{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Dataset", "@id": "https://circleback.ai/compare/fireflies-ai-vs-read-ai#dataset", "schemaVersion": 4, "type": "SoftwareApplicationComparison", "slug": "fireflies-ai-vs-read-ai", "url": "https://circleback.ai/compare/fireflies-ai-vs-read-ai", "canonicalUrl": "https://circleback.ai/compare/fireflies-ai-vs-read-ai", "title": "Fireflies vs Read AI: pricing, features, and which is better", "description": "Compare Fireflies vs Read AI on pricing, notes, action items, recordings, capture, and integrations. Source-backed research with candid tradeoffs.", "inLanguage": "en-US", "isAccessibleForFree": true, "representations": { "html": "https://circleback.ai/compare/fireflies-ai-vs-read-ai", "markdown": "https://circleback.ai/compare/fireflies-ai-vs-read-ai.md", "json": "https://circleback.ai/compare/fireflies-ai-vs-read-ai.json", "describedBy": "https://circleback.ai/compare/llms.txt" }, "editorialPerspective": "Neutral competitor comparison; Circleback is presented only as a labeled third option.", "verdict": "Choose Fireflies for capture breadth, a team task feed, integrations, and developer surfaces. Choose Read AI for live engagement and sentiment analytics plus search across connected workplace content.", "products": [ { "id": "fireflies-ai", "name": "Fireflies.ai", "shortName": "Fireflies", "logoPath": "/logos/fireflies.svg", "website": "https://fireflies.ai", "tagline": "Broad capture and integrations, with AI assistants for sales and live meetings.", "positioning": "Fireflies is one of the broadest meeting assistants: bot, desktop, mobile, integrations, search, API, and live or sales assistance. The nuanced bit is that its capture modes are not equivalent—bot-free desktop gives up recordings, named speakers, and Sales Assist.", "bestFor": "Teams that prioritize a large integration catalog, live assistance, sales workflows, flexible bot/desktop/mobile capture, and competitive pricing.", "lessIdealFor": "Teams that expect bot-free capture to preserve the same media, speaker fidelity, and sales intelligence as the bot experience.", "decisionSummary": { "fit": "Live assistance and a broad integration catalog", "chooseFor": [ "Live meeting help", "Lots of integrations at a low price" ], "watchFor": [ "Bot-free mode loses media and names", "Free unlimited requires share-all" ] }, "pricing": { "headline": "Free; Pro from $10/user/month annually", "detail": "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.", "freePlan": "Yes. Unlimited transcription requires both Auto-join and Share-all; otherwise initial transcription credits, storage limits, and plan-gated summaries or AI features apply." }, "strengths": [ "Bot, bot-free macOS/Windows, iOS/Android, uploads, and supported native meeting SDK paths.", "A large integration catalog, public API, webhooks, remote MCP, AI apps, live assistance, and Sales Assist.", "Automatically generated and assigned action items live in a team-wide task feed and can flow into tools such as Linear, Asana, Monday.com, and Microsoft Planner.", "Competitive pricing and 100+ language claims make it accessible to distributed teams.", "Meeting content is not used to train internal or external AI models, and compliance modes can retain the full record, text only, summary only, or summary plus audio." ], "tradeoffs": [ "Bot-free desktop mode stores no audio/video, labels speakers generically, and cannot run Sales Assist.", "Fireflies says mobile recordings often do not auto-detect speakers, so in-person transcripts may need manual speaker relabeling.", "The Google Meet SDK bot-free path asks attendees for approval, so “bot-free” does not always mean invisible or frictionless.", "The advertised unlimited free transcription is conditional: users must enable both automatic bot joining and automatic sharing with every participant. Teams choosing tighter defaults fall back to a small transcription-credit allowance.", "Meeting recaps default to workspace-wide access plus anyone with the link. Admins can enforce safer defaults and Enterprise rules can protect sensitive categories, but teams should configure this before broad rollout.", "Two current Fireflies help articles disagree on whether Free includes 400 or 800 stored minutes, so confirm the live limit before relying on long-term free storage.", "Advanced AI features use workspace-pooled credits that do not increase with seat count, so heavier teams may need a paid credit add-on.", "The GraphQL API exposes transcripts and core meeting data but not Super Summaries or Custom Apps output.", "The MCP server is much richer than the older API-only story, but some advanced search and fetch tools are still marked experimental, and data sent to an external AI no longer receives Fireflies’ zero-data-retention guarantee.", "Company relationship context and general-purpose native automations are less cohesive than the sheer integration count suggests." ], "chooseIf": [ "A large integration catalog and live assistance are high priorities.", "You are happy to use the Fireflies bot when you need recordings, named speakers, and Sales Assist.", "You want mobile and desktop capture at a lower entry price than many competitors." ], "features": { "capture": { "summary": "Bot, bot-free desktop, mobile, and SDK-based capture", "detail": "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.", "level": "strong" }, "platforms": { "summary": "Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android", "detail": "Desktop supports system-audio recording and live assistance. Mobile supports in-person recording, reviewing meetings, search, sharing, and tasks.", "level": "strong" }, "inPerson": { "summary": "Mobile and desktop room capture", "detail": "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.", "level": "strong" }, "recordings": { "summary": "Bot mode saves AV; bot-free desktop saves neither", "detail": "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.", "level": "available" }, "notesAndSearch": { "summary": "Notes, search, and a workspace-wide assigned task feed", "detail": "Fireflies offers strong meeting search and multiple AI surfaces. 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.", "level": "strong" }, "companyMemory": { "summary": "Meeting channels and cross-meeting search", "detail": "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.", "level": "available" }, "sharing": { "summary": "Enterprise rules can auto-route, share, and enforce privacy", "detail": "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. This is genuinely strong automation. The default recap visibility is broader than many buyers expect—teammates plus anyone holding the link—so configure the workspace default deliberately.", "level": "strong" }, "automations": { "summary": "Meeting rules, AI apps, CRM workflows, and automatic task handoff", "detail": "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.", "level": "strong" }, "integrations": { "summary": "100+ integrations plus Zapier and API", "detail": "Breadth is a major advantage across CRM, collaboration, storage, dialers, and productivity tools. Verify the plan required for each connector and direction of sync.", "level": "strong" }, "agentsAndApi": { "summary": "GraphQL API, webhooks, and a rich remote MCP server", "detail": "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.", "level": "strong" }, "admin": { "summary": "Business and Enterprise governance", "detail": "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.", "level": "strong" }, "languages": { "summary": "100+ languages advertised", "detail": "Fireflies advertises broad transcription coverage. Real-world speaker separation and accuracy still depend on capture mode, room acoustics, accents, and vocabulary.", "level": "strong" } }, "sources": [ { "label": "Fireflies pricing guide", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/3734844560-learn-about-the-fireflies-pricing-plans", "note": "July 2026 prices and plan structure." }, { "label": "Fireflies unlimited free transcripts", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/8632872350-how-to-get-unlimited-meeting-transcripts-on-fireflies-ai-s-free-plan", "note": "Auto-join and Share-all requirements for unlimited free transcription." }, { "label": "Fireflies storage limits", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4777633252-learn-about-meeting-storage-limits", "note": "Current storage limits by plan; its Free figure conflicts with an older Free-plan article." }, { "label": "Fireflies bot-free desktop recording", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/6666374717-how-to-record-meetings-without-a-bot-on-the-fireflies-desktop-app", "note": "No AV files, generic speakers, and Sales Assist limitation." }, { "label": "Fireflies desktop app", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/1208704416-getting-started-with-the-fireflies-desktop-app", "note": "Capture modes, Live Assist, and bot versus botless behavior." }, { "label": "Fireflies mobile app", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/8937818258-learn-about-fireflies-mobile-app", "note": "iOS/Android in-person recording, search, sharing, and tasks." }, { "label": "Fireflies speaker labels", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4994477228-how-to-edit-speaker-labels-or-names-in-a-transcript", "note": "Manual corrections and the mobile-recording speaker-detection caveat." }, { "label": "Fireflies API", "url": "https://docs.fireflies.ai/introduction", "note": "GraphQL authentication, user/admin scope, available meeting data, and current Super Summary/Custom Apps gaps." }, { "label": "Fireflies MCP tools", "url": "https://docs.fireflies.ai/mcp-tools/overview", "note": "Remote MCP authentication, full meeting-data