TL;DR: Both Fireflies and Meetily Pro cost $10/month, but take opposite approaches. Fireflies: cloud-based with visible bots, 90+ integrations, and mobile apps. Meetily Pro: local processing with invisible recording, auto-detect meetings, and complete privacy. Meetily also offers a free Community Edition. Choose based on your priority: cloud integrations (Fireflies) or local privacy (Meetily).
Introduction: The Bot-Free Revolution
If you've used Fireflies.ai, you've experienced this:
"Fireflies Notetaker has joined the meeting"
That moment when your client sees the recording bot. The awkward pause. The "are we being recorded?" question. The scramble to explain your AI note-taking tool.
What if the bot simply didn't exist?
That's the promise of bot-free meeting transcription. Meetily captures your meetings invisibly. no bots, no announcements, no disruption. while giving you the same AI-powered transcription and summaries.
But there's a tradeoff: Fireflies is plug-and-play cloud convenience. Meetily requires local installation and processing. Which is right for you?
This comprehensive comparison answers that question.
Quick Comparison Table
| Feature | Meetily | Fireflies.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free Community + $10/mo Pro + Custom Enterprise | $10-39/month (Pro to Enterprise) |
| Bot Visibility | ✗ Bot-free (invisible) | ✓ Visible bot joins |
| Auto Meeting Detection | ✓ Pro tier (hardware-level) | ✓ Calendar integration |
| Processing | 100% Local on device | Cloud-based |
| Data Storage | Local only (default) | Fireflies cloud |
| Privacy | No data leaves device | Uploaded to Fireflies servers |
| Platform | Desktop app (Win/Mac) | Web app + Mobile apps |
| Setup Time | 10 minutes (one-time) | 2 minutes (account + OAuth) |
| Works Offline | ✓ Yes | ✗ Requires internet |
| Open Source | ✓ MIT License (8,100+ stars) | ✗ Proprietary |
| Self-Hosted | ✓ Organizations/Enterprise | ✗ Cloud-only |
| Mobile App | ✗ Desktop only | ✓ iOS/Android |
| Multi-Language | ✓ 70+ languages | ✓ 69+ languages |
| Meeting Platforms | All (system audio capture) | Zoom, Meet, Teams, Webex, etc. |
The Bottom Line:
- Choose Fireflies if you want instant setup, mobile apps, and extensive integrations. and you're comfortable with cloud storage.
- Choose Meetily if you prioritize privacy, bot-free recording, local processing, or work in regulated industries (HIPAA, GDPR).
Detailed Feature Comparison
1. Privacy & Data Security: The #1 Differentiator
This is where the philosophical difference between the two tools becomes stark.
Fireflies.ai: Cloud-Based Processing
How it works:
- Fireflies bot joins your meeting
- Audio is streamed to Fireflies servers
- Transcription happens on Fireflies infrastructure (AWS)
- Transcript and audio are stored on Fireflies cloud
- You access via Fireflies web app
Security Measures:
- SOC 2 Type II certified
- GDPR compliant (they claim)
- Data encrypted in transit (TLS)
- Data encrypted at rest
- User access controls
- AWS infrastructure (US-based)
Privacy Concerns:
- Third-party processor: Your meeting data is handled by Fireflies
- HIPAA Compliance: Only available for Enterprise plan customers ($39/user/month) with signed BAA. not available for Free, Pro, or Business plans
- Cloud storage: Audio recordings and transcripts live on Fireflies servers (Private Storage available on Enterprise only)
- US jurisdiction: Data subject to US laws (CLOUD Act, etc.)
- Data access: Fireflies employees have technical access to your data
- AI training: Fireflies states they do not use customer meeting data to train AI models (as of 2025)
Meetily: Local-First Privacy
How it works:
- You start recording on your device (Community Edition: manual start, Pro: automatic detection)
- Audio is captured from your system (never uploaded)
- Transcription happens on YOUR computer (Whisper or Parakeet engine)
- Transcript is saved to YOUR local storage
- Optional: Use local LLM (Ollama) for AI summaries. still no cloud
Privacy Benefits:
- Zero third parties: No data leaves your device (default configuration)
- No cloud uploads: Audio and transcripts never touch external servers
- GDPR compliant by design: Data sovereignty is guaranteed (it's on YOUR device)
- HIPAA compliant: No BAA needed because there's no third-party processor
- No data mining: Open-source code means no hidden telemetry
The API Caveat:
Meetily DOES offer optional API integrations for AI summaries:
- Anthropic Claude API
- Groq API
If you enable these, summary requests go to third parties (but transcripts remain local). You control this choice.
