Fireflies.ai — Cross-Platform AI Meeting Notetaker With AskFred + CRM Sync (Active, Independent, $1B Valuation, No Shutdown)

Not shut down. Fireflies.ai founded 2016 (Krish Ramineni + Sam Udotong, SF), Khosla/Canaan backed, $1B valuation via tender Jun 2025, profitable since 2023, 20M+ users / 500K+ orgs, actively hiring + scouting India acquisitions Aug 2026. Active 2026-08, independent, no acquire/rebrand/shutdown. Category ai-productivity-data; pipeline_stage none. Killer differentiator = bot joins Zoom/Meet/Teams/Webex, unlimited transcription + AI summaries even on Free, sentence-searchable archive via AskFred, native Salesforce/HubSpot/Zoho/Pipedrive/Greenhouse/Lever CRM+ATS sync (not Zapier-only), 100+ languages, official MCP server (Claude/Code/Devin query meetings), conversation intelligence at 1/5 of Gong price; not Otter (consumer-real-time, CRM via Zapier), not Fathom (video-first free, no enterprise depth), not Gong/Chorus (sales-CI only, $100+/seat), not Zoom AI Companion / M365 Copilot (platform-locked, no cross-app neutral archive). 2026 trap: storage not minutes is the meter (Free 400 min/team, Pro 8K/seat), AI credits gate AskFred/AI Skills/Voice Agents (Pro 20/mo, auto-rebuy $5/50), bot visible in attendee list (consent/BIPA suits Dec 2025 + Mar 2026 active in IL), diarization slips in fast 4-way calls, free tier no video/download/CRM, Enterprise annual-only $39/seat, native platform capture (Zoom/M365/Gemini) eroding standalone wedge.

1. One-line positioning

Fireflies = neutral cross-platform meeting brain: calendar sync → Fred bot auto-joins call → 100+ lang transcript with speaker labels → post-call AI summary (topics/decisions/action items) → AskFred natural-language Q over your whole meeting history → AI Skills (BANT/MEDDIC/objection extraction) → push recap to Slack/Notion/CRM/ATS → Soundbites clip sharing → Business+ conversation intelligence (talk-time/sentiment/topic trackers) → MCP server exposes meetings to Claude Code. Fits ai-productivity-data; pipeline_stage none (capture→transcribe→summarize→extract→sync→query). For sales/CS/recruiting/standup-heavy teams on mixed Zoom+Meet+Teams, it’s the only neutral seat; for pure-MS or pure-Zoom shops, native Copilot/Zoom AI Companion cheaper but locks you in.

2. Core features

Layer	Capability	Notes
Capture	Fred bot joins Zoom/Meet/Teams/Webex/Dialpad/GoTo; Desktop app + Chrome ext for in-person/browser audio	Bot shows in attendee list (configurable opt-in)
Transcription	Unlimited on all tiers, 100+ langs auto-detect, 99% EN / 95% other, multi-lang mode (60+ in one call)	Diarization weakens in fast overlap
Summaries	Structured topics/decisions/action items, unlimited even on Free
AskFred	NL query across one or all meetings (“pricing objections this sprint?”)	Consumes AI credits
AI Skills	200+ templates: BANT, MEDDIC, interview scorecard, objection tracking	Pro+
Voice Agents / Live Assist	AI agent runs calls / live cueing	Pro+
CRM + ATS sync	Native Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Pipedrive, Redtail, Affinity, Wealthbox, Greenhouse, Lever	Not Zapier-only (diff vs Otter)
Workflow	Slack/Notion/Asana/Linear/Jira/Trello/Email digest, Zapier/Make, 100+ integrations
Conversation Intel	Talk-time, sentiment, question detection, topic trackers, team admin dashboards	Business+
Video + clips	Video recording + screen capture (Pro+), Soundbites audio clips, comments/reactions timestamped	Free = audio only
Export	CSV/JSON/SRT/DOCX/PDF, transcript download	Free = no export
MCP server	Official MCP (Claude Desktop/Code, ChatGPT, Devin query meetings) since Aug 2025
Security	SOC 2 Type II, GDPR+DPA, HIPAA+BAA (Ent), zero-training-on-customer-data, 256-bit AES, private storage (Ent)	US-primary processing

