AI Transcribe vs Fireflies: meeting bot or phone-first?
Fireflies.ai’s meeting-bot workflow vs AI Transcribe’s iPhone recording and file transcription: storage caps, upload limits and pricing, as of July 2026.
On this page
Fireflies is a meeting assistant first: its bot joins Zoom, Meet and Teams calls, and a web dashboard holds your team’s conversation archive. AI Transcribe is the opposite shape: nothing joins your calls, and everything starts on your iPhone or Mac.
TL;DR
Fireflies’ free plan advertises unlimited transcription, and the catch is storage: around 400 minutes per team (as of July 2026) before old transcripts squeeze out new ones, plus a 150-minute-per-file upload cap. Great for scheduled team calls; awkward for personal recordings. AI Transcribe handles files up to 3 hours with summaries, translations and to-dos in the app.
At a glance
| AI Transcribe | Fireflies | |
|---|---|---|
| Built around | iPhone recordings & files | Meeting bot + team dashboard |
| Live recording | Yes, up to 2 h | Joins video calls; mobile records in person |
| File import | Audio & video, up to 3 h | Yes, max 150 min per file |
| Free access | Free trial | Unlimited transcription, ~400 min storage/team |
| Paid | Pro, weekly or annual | Pro $10/mo annual ($18 monthly) |
| Speaker labels | Yes | Yes, with talk-time analytics |
| AI tools on transcript | 20+ | AI credits system (20/mo free) |
Choose Fireflies when…
- Your meetings are scheduled video calls and you want a searchable team archive.
- Talk-time analytics and CRM integrations matter.
Choose AI Transcribe when…
- Recordings happen in the room, on your phone, lectures, interviews, voice memos, WhatsApp audio.
- A 150-minute file cap is too small (imports run to 3 hours).
- You want the transcript summarized and translated in the same app, with no bot and no team workspace to manage.
Frequently asked questions
Is Fireflies really unlimited on the free plan? Transcription minutes, yes, but storage is capped (~400 min/team as of July 2026) and AI summaries burn limited monthly credits.
Can Fireflies transcribe without joining a meeting? Yes, via file upload (150 min/file max), the workflow just assumes the web dashboard is home base.
Check these for yourself
Limits and pricing in this category change often. These are the primary sources for every app named above, so you can check the numbers rather than take our word for them:
- Fireflies: App Store · official site
- AI Transcribe, App Store