tl;dv vs Fireflies.ai
A practical look at price, capture, notes, workflows, and what each product is actually good at.
The short answer
Which one fits better?
Best fit
tl;dv
Free online recording, clips, and recurring reports
Price
Free; Pro from $18/user/month annually; Business from $29 annually
Pricing details
Free includes unlimited recordings and transcripts, but recordings are retained for three months, older recordings are archived shortly after processing, advanced AI credits are lifetime-limited, and after the first ten meetings generated notes cover only the first ten minutes. Paid prices are per user/month: Pro is $18 with annual billing or $29 month-to-month; Business is $29 or $39. Enterprise is quoted separately.
Free option: Yes: unlimited recordings and transcripts, with retention, archive, AI-note, credit, duration, and concurrency limits.
Good for
- A generous free recorder
- Clips and sales playbooks
Watch for
- Bot-free mode drops video and chat
- No bulk export; API is alpha
Best fit
Fireflies.ai
Live assistance and a broad integration catalog
Price
Free; Pro from $10/user/month annually
Pricing details
Prices are per user/month: Pro is $10 with annual billing or $18 month-to-month; Business is $19 or $29; Enterprise is $39 with annual billing. Storage, AI credits, video, advanced integrations, and governance differ by plan.
Free option: Yes. Unlimited transcription requires both Auto-join and Share-all; otherwise initial transcription credits, storage limits, and plan-gated summaries or AI features apply.
Good for
- Live meeting help
- Lots of integrations at a low price
Watch for
- Bot-free mode loses media and names
- Free unlimited requires share-all
Side by side
The details that matter.
Ratings show documented breadth, not overall product quality. Open a row for specifics.
What matters
Capture options
tl;dvBroad supportFirefliesBroad supportCapture options
tl;dv:Broad supportFireflies:Broad support
Capture options
Capture options
tl;dv
Meeting bot or bot-free desktop recording
macOS and Windows can capture system audio from any meeting platform without a bot. The bot remains the richer mode for supported conferencing platforms.
Evidencetl;dv bot-free recording
Fireflies.ai
Bot, bot-free desktop, mobile, and SDK-based capture
Fireflies has unusually broad capture. The modes differ: desktop bot-free capture works across apps but drops stored media and named speaker labels; the bot preserves the richer meeting record.
EvidenceFireflies bot-free desktop recordingFireflies desktop app
Desktop and mobile
tl;dvAvailable with limitsFirefliesBroad supportDesktop and mobile
tl;dv:Available with limitsFireflies:Broad support
Desktop and mobile
Desktop and mobile
tl;dv
Web, Chrome, macOS, Windows, and an early mobile app
Desktop capture is broad. tl;dv now documents a mobile app for in-person meetings, but describes it as recently launched, early-stage, and available for testing.
Fireflies.ai
Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android
Desktop supports system-audio recording and live assistance. Mobile supports in-person recording, reviewing meetings, search, sharing, and tasks.
In-person capture and speaker labels
tl;dvAvailable with limitsFirefliesBroad supportIn-person capture and speaker labels
tl;dv:Available with limitsFireflies:Broad support
In-person capture and speaker labels
In-person capture and speaker labels
tl;dv
Desktop microphone or early-stage mobile recording
A laptop can capture room audio and the newer mobile app can record in-person meetings. tl;dv documents speaker identification generally but does not explain whether the early mobile path preserves the same naming behavior, so test it before a broad rollout. There is no documented Watch capture.
Fireflies.ai
Mobile and desktop room capture
iOS and Android can capture in-person conversations. Fireflies documents that mobile recordings often do not auto-detect speakers, so names may need manual correction. Bot-free desktop can also hear room/system audio, with its own media and generic-label caveats.
Recordings, playback, and clips
tl;dvBroad supportFirefliesAvailable with limitsRecordings, playback, and clips
tl;dv:Broad supportFireflies:Available with limits
Recordings, playback, and clips
Recordings, playback, and clips
tl;dv
Rich playback, clips, and reels—with a botless video caveat
Bot recordings support video, transcript, clips, reels, and shareable moments. Bot-free recordings are audio-only and omit video, screen sharing, and chat.