access, read/write tools, and experimental-tool status." }, { "label": "Fireflies AI credits", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/9606045468-fireflies-billing-terms", "note": "Workspace-pooled credit allowances, non-seat scaling, and add-on behavior." }, { "label": "Fireflies Tasks Feed", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/1574234155-learn-about-the-tasks-feed", "note": "Automatic task generation and assignment, all-team task views, completion, reassignment, and project-tool handoff." }, { "label": "Fireflies Linear integration", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/8360629677-how-to-integrate-linear-with-fireflies", "note": "Automatic issue creation, project and status routing, assigned-task filtering, and meeting-rule conditions." }, { "label": "Fireflies integration directory", "url": "https://fireflies.ai/integrations", "note": "Current first-party directory advertising 100+ integrations across CRM, project, collaboration, storage, and other categories." }, { "label": "Fireflies Rules Engine", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4608292950-learn-about-the-rules-engine-feature", "note": "Enterprise conditions and actions for routing, automatic sharing, privacy enforcement, and deletion." }, { "label": "Fireflies recap privacy defaults", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/5319481450-how-to-configure-privacy-settings-for-your-meeting-recaps", "note": "Default teammates-and-link visibility, narrower audience choices, and retroactive privacy changes." }, { "label": "Fireflies data safety", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/2154538358-policy-on-keeping-information-safe", "note": "No-training and third-party zero-retention commitments plus governance controls." }, { "label": "Fireflies compliance recording modes", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/3598930706-set-up-transcript-only-mode-for-compliance", "note": "Full-record, text-only, summary-only, and summary-plus-audio retention modes." }, { "label": "Fireflies Enterprise controls", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4771323041-learn-about-fireflies-enterprise-plan", "note": "SSO, SCIM, private storage, retention, and Super Admin access behavior." } ] }, { "id": "read-ai", "name": "Read AI", "shortName": "Read AI", "logoPath": "/marketing/comparisons/logos/read-ai.png", "website": "https://www.read.ai", "tagline": "Meeting summaries plus live engagement analytics and search across workplace content.", "positioning": "Read AI goes beyond notes with live engagement, sentiment, speaker metrics, Search Copilot, and access across meetings and other work sources. Its pricing looks approachable until recording playback and governance requirements push a team into Enterprise tiers.", "bestFor": "Teams that value live engagement/sentiment signals, speaker analytics, coaching, and a search assistant spanning multiple workplace content sources.", "lessIdealFor": "Teams that want recordings on ordinary plans, dislike behavioral scoring in meetings, need free viewer economics, or want simple transparent governance below Enterprise+.", "decisionSummary": { "fit": "Live engagement, sentiment, and speaker analytics", "chooseFor": [ "Manager coaching signals", "Cross-tool workplace search" ], "watchFor": [ "Playback requires Enterprise", "API/MCP beta; no static keys" ] }, "pricing": { "headline": "Free for 5 meetings/month; Pro from $15/user/month annually", "detail": "Prices are per user/month: Pro is $15 with annual billing or $19.75 month-to-month; Enterprise is $22.50 or $29.75 and adds playback; Enterprise+ is $29.75 or $39.75 and adds advanced retention, domain, SAML, and HIPAA-related options, with a five-license minimum.", "freePlan": "Yes: five meetings per month." }, "strengths": [ "Distinctive live engagement, sentiment, speaker, and meeting-quality analytics.", "Search Copilot reaches beyond meetings into connected email, messaging, and document sources.", "Automatic recaps and recurring-meeting pre-reads can carry action items and open questions into email, Slack, or Teams.", "Current macOS/Windows desktop plus iOS and Android in-person capture broaden the product beyond a meeting bot.", "Its open-beta REST API and MCP expose full speaker-labeled transcripts, summaries, actions, metrics, and recording download URLs for meetings the user can access." ], "tradeoffs": [ "Audio/video playback requires Enterprise or Enterprise+, while lower-tier source media is deleted after the documented grace period.", "Advanced retention, SAML, domain controls, and HIPAA support require Enterprise+ and its license minimum.", "Engagement and sentiment scoring can be useful for coaching but uncomfortable or noisy for some company cultures.", "Workspace licensing does not offer the same free-viewer model as some competitors.", "The API and MCP are open beta: OAuth tokens are short-lived, static keys/client credentials are not supported, and several app features and file upload are not exposed.", "Read says meeting data is not used for AI training without explicit opt-in, but its Customer Experience Improvement Program is enabled on an opt-out basis for product evaluation.", "Simply removing a person from a workspace does not revoke their account access or transfer their reports. Admins must deactivate the account and transfer workspace-owned reports as separate offboarding steps." ], "chooseIf": [ "Live engagement and speaker analytics are genuinely useful to your managers or facilitators.", "You want AI search across meetings plus connected workplace sources.", "You are comfortable with Enterprise pricing for playback and Enterprise+ for stronger governance." ], "features": { "capture": { "summary": "Meeting bot, macOS/Windows desktop, and mobile", "detail": "The assistant can join scheduled calls, while desktop records device audio without relying solely on a bot. Disclosure and opt-out flows remain part of the participant experience.", "level": "strong" }, "platforms": { "summary": "Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android", "detail": "Desktop captures device audio for online meetings. The iPhone and Android apps record in-person conversations and put their reports beside Zoom, Meet, and Teams meetings; neither mobile app can record another app or phone call using the same microphone.", "level": "strong" }, "inPerson": { "summary": "iOS and Android real-time transcript and summary", "detail": "Both mobile apps record room conversations with a live transcript and summary. They do not capture phone calls, FaceTime, or a virtual-meeting app on the same device. In shared-room audio, distinct voices may begin as Conference Room — Speaker 1, Speaker 2, and so on; owners and editors can rename or reassign them afterward.", "level": "strong" }, "recordings": { "summary": "Playback only on Enterprise and Enterprise+", "detail": "Pro and free users can receive notes and transcripts, but source media is not a durable playback library. Read documents a 30-day grace period before lower-tier media deletion.", "level": "limited" }, "notesAndSearch": { "summary": "Summaries, action items, Search Copilot, and coaching analytics", "detail": "Read’s differentiated layer is live and post-meeting intelligence: engagement, sentiment, speaker stats, action items, and search across connected content. Recommendations can resurface recent work assigned to the user, but Read does not document a full workspace-wide task board with assignee and completion management comparable to dedicated action trackers.", "level": "strong" }, "companyMemory": { "summary": "Cross-source Search Copilot", "detail": "Search can span meetings, email, messages, and documents, which is broader than a transcript library. The experience is a search layer rather than explicit relationship timelines and upcoming-event pages.", "level": "strong" }, "sharing": { "summary": "Workspace-wide participant and team report access", "detail": "Workspace admins can set automatic report access for internal or external participants and give teams role-based access to matching reports, including retroactive access. Owners can send recaps and recurring-meeting pre-reads through email, Slack, or Teams. Participant rules use calendar invitees, including no-shows, and the owner’s settings govern each report, so teams should configure workspace controls deliberately.", "level": "strong" }, "automations": { "summary": "Recaps, pre-reads, scheduled updates, and agent actions", "detail": "Read can send post-meeting recaps, recurring-meeting pre-reads, and scheduled topic updates, while Ask Read actions can draft and send email, create calendar events, and update HubSpot after user approval. It is more opinionated around its own agents and intelligence outputs than a general meeting trigger/condition/action canvas.", "level": "available" }, "integrations": { "summary": "Calendar, conferencing, email, messaging, documents, and premium connectors", "detail": "Search Copilot’s cross-source coverage is a strength, although connector eligibility varies by paid plan.", "level": "strong" }, "agentsAndApi": { "summary": "Open-beta REST API and MCP with full meeting reports", "detail": "Read’s API and remote MCP can return meeting metadata, participants, summaries, chapters, action items, topics, metrics, full speaker-labeled transcripts, and recording-download URLs. They are open beta, use browser OAuth with short-lived rotating tokens, lack service credentials and file upload, and only reach reports the user can access unless an admin enables global report access.", "level": "available" }, "admin": { "summary": "Core admin on Enterprise; advanced governance on Enterprise+", "detail": "Retention, domain