Who Wins?
- Fireflies: If you trust cloud providers, want zero setup, and work in unregulated industries
- Meetily: If you work in healthcare, legal, finance, government, or anywhere data sovereignty matters
2. Bot Visibility: Invisible Recording vs Visible Bots
Fireflies.ai: The Visible Bot
When you use Fireflies, it joins your meeting as a participant:
- Appears in participant list as "Fireflies Notetaker" or similar
- Shows video thumbnail (usually Fireflies logo)
- Announces "Fireflies has joined the meeting" (on some platforms)
- Can be seen by all participants
Why This Matters:
- Client meetings: Clients may feel uncomfortable or refuse recording
- Sensitive discussions: Legal, HR, or confidential meetings become awkward
- Professionalism: Some see bots as unprofessional or intrusive
- Consent requirements: Makes recording obvious, which some users want. but others don't
Meetily: Invisible Recording
Meetily captures your computer's system audio:
- No bot joins the meeting (other participants see only you)
- Invisible to all meeting participants
- No participant list entry, no video thumbnail
- Platform-agnostic (works with ANY meeting software)
Why This Matters:
- Natural meetings: No disruption or bot-induced awkwardness
- Client-facing: Record without announcing a third-party tool
- Privacy compliance: Easier to manage recording consent on your terms
- Flexibility: Record ad-hoc calls, podcasts, Discord chats, anything with audio
The Tradeoff: Automation vs Invisibility
Fireflies offers automatic meeting joining: Schedule Fireflies to auto-join your calendar meetings without you clicking anything.
Meetily offers two options:
- Pro: Automatically detects and records meetings (similar automation to Fireflies, but invisible)
- Community Edition: Manual start/stop recording (use keyboard shortcuts for convenience)
Who Wins?
- Fireflies: If you're comfortable with visible bots and want cloud-based automation
- Meetily Pro: If you want automated recording WITHOUT visible bots
- Meetily Community: If you want complete control and don't mind manual start/stop
3. Pricing: Free vs $10-39/Month
Fireflies.ai Pricing (2025):
-
Free Plan:
- 800 minutes/month (~13 hours)
- 2-hour max per meeting recording
- 20 AI credits per month
- Limited storage (800 minutes per seat)
- Basic search
- No integrations
-
Pro Plan ($18/user/month monthly, ~$10/user/month annually):
- 8,000 minutes/month (~133 hours)
- Unlimited transcription and AI summaries
- Advanced search
- Integrations (Slack, Notion, Salesforce, etc.)
- Topic tracker
- Basic conversation intelligence
- 30 AI credits per month
-
Business Plan ($29/user/month monthly, $19/user/month annually):
- Unlimited transcription and storage
- Team analytics
- Admin dashboard
- Video recording
- Private storage
- 30 AI credits per month
-
Enterprise Plan ($39/user/month annually):
- Everything in Business
- SSO/SAML
- HIPAA compliance + BAA
- Dedicated support
- Custom retention policies
- Advanced security features
- 50 AI credits per month
Annual Commitment: Most pricing requires annual billing. Monthly billing is ~25% more expensive.