Fireflies.ai
Bot mode saves AV; bot-free desktop saves neither
This is the key evaluation detail: bot meetings can preserve audio/video and named speakers, while desktop bot-free mode produces notes/transcript without recording files and uses Speaker 1/Speaker 2 labels.
Notes, action items, and search
tl;dvBroad supportFirefliesBroad supportNotes, action items, and search
tl;dv:Broad supportFireflies:Broad support
Notes, action items, and search
Notes, action items, and search
tl;dv
AI notes, action digests, multi-meeting reports, and topic tracking
The product is particularly good at synthesizing multiple meetings and turning recurring prompts into reports, including action lists grouped by person and date. Those are report or checklist outputs rather than a native task lifecycle with workspace queues and completion state. Free accounts get a limited number of AI notes.
Fireflies.ai
Notes, search, and a workspace-wide assigned task feed
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.
EvidenceFireflies pricing guideFireflies AI creditsFireflies Tasks Feed
People, companies, and context
tl;dvAvailable with limitsFirefliesAvailable with limitsPeople, companies, and context
tl;dv:Available with limitsFireflies:Available with limits
People, companies, and context
People, companies, and context
tl;dv
Meeting library and multi-meeting synthesis
tl;dv can query and report across accessible meetings, but it does not present a broader email/calendar/person/company relationship memory as its core model.
Evidencetl;dv MCP
Fireflies.ai
Meeting channels and cross-meeting search
The meeting library is searchable and collaborative, but the product is less centered on a unified relationship timeline combining meetings, email, calendar, people, and companies.
EvidenceFireflies pricing guide
Automatic sharing and workspace defaults
tl;dvBroad supportFirefliesBroad supportAutomatic sharing and workspace defaults
tl;dv:Broad supportFireflies:Broad support
Automatic sharing and workspace defaults
Automatic sharing and workspace defaults
tl;dv
Granular team privacy defaults and automatic sharing
Teams can automatically share with participants, publish to a team or organization library, and apply admin privacy rules using meeting context such as title, internal or external type, and team role. Sensitive categories can remain private by rule.
Evidencetl;dv team privacy defaults
Fireflies.ai
Enterprise rules can auto-route, share, and enforce privacy
Enterprise admins can match meeting title, host, participants, or internal/external type, then route to a channel, share with users or teams, or enforce privacy. 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.
EvidenceFireflies Rules EngineFireflies recap privacy defaults
Automations
tl;dvBroad supportFirefliesBroad supportAutomations
tl;dv:Broad supportFireflies:Broad support
Automations
Automations
tl;dv
Recurring AI reports and sales workflows
Automated multi-meeting reports, playbooks, CRM updates, and conditional Slack posts are useful, especially for customer-facing teams. Slack workflows can format decisions and action items with owners and deadlines, but team workflow scope excludes team admins and billing-group admins, and the overall system is less open-ended than a general meeting condition/action builder.
Fireflies.ai
Meeting rules, AI apps, CRM workflows, and automatic task handoff
Fireflies can automatically create and assign tasks, then route them to Linear, Asana, Monday.com, Planner, Salesforce, and other systems with meeting filters on eligible plans. It also supports specialized AI apps. The experience spans several feature systems rather than one simple general condition/action canvas.
EvidenceFireflies Rules EngineFireflies pricing guideFireflies Tasks FeedFireflies Linear integration
Integrations
tl;dvAvailable with limitsFirefliesBroad supportIntegrations
tl;dv:Available with limitsFireflies:Broad support
Integrations
Integrations
tl;dv
CRM and collaboration integrations on paid plans
tl;dv connects to common CRMs and work tools; exact access varies by plan. The catalog is oriented around GTM and collaboration workflows.
Evidencetl;dv pricing
Fireflies.ai
100+ integrations plus Zapier and API
Breadth is a major advantage across CRM, collaboration, storage, dialers, and productivity tools. Verify the plan required for each connector and direction of sync.