controls, SAML, and HIPAA-related capabilities are concentrated in Enterprise+. That plan currently carries a five-license minimum.", "level": "strong" }, "languages": { "summary": "Read’s pricing page says 20+; its detail table says 16+", "detail": "Read’s current pricing page uses “20+ languages” in the Free plan card but “16+ languages” in the detailed comparison table. The coverage is useful but materially narrower on paper than competitors advertising 75 or 100+; verify the language you need rather than relying on the headline count.", "level": "available" } }, "sources": [ { "label": "Read AI pricing", "url": "https://www.read.ai/plans-pricing", "note": "Current meeting limits, prices, languages, playback gate, governance, and Enterprise+ minimum." }, { "label": "Read AI desktop app", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/45911611006995-How-to-Use-Read-s-Desktop-App-for-Windows-and-Mac", "note": "Device-audio recording and participant disclosure behavior." }, { "label": "Read AI iPhone app", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/34467337929107-Read-AI-App-for-iPhone", "note": "In-person real-time transcript and summary." }, { "label": "Read AI Android app", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/51863250182291-Read-AI-App-for-Android", "note": "Android in-person capture, live transcript and summary, and report access." }, { "label": "Read AI mobile capture limits", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/51863422605203-Can-I-use-Read-s-mobile-app-to-record-calls-from-my-phone", "note": "Phone-call and same-device virtual-meeting limitations across iOS and Android." }, { "label": "Read AI speaker editing", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/36169538719379-Can-I-edit-text-and-speaker-names-in-my-meeting-report", "note": "Generic same-room labels plus transcript-wide speaker renaming and turn reassignment." }, { "label": "Read AI recording availability", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/15107171454739-Why-can-t-I-see-recordings-in-my-report-when-I-received-a-recording-notification-in-my-meeting", "note": "Enterprise playback requirement and lower-plan source-media deletion." }, { "label": "Read AI workspace sharing settings", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/7962819152659-What-are-all-of-the-settings-and-permissions-available-with-Workspaces", "note": "Participant auto-sharing, team report access, and workspace distribution controls." }, { "label": "Read AI report distribution", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/23219401248019-How-do-I-control-meeting-report-sharing-and-distribution", "note": "Owner-level participant sharing, invitee behavior, email/Slack/Teams recaps, recurring-meeting pre-reads, and workspace controls." }, { "label": "Read AI actions", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/48863788829971-Using-Ask-Read-actions", "note": "Agent actions for HubSpot updates, approved email sending, calendar creation, and scheduled reports." }, { "label": "Read AI API and MCP overview", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/49379985941523-Read-AI-API-and-MCP-Overview", "note": "Open-beta scope, prerequisites, OAuth and rate-limit constraints, permissions, and current feature gaps." }, { "label": "Read AI MCP tools", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/49381158409491-MCP-Server", "note": "Full transcript, summary, action, metric, recording-download, agent-dispatch, and sharing tools." }, { "label": "Read AI data handling", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/52055801266579-What-Does-Read-AI-Do-With-My-Data-Read-AI", "note": "Storage, access, AI-training consent, and the opt-out Customer Experience Improvement Program." }, { "label": "Read AI workspace offboarding", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/27433066427283-How-do-I-offboard-someone-from-my-Read-workspace", "note": "Account deactivation, report transfer, and the limits of simply removing a workspace member." } ] } ], "dimensions": [ { "key": "capture", "label": "Capture options", "lead": "Both products document broad support for capture options, with different scope and plan limits.", "analysis": "Fireflies: 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. Read AI: The assistant can join scheduled calls, while desktop records device audio without relying solely on a bot. Disclosure and opt-out flows remain part of the participant experience.", "productA": { "id": "fireflies-ai", "name": "Fireflies.ai", "summary": "Bot, bot-free desktop, mobile, and SDK-based capture", "detail": "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.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Fireflies bot-free desktop recording", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/6666374717-how-to-record-meetings-without-a-bot-on-the-fireflies-desktop-app", "note": "No AV files, generic speakers, and Sales Assist limitation." }, { "label": "Fireflies desktop app", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/1208704416-getting-started-with-the-fireflies-desktop-app", "note": "Capture modes, Live Assist, and bot versus botless behavior." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "read-ai", "name": "Read AI", "summary": "Meeting bot, macOS/Windows desktop, and mobile", "detail": "The assistant can join scheduled calls, while desktop records device audio without relying solely on a bot. Disclosure and opt-out flows remain part of the participant experience.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Read AI desktop app", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/45911611006995-How-to-Use-Read-s-Desktop-App-for-Windows-and-Mac", "note": "Device-audio recording and participant disclosure behavior." } ] } }, { "key": "platforms", "label": "Desktop and mobile", "lead": "Both products document broad support for desktop and mobile, with different scope and plan limits.", "analysis": "Fireflies: Desktop supports system-audio recording and live assistance. Mobile supports in-person recording, reviewing meetings, search, sharing, and tasks. Read AI: Desktop captures device audio for online meetings. The iPhone and Android apps record in-person conversations and put their reports beside Zoom, Meet, and Teams meetings; neither mobile app can record another app or phone call using the same microphone.", "productA": { "id": "fireflies-ai", "name": "Fireflies.ai", "summary": "Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android", "detail": "Desktop supports system-audio recording and live assistance. Mobile supports in-person recording, reviewing meetings, search, sharing, and tasks.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Fireflies desktop app", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/1208704416-getting-started-with-the-fireflies-desktop-app", "note": "Capture modes, Live Assist, and bot versus botless behavior." }, { "label": "Fireflies mobile app", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/8937818258-learn-about-fireflies-mobile-app", "note": "iOS/Android in-person recording, search, sharing, and tasks." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "read-ai", "name": "Read AI", "summary": "Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android", "detail": "Desktop captures device audio for online meetings. The iPhone and Android apps record in-person conversations and put their reports beside Zoom, Meet, and Teams meetings; neither mobile app can record another app or phone call using the same microphone.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Read AI desktop app", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/45911611006995-How-to-Use-Read-s-Desktop-App-for-Windows-and-Mac", "note": "Device-audio recording and participant disclosure behavior." }, { "label": "Read AI iPhone app", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/34467337929107-Read-AI-App-for-iPhone", "note": "In-person real-time transcript and summary." }, { "label": "Read AI Android app", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/51863250182291-Read-AI-App-for-Android", "note": "Android in-person capture, live transcript and summary, and report access." } ] } }, { "key": "inPerson", "label": "In-person capture and speaker labels", "lead": "Both products document broad support for in-person capture and speaker labels, with different scope and plan limits.", "analysis": "Fireflies: 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. Read AI: Both mobile apps record room conversations with a live transcript and summary. They do not capture phone calls, FaceTime, or a virtual-meeting app on the same device. In shared-room audio, distinct voices may begin as Conference Room — Speaker 1, Speaker 2, and so on; owners and editors can rename or reassign them afterward.", "productA": { "id": "fireflies-ai", "name": "Fireflies.ai", "summary": "Mobile and desktop room capture", "detail": "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.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Fireflies mobile app", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/8937818258-learn-about-fireflies-mobile-app", "note": "iOS/Android in-person recording, search, sharing, and tasks." }, { "label": "Fireflies speaker labels", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4994477228-how-to-edit-speaker-labels-or-names-in-a-transcript", "note": "Manual corrections and the mobile-recording speaker-detection caveat." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "read-ai", "name": "Read AI", "summary": "iOS and Android real-time transcript and summary", "detail": "Both mobile apps record room conversations with a live transcript and summary. They do not capture phone calls, FaceTime, or a virtual-meeting app on the same device. In shared-room audio, distinct voices may begin as Conference Room — Speaker 1, Speaker 2, and so on; owners and editors can rename or reassign them afterward.