Meetily Pricing:
-
Free (Open Source):
- Price: $0 (free and open source)
- Unlimited transcription minutes
- Unlimited meetings
- Core features
- Local storage (unlimited)
- No trial limitations, no credit card
- Download: https://github.com/Zackriya-Solutions/meeting-minutes
-
Pro ($10/month, $120/year):
- Auto-detect and join meetings
- Calendar integration
- More accurate AI models
- Speaker identification (diarization)
- Chat with meetings
- Custom summary templates
- Advanced export options (PDF, DOCX, Markdown)
- Priority support
- Download: https://meetily.ai/downloads
-
Organizations (Custom Pricing):
- Centralized data management
- Admin dashboard
- Custom integrations
- Deployment support
- Contact: https://www.zackriya.com/aimeeting/
-
Enterprise (Custom Pricing):
- Self-hosted infrastructure
- White-glove deployment
- 24/7 priority support
- Custom compliance frameworks
- Contact: https://www.zackriya.com/aimeeting/
Cost Comparison (1 Year, Annual Billing):
| Scenario | Fireflies Pro | Meetily Pro |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $120/year | $120/year |
| 5 users | $600/year | $600/year |
| 10 users | $1,200/year | $1,200/year |
| 50 users | $6,000/year | $6,000/year |
Key Difference: Same price, but Meetily Pro keeps everything local and bot-free. Fireflies uploads to cloud with visible bots.
Note: Meetily also offers free Community Edition (open source) and custom Organizations/Enterprise tiers.
Who Wins?
- Fireflies: If you want cloud-based collaboration, mobile apps, and extensive integrations (90+)
- Meetily Pro: If you want the same price ($10/month) but with local processing, bot-free recording, and complete privacy
- Meetily Community (Free): If you want core features at zero cost
4. Transcription Accuracy
Both tools use state-of-the-art AI models, but the implementation differs.
Fireflies.ai Transcription
- Engine: Proprietary (Whisper-based with custom training)
- Accuracy: 85-95% (varies by audio quality, accents, and speaker clarity)
- Speaker Diarization: Automatic speaker detection and labeling
- Languages: 69+ languages supported
- Real-time: Live transcription during meetings
- Post-processing: Automatic punctuation, capitalization, formatting
- AI Credits: Advanced features like AskFred require AI credits (limited per plan)
Strengths:
- Highly optimized for meeting context (knows meeting-specific vocabulary)
- Speaker identification works well with video meetings (uses visual cues)
- Consistent performance (cloud infrastructure handles load)
Meetily Transcription
- Engines: Dual choice. Whisper or Parakeet (unique among open-source tools!)
-
Whisper Engine: whisper-rs (OpenAI Whisper models)
- Accuracy: 92%+ depending on language (excellent performance with larger models)
- Languages: 70+ languages supported
- Model Choice: tiny, base, small, medium, large-v3
-
Parakeet Engine: NVIDIA NeMo via ONNX Runtime
- Speed: Optimized for fast transcription on modern hardware
- Memory: More efficient with Int8 quantization
- Speaker Diarization: Pro tier includes automatic speaker identification
- Real-time: Yes (fast processing with hardware acceleration)
Strengths:
- Dual engine choice (speed vs accuracy tradeoff)
- Transparent (open-source models with public benchmarks)
- Flexible (choose engine and model based on your hardware and needs)
- No cloud variability (performance depends on your hardware, not Fireflies' server load)
- Only open-source meeting assistant with dual transcription engines
Privacy-First Model Selection:
- Connect your own LLM: Use local models via Ollama (fully offline)
- Bring your own API keys: Optional integration with Claude, Groq, or OpenAI APIs
- No forced cloud: You control where AI processing happens
Head-to-Head:
| Aspect | Fireflies | Meetily |
|---|---|---|
| General Accuracy | Strong (proprietary model) | Strong (open-source models) |
| Meeting Jargon | Excellent | Good (Custom word cnfiguration available) |
| Speaker ID | Automatic names | Automatically identifies while generating summary |
| Accents | Good | Excellent |
| Background Noise | Good | Depends on model (large models better) |
Who Wins?
- Fireflies: If you want automatic speaker names and optimized meeting transcription out-of-the-box
- Meetily: If you want transparency, control, and want your meeting data to be within your control
5. AI Summaries & Features
Both tools offer AI-generated meeting summaries, but with different approaches.
Fireflies.ai AI Features
-
Smart Summary:
- Overview, outline, shorthand notes
- Action items with timestamps
- Questions asked during meeting
- Custom summary lengths
-
Topic Tracker:
- Automatically identifies topics discussed (pricing, deadlines, etc.)