3. Pricing (2026-08, USD/seat)

Tier	Monthly	Annual (per seat/mo)	Storage	AI credits	Key gates
Free	$0	$0	400 min / team	20	Unlimited transcription+summaries, AskFred, no video, no download, no CRM, no AI Skills
Pro	$18	$10	8,000 min/seat	20	+ video, downloads, AI Skills, Voice Agents, Personal/Email Asst, CRM integrations, 2hr/meeting cap
Business (most popular)	$29	$19	Unlimited	30	+ conversation intel, team analytics, multi-lang mode, 3hr cap, API access, priority support
Enterprise	— (annual only)	$39	Unlimited + private	50	+ SSO/SCIM, HIPAA BAA, custom retention, rules engine, audit logs, 4hr cap, dedicated CS

pricing_type = freemium-per-seat-usage-metered-storage-and-credits; starting_price = $0; free_tier = "yes; unlimited transcription+AI summaries+AskFred(20 credits), 400 min storage/team, 100+ langs, no video/download/CRM/AI Skills, 2hr/meeting cap"; pricing_note = "jun-2025-1b-valuation-tender-independent-profitable-since-2023; storage-not-minutes-metered; ai-credits-gate-askfred-skills-voice-agents-pro-20-biz-30-ent-50-auto-rebuy-5-per-50; enterprise-annual-only; free-400min-per-team-not-per-seat-confusion; pro-10-18-biz-19-29-ent-39-verified-aug-2026"

4. Access Type

access_type: web-dashboard-plus-bot-plus-mcp-plus-mobile

access_display: 🌐 fireflies.ai · 🤖 Fred bot (Zoom/Meet/Teams/Webex) · 📱 iOS/Android · 🖥️ Desktop + Chrome ext · 🔌 100+ integrations + REST API (Biz+) + MCP server · no native Monday/Calendly connector

5. Reviews (2026)

Source	Read
G2	4.7/5 (~750 reviews) — auto-join reliability, summary quality, Slack/Notion/CRM push praised vs Otter
AI Agent Index	4.6/5 — “integration 5/5, MCP live, evidence 5/5, pricing clarity 4/5”
Trustpilot	Not heavily reviewed; scattered 1-star on billing/credit confusion
Reddit long-term	Praise: searchable archive, AskFred, CRM field mapping. Gripe: diarization in 4+ fast speakers, free storage wall at 400 min, credit drain if 10 AskFred Q/day
2025–26 legal	BIPA class actions (Cruz Dec 2025, Fricker Mar 2026, Illinois) — voiceprint/biometric consent; some universities/enterprises banned Fireflies early 2026 until DPA updated

Praise: cross-platform neutral (Zoom+Meet+Teams in one searchable repo), CRM native not Zapier, AskFred over history is genuinely useful, $10 Pro undercuts Fathom/Otter Business, MCP into Claude Code 2026-ready, SOC2/HIPAA path clear.

Gripes: free 400 min/team exhausts in 3–4 hrs/wk, AI credits surprise-bill ($5/50 auto-rebuy) if not disabled, bot-in-attendee-list triggers consent friction + BIPA exposure, diarization on crosstalk, conversation intel still shallower than Gong for complex sales, US-data-processing irks EU DPOs, Enterprise annual-only.

6. Best for / Not for

Best for	Not for
Sales/SDR teams logging call notes to HubSpot/Salesforce automatically	Pure Microsoft shop already on M365 Copilot (native summary free-ish, no neutral archive)
Recruiters pushing interview transcripts to Greenhouse/Lever	Pure Zoom shop happy with Zoom AI Companion ($0 incremental)
Agencies/consultancies on mixed Meet+Teams+Zoom needing one searchable repo	Teams averse to bot-in-room / Illinois-regulated meetings (BIPA)
Standup-heavy eng/PM orgs syncing action items to Linear/Asana	Casual 2-calls/week user (Free 400 min wall hits fast)
Researchers/analysts querying own meeting corpus via AskFred+MCP	Deep revenue-intelligence buyers (Gong/Chorus still deeper)

7. Competitors

Tool	Lane	Starts
Otter.ai	Consumer real-time transcription, mobile-first, CRM via Zapier	Free / $16.99-mo
Fathom	Video-first, generous free, no enterprise SSO depth	Free / $20-mo
tl;dv	Clips + product/design collab	Free / $18-mo
Read.ai	Engagement scoring, participation metrics	$15-mo
Gong / Chorus	Sales revenue intelligence, deal analytics	$100+/seat
Zoom AI Companion	Native Zoom summary	Bundled w/ Zoom
Microsoft 365 Copilot	Native Teams summary + graph	$30/seat (w/ M365)
Google Gemini for Meet	Native Meet summary	Bundled w/ Workspace