Fireflies.ai vs Grain
We give Fireflies.ai a 3.6 GPA and Grain a 3.0, out of 4.0. Fireflies.ai grades higher on value for money, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Fireflies.ai
Meeting notetaker that records, transcribes and summarizes calls
Grain
AI notetaker with free viewer seats and shareable call clips
How we grade them
| 3.6GPAFireflies.aiExcellent | 3.0GPAGrainVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPro is $10 a seat a month billed yearly, right in the middle for this category, with unlimited AI summaries and 8,000 minutes of storage per seat. Monthly billing is $18. Conversation analytics need Business at $19, and every teammate you add counts as a paid seat. | CStarter is $15 a seat a month on the yearly plan, $19 monthly. That's the dear end of a category that typically starts near $10, and HubSpot, Salesforce and coaching need Business at $29. One thing in its favour: only people who record pay, and viewers are free. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree forever, with unlimited transcription. But AI summaries are limited, storage stops at 400 minutes for the whole team, and you can't download transcripts or record video. Dictation with Fireflies Talk is free and unlimited, which is a nice touch. | BUnlimited meetings with AI notes, action items and the bot-free desktop capture. But each meeting is cut off at 45 minutes, you only keep 30 days of history, and there are no file uploads. |
| Features | AA notetaker that joins from your calendar, or bot-free capture from the desktop app. Transcripts in 100+ languages, summaries with action items, AskFred for questions, and a Live Assist pane during the call. Business adds analytics on your team's conversations. | AIt records Zoom, Meet, Teams, Webex and Slack huddles, with a bot or through a desktop app with no bot. You get notes and next steps, answers from your whole meeting library with citations, clips and highlight reels, and an MCP server and API for AI tools. |
| Ease of use | A4.8 from about 5,200 App Store ratings. Connect your calendar and the notetaker joins your meetings by itself. | BEach meeting gets a summary, next steps and a recap without you asking. There's no rating on record to show how people get on with it, so it stops at a B. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and a Chrome extension. It connects to Zoom, Meet, Teams, Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, Asana and dialers like Aircall, and an MCP server opens your meetings to Claude and ChatGPT. | BWeb, Mac and Windows, with Slack, Zapier, Aircall, an API and an MCP server, and HubSpot and Salesforce on Business. But no iPhone or Android app is listed: the download page offers Mac and Windows only. |
| Best for | teams that want every call searchable | sharing clips of calls across a team |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Fireflies.ai and Grain. How we grade
Where they differ
- Fireflies.ai starts at $10 per seat / month, billed annually. Grain starts at $15 per seat / month, billed annually.
- Only Fireflies.ai lists iOS and Android apps.
- Only Fireflies.ai lists a browser extension.
- Fireflies.ai also covers dictation.
- Grain also covers templates.
At a glance
| Fireflies.ai | Grain | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $10 per seat / month, billed annually | $15 per seat / month, billed annually |
| Free plan | Unlimited transcription, limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of storage per team and 20 AI credits. Transcript downloads and video recording need a paid plan. | Unlimited meetings capped at 45 minutes each, AI notes and action items, 30-day meeting history, desktop capture and basic MCP access. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of the Business plan, once per account; a credit or debit card is required. | 14-day free trial; paid plans also carry a 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Fireflies.ai Corp. | Grain Intelligence Inc. |
| Price read from | fireflies.ai | grain.com |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Fireflies.ai
- Teams that want every call transcribed and searchable in one place
- People who want apps on web, desktop, phone and a Chrome extension
- Sales and recruiting teams that log calls to a CRM or applicant tracker
Grain
- Teams where a few people record and everyone else only views
- Sales and customer success teams syncing calls to HubSpot or Salesforce
- Sharing clips of customer calls with people who were not there
- Feeding meeting transcripts to Claude, ChatGPT or other AI agents
Worth knowing
Fireflies.ai
- The Free plan stores 400 minutes per team, limits AI summaries and does not include transcript downloads or video recording.
- AI Skills, custom summary sections and soundbites draw on AI credits; plans include only a one-time allowance and extra packs start at $5 a month.
- Conversation intelligence starts on Business. SSO, SCIM and HIPAA compliance are Enterprise only, and Enterprise is billed annually.
- Every teammate added to a workspace counts as a paid seat on paid plans.
