Fireflies.ai offers a straightforward cloud-based approach to meeting transcription and summarization, with its AI assistant Fred joining calls across major platforms. The tool excels at simplicity and ease of use, providing accurate transcriptions and quick summaries with action items delivered within minutes. However, it suffers from occasional transcription issues with accents and technical jargon, and its summaries can sometimes lose important nuance or original phrasing.

Read.ai positions itself as a more comprehensive meeting copilot that goes beyond basic transcription to analyze engagement, sentiment, and meeting quality metrics. The platform offers real-time translation, sophisticated AI search across meeting archives, and detailed post-meeting analytics including speaker balance and attention scores. Its interface can be overwhelming for users seeking simple transcription, and the free tier's five-meeting limit is restrictive compared to competitors.

Fireflies.ai is best suited for teams and individuals who prioritize ease of use and quick implementation, particularly sales teams analyzing calls and organizations focused on basic meeting documentation. The tool works well for users who need reliable transcription without complex analytics, and its affordable pricing makes it accessible for smaller teams. Read.ai targets organizations that want deeper meeting insights and analytics, making it ideal for enterprise teams focused on meeting effectiveness and companies needing multilingual support with real-time translation capabilities.

Both tools provide standard integrations with popular platforms like HubSpot and Slack, but neither offers the deep workflow automation or comprehensive action-item management that would truly transform meeting follow-up processes. While they excel at capturing and summarizing conversations, users still need to manually process insights and drive actual outcomes from their meetings. The integration capabilities, though present, remain somewhat surface-level and don't fully bridge the gap between meeting content and actionable business processes.

Comparison table

What users say about Fireflies.ai and Read.ai

User reviews of Fireflies.ai are overwhelmingly positive, with the platform earning high ratings across multiple review sites. According to Trustpilot, users consistently praise the tool's reliability and accuracy, with one reviewer noting they use "Fred Fireflies in every meeting" and would be "literally lost without him now." The platform receives particularly strong ratings on G2, where users appreciate how it "makes my work easier" by recording meetings, taking detailed notes, and providing AI-powered summaries through its chatbot feature.

In contrast, Read.ai receives significantly more mixed reviews from users, with notably lower satisfaction ratings. Trustpilot reviews show the platform has a concerning 1.8 rating, with users reporting issues around intrusive practices like forced account creation and unwanted calendar access. While some users find the tool useful, many express frustration with what one reviewer describes as Read.ai being "a strong tool, but it feels a bit vague" according to detailed analysis, citing concerns about efficiency and unnecessary complexity in the user experience.

Users frequently switch away from Fireflies.ai due to limitations in its free tier and feature restrictions. The free plan only offers limited monthly meeting credits and summaries, with video recording restricted to higher-tier plans. This feature gating forces users to upgrade to paid plans to access full functionality, which can be frustrating for individuals or small teams who want to test the platform's capabilities before committing to a subscription.

Another significant reason users abandon Fireflies.ai is the quality issues with transcription accuracy and AI-generated summaries. Users report problems with transcription when dealing with heavy accents, technical jargon, or slang, and several reviewers noted issues with misidentified speakers. Additionally, the AI tends to generate high-level summaries that occasionally lose the original phrasing or tone of conversations, making them less useful for users who need more nuanced or detailed meeting notes.

The user experience also drives people away from Fireflies.ai, particularly around interface design and notification management. Some users find the interface cluttered and difficult to navigate, while others become overwhelmed by excessive email notifications. These usability issues, combined with what users describe as minor but persistent AI inaccuracies throughout the platform, create enough friction that users seek alternatives to Fireflies.ai with cleaner interfaces and more reliable performance.

One major reason users switch away from Read.ai is the restrictive free tier limitations. The free plan only allows 5 meeting transcripts per month with basic summaries and analytics, which many users find too limiting compared to competitors that offer more generous free tiers. This constraint becomes particularly problematic for individuals or small teams who need to regularly transcribe meetings but aren't ready to commit to the paid plans, which start at $19.75 per user per month.

Another significant factor driving users away is the complexity and cluttered nature of the user interface. With Read.ai's extensive feature set including notes, analytics, engagement scores, sentiment analysis, and search capabilities, the platform can feel overwhelming and confusing to navigate. Some users have specifically noted that the learning curve is higher than expected, with one review describing it as "confusing" and not as time-saving as anticipated. This complexity can be particularly off-putting for users who simply want straightforward meeting transcription and summaries without the additional analytics layers.

Privacy concerns also contribute to user churn, particularly around the social dynamics of meeting participation. Users have raised concerns about joining others' meetings with Read.ai without explicit consent, which can create boundary issues in professional settings. This privacy consideration becomes especially relevant in sensitive business discussions or when working with external clients who may not be comfortable with AI meeting assistants analyzing their conversations and generating engagement metrics about their participation.

Using Fireflies.ai

Does Fireflies.ai work for in-person meetings?

Yes, Fireflies.ai works for in-person meetings through its mobile app, which can record in-person meetings and voice notes.

Does Fireflies.ai require a meeting bot to join the meeting?

Yes, Fireflies.ai works by sending a bot participant called "Fred" that joins meetings to record, transcribe, and summarize discussions across platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Webex.

What do users say about the quality of Fireflies.ai transcriptions?

Users generally report good transcription quality, with many highlighting that it accurately captures meeting content even in other languages like Dutch. However, some users note that transcription accuracy can decrease with heavy accents or technical jargon, and there are occasional issues with misidentified speakers or missed slang.

How does Fireflies.ai help users follow up on action items?

Fireflies.ai delivers summaries and bullet-point action items within minutes after a call, which users find extremely helpful for follow-ups. It can auto-log notes to CRM systems for contacts and deals, and can create tasks in project management tools like Asana through its integrations.

Does Fireflies.ai integrate with software like Hubspot, Salesforce, or Linear?

Yes, Fireflies.ai offers dozens of integrations including native integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce, and Slack, as well as additional integrations available through Zapier.

Using Read.ai

Does Read.ai work for in-person meetings?

Yes, Read.ai works for in-person meetings. The iOS app can capture in-person and offline meetings with one tap.

Does Read.ai require a meeting bot to join the meeting?

No, Read.ai does not require meeting bots. It records virtual meetings via cloud or extension, and offline audio via mobile app.

What do users say about the quality of Read.ai transcriptions?

Users appreciate that Read.ai provides "smart" summaries that capture questions asked and topics discussed. The platform supports 16+ languages and even offers real-time translation, which appeals to global teams.

How does Read.ai help users follow up on action items?

Read.ai generates reports after meetings that include key points and action items. The AI "Copilot" provides summaries and can auto-sync notes to CRM systems to help with follow-ups.

Does Read.ai integrate with software like Hubspot, Salesforce, or Linear?

Yes, Read.ai has robust integrations including HubSpot, Salesforce, Confluence, Jira, Notion, and Slack. Users looking for alternatives to Read.ai often consider these integration capabilities as a key decision factor.

Another alternative: Circleback

Circleback provides best-in-class AI-powered meeting notes and automations. We support over 100 languages and automatic participant identification in both in-person and online meetings.

• Automatically-identified and assigned action items

• AI-enabled search across all meetings

• Automations with 100+ app integrations

• Industry-leading security with SOC 2 Type II, EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and HIPAA compliance

• Ability to capture both online and in-person meetings with desktop and mobile apps