Fireflies.ai vs Sembly (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Fireflies.ai: it is first in our ranking of AI meeting note takers, and it grades higher too, 3.2 against 2.4.
Checked Oct 4, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Fireflies.ai grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and the free plan.
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
Sembly
AI meeting agent that records, summarizes and drafts follow-ups
Which one is for you
Pick Fireflies.ai if
- Fits if your team wants every call transcribed and searchable in one place
- Works for sales or recruiting calls that need logging to a CRM or applicant tracker
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're staying free, since 400 minutes of storage is shared by the whole team and there are no downloads or video
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $18 a seat for Pro against $10 on the yearly plan
- Not for you if you lean on AI Skills and soundbites, as plans include a one-time credit allowance and packs start at $5 a month
- Watch out: every teammate added counts as a paid seat, and team analytics need Business at $19
- Watch out: the Business trial needs a card, and SSO, SCIM and HIPAA are Enterprise only at $39 a seat yearly
Pick Sembly if
- Fits if you want a bot that joins calls from your calendar
- Works for consultants who send follow-ups, status reports and decks to clients
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 1 meeting hour a month
- Watch out: Studio credits meter the deck and document work, and extra credits are sold separately
- Pricey if you want multi-meeting chat or custom templates, since those start at Pro, $20 a user a month
- Watch out: MAX needs at least 3 users and Enterprise at least 10
- Skip it if you use a platform beyond Zoom, Meet, Teams or Webex
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAFireflies.aiVery good | 2.4GPASemblyFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPro is $10 a seat a month billed yearly, which is exactly the middle of this category, and $18 if you pay monthly. Conversation analytics need Business at $19, and every teammate you add counts as another paid seat. | C$10 a month on Basic, billed yearly, for one user, just above the cheaper quarter's $8.33. Pro is $20 a user and MAX $30. |
| Free plan and trial | CTranscription is unlimited, but storage is 400 minutes for the whole team. AI summaries are limited too, and you can't download a transcript or record video. Dictation with Fireflies Talk is included free. | CThe free plan covers 1 meeting hour a month, with a 7-day trial on paid plans. |
| Features | ATwo things here its rivals don't do: notes come either from a bot in the call or from your computer's own audio with nothing showing in the meeting, and an MCP server hands your meeting history to Claude or ChatGPT. The rest is the full job, plus AskFred over old calls and free dictation into any app. | BCalendar capture, transcripts in 45+ languages, tasks, decks and documents from meeting content, client folders and integrations. Nothing on the listing shows a gap in the core note-taking job. |
| Ease of use | A4.8 from about 5,200 App Store ratings, the top band. Connect your calendar and the notetaker joins your meetings without being asked. | CNo store rating on record. You connect a calendar and set up clients and brand packages. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and a Chrome extension, connecting to Zoom, Meet, Teams, Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, Asana and dialers like Aircall, with an MCP server that opens your meetings to Claude and ChatGPT. | BWeb only, with Slack, HubSpot, Jira, Asana, Salesforce, Zapier and MCP, but no desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | teams that want every call searchable | a notetaker that joins your calls and drafts follow-ups |
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 Sembly. How we grade
Price against what you get
Fireflies.ai starts at $10 a month for each person and scores 4.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Sembly starts at $10 a month and scores 2.7.
Fireflies.ai scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other AI meeting note takers on the chart, none scores higher than Fireflies.ai for less, and 14 score higher than Sembly for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Fireflies.ai also covers dictation.
- Sembly also covers tasks.
At a glance
| Fireflies.ai | Sembly | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $10 per seat / month, billed annually | $10 per month, billed annually ($14 billed monthly) |
| 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. | 1 hour of meeting capture per month, transcripts, notes and summaries, tasks, basic AI chat and 750 Studio credits a month. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of the Business plan, once per account; a credit or debit card is required. | 7-day free trial on Basic, Pro and MAX |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Fireflies.ai Corp. | Sembly AI, Inc. |
| Price read from | fireflies.ai | sembly.ai |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
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.
Sembly
- The free plan covers 1 meeting hour a month; all other plans are unlimited for capture.
- Studio credits meter the AI deliverable work; extra credits are sold separately on paid plans.
- MAX needs at least 3 users and Enterprise at least 10.
- The pricing page lists capture for Google Meet, Teams, Zoom and Webex only, and the dashboard runs in a browser.
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.
Sembly
- Calendar-based meeting capture
- Records Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex meetings from a synced calendar, and can attend meetings you skip.
- Transcripts in 45+ languages
- Word-for-word transcripts with named speakers, plus notes with a summary, topics, decisions, risks and next steps.
- Tasks with owners and deadlines
- Commitments raised in a meeting become tasks that can be confirmed and then sent on to project management tools.
- Decks and documents from meetings
- Generates proposals, status reports and follow-up emails from meeting content, exported as editable PowerPoint and Word files.
- Clients and brand packages
- Organizes work by client and applies a brand package to generated files. Limits rise from 5 clients on Free to 500 on MAX.
- AI chat across meetings
- Free and Basic chat about a single meeting. Pro and above can ask questions across several meetings.
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.
Sembly
Free$0
1 meeting hour a month, notes, tasks, basic AI chat, 1 month of meeting history and 750 Studio credits.
Basic$10
per month, billed annually ($14 billed monthly)
One user. Unlimited online meetings, 12 months of history, standard video, 2,500 Studio credits a month.
Pro$20
per user / month, billed annually ($29 billed monthly)
Up to 40 users. Adds custom note templates, multi-meeting AI chat, consent tracking, MCP and 3,000 credits.
MAX$30
per user / month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly)
3 to 500 users. Adds unlimited history, HIPAA compliance, custom SSO, audit log, HD video, 3,500 credits.
EnterpriseCustom
For 10 or more users or custom contracts and DPAs; adds a dedicated success manager and onboarding.
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.
Sembly
- Annual discount
Save 30% with annual billing
Sembly's pricing page shows annual billing at 30% off: Basic $10 instead of $14, Pro $20 instead of $29 and MAX $30 instead of $39 per month.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Fireflies.ai or Sembly?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Fireflies.ai starts at $10 per seat / month, billed annually, and Sembly starts at $10 per month, billed annually ($14 billed monthly). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Fireflies.ai or Sembly?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Fireflies.ai and Sembly have a free plan.
Which platforms do Fireflies.ai and Sembly run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Fireflies.ai lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps and a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.