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Read AI iPhone app", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/34467337929107-Read-AI-App-for-iPhone", "note": "In-person real-time transcript and summary." }, { "label": "Read AI Android app", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/51863250182291-Read-AI-App-for-Android", "note": "Android in-person capture, live transcript and summary, and report access." }, { "label": "Read AI mobile capture limits", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/51863422605203-Can-I-use-Read-s-mobile-app-to-record-calls-from-my-phone", "note": "Phone-call and same-device virtual-meeting limitations across iOS and Android." }, { "label": "Read AI speaker editing", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/36169538719379-Can-I-edit-text-and-speaker-names-in-my-meeting-report", "note": "Generic same-room labels plus transcript-wide speaker renaming and turn reassignment." } ] } }, { "key": "recordings", "label": "Recordings, playback, and clips", "lead": "Fireflies has broader documented support for recordings, playback, and clips.", "analysis": "Fireflies: 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. Read AI: Pro and free users can receive notes and transcripts, but source media is not a durable playback library. Read documents a 30-day grace period before lower-tier media deletion.", "productA": { "id": "fireflies-ai", "name": "Fireflies.ai", "summary": "Bot mode saves AV; bot-free desktop saves neither", "detail": "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.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Fireflies bot-free desktop recording", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/6666374717-how-to-record-meetings-without-a-bot-on-the-fireflies-desktop-app", "note": "No AV files, generic speakers, and Sales Assist limitation." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "read-ai", "name": "Read AI", "summary": "Playback only on Enterprise and Enterprise+", "detail": "Pro and free users can receive notes and transcripts, but source media is not a durable playback library. Read documents a 30-day grace period before lower-tier media deletion.", "level": "limited", "sources": [ { "label": "Read AI recording availability", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/15107171454739-Why-can-t-I-see-recordings-in-my-report-when-I-received-a-recording-notification-in-my-meeting", "note": "Enterprise playback requirement and lower-plan source-media deletion." }, { "label": "Read AI pricing", "url": "https://www.read.ai/plans-pricing", "note": "Current meeting limits, prices, languages, playback gate, governance, and Enterprise+ minimum." } ] } }, { "key": "notesAndSearch", "label": "Notes, action items, and search", "lead": "Both products document broad support for notes, action items, and search, with different scope and plan limits.", "analysis": "Fireflies: Fireflies offers strong meeting search and multiple AI surfaces. 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. Read AI: Read’s differentiated layer is live and post-meeting intelligence: engagement, sentiment, speaker stats, action items, and search across connected content. Recommendations can resurface recent work assigned to the user, but Read does not document a full workspace-wide task board with assignee and completion management comparable to dedicated action trackers.", "productA": { "id": "fireflies-ai", "name": "Fireflies.ai", "summary": "Notes, search, and a workspace-wide assigned task feed", "detail": "Fireflies offers strong meeting search and multiple AI surfaces. 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.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Fireflies pricing guide", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/3734844560-learn-about-the-fireflies-pricing-plans", "note": "July 2026 prices and plan structure." }, { "label": "Fireflies AI credits", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/9606045468-fireflies-billing-terms", "note": "Workspace-pooled credit allowances, non-seat scaling, and add-on behavior." }, { "label": "Fireflies Tasks Feed", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/1574234155-learn-about-the-tasks-feed", "note": "Automatic task generation and assignment, all-team task views, completion, reassignment, and project-tool handoff." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "read-ai", "name": "Read AI", "summary": "Summaries, action items, Search Copilot, and coaching analytics", "detail": "Read’s differentiated layer is live and post-meeting intelligence: engagement, sentiment, speaker stats, action items, and search across connected content. Recommendations can resurface recent work assigned to the user, but Read does not document a full workspace-wide task board with assignee and completion management comparable to dedicated action trackers.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Read AI pricing", "url": "https://www.read.ai/plans-pricing", "note": "Current meeting limits, prices, languages, playback gate, governance, and Enterprise+ minimum." }, { "label": "Read AI report distribution", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/23219401248019-How-do-I-control-meeting-report-sharing-and-distribution", "note": "Owner-level participant sharing, invitee behavior, email/Slack/Teams recaps, recurring-meeting pre-reads, and workspace controls." } ] } }, { "key": "companyMemory", "label": "People, companies, and context", "lead": "Read AI has broader documented support for people, companies, and context.", "analysis": "Fireflies: 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. Read AI: Search can span meetings, email, messages, and documents, which is broader than a transcript library. The experience is a search layer rather than explicit relationship timelines and upcoming-event pages.", "productA": { "id": "fireflies-ai", "name": "Fireflies.ai", "summary": "Meeting channels and cross-meeting search", "detail": "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.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Fireflies pricing guide", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/3734844560-learn-about-the-fireflies-pricing-plans", "note": "July 2026 prices and plan structure." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "read-ai", "name": "Read AI", "summary": "Cross-source Search Copilot", "detail": "Search can span meetings, email, messages, and documents, which is broader than a transcript library. The experience is a search layer rather than explicit relationship timelines and upcoming-event pages.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Read AI pricing", "url": "https://www.read.ai/plans-pricing", "note": "Current meeting limits, prices, languages, playback gate, governance, and Enterprise+ minimum." } ] } }, { "key": "sharing", "label": "Automatic sharing and workspace defaults", "lead": "Both products document broad support for automatic sharing and workspace defaults, with different scope and plan limits.", "analysis": "Fireflies: 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. This is genuinely strong automation. The default recap visibility is broader than many buyers expect—teammates plus anyone holding the link—so configure the workspace default deliberately. Read AI: Workspace admins can set automatic report access for internal or external participants and give teams role-based access to matching reports, including retroactive access. Owners can send recaps and recurring-meeting pre-reads through email, Slack, or Teams. Participant rules use calendar invitees, including no-shows, and the owner’s settings govern each report, so teams should configure workspace controls deliberately.", "productA": { "id": "fireflies-ai", "name": "Fireflies.ai", "summary": "Enterprise rules can auto-route, share, and enforce privacy", "detail": "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. This is genuinely strong automation. The default recap visibility is broader than many buyers expect—teammates plus anyone holding the link—so configure the workspace default deliberately.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Fireflies Rules Engine", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4608292950-learn-about-the-rules-engine-feature", "note": "Enterprise conditions and actions for routing, automatic sharing, privacy enforcement, and deletion." }, { "label": "Fireflies recap privacy defaults", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/5319481450-how-to-configure-privacy-settings-for-your-meeting-recaps", "note": "Default teammates-and-link visibility, narrower audience choices, and retroactive privacy changes." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "read-ai", "name": "Read AI", "summary": "Workspace-wide participant and team report access", "detail": "Workspace admins can set automatic report access for internal or external participants and give teams role-based access to matching reports, including retroactive access. Owners can send recaps and recurring-meeting pre-reads through email, Slack, or Teams. Participant rules use calendar invitees, including no-shows, and the owner’s settings govern each report, so teams should configure workspace controls deliberately.