Bluedot vs Fireflies
How we make money: No link on this page earns us anything. Bluedot pays us a commission through links marked "(paid link)" on some other pages of this site, and our affiliate disclosure lists every company that pays us. If a link on this page ever pays us, it will be marked "(paid link)" and this box will name the companies that pay us. We haven't tested these products hands-on. Prices and features come from each vendor's own pages, checked 2026-10-27 and linked in Sources.
These two take different routes to the same notes. Fireflies is built around a notetaker bot that joins your Zoom, Google Meet or Teams calls from your calendar. Bluedot's main pitch is the opposite: record from a Chrome extension or desktop app on your own computer, so no bot shows up in the call. Which one fits depends mostly on that, then on price and free limits.
Quick answer
- You want a free plan you can keep using: Fireflies. Its Free plan lists unlimited transcription (with an asterisk), limited AI summaries and 400 minutes of storage in total, not per month (Fireflies' pricing page says per team; its help center says per seat, pooled across the team). Bluedot Free covers 5 meetings in total, so it works as a trial.
- You don't want a bot in the call: Bluedot is built around that. Fireflies also lists recording with its Chrome extension without the bot, so check which plan includes it.
- You want video, not just audio, on the cheapest plan: Fireflies Pro ($10 a month on annual billing) lists video recording. Bluedot Basic ($14 a month on annual billing) is audio only; video starts at Bluedot Pro ($20).
- Your meetings run longer than an hour: Bluedot Pro lists unlimited recording duration. Bluedot Basic stops at 1 hour per recording. Fireflies' plan table lists 2 hours on Free and Pro, 3 on Business and 4 on Enterprise.
- You need a BAA for health information: Fireflies says a BAA is available on Enterprise with Private Storage. We didn't find BAA terms on Bluedot's pages.
Side by side (as of 2026-10-27)
| Bluedot | Fireflies | |
|---|---|---|
| How it records (per vendor) | Chrome extension, Mac and Windows apps, iOS, Android and Apple Watch apps; says it doesn't ask for calendar access | Bot joins Zoom, Meet, Teams and more; also Chrome extension recording without the bot, desktop and mobile apps |
| Free plan (per vendor) | 5 meetings in total | Unlimited transcription (asterisked), limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of storage in total, not per month (Fireflies' pricing page says per team; its help center says per seat, pooled across the team), 20 AI credits |
| Cheapest paid plan (per vendor) | Basic: $14 a month annual, $18 monthly; audio only, 1 hour per recording, unlimited meetings and storage | Pro: $10 a month annual, $18 monthly; video recording, downloads, 8,000 minutes of storage per seat |
| Mid plan (per vendor) | Pro: $20 annual, $25 monthly; video, unlimited recording duration | Business: $19 annual, $29 monthly; unlimited storage |
| Top listed plan (per vendor) | Business: $32 annual, $39 monthly; CRM and ATS integrations, SSO and SCIM, custom data retention | Enterprise: $39 a month, annual only; SSO and SCIM, HIPAA, private storage, custom data retention |
| Who pays (per vendor) | Charges only for users who record meetings | Per seat |
| Model training (per vendor) | Says meeting data is never used to train AI models | One page says it doesn't train on your data "by default"; another says data is "never used for AI training" |
| Security claims (per vendor) | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 42001, GDPR, HIPAA; BAA on Enterprise with Private Storage |
| Consent notice (per vendor) | Admins can turn on a "consent message" before or during recording. It's a notice, not consent | Not stated on the pages we read; a bot in the participant list is a notice, not consent |
Prices are list prices per user per month, before tax. Deals change often; check the vendor's site.
Two-year cost math
Arithmetic on listed annual prices, one user, before tax. Not a measured result.
| Plan | 2-year total |
|---|---|
| Fireflies Pro | $240 |
| Bluedot Basic (audio only) | $336 |
| Fireflies Business | $456 |
| Bluedot Pro | $480 |
Which one fits
- Sales or client calls where a bot would put people off: Bluedot. You still have to tell people you're recording; see the consent section below.
- A team that wants every calendar meeting captured without anyone pressing record: Fireflies, because its bot can auto-join meetings from your calendar.
- In-person meetings: both list mobile apps. Bluedot also lists an Apple Watch app.
- Tight budget, ongoing use: Fireflies Free or Pro. Bluedot has no long-term free plan.
- Health, legal or other sensitive work: Fireflies lists a BAA, but only on Enterprise with Private Storage. For Bluedot, ask about a BAA before you record anything with patient information.
Drawbacks to know. Bluedot Basic is audio only and capped at 1 hour per recording. If you cancel, Bluedot's pricing page says you lose access to recordings and have one month to restore before they're deleted, while its security page says data is removed 3 months after you stop using it. Plan on the shorter one and export first. On Fireflies Free, downloading transcripts, summaries and recordings is listed under Pro, not Free.
Consent: tell people first
Bot-free recording means nothing in the call tells people they're being recorded. Bluedot's optional "consent message" is a notice, not consent: ask, and wait for a yes. Bluedot's own FAQ recommends telling participants you're using an AI assistant for note-taking.
Recording laws: tell people first. Federal law and most states let you record a conversation you're part of. About 11 states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Washington, generally require everyone's consent, and a few states mix the rules. Oregon, for example, requires that everyone in an in-person conversation be told it's being recorded, while phone calls need one person's consent (RCFP guide, ORS 165.540). If people are in different states, the stricter law may apply. Rules outside the US differ too, and many employers, schools and clinics have their own policies. A meeting bot showing up in the participant list is a notice, not consent. The same goes for a "this call may be recorded" greeting: it may not tell people that an AI service is transcribing or summarizing the call, so name the AI note taker when you ask. This is general information, not legal advice. If you're unsure, ask a lawyer where you live.
A simple way to ask. Start recording first, so your announcement is captured on the recording (Washington law requires that). Then say:
"Quick heads-up: I'd like to record this and use an AI note taker to transcribe it, so I don't miss anything. The recording and notes are stored with [tool name]. Is everyone OK with that?"
Wait for a clear yes from each person. If anyone says no, stop and delete what you captured. For meetings with outside guests, also put a line in the invite: "This meeting may be recorded and transcribed by an AI note taker. Let me know beforehand if you'd prefer it isn't."
What we did and didn't do
We read the vendor pages below on 2026-10-27. We didn't sign up for or use Bluedot or Fireflies, so we can't speak to transcript accuracy or how either app feels day to day.
Sources (checked 2026-10-27)
- Bluedot pricing: https://www.bluedothq.com/pricing
- Bluedot home page (bot-free recording, consent FAQ): https://www.bluedothq.com/
- Bluedot security: https://www.bluedothq.com/security
- Fireflies pricing: https://fireflies.ai/pricing
- Fireflies security: https://fireflies.ai/security
- RCFP recording guide: https://www.rcfp.org/introduction-to-reporters-recording-guide/
- Oregon ORS 165.540: https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_165.540
- Fireflies meeting storage limits help (per seat, pooled across the team; checked 2026-10-27): https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4777633252-learn-about-meeting-storage-limits
Changes
- 2026-10-27: page first written. Prices, plans and policies checked on the vendor pages in Sources.
- 2026-10-27: Fireflies Free storage now shows both of Fireflies' wordings (pricing page: per team; help center: per seat, pooled); storage help added to Sources.