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Home/AI Meeting Assistants/Granola vs Fireflies: Bot-Free Notes, Recordings and Pricing
GranolaGranolaBasic free with limited history
VS
Fireflies.aiFireflies.aiFree tier with 400 min storage. Pro from $10/user/mo annually. Business from $19/user/mo annually. Enterprise from $39/user/mo annually.

Granola vs Fireflies: Bot-Free Notes, Recordings and Pricing

Granola vs Fireflies in 2026: both offer bot-free capture. Compare recordings, speaker labels, notes, team workflows and monthly versus annual prices.

Research curated by Etienne Tawong ยท Verified September 2026 ยท Our methodology โ†’

โšก Quick Verdict

Evaluate Granola for a notes-centered workflow. Evaluate Fireflies when you also need a recording archive or conversation analytics. Both can capture meetings without a bot.

The old bot-versus-no-bot distinction is outdated. Fireflies Desktop offers Take Notes using device audio as well as a visible meeting bot. Its bot-free mode produces transcripts and notes without saved audio/video or named speaker labels. Granola also uses device audio for notes and does not retain meeting recordings. This comparison uses vendor documentation; no independent transcription-accuracy test was run.

Want the full picture? See how Granola and Fireflies.ai stack up against every other tool in Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026: A Complete Guide.

๐ŸŽฏ Key Difference

Compare the output and team workflow you need. Bot-free capture is available in both products; Fireflies recording and speaker-label capabilities depend on capture mode.

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

FeatureGranolaFireflies.ai
Bot-free captureDevice microphone and system audioDesktop Take Notes uses system audio without a bot
Saved recordingsAudio is used for transcription and not retained as a recording archiveโœ“ WinnerUse the bot workflow for saved audio/video; bot-free desktop capture does not save them
Desktop speaker labelsDesktop transcription distinguishes microphone and system audio rather than identifying every speakerBot-free capture uses generic speaker labels; bot capture supports speaker labels
Notes and collaborationAI meeting notes, templates and shared foldersTranscripts, summaries and team workspaces
Team workflowBusiness includes integrations, MCP and API; Enterprise adds administrationBusiness adds conversation intelligence and team analytics
Privacy controlsCheck sharing, retention and training settings; bot-free does not mean local-only processingCheck capture mode, sharing, retention and organization settings
Free accessBasic has limited meeting historyFree has 400 minutes of storage per team and limited AI summaries

Pricing Comparison

Checked September 6, 2026. Granola lists Basic free, Business $14/user/month and Enterprise $35/user/month. Fireflies Pro is $18/seat monthly or $120/year; Business is $29/seat monthly or $228/year; Enterprise is $468/seat/year. Annual equivalents are $10/$19/$39 per month respectively. AI allowances and storage limits vary; check billing and seat terms before buying.

Which Tool Wins for Your Use Case?

Personal notes with templates and shared folders
๐Ÿ† GranolaTry Free โ†’

Evaluate its notes workflow on your regular meetings.

A saved recording archive with speaker labels
๐Ÿ† Fireflies

Its bot workflow supports recordings; confirm the plan and recording settings.

Conversation analytics for a team
๐Ÿ† Fireflies

Business lists conversation intelligence and admin analytics.

No visible bot in the meeting
๐Ÿ† Evaluate both

Both support device-audio capture; compare the resulting transcript and notes.

The Bottom Line

Test both on the same permitted meeting sample. Check names, decisions, action owners and missing context. Also check what is saved, who can access it and whether the chosen capture mode supplies the recordings or labels your team needs.

Try Granola โ†’Try Fireflies.ai โ†’
About This Comparison

Based on publicly available features, pricing, documentation, and real user feedback. Feature tables and scores reflect side-by-side analysis, not subjective preference.

Scored on our 11-dimension framework (1-5 scale). All data verified as of September 2026. Read our full methodology โ†’