sync.

EvidenceFireflies integration directoryFireflies Linear integration

Plaud

Agent connectors, Zapier, and developer tools

Agent lists Slack, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Outlook, Notion, Linear, and Zapier connectors. More Microsoft 365 integrations and a Salesforce note-sync connector are described as upcoming. Connected Agent actions use credits. MCP and CLI provide another route for assistants and custom workflows.

EvidencePlaud Intelligence Team updatePlaud Skills and Routines

API, MCP, CLI, and data portability

FirefliesBroad support
PlaudAvailable with limits

Fireflies.ai

GraphQL API, webhooks, and a rich remote MCP server

Fireflies exposes transcripts and core meeting data through GraphQL plus webhooks for custom integrations. Its OAuth or API-key remote MCP server can retrieve full transcripts, summaries, action items, active meetings, analytics, soundbites, channels, and user data; it can also share, rename, organize, and clip meetings. Some advanced search and fetch tools remain experimental. Super Summary and Custom Apps data are still absent from the documented GraphQL API, and content passed into an external AI follows that provider’s retention terms.

EvidenceFireflies APIFireflies MCP tools

Plaud

MCP and CLI retrieval; separate Embedded SDK/API

Plaud MCP and CLI retrieve recording metadata, speaker-labeled transcripts, summaries, and audio links. CLI search matches recording names across up to 500 recent files, rather than semantic transcript search. The Embedded device SDK and transcription API are separate offerings; the cited docs do not establish a full REST API for the consumer workspace.

EvidencePlaud MCPPlaud CLIPlaud developer platform

Security, privacy, and admin

FirefliesBroad support
PlaudAvailable with limits

Fireflies.ai

Business and Enterprise governance

Enterprise adds SSO/SCIM, Rules Engine governance, custom retention, and private storage. Its Super Admin role can access every workspace meeting, including “Only Me” content—useful for compliance, but a material privacy-policy decision. Fireflies says meeting content is never used for internal or external model training.

EvidenceFireflies pricing guideFireflies storage limitsFireflies Rules EngineFireflies data safetyFireflies compliance recording modesFireflies Enterprise controls

Plaud

Security certifications and Team administration

Plaud lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001/27701, GDPR, and HIPAA support. Team adds billing, seat and device management, secure offboarding, and workspace-level data residency. Content remains private until shared. The Team FAQ says SSO is not yet supported; a workspace has a two-seat minimum.

EvidencePlaud Team requirementsPlaud Team administrationPlaud plans

Languages

FirefliesBroad support
PlaudBroad support

Fireflies.ai

100+ languages advertised

Fireflies advertises broad transcription coverage. Real-world speaker separation and accuracy still depend on capture mode, room acoustics, accents, and vocabulary.

EvidenceFireflies pricing guide

Plaud

112 transcription languages

Plaud documents transcription in 112 languages with speaker labeling and custom vocabulary. Validate performance on the languages, accents, and specialized terminology you use; the supported-language count is not an independent accuracy comparison.

EvidencePlaud plans

A third option

Circleback

If neither Fireflies nor Plaud quite fits, consider Circleback for shared meeting notes, assigned follow-up, and automations across your team’s apps. Online and in-person meetings stay together, with the full record available to people and AI agents through the app, API, MCP, and CLI.

Every meeting

Online meetings with or without a bot, plus mobile and Apple Watch recording. Speaker-labeled transcripts every time; keep recordings if you need them.

Shared company memory

Detailed notes, automatic sharing, and meeting and email history for each person and company.

People and AI agents

Assigned actions and automations for people; the same full meeting data for agents through API, MCP, and CLI.

Sources

First-party pricing, product docs, help articles, and release notes.

Fireflies.ai sources18 first-party references
Plaud sources15 first-party references
  • Plaud devices

    Model-specific controls, phone-call/in-person capture, charging, storage, and list prices.

  • Plaud recording controls

    Press-and-hold recording and model-specific highlight controls.

  • Plaud plans

    Individual and Team prices, transcription allowances, launch offers, and included features.

  • Plaud desktop

    Bot-free capture, meeting detection, recording modes, screenshots, highlights, and typed notes.

  • Plaud desktop requirements

    Individual Starter activation requires a device bound to the account.

  • Plaud Team requirements

    Two-seat minimum, roles, privacy, and Team desktop capture without hardware.

  • Plaud Team administration

    Team management, data residency, and the FAQ stating SSO is not yet supported.

  • Plaud Team sharing

    Private-by-default recordings and member-only file sharing and links.

  • Plaud cross-recording questions

    Questions across transcribed recordings and source-file references.

  • Plaud Skills and Routines

    Conditional automation, shared Skills, Agent credit costs, and AutoFlow migration limits.

  • Plaud Intelligence Team update

    Shared Agent context, launch connectors, forthcoming integrations, and account updates.

  • Plaud Agent credits

    Transcription versus Agent usage, nonrenewing launch grants, and paid credit top-ups.

  • Plaud MCP

    Recording, summary, transcript, and audio-link retrieval through authenticated MCP.

  • Plaud CLI

    Command-line retrieval and name-based search limited to 500 recent recordings.

  • Plaud developer platform

    Distinguishes the Embedded device SDK/transcription API from access to Plaud account data.

Frequently asked questions

Which is better: Fireflies.ai or Plaud?

Fireflies emphasizes live help, native integrations, and team-wide follow-up. Plaud emphasizes portable hardware, desktop capture, summary templates, and Skills and Routines across conversations.

Which is less expensive, Fireflies.ai or Plaud?

Fireflies.ai: Free; Pro from $10/user/month annually. Plaud: Devices list at $159–$189; AI plans priced separately. Compare the paid seats, included usage, recording access, and admin features you actually need.

Can Fireflies.ai and Plaud record without a bot?

Fireflies.ai: Bot, bot-free desktop, mobile, and SDK-based capture. Plaud: Dedicated recorders, bot-free desktop, and imports. Check whether your preferred recording method preserves video and speaker labels.

Which is better for a whole company?

Compare automatic sharing, permissions, retention, and the defaults admins can enforce. Fireflies: Enterprise rules can auto-route, share, and enforce privacy. Plaud: Personal sharing, Team member access, and Routines.

Can I access and move the full meeting data?

Fireflies: GraphQL API, webhooks, and a rich remote MCP server. Plaud: MCP and CLI retrieval; separate Embedded SDK/API. Check the selected plan, authentication model, transcript scope, export format, and retention window for the workflow you need.

How was this comparison researched?

We use first-party pricing pages, product pages, help docs, and release notes for both products. Links appear in each feature comparison and in the Sources section.