Fireflies.ai vs Votars (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 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Fireflies.ai grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. Votars grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on 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
Votars
Multilingual transcription and meeting notes with live translation
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 Votars if
- Fits if your meetings are in more than one language and you need them translated
- Works for one person on a Windows or Mac laptop who wants notes on the phone too
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 30 minutes per recording, 300 minutes a month and 20 summaries
- Pricey if you go for teams, as Business is $14.67 per seat on yearly billing with a seat selector
- Watch out: translation and downloadable transcripts are paid features
- Watch out: AI summaries are counted monthly on every plan below Enterprise
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAFireflies.aiVery good | 2.4GPAVotarsFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | BPersonal is $8 a month on yearly billing, a little under the $8.33 that starts the cheaper quarter of meeting-note tools. Monthly billing is $11.99. |
| 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. | C300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per recording, 50 transcribed files and 20 AI summaries. A few meetings and you are at the edge. |
| 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. | CLive transcription, translation, summaries, action items, recording and mind maps. Translation and downloads need Personal, and summaries are counted each month on every plan below Enterprise. |
| 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 Zoom, Teams or Meet and set up a workspace. |
| 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, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, with Zoom, Teams and Meet. Only three integrations are listed and no API. |
| Best for | teams that want every call searchable | multilingual transcription and meeting notes |
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 Votars. 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. Votars starts at $8 a month and scores 2.3.
Fireflies.ai scores higher, and starts $2 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI meeting note takers on the chart, none scores higher than Fireflies.ai for less, and 7 score higher than Votars 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 and chat assistant.
- Votars also covers reports.
At a glance
| Fireflies.ai | Votars | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $10 per seat / month, billed annually | $8 per month, billed annually ($11.99 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. | 300 minutes of recording a month, up to 30 minutes per recording, 50 transcribed files and 20 AI summaries. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of the Business plan, once per account; a credit or debit card is required. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Fireflies.ai Corp. | Votars |
| Price read from | fireflies.ai | votars.ai |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Nov 13, 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.
Votars
- The free plan caps recordings at 30 minutes and 300 minutes a month.
- Translation and downloadable transcripts need Personal or higher.
- Business is priced per seat and the page shows a seat selector for adding people.
- AI summaries are counted per month on every plan below Enterprise.
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.
Votars
- Real-time transcription
- Transcribes a live microphone, web meetings, uploaded audio or video, and webpage audio, with speaker identification on every plan.
- Translation
- Transcript translation and real-time translation are available from the Personal plan; the site lists 74 languages.
- Summaries and action items
- AI summaries are capped per month: 20 on Free, 100 on Personal, 500 on Business and unlimited on Enterprise.
- Meeting recording
- Records and transcribes in Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, including on the free plan.
- Document and mind-map output
- The homepage lists Word, Excel, PowerPoint and mind-map output, plus one-click sharing of results.
- Workspace sharing
- Business adds shared workspaces with permission management for teams of up to 99 people.
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.
Votars
Free$0
300 recording minutes a month, 30 minutes per recording, speaker identification and Zoom, Teams and Meet recording.
Personal$8
per month, billed annually ($11.99 billed monthly)
1,800 minutes a month, 90 minutes per recording, 100 files, 100 AI summaries, translation and downloadable transcripts.
Business$14.67
per seat / month, billed annually ($21.99 billed monthly)
Unlimited minutes, 300 minutes per recording, 200 files, 500 AI summaries, workspace sharing; teams of up to 99 people.
EnterpriseCustom
For more than 99 seats: unlimited AI summaries, custom prompts and templates, security and compliance management.
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.
Votars
- Annual discount
Save 33% with annual billing
The pricing page shows Personal at $8 and Business at $14.67 a month when billed annually, marked 33% off the monthly price.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Fireflies.ai or Votars?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Fireflies.ai starts at $10 per seat / month, billed annually, and Votars starts at $8 per month, billed annually ($11.99 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 Votars?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Fireflies.ai and Votars have a free plan.
Which platforms do Fireflies.ai and Votars run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Fireflies.ai lists a browser extension. Both list a web app and macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. 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.