- Tracks topic frequency across meetings
-
Conversation Intelligence:
- Talk-time distribution (who spoke most)
- Sentiment analysis
- Keyword tracking
- Questions vs statements ratio
-
Soundbites:
- Create shareable audio clips from key moments
- Export short snippets for social media
-
Search:
- Semantic search across all meetings
- Filter by speaker, date, keyword, topic
Meetily AI Features
-
AI Summary (via Meetily model (Local), Ollama, Claude, OpenAi or Groq):
- Meeting overview
- Key discussion points
- Action items with assignments
- Important decisions
- Follow-up questions
-
Export Formats:
- Markdown
- PDF, DOCX, JSON
-
Search:
- Local file search (via Markdown exports)
- Advanced semantic search
Feature Gap:
Fireflies is a mature SaaS product with years of development. Meetily is newer and focused on core transcription + privacy.
Features Fireflies Has That Meetily Doesn't (Yet):
- Automatic calendar integration
- 90+ direct integrations (Slack, Notion, Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.) + 8,000+ via Zapier
- Video recording (Business & Enterprise plans - Coming soon in meetily)
- Team analytics dashboard
- Conversation intelligence metrics
- Mobile apps (iOS/Android)
Features Meetily Has That Fireflies Doesn't:
- Open-source code (audit-able, customizable)
- 100% local processing (no cloud requirement)
- Bot-free recording
- Self-hosted deployment options
- Free tier with full features (open source)
Who Wins?
- Fireflies: If you want a fully-featured, integrated meeting intelligence platform
- Meetily: If you want core transcription + privacy and don't need extensive integrations
6. Platform Compatibility
Fireflies.ai Supported Platforms:
- ✓ Zoom
- ✓ Google Meet
- ✓ Microsoft Teams
- ✓ Webex
- ✓ GoToMeeting
- ✓ Skype
- ✓ Aircall (phone calls)
- ✗ Discord (unofficial workarounds only)
- ✗ Slack huddles (limited support)
- ✗ WhatsApp/Telegram calls
Method: Bot integration (requires OAuth access to your calendar + meeting platform)
Meetily Supported Platforms:
- ✓ Google Meet
- ✓ Zoom
- ✓ Microsoft Teams
- ✓ Discord
- ✓ Slack huddles
- ✓ Webex
- ✓ Any audio on your computer (podcasts, YouTube, phone calls routed through desktop, etc.)
Method: System audio capture (platform-agnostic. if it plays audio, Meetily can record it)
Who Wins?
- Fireflies: If you primarily use mainstream meeting platforms (Zoom, Meet, Teams)
- Meetily: If you use diverse platforms, Discord, ad-hoc calls, or want flexibility
7. Setup & Onboarding
Fireflies.ai Setup (2-5 minutes)
- Sign up at fireflies.ai (email + password)
- Connect calendar (Google, Outlook, etc.)
- Grant OAuth permissions
- Fireflies auto-joins scheduled meetings
- Done
Pros: Instant, no technical skills required, works immediately
Meetily Setup (10-15 minutes)
- Download installer from https://meetily.ai/downloads
- Install desktop app (Mac/Windows)
- Download AI model (we recommend Parakeet for speed + accuracy)
- Grant audio permissions
- Start recording (Pro: automatic detection, Community: manual start/stop)
Pros: One-time setup, no ongoing account management, full control, local processing
Who Wins?