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Read AI workspace sharing settings", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/7962819152659-What-are-all-of-the-settings-and-permissions-available-with-Workspaces", "note": "Participant auto-sharing, team report access, and workspace distribution controls." }, { "label": "Read AI report distribution", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/23219401248019-How-do-I-control-meeting-report-sharing-and-distribution", "note": "Owner-level participant sharing, invitee behavior, email/Slack/Teams recaps, recurring-meeting pre-reads, and workspace controls." } ] } }, { "key": "automations", "label": "Automations", "lead": "Fireflies has broader documented support for automations.", "analysis": "Fireflies: 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. Read AI: Read can send post-meeting recaps, recurring-meeting pre-reads, and scheduled topic updates, while Ask Read actions can draft and send email, create calendar events, and update HubSpot after user approval. It is more opinionated around its own agents and intelligence outputs than a general meeting trigger/condition/action canvas.", "productA": { "id": "fireflies-ai", "name": "Fireflies.ai", "summary": "Meeting rules, AI apps, CRM workflows, and automatic task handoff", "detail": "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.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Fireflies Rules Engine", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4608292950-learn-about-the-rules-engine-feature", "note": "Enterprise conditions and actions for routing, automatic sharing, privacy enforcement, and deletion." }, { "label": "Fireflies pricing guide", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/3734844560-learn-about-the-fireflies-pricing-plans", "note": "July 2026 prices and plan structure." }, { "label": "Fireflies Tasks Feed", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/1574234155-learn-about-the-tasks-feed", "note": "Automatic task generation and assignment, all-team task views, completion, reassignment, and project-tool handoff." }, { "label": "Fireflies Linear integration", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/8360629677-how-to-integrate-linear-with-fireflies", "note": "Automatic issue creation, project and status routing, assigned-task filtering, and meeting-rule conditions." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "read-ai", "name": "Read AI", "summary": "Recaps, pre-reads, scheduled updates, and agent actions", "detail": "Read can send post-meeting recaps, recurring-meeting pre-reads, and scheduled topic updates, while Ask Read actions can draft and send email, create calendar events, and update HubSpot after user approval. It is more opinionated around its own agents and intelligence outputs than a general meeting trigger/condition/action canvas.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Read AI report distribution", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/23219401248019-How-do-I-control-meeting-report-sharing-and-distribution", "note": "Owner-level participant sharing, invitee behavior, email/Slack/Teams recaps, recurring-meeting pre-reads, and workspace controls." }, { "label": "Read AI actions", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/48863788829971-Using-Ask-Read-actions", "note": "Agent actions for HubSpot updates, approved email sending, calendar creation, and scheduled reports." } ] } }, { "key": "integrations", "label": "Integrations", "lead": "Both products document broad support for integrations, with different scope and plan limits.", "analysis": "Fireflies: Breadth is a major advantage across CRM, collaboration, storage, dialers, and productivity tools. Verify the plan required for each connector and direction of sync. Read AI: Search Copilot’s cross-source coverage is a strength, although connector eligibility varies by paid plan.", "productA": { "id": "fireflies-ai", "name": "Fireflies.ai", "summary": "100+ integrations plus Zapier and API", "detail": "Breadth is a major advantage across CRM, collaboration, storage, dialers, and productivity tools. Verify the plan required for each connector and direction of sync.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Fireflies integration directory", "url": "https://fireflies.ai/integrations", "note": "Current first-party directory advertising 100+ integrations across CRM, project, collaboration, storage, and other categories." }, { "label": "Fireflies Linear integration", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/8360629677-how-to-integrate-linear-with-fireflies", "note": "Automatic issue creation, project and status routing, assigned-task filtering, and meeting-rule conditions." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "read-ai", "name": "Read AI", "summary": "Calendar, conferencing, email, messaging, documents, and premium connectors", "detail": "Search Copilot’s cross-source coverage is a strength, although connector eligibility varies by paid plan.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Read AI pricing", "url": "https://www.read.ai/plans-pricing", "note": "Current meeting limits, prices, languages, playback gate, governance, and Enterprise+ minimum." } ] } }, { "key": "agentsAndApi", "label": "API, MCP, CLI, and data portability", "lead": "Fireflies has broader documented support for API, MCP, CLI, and data portability.", "analysis": "Fireflies: 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. Read AI: Read’s API and remote MCP can return meeting metadata, participants, summaries, chapters, action items, topics, metrics, full speaker-labeled transcripts, and recording-download URLs. They are open beta, use browser OAuth with short-lived rotating tokens, lack service credentials and file upload, and only reach reports the user can access unless an admin enables global report access.", "productA": { "id": "fireflies-ai", "name": "Fireflies.ai", "summary": "GraphQL API, webhooks, and a rich remote MCP server", "detail": "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.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Fireflies API", "url": "https://docs.fireflies.ai/introduction", "note": "GraphQL authentication, user/admin scope, available meeting data, and current Super Summary/Custom Apps gaps." }, { "label": "Fireflies MCP tools", "url": "https://docs.fireflies.ai/mcp-tools/overview", "note": "Remote MCP authentication, full meeting-data access, read/write tools, and experimental-tool status." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "read-ai", "name": "Read AI", "summary": "Open-beta REST API and MCP with full meeting reports", "detail": "Read’s API and remote MCP can return meeting metadata, participants, summaries, chapters, action items, topics, metrics, full speaker-labeled transcripts, and recording-download URLs. They are open beta, use browser OAuth with short-lived rotating tokens, lack service credentials and file upload, and only reach reports the user can access unless an admin enables global report access.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Read AI API and MCP overview", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/49379985941523-Read-AI-API-and-MCP-Overview", "note": "Open-beta scope, prerequisites, OAuth and rate-limit constraints, permissions, and current feature gaps." }, { "label": "Read AI MCP tools", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/49381158409491-MCP-Server", "note": "Full transcript, summary, action, metric, recording-download, agent-dispatch, and sharing tools." } ] } }, { "key": "admin", "label": "Security, privacy, and admin", "lead": "Both products document broad support for security, privacy, and admin, with different scope and plan limits.", "analysis": "Fireflies: 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. Read AI: Retention, domain controls, SAML, and HIPAA-related capabilities are concentrated in Enterprise+. That plan currently carries a five-license minimum.", "productA": { "id": "fireflies-ai", "name": "Fireflies.ai", "summary": "Business and Enterprise governance", "detail": "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.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Fireflies pricing guide", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/3734844560-learn-about-the-fireflies-pricing-plans", "note": "July 2026 prices and plan structure." }, { "label": "Fireflies storage limits", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4777633252-learn-about-meeting-storage-limits", "note": "Current storage limits by plan; its Free figure conflicts with an older Free-plan article." }, { "label": "Fireflies Rules Engine", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4608292950-learn-about-the-rules-engine-feature", "note": "Enterprise conditions and actions for routing, automatic sharing, privacy enforcement, and deletion." }, { "label": "Fireflies data safety", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/2154538358-policy-on-keeping-information-safe", "note": "No-training and third-party zero-retention commitments plus governance controls." }, { "label": "Fireflies compliance recording modes", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/3598930706-set-up-transcript-only-mode-for-compliance", "note": "Full-record, text-only, summary-only, and summary-plus-audio retention modes." }, { "label": "Fireflies Enterprise controls", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4771323041-learn-about-fireflies-enterprise-plan", "note": "SSO, SCIM, private storage, retention, and Super Admin access behavior." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "read-ai", "name": "Read AI", "summary": "Core admin on Enterprise; advanced governance on Enterprise+", "detail": "Retention, domain controls, SAML, and HIPAA-related capabilities are concentrated in Enterprise+. That plan currently carries a five-license minimum.