EvidenceFireflies integration directoryFireflies Linear integration
API, MCP, CLI, and data portability
tl;dvAvailable with limitsFirefliesBroad supportAPI, MCP, CLI, and data portability
tl;dv:Available with limitsFireflies:Broad support
API, MCP, CLI, and data portability
API, MCP, CLI, and data portability
tl;dv
MCP on Pro+ and a public alpha API
MCP can search meetings and participants, with typical result sets capped at 50. A subtle access rule matters: viewing a shared meeting is not enough if its organizer is on Free—the organizer must have Pro or higher before that meeting is available through MCP or the API. The API is documented as v1alpha1 and includes recording downloads, so integration teams should expect contract evolution.
Fireflies.ai
GraphQL API, webhooks, and a rich remote MCP server
Fireflies exposes transcripts and core meeting data through GraphQL plus webhooks for custom integrations. Its OAuth or API-key remote MCP server can retrieve full transcripts, summaries, action items, active meetings, analytics, soundbites, channels, and user data; it can also share, rename, organize, and clip meetings. Some advanced search and fetch tools remain experimental. Super Summary and Custom Apps data are still absent from the documented GraphQL API, and content passed into an external AI follows that provider’s retention terms.
EvidenceFireflies APIFireflies MCP tools
Security, privacy, and admin
tl;dvAvailable with limitsFirefliesBroad supportSecurity, privacy, and admin
tl;dv:Available with limitsFireflies:Broad support
Security, privacy, and admin
Security, privacy, and admin
tl;dv
Paid Team controls, with a looser domain Organization layer
Paid Teams add roles, billing administration, and forward-looking defaults; team settings do not override Team Admins. The separate domain-based Organization has no organization-wide admin defaults, any same-domain user can join it, and it cannot be deleted. Multi-team management is Business-only.
Evidencetl;dv pricingtl;dv team privacy defaultstl;dv organization and team modeltl;dv permission levels
Fireflies.ai
Business and Enterprise governance
Enterprise adds SSO/SCIM, Rules Engine governance, custom retention, and private storage. Its Super Admin role can access every workspace meeting, including “Only Me” content—useful for compliance, but a material privacy-policy decision. Fireflies says meeting content is never used for internal or external model training.
EvidenceFireflies pricing guideFireflies storage limitsFireflies Rules EngineFireflies data safetyFireflies compliance recording modesFireflies Enterprise controls
Languages
tl;dvAvailable with limitsFirefliesBroad supportLanguages
tl;dv:Available with limitsFireflies:Broad support
Languages
Languages
tl;dv
Multilingual transcription; advanced multilingual mode is plan-gated
Language selection behavior varies by capture mode, and the multilingual Whisper option is documented for Business and Enterprise.
Fireflies.ai
100+ languages advertised
Fireflies advertises broad transcription coverage. Real-world speaker separation and accuracy still depend on capture mode, room acoustics, accents, and vocabulary.
EvidenceFireflies pricing guide
Worth a look
Circleback
If neither tl;dv nor Fireflies quite fits, Circleback covers a different job: capturing online and in-person meetings and sharing them by rule. It is built for people and AI agents, with the same full meeting data available through its API, MCP, and CLI.
Every meeting
Bot, botless desktop app, iPhone, Android, or Apple Watch. Speaker labels every time; recording optional.
Shared company memory
Detailed notes, automatic sharing, and people and company context across every team.
People and AI agents
Assigned actions and automations for people; the same full meeting data for agents through API, MCP, and CLI.
Sources
First-party pricing, product docs, help articles, and release notes.
tl;dv sources13 first-party references
- tl;dv pricing
Official Free, Pro, Business, and Enterprise pricing and plan scope.
- tl;dv free-plan limits
Recording retention, archive behavior, AI-note coverage, lifetime credits, meeting duration, and concurrency.
- tl;dv mobile app
Recently launched early-stage mobile recording for in-person meetings.
- tl;dv speaker identification
General automatic speaker identification; the article does not document mobile-mode parity.
- tl;dv bot-free recording
Desktop capture and the audio-only limitation.
- tl;dv MCP
Plan eligibility, tools, access model, and result behavior.
- tl;dv API
Pro/Business eligibility and v1alpha1 status.