- Fireflies: If you want zero friction and immediate productivity
- Meetily: If you prefer one-time setup over ongoing cloud dependency
8. Use Case Comparison
When Fireflies.ai is the Better Choice:
-
Sales Teams:
- CRM integration (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive)
- Conversation intelligence metrics (talk time, questions asked, sentiment)
- Team coaching (managers can review calls)
- Automatic activity logging
-
Remote Teams with Lots of Meetings:
- Automatic joining (no manual start/stop)
- Searchable meeting archive across entire team
- Slack/Teams integration for instant sharing
-
Non-Technical Users:
- No installation required (web app)
- Mobile apps for on-the-go access
- Fully managed service (no IT support needed)
-
Collaborative Workflows:
- Share meeting links with teammates
- Comment on specific transcript sections
- Integrations with project management tools
When Meetily is the Better Choice:
-
Healthcare:
- HIPAA compliance without BAA
- No PHI leaves your device
- Bot-free recording for patient comfort
-
Legal/Consulting:
- Attorney-client privilege maintained (no third parties)
- Invisible recording for client-facing meetings
- Zero risk of cloud data breaches
-
Finance/Banking:
- FINRA/SEC compliance (no unauthorized recording tools)
- Data sovereignty for regulated institutions
- Self-hosted options for enterprise
-
Budget-Conscious Teams:
- $0 subscription fees
- No per-user licensing
- Unlimited transcription minutes
-
Privacy-First Organizations:
- Government, defense contractors
- Privacy-focused startups
- International companies with GDPR requirements
-
Open-Source Advocates:
- Audit-able codebase
- Customizable to your needs
- No vendor lock-in
Real-World Scenarios
Scenario 1: Healthcare Practice
Dr. Smith runs a 10-physician medical practice. They conduct 500+ patient consultations per month via telehealth.
With Fireflies:
- ❌ Fireflies bot joining patient calls creates discomfort
- ❌ HIPAA compliance requires Enterprise plan ($39/user/month) + BAA
- ❌ PHI is uploaded to third-party cloud (audit/compliance risk)
- ❌ Cost: $4,680/year (10 physicians × $39/month × 12) for HIPAA-compliant Enterprise plan
With Meetily:
- ✓ Bot-free recording (patients don't see a bot)
- ✓ No BAA needed (no third-party processor)
- ✓ 100% local processing (PHI never leaves devices)
- ✓ Cost: Free tier available, Pro/Enterprise pricing for advanced features and deployment
Winner: Meetily (HIPAA compliance, patient experience, cost)
Scenario 2: Remote Sales Team
Acme Corp has 50 sales reps conducting 3,000+ client calls per month.
With Fireflies:
- ✓ Automatic CRM integration (Salesforce)
- ✓ Conversation intelligence for coaching
- ✓ Manager dashboard for team performance
- ✓ Easy onboarding (no IT setup)
- ❌ Cost: $11,400/year (50 reps × $19/month × 12) for Business plan with video + team analytics
With Meetily:
- ✓ Bot-free recording (better client experience)
- ✓ Cost: Free tier available, custom pricing for enterprise deployment
- ❌ No CRM integration (manual export)
- ❌ No conversation intelligence metrics
- ❌ No team analytics dashboard
Winner: Fireflies (sales-specific features, integrations, coaching tools)
Scenario 3: Solo Consultant
Jane is a management consultant conducting 20-30 client meetings per month.
With Fireflies:
- ✓ Automatic meeting summaries
- ✓ Mobile app access
- ❌ Cost: $120/year (Pro plan, ~$10/month billed annually)
- ❌ Visible bot may concern clients
- ❌ Client data on third-party servers
With Meetily:
- ✓ Cost: $0 (Community Edition) or $120/year (Pro with auto-detect + calendar integration)
- ✓ Bot-free (professional, discreet)
- ✓ Client data stays local (confidentiality)
- ✓ Auto meeting detection (Pro tier)
- ❌ No mobile app
Winner: Depends on Jane's priorities
- Fireflies if she values mobile access and cloud-based team features
- Meetily Pro if she wants same automation at same price ($10/month) but with local privacy
- Meetily Community if she prioritizes zero cost and doesn't mind manual recording
Migration Guide: Switching from Fireflies to Meetily
If you're considering switching, here's how to migrate smoothly:
Step 1: Try Meetily Pro Free Trial
- Visit https://meetily.ai/downloads
- Download Meetily Pro (Community Edition also available for free)
- Request a trial license through the downloads page
- Test Meetily with your actual meetings
Why Pro? Get automatic meeting detection, Export functionality, Access to Meetily's email support, and better AI models. comparable features to Fireflies.