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Read AI pricing", "url": "https://www.read.ai/plans-pricing", "note": "Current meeting limits, prices, languages, playback gate, governance, and Enterprise+ minimum." }, { "label": "Read AI workspace sharing settings", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/7962819152659-What-are-all-of-the-settings-and-permissions-available-with-Workspaces", "note": "Participant auto-sharing, team report access, and workspace distribution controls." }, { "label": "Read AI workspace offboarding", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/27433066427283-How-do-I-offboard-someone-from-my-Read-workspace", "note": "Account deactivation, report transfer, and the limits of simply removing a workspace member." }, { "label": "Read AI data handling", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/52055801266579-What-Does-Read-AI-Do-With-My-Data-Read-AI", "note": "Storage, access, AI-training consent, and the opt-out Customer Experience Improvement Program." } ] } }, { "key": "languages", "label": "Languages", "lead": "Fireflies has broader documented support for languages.", "analysis": "Fireflies: Fireflies advertises broad transcription coverage. Real-world speaker separation and accuracy still depend on capture mode, room acoustics, accents, and vocabulary. Read AI: Read’s current pricing page uses “20+ languages” in the Free plan card but “16+ languages” in the detailed comparison table. The coverage is useful but materially narrower on paper than competitors advertising 75 or 100+; verify the language you need rather than relying on the headline count.", "productA": { "id": "fireflies-ai", "name": "Fireflies.ai", "summary": "100+ languages advertised", "detail": "Fireflies advertises broad transcription coverage. Real-world speaker separation and accuracy still depend on capture mode, room acoustics, accents, and vocabulary.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Fireflies pricing guide", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/3734844560-learn-about-the-fireflies-pricing-plans", "note": "July 2026 prices and plan structure." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "read-ai", "name": "Read AI", "summary": "Read’s pricing page says 20+; its detail table says 16+", "detail": "Read’s current pricing page uses “20+ languages” in the Free plan card but “16+ languages” in the detailed comparison table. The coverage is useful but materially narrower on paper than competitors advertising 75 or 100+; verify the language you need rather than relying on the headline count.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Read AI pricing", "url": "https://www.read.ai/plans-pricing", "note": "Current meeting limits, prices, languages, playback gate, governance, and Enterprise+ minimum." } ] } } ], "directComparison": null, "thirdOption": { "product": { "id": "circleback", "name": "Circleback", "shortName": "Circleback", "logoPath": "/logos/circleback_square.png", "website": "https://circleback.ai", "tagline": "Every meeting becomes useful company memory.", "positioning": "Circleback turns online meetings, in-person conversations, and imported calls into one shared company memory. Record with a bot, with the botless desktop app, from an iPhone or Android phone, or on Apple Watch. Every route produces the same speaker-labeled record, detailed notes designed to stand alone, and automatically assigned action items. Sharing rules and automations carry the useful parts into the teams and tools that need them. Circleback is built for people and AI agents: the complete meeting record available to a person is also available programmatically through its API, MCP, and CLI.", "bestFor": "Companies that want one shared meeting system across sales, product, engineering, recruiting, customer success, and leadership—with automatic sharing, function-specific workflows, and complete data for people, agents, and their own software.", "lessIdealFor": "A team that only wants a cheap transcript now and then, or a sales organization buying mainly for forecasting and rep coaching.", "decisionSummary": { "fit": "Every meeting becomes shared, useful company memory", "chooseFor": [ "Detailed notes; always speaker-labeled", "People and AI agents; leading security" ], "watchFor": [ "Paid plans are per user", "Not a forecasting suite" ] }, "pricing": { "headline": "Free; Pro from $15/user/month annually; Business from $25/user/month annually; Enterprise $35/user/month, billed annually", "detail": "Free includes unlimited meetings and members with 30 days of meeting and recording history, limited automations, and API, MCP, and CLI access. Pro adds automations with all integrations, including Notion, HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio, webhooks, and many more apps, plus custom AI insights. Paid prices are per user/month: Pro is $15 with annual billing or $18 month-to-month; Business is $25 or $29; Enterprise is $35 with annual billing only. See https://circleback.ai/pricing for current plan packaging.", "freePlan": "Free includes unlimited meetings and members, with 30 days of meeting and recording history, limited automations, and API, MCP, and CLI access." }, "strengths": [ "Online, in-person, phone, desktop, mobile, Watch, bot, and botless capture all produce a speaker-labeled transcript; every route can keep its recording or discard it after notes are made.", "The notes are detailed enough to stand alone, while automatically assigned action items stay trackable across the workspace and can become issues in Linear or another work tracker.", "Conditional automatic sharing, company context, free viewers, enforced defaults, and actions in connected apps make each meeting useful beyond the person who recorded it.", "Circleback is built for people and AI agents. The complete meeting record available to a person—including the recording, full speaker-labeled transcript, notes, action items, attendees, people, and companies—is also available programmatically through the public API, MCP, and CLI.", "Industry-leading security practices include encryption at rest and in transit, SOC 2 Type II, EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework certification, GDPR support, and HIPAA compliance. Customer data is never used to train models, and an external infrastructure pentest report is available through the security portal." ], "tradeoffs": [ "The Free plan has shorter history and limited automations. Pro adds automations with all integrations, including Notion, HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio, webhooks, and many more apps, plus custom AI insights. A solo user who only wants occasional transcripts may find a more generous free recorder elsewhere.", "It is not a sales forecasting suite. Gong goes further on deal inspection, rep coaching, and forecasting.", "It is not a live meeting coach. Read AI goes further on real-time engagement and sentiment signals, while Krisp specializes in cleaning up audio before it reaches the transcript.", "Circleback’s primary processing operations are in the United States. A company with a hard regional-hosting or on-premises requirement should confirm fit during security review." ], "chooseIf": [ "You want the same speaker-labeled record from an online call, a room, a phone recording, or your Watch.", "You want notes designed to stand alone and follow-through that does not disappear inside each meeting: assigned action items, one workspace-wide list, and a path into your issue tracker.", "You want Circleback to look things up and do the next step in the apps where your team works.", "You want coworkers, ChatGPT, Claude, other agents, and your own tools to use the same company context." ], "features": { "capture": { "summary": "Any meeting, with the same speaker-labeled result", "detail": "Use the meeting bot for scheduled Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, and Webex calls; record locally from macOS or Windows with no bot; use iPhone, Android, or Apple Watch in person; or import a phone call or existing file. Whichever path you take, Circleback processes it into a speaker-labeled transcript, notes, and action items in the same workspace.", "level": "strong" }, "platforms": { "summary": "Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, and Apple Watch", "detail": "Desktop apps handle bot-free system audio and video. The iOS and Android apps record in-person conversations and include Assistant. Apple Watch can record from your wrist without the iPhone nearby, then sends the meeting through the same transcription and notes pipeline.", "level": "strong" }, "inPerson": { "summary": "Phone, desktop, or Watch—with speaker labels", "detail": "Record an in-person meeting from iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, or Apple Watch. Circleback separates and labels the speakers instead of returning one undifferentiated wall of text. Imported phone recordings get the same treatment.", "level": "strong" }, "recordings": { "summary": "A recording when you want one; notes-only when you do not", "detail": "Every capture route can keep the source recording with the meeting. Play it beside the transcript, download it, link to a moment, or make a clip. If you only want notes and the speaker-labeled transcript, turn recording storage off.", "level": "strong" }, "notesAndSearch": { "summary": "Detailed standalone notes, assigned action items, and cited search", "detail": "Our editorial judgment is that Circleback’s notes are more detailed and need less transcript archaeology than the short recaps common in meeting tools. It automatically creates action items, assigns each one to an owner when the conversation makes the owner clear, and gathers work from every meeting in a workspace-wide view where it can be filtered