- tl;dv team privacy defaults
Admin-controlled automatic sharing, workspace-library publishing, and privacy rules for sensitive meetings.
- tl;dv download limits
No bulk export plus paid-plan, ownership, and permission requirements for individual recording downloads.
- tl;dv organization and team model
Automatic same-domain Organization membership, absence of Organization-wide admin defaults, and the paid Team hierarchy.
- tl;dv permission levels
Team roles, admin behavior, and the non-deletable domain Organization.
- tl;dv AI prompts
Cross-meeting action-item reports grouped by participant and date plus common analysis workflows.
- tl;dv Slack workflows
Conditional automatic summaries, decisions, and owner/deadline action lists plus the team-admin scope exception.
Fireflies.ai sources18 first-party references
- Fireflies pricing guide
July 2026 prices and plan structure.
- Fireflies unlimited free transcripts
Auto-join and Share-all requirements for unlimited free transcription.
- Fireflies storage limits
Current storage limits by plan; its Free figure conflicts with an older Free-plan article.
- Fireflies bot-free desktop recording
No AV files, generic speakers, and Sales Assist limitation.
- Fireflies desktop app
Capture modes, Live Assist, and bot versus botless behavior.
- Fireflies mobile app
iOS/Android in-person recording, search, sharing, and tasks.
- Fireflies speaker labels
Manual corrections and the mobile-recording speaker-detection caveat.
- Fireflies API
GraphQL authentication, user/admin scope, available meeting data, and current Super Summary/Custom Apps gaps.
- Fireflies MCP tools
Remote MCP authentication, full meeting-data access, read/write tools, and experimental-tool status.
- Fireflies AI credits
Workspace-pooled credit allowances, non-seat scaling, and add-on behavior.
- Fireflies Tasks Feed
Automatic task generation and assignment, all-team task views, completion, reassignment, and project-tool handoff.
- Fireflies Linear integration
Automatic issue creation, project and status routing, assigned-task filtering, and meeting-rule conditions.
- Fireflies integration directory
Current first-party directory advertising 100+ integrations across CRM, project, collaboration, storage, and other categories.
- Fireflies Rules Engine
Enterprise conditions and actions for routing, automatic sharing, privacy enforcement, and deletion.
- Fireflies recap privacy defaults
Default teammates-and-link visibility, narrower audience choices, and retroactive privacy changes.
- Fireflies data safety
No-training and third-party zero-retention commitments plus governance controls.
- Fireflies compliance recording modes
Full-record, text-only, summary-only, and summary-plus-audio retention modes.
- Fireflies Enterprise controls
SSO, SCIM, private storage, retention, and Super Admin access behavior.
Questions people usually ask
Which is better: tl;dv or Fireflies.ai?
tl;dv is stronger on clips, recurring reports, and sales playbooks. Fireflies offers more capture paths, live assistance, API depth, and a larger integration catalog.
Which is less expensive, tl;dv or Fireflies.ai?
tl;dv: Free; Pro from $18/user/month annually; Business from $29 annually. Fireflies.ai: Free; Pro from $10/user/month annually. Compare the paid seats, included usage, recording access, and admin features you actually need.
Can tl;dv and Fireflies.ai record without a bot?
tl;dv: Meeting bot or bot-free desktop recording. Fireflies.ai: Bot, bot-free desktop, mobile, and SDK-based capture. The useful check is whether your required capture mode keeps video, a recording, and speaker names.
Which is better for a whole company?
First ask who gets each note automatically; otherwise useful context stays with the recorder. Then compare permissions, retention, and enforced defaults. tl;dv: Granular team privacy defaults and automatic sharing. Fireflies: Enterprise rules can auto-route, share, and enforce privacy.
Can I access and move the full meeting data?
tl;dv: MCP on Pro+ and a public alpha API. Fireflies: GraphQL API, webhooks, and a rich remote MCP server. Check the selected plan, authentication model, transcript scope, export format, and retention window for the workflow you need.
How was this comparison researched?
We use first-party pricing pages, product pages, help docs, and release notes for both products. The sources are linked below.