Grain
- The Free plan cuts each meeting off at 45 minutes, keeps 30 days of history and has no file uploads.
- HubSpot and Salesforce integrations, AI coaching and trackers need Business at $29 per seat a month on annual billing.
- Starter allows 10 file uploads a month, and SAML single sign-on is limited to Enterprise.
- Grain's download page offers desktop apps for Mac and Windows only.
Key features
Fireflies.ai
- Notetaker bot or bot-free capture
- Invite the Fireflies notetaker to a call or let it auto-join meetings on your calendar. The desktop app can instead take notes from device audio with no bot in the meeting.
- Transcripts and AI summaries
- Every plan includes unlimited transcription, and paid plans add unlimited AI summaries with an overview, notes and action items. Fireflies lists support for 100+ languages.
- AskFred and Live Assist
- AskFred is an AI assistant for questions about meeting content. In the desktop app, a floating Live Assist pane shows notes, the transcript and AskFred during the call.
- Fireflies Talk dictation
- Hold a key and speak to dictate text into any app from the desktop app. Fireflies says this is free and unlimited on every plan, including Free.
- Conversation intelligence
- Business and Enterprise add analytics on team and individual conversations. Free and Pro do not include them.
- Integrations and MCP server
- Connects to CRMs, project tools, applicant tracking systems and dialers such as Aircall and RingCentral. An MCP server exposes meeting data to assistants like Claude and ChatGPT.
Grain
- Bot or bot-free capture
- The desktop app for Mac and Windows transcribes the computer's audio with no bot in the call. A bot can join instead to record video, including meetings you cannot attend.
- AI notes and action items
- Each meeting gets a summary, next steps and an automatic recap. Custom AI prompts and custom note templates are available from the Starter plan.
- Ask across meetings
- Ask questions over the whole meeting library and get answers with citations that point back to the source recordings.
- Clips and highlight reels
- Cut shareable video clips from a recording, group them into playlists or highlight reels, and share them with teammates or clients.
- MCP server and API
- AI agents can query transcripts and search across meetings. Transcripts export as Markdown or open in Claude or ChatGPT. Workspace API and advanced MCP access need Business.
- Coaching and CRM sync
- The Business plan adds HubSpot and Salesforce integrations, AI coaching, trackers and team interaction metrics for sales and customer success teams.
Plans
Fireflies.ai
Free$0
Unlimited transcription and limited AI summaries, with 400 minutes of storage per team and 20 AI credits.
Pro$10
per seat / month, billed annually ($18 billed monthly)
Unlimited AI summaries, 8,000 minutes of storage per seat, video recording, and transcript and recording downloads.
Business$19
per seat / month, billed annually ($29 billed monthly)
Unlimited storage plus team and individual conversation intelligence.
Enterprise$39
per seat / month, billed annually only
Adds SSO and SCIM, HIPAA and FERPA compliance, with volume discounts as the team grows.
Grain
Free$0
Unlimited meetings with a 45-minute limit, AI notes and action items, 30-day meeting history, desktop capture and unlimited notetaker seats.
Starter$15
per seat / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly)
Unlimited meeting duration and history, custom AI prompts, admin controls, teams, Slack, personal Zapier and API access, and 10 file uploads a month.
Business$29
per seat / month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly)
Adds HubSpot and Salesforce integrations, AI coaching, trackers, team interaction metrics, custom AI follow-up emails, unlimited uploads and a workspace API.
EnterpriseCustom
Everything in Business, plus SAML-based single sign-on, priority API support, custom invoices and a dedicated customer success manager.
Ways to pay less
Fireflies.ai
- Annual discount
Save up to 44% with annual billing
Fireflies' pricing page says annual billing saves up to 44%: Pro is $10 instead of $18 per seat a month, and Business is $19 instead of $29.
- Education
10% off paid plans for students
Fireflies' help center lists a 10% discount on Pro, Business or Enterprise for students, on monthly or yearly plans. It is claimed by emailing support from a school address.
- Nonprofit
10% off paid plans for NGOs and nonprofits
The same help article lists a 10% discount on Pro, Business or Enterprise for NGOs and non-profit organizations, requested by emailing support from the organization's email domain.
Grain
- Annual discount
Lower per-seat price on annual billing
At listed prices Starter costs $180 a year ($15 a month) instead of $19 a month, and Business $348 a year ($29 a month) instead of $39 a month, per seat.