and marked done. Custom insights extract the fields a team cares about, while Assistant searches meetings and connected email with citations.", "level": "strong" }, "companyMemory": { "summary": "A shared company memory, not isolated meeting pages", "detail": "Person and company pages combine rolling summaries, relationship timelines, emails, meetings, attendees, and upcoming events. Search and Assistant work across that context, so a conversation stays useful to the next person and the next team.", "level": "strong" }, "sharing": { "summary": "Conditional automatic sharing with workspace safeguards", "detail": "Automations can share matching meetings with specific people, teams, or the whole workspace based on titles, participants, invitee emails or domains, tags, and combined conditions. Admins can set or enforce default sharing access while members retain explicit controls for private or sensitive conversations.", "level": "strong" }, "automations": { "summary": "One automation layer for every function", "detail": "Run actions when meetings match conditions, extract the fields each team cares about, share notes, and route the result into the system where work happens. Sales can update the CRM; product and research can collect themes; engineering can open assigned issues in Linear or another tracker; recruiting and customer teams can route structured follow-up. Automations also post to Slack, call webhooks, and re-run against older meetings.", "level": "strong" }, "integrations": { "summary": "Search other apps, then do the work there", "detail": "Circleback Assistant can look up context and take actions in tools such as Linear, Notion, Asana, HubSpot, PostHog, Attio, Ashby, and Intercom. Automations can create Linear issues from assigned meeting action items, write action items to monday.com, and send outcomes to Slack, Salesforce, Zoho, and more. Zapier, Make, webhooks, and custom MCP servers cover the long tail.", "level": "strong" }, "agentsAndApi": { "summary": "The same complete meeting data for people and AI agents", "detail": "Circleback is built for people and AI agents. The complete meeting record a person can access—its full speaker-labeled transcript, recording, notes, action items, metadata, attendees, and related people and companies—is also available programmatically through the public API, MCP, and CLI. The API also supports action-item updates. MCP and CLI are read-only and add search and retrieval across meetings, transcripts, action items, calendars, email, people, companies, and tags. Use the stack from ChatGPT or Claude, build internal tools, or receive meeting payloads by webhook.", "level": "strong" }, "admin": { "summary": "Industry-leading security, privacy, and governance", "detail": "Customer data is encrypted at rest and in transit and never used to train models. Circleback is SOC 2 Type II, certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, supports GDPR obligations, and is HIPAA-compliant with BAAs available. The security portal includes compliance materials and an external infrastructure pentest report. Available controls include single sign-on (SAML or OIDC) and SCIM provisioning, configurable data retention and recording storage, enforced workspace and sharing settings, teams and roles, domain and API key access controls, centralized billing, usage reporting, and free viewer seats.", "level": "strong" }, "languages": { "summary": "100+ transcription languages", "detail": "Users can choose from more than 100 meeting languages and separately control the output language used for generated notes.", "level": "strong" } }, "sources": [ { "label": "Circleback product guide", "url": "https://circleback.ai/llms.txt", "note": "Capture modes, apps, search, automations, integrations, recordings, MCP, CLI, webhooks, and security resources." }, { "label": "Circleback pricing", "url": "https://circleback.ai/pricing", "note": "Current plan prices, included features, Business controls, Enterprise options, and free viewer seats." }, { "label": "Circleback recording guide", "url": "https://support.circleback.ai/en/articles/11090138-getting-started-with-recording", "note": "Desktop, mobile, bot, and import capture paths for online and in-person conversations." }, { "label": "Circleback optional recording storage", "url": "https://support.circleback.ai/en/articles/10581965-configure-whether-meeting-recordings-are-saved", "note": "Keep notes, action items, transcript, and insights while disabling stored audio and video." }, { "label": "Circleback mobile and Apple Watch apps", "url": "https://circleback.ai/mobile", "note": "iOS, Android, and Apple Watch capture for in-person meetings and conversations." }, { "label": "Circleback public API", "url": "https://circleback.ai/docs/api", "note": "Programmatic access to the complete meeting record available in Circleback, including notes, action items, transcripts, recordings, people, and companies." }, { "label": "Circleback MCP documentation", "url": "https://support.circleback.ai/en/articles/13249081-circleback-mcp", "note": "Read-only access from ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Codex, and other MCP clients to meetings, transcripts, action items, people, companies, calendar, email, and tags." }, { "label": "Circleback CLI documentation", "url": "https://support.circleback.ai/en/articles/14677613-circleback-cli", "note": "Command-line and JSON access to meetings, speaker-labeled transcripts, action items, calendars, email, people, companies, and cross-meeting action-item search." }, { "label": "Circleback Assistant connectors", "url": "https://support.circleback.ai/en/articles/13615023-ask-circleback-assistant", "note": "Search and take action in connected work apps from Circleback Assistant." }, { "label": "Circleback automatic sharing", "url": "https://support.circleback.ai/en/articles/10460582-automatically-share-meetings-with-your-workspace", "note": "Conditional sharing by meeting title, participants, invitee emails or domains, and tags to people, teams, or the workspace." }, { "label": "Circleback enforced workspace settings", "url": "https://support.circleback.ai/en/articles/11095989-default-and-enforced-workspace-settings", "note": "Admin-controlled defaults for sharing access, recording storage, joining preferences, and other meeting settings." }, { "label": "Circleback security and data processing", "url": "https://circleback.ai/dpa", "note": "Retention responsibilities, subprocessors, and United States primary processing operations." }, { "label": "Circleback security overview", "url": "https://support.circleback.ai/en/articles/10460553-security", "note": "Encryption at rest and in transit, SOC 2 Type II, no-training commitment, GDPR support, HIPAA compliance and BAA availability, EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework certification, and an external infrastructure pentest." }, { "label": "Circleback security portal", "url": "https://security.circleback.ai/", "note": "Compliance materials, security controls, subprocessors, and an external infrastructure pentest report." }, { "label": "Circleback action items in Linear", "url": "https://support.circleback.ai/en/articles/13622158-integrate-with-linear", "note": "Automatically create Linear issues from meeting action items and preserve the matched assignee." } ] }, "label": "A third option to consider" }, "faqs": [ { "question": "Which is better: Fireflies.ai or Read AI?", "answer": "Choose Fireflies for capture breadth, a team task feed, integrations, and developer surfaces. Choose Read AI for live engagement and sentiment analytics plus search across connected workplace content." }, { "question": "Which is less expensive, Fireflies.ai or Read AI?", "answer": "Fireflies.ai: Free; Pro from $10/user/month annually. Read AI: Free for 5 meetings/month; Pro from $15/user/month annually. Compare the paid seats, included usage, recording access, and admin features you actually need." }, { "question": "Can Fireflies.ai and Read AI record without a bot?", "answer": "Fireflies.ai: Bot, bot-free desktop, mobile, and SDK-based capture. Read AI: Meeting bot, macOS/Windows desktop, and mobile. The useful check is whether your required capture mode keeps video, a recording, and speaker names." }, { "question": "Which is better for a whole company?", "answer": "First ask who gets each note automatically; otherwise useful context stays with the recorder. Then compare permissions, retention, and enforced defaults. Fireflies: Enterprise rules can auto-route, share, and enforce privacy. Read AI: Workspace-wide participant and team report access." }, { "question": "Can I access and move the full meeting data?", "answer": "Fireflies: GraphQL API, webhooks, and a rich remote MCP server. Read AI: Open-beta REST API and MCP with full meeting reports. Check the selected plan, authentication model, transcript scope, export format, and retention window for the workflow you need." }, { "question": "How was this comparison researched?", "answer": "We use first-party pricing pages, product pages, help docs, and release notes for both products. The sources are linked below." } ], "variableMeasured": [ "Capture options", "Desktop and mobile", "In-person capture and speaker labels", "Recordings, playback, and clips", "Notes, action items, and search", "People, companies, and context", "Automatic sharing and workspace defaults", "Automations", "Integrations", "API, MCP, CLI, and data portability", "Security, privacy, and admin", "Languages" ], "sources": [ { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies pricing guide", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/3734844560-learn-about-the-fireflies-pricing-plans", "note": "July 2026 prices and plan structure." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies unlimited free transcripts", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/8632872350-how-to-get-unlimited-meeting-transcripts-on-fireflies-ai-s-free-plan", "note": "Auto-join and Share-all requirements for unlimited free transcription." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies storage limits", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4777633252-learn-about-meeting-storage-limits", "note": "Current storage limits by plan; its Free figure conflicts with an older Free-plan article." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies bot-free desktop recording", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/6666374717-how-to-record-meetings-without-a-bot-on-the-fireflies-desktop-app", "note": "No AV files, generic speakers, and Sales Assist limitation." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies desktop app", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/1208704416-getting-started-with-the-fireflies-desktop-app", "note": "Capture modes, Live Assist, and bot versus botless behavior." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies mobile app", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/8937818258-learn-about-fireflies-mobile-app", "note": "iOS/Android in-person recording, search, sharing, and tasks." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies speaker labels", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4994477228-how-to-edit-speaker-labels-or-names-in-a-transcript", "note": "Manual corrections and the mobile-recording speaker-detection caveat." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies API", "url": "https://docs.fireflies.ai/introduction", "note": "GraphQL authentication, user/admin scope, available meeting data, and current Super Summary/Custom Apps gaps." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies MCP tools", "url": "https://docs.fireflies.ai/mcp-tools/overview", "note": "Remote MCP authentication, full meeting-data access, read/write tools, and experimental-tool status." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies AI credits", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/9606045468-fireflies-billing-terms", "note": "Workspace-pooled credit allowances, non-seat scaling, and add-on behavior." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies Tasks Feed", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/1574234155-learn-about-the-tasks-feed", "note": "Automatic task generation and assignment, all-team task views, completion, reassignment, and project-tool handoff." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies Linear integration", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/8360629677-how-to-integrate-linear-with-fireflies", "note": "Automatic issue creation, project and status routing, assigned-task filtering, and meeting-rule conditions." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies integration directory", "url": "https://fireflies.ai/integrations", "note": "Current first-party directory advertising 100+ integrations across CRM, project, collaboration, storage, and other categories." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies Rules Engine", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4608292950-learn-about-the-rules-engine-feature", "note": "Enterprise conditions and actions for routing, automatic sharing, privacy enforcement, and deletion." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies recap privacy defaults", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/5319481450-how-to-configure-privacy-settings-for-your-meeting-recaps", "note": "Default teammates-and-link visibility, narrower audience choices, and retroactive privacy changes." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies data safety", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/2154538358-policy-on-keeping-information-safe", "note": "No-training and third-party zero-retention commitments plus governance controls." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies compliance recording modes", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/3598930706-set-up-transcript-only-mode-for-compliance", "note": "Full-record, text-only, summary-only, and summary-plus-audio retention modes." }, { "productId": "fireflies-ai", "productName": "Fireflies.ai", "label": "Fireflies Enterprise controls", "url": "https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4771323041-learn-about-fireflies-enterprise-plan", "note": "SSO, SCIM, private storage, retention, and Super Admin access behavior." }, { "productId": "read-ai", "productName": "Read AI", "label": "Read AI pricing", "url": "https://www.read.ai/plans-pricing", "note": "Current meeting limits, prices, languages, playback gate, governance, and Enterprise+ minimum." }, { "productId": "read-ai", "productName": "Read AI", "label": "Read AI desktop app", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/45911611006995-How-to-Use-Read-s-Desktop-App-for-Windows-and-Mac", "note": "Device-audio recording and participant disclosure behavior." }, { "productId": "read-ai", "productName": "Read AI", "label": "Read AI iPhone app", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/34467337929107-Read-AI-App-for-iPhone", "note": "In-person real-time transcript and summary." }, { "productId": "read-ai", "productName": "Read AI", "label": "Read AI Android app", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/51863250182291-Read-AI-App-for-Android", "note": "Android in-person capture, live transcript and summary, and report access." }, { "productId": "read-ai", "productName": "Read AI", "label": "Read AI mobile capture limits", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/51863422605203-Can-I-use-Read-s-mobile-app-to-record-calls-from-my-phone", "note": "Phone-call and same-device virtual-meeting limitations across iOS and Android." }, { "productId": "read-ai", "productName": "Read AI", "label": "Read AI speaker editing", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/36169538719379-Can-I-edit-text-and-speaker-names-in-my-meeting-report", "note": "Generic same-room labels plus transcript-wide speaker renaming and turn reassignment." }, { "productId": "read-ai", "productName": "Read AI", "label": "Read AI recording availability", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/15107171454739-Why-can-t-I-see-recordings-in-my-report-when-I-received-a-recording-notification-in-my-meeting", "note": "Enterprise playback requirement and lower-plan source-media deletion." }, { "productId": "read-ai", "productName": "Read AI", "label": "Read AI workspace sharing settings", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/7962819152659-What-are-all-of-the-settings-and-permissions-available-with-Workspaces", "note": "Participant auto-sharing, team report access, and workspace distribution controls." }, { "productId": "read-ai", "productName": "Read AI", "label": "Read AI report distribution", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/23219401248019-How-do-I-control-meeting-report-sharing-and-distribution", "note": "Owner-level participant sharing, invitee behavior, email/Slack/Teams recaps, recurring-meeting pre-reads, and workspace controls." }, { "productId": "read-ai", "productName": "Read AI", "label": "Read AI actions", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/48863788829971-Using-Ask-Read-actions", "note": "Agent actions for HubSpot updates, approved email sending, calendar creation, and scheduled reports." }, { "productId": "read-ai", "productName": "Read AI", "label": "Read AI API and MCP overview", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/49379985941523-Read-AI-API-and-MCP-Overview", "note": "Open-beta scope, prerequisites, OAuth and rate-limit constraints, permissions, and current feature gaps." }, { "productId": "read-ai", "productName": "Read AI", "label": "Read AI MCP tools", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/49381158409491-MCP-Server", "note": "Full transcript, summary, action, metric, recording-download, agent-dispatch, and sharing tools." }, { "productId": "read-ai", "productName": "Read AI", "label": "Read AI data handling", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/52055801266579-What-Does-Read-AI-Do-With-My-Data-Read-AI", "note": "Storage, access, AI-training consent, and the opt-out Customer Experience Improvement Program." }, { "productId": "read-ai", "productName": "Read AI", "label": "Read AI workspace offboarding", "url": "https://support.read.ai/hc/en-us/articles/27433066427283-How-do-I-offboard-someone-from-my-Read-workspace", "note": "Account deactivation, report transfer, and the limits of simply removing a workspace member." } ], "methodology": { "approach": "First-party pricing, product documentation, help-center articles, and release notes. Capability levels describe documented breadth, not overall product quality. Competitor strengths and material plan or capture-mode limits are both included. No pay-to-play rankings.", "ratingLabels": { "strong": "Broad support", "available": "Available with limits", "limited": "Narrow or indirect", "not-available": "Not documented" }, "ratingScale": { "strong": "Broad native support across the product or relevant paid plans.", "available": "Documented support with meaningful scope, mode, or plan limits.", "limited": "Narrow, indirect, beta, or substantially plan-gated support.", "not-available": "No current first-party documentation for a native option." }, "claimLevelEvidence": "Each feature dimension includes the exact first-party sources used for both products.", "limitations": "Prices and features change. Check the linked sources and test both products on real calls." } }