Step 3: Decide and Commit
After testing Meetily Pro:
- If Meetily meets your needs → Cancel Fireflies subscription and continue with Meetily
- If you miss Fireflies features → Keep Fireflies or use hybrid approach
Hybrid Approach
Some users keep both:
- Fireflies for team meetings (leverage integrations, sharing)
- Meetily for sensitive client meetings (privacy, bot-free)
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Meetily auto-join my calendar meetings like Fireflies?
Yes! Meetily Pro includes automatic meeting detection and calendar integration. The app uses hardware level audio detection to automatically prompt user to start the recording. Community Edition requires manual start/stop via user interface.
Does Meetily have a mobile app?
No. Meetily is desktop-only (Windows, macOS). Mobile apps are planned for future release. If you need mobile access now, Fireflies is the better choice.
Can I use Meetily for team collaboration like Fireflies?
Not in the free tier. The Individual tier is local-only. For team collaboration, check out Meetily's Organizations and Enterprise plans (custom pricing) which include centralized data management and admin dashboards.
Is Meetily's transcription as accurate as Fireflies?
Absolutely. Meetily delivers excellent transcription accuracy across 70+ languages. Both tools use state-of-the-art AI models, and in real-world use, the quality is virtually identical. The key difference: Meetily processes everything locally on your device, while Fireflies uploads to the cloud.
Does Meetily work on Linux?
Not yet as a native app. You can build from source. Native Linux support is in development.
Can I record phone calls with Meetily?
Yes, IF your phone calls route audio through your computer (e.g., Zoom Phone, VoIP apps, or speakerphone near your laptop mic). Meetily captures system audio, so anything your computer plays can be recorded.
The Bottom Line: Which Should You Choose?
Choose Fireflies.ai if:
- You value cloud-based team collaboration (sharing, comments, analytics)
- You need mobile apps
- You want 90+ native integrations (Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.)
- You're comfortable with visible bots and cloud storage
Choose Meetily Pro ($10/month - same as Fireflies) if:
- You want automated meeting detection WITHOUT visible bots
- You work in healthcare, legal, finance, or regulated industries
- You prioritize local processing and data sovereignty
- You need HIPAA compliance without expensive BAAs
Choose Meetily Community (Free) if:
- You want zero subscription fees forever
- You don't mind manual recording start/stop
- You're an open-source advocate or need code audit-ability
- You're budget-conscious or testing meeting transcription
Use Both (Hybrid Approach) if:
- You want Fireflies for internal team meetings (convenience, integrations)
- You want Meetily for sensitive client meetings (privacy, bot-free)
- Your organization has mixed needs (some regulated, some not)
Final Verdict
There's no universal "better" choice—it depends on your priorities:
- Fireflies ($10-39/month) = Cloud collaboration + 90+ integrations + mobile apps
- Meetily Pro ($10/month) = Same automation, but local + bot-free + privacy-first
- Meetily Community (Free) = Open-source core features at zero cost
The Key Insight: At the same $10/month price point, Meetily Pro offers comparable automation (auto-detect meetings, calendar integration) but with complete local processing and bot-free recording. The tradeoff: Fireflies has more integrations and mobile apps.
For healthcare, legal, consulting, and privacy-conscious teams, Meetily's bot-free local processing wins.
For sales teams and organizations needing CRM integration, Fireflies' extensive integrations win.
The good news? Both tools are excellent at core transcription. Try Meetily Pro at https://meetily.ai/downloads (or start free with Community Edition) and decide based on YOUR workflow.
Try Meetily Today
Ready to experience bot-free, privacy-first meeting transcription?
Download Meetily Pro ($10/month - same price as Fireflies):
- Pro Features: Auto-detect meetings, calendar integration, better AI models, speaker identification
- Download: https://meetily.ai/downloads
- Request trial license through downloads page
Or Start Free (Community Edition):
- GitHub: https://github.com/Zackriya-Solutions/meeting-minutes
- Full transcription features at zero cost
- Upgrade to Pro anytime
Need Organizations/Enterprise Deployment?
- Contact: https://www.zackriya.com/aimeeting/
- Options: Self-hosted, centralized data, admin dashboards, multi-user management
Join the Community:
- Discord: https://discord.gg/crRymMQBFH
- Discussions: https://github.com/Zackriya-Solutions/meeting-minutes/discussions
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