Fireflies.ai
by Fireflies.ai Corp.
Getting-started guide
An AI note-taker that joins your video calls, transcribes them and sends summaries — once you've told it which meetings to join and who should get the notes.
Current prices: Free, from $18 · See all plans
Last reviewed 2026-10-23 · for Fireflies.ai
You connect your Google or Outlook calendar. Fireflies' note-taker, Fred, then joins your video meetings as a participant, records and transcribes them, and afterwards sends a summary with action items. You can search transcripts or ask AskFred, its chat assistant, questions about one meeting or many.
Fireflies.ai is a meeting assistant built around a bot. Its help centre describes Fred as Fireflies' bot, which joins calls as fred@fireflies.ai on Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and other platforms, then produces a transcript, summary and action items. The pricing page lists transcription in more than 100 languages.
If you don't want a bot on the call, there are other ways in. The desktop app can capture your computer's audio with no bot joining — Fireflies says that mode keeps only the transcript and summary, not audio or video. The Chrome extension can record Google Meet calls without a bot joining — audio only, and only for Google Meet in Chrome. The iPhone and Android apps record in-person meetings, and you can upload audio or video files.
After the meeting, AskFred answers questions about what was said — inside one meeting, or across past meetings and connected apps. You can also clip short soundbites of key moments, and send notes automatically to tools like Slack, Notion or a CRM; the pricing page says every plan includes all integrations.
Sign-up connects your calendar. You sign in with Google or Microsoft (Outlook) — the only options — and grant calendar access. Fireflies supports one calendar per account. During setup it asks two important questions: which meetings Fred should join, and who should get the recap emails.
Change the defaults before your first meeting. Fireflies' account-setup guide says the defaults are to join every calendar meeting with a video link and to send recaps to everyone on the invite — including outside guests. Most beginners want "Only meetings that I own" or "Only when I invite fred@fireflies.ai", and recaps sent only to themselves at first.
Free has catches. Fireflies' free plan has limited storage, a length limit per recording and a one-time batch of AI credits. Its help centre says unlimited transcription on Free only applies with auto-join turned on; with auto-join off or set to invite-only, accounts created since September 1, 2026 get only a few meeting transcriptions. Downloading transcripts needs a paid plan.
Paid plans are per seat. Pro is $18/seat/month, with Business and Enterprise above it, and annual billing costs less. Separately, AI credits pay for extra AI features; Fireflies' credits guide says paid plans are automatically subscribed to a small credit pack when they run out.
Official source: Sign up at fireflies.ai and install the desktop app, mobile apps or Chrome extension only from links on fireflies.ai or the official app stores. Fireflies asks for calendar access, so review the permission screen to make sure it's the real thing.
Set who Fred records. In Settings → Recording & Privacy, choose your auto-join option. "Only when I invite fred@fireflies.ai" gives you the most control; on the Free plan, Fireflies' help centre says it also caps how many meetings get transcribed.
Set who gets the notes. In the same area, change recap emails from "Everyone on the invite" to just you, or only teammates, until you're sure what a recap contains.
Check sharing. Fireflies' help centre says meeting privacy defaults to "Teammates & Anyone with Link", meaning anyone with a forwarded link can view it. Tighten it if your meetings are sensitive; Fireflies offers to apply the change to past meetings too.
A bot that joins meetings records other people, so consent is the first thing to manage. Fireflies' consent guide says it follows your meeting platform's recording rules, and most meetings are opt-out — the bot joins, and people have to remove it. Recording-consent laws vary by place, so tell people up front. Fireflies has two settings you switch on yourself: an email to attendees an hour before with a link to decline recording, and a message pinned in the meeting chat.
/ff pause or /ff leave in the meeting chat to pause or remove Fred. Fireflies says no transcript is made if Fred is removed within 3 minutes.Fireflies' privacy policy says personal information isn't used to train AI models and that its AI vendors keep no meeting content. It lists SOC 2 Type II and GDPR compliance; HIPAA agreements require Enterprise.
In Settings → Recording & Privacy, set auto-join to "Only meetings that I own", send recaps only to yourself, and set meeting privacy to teammates only.
Why this one: Fireflies' defaults record every meeting with a video link and email notes to every guest. Starting narrow means nothing goes out that you haven't seen.
What were the key decisions in this meeting, and who agreed to do what by when?
Why this one: Open a processed meeting and ask AskFred. Fireflies' help centre recommends specific questions like this, and checking the answer against the transcript before you act on it.
List my action items from this week's meetings.
Why this one: This is one of Fireflies' own example questions for AskFred across meetings (Ctrl/Cmd+J). It's the best way to see why a searchable meeting history is useful.
Install the desktop app and record your next call from your computer's audio instead of inviting Fred.
Why this one: Fireflies says this mode keeps only the transcript and summary, with no audio or video saved — a gentler option for small or sensitive meetings.
Enable the pre-meeting email that lets attendees decline recording, and the pinned chat message announcing that the meeting is being recorded.
Why this one: Fireflies' consent guide treats both as settings you switch on yourself. Turning them on makes telling people the default rather than an afterthought.
Want the full picture first? See the Fireflies.ai overview for pricing, the free tier and related tools.