The Fireflies alternative that never joins your call.
Fireflies is good at live notes for teams. But it works by sending a bot into the meeting, and the meeting goes to its servers. Ratproof turns the recording into text on your computer.
What Fireflies says
-
With auto-join on,
Fireflies will attempt to join exactly at the same time your meeting starts
. -
On the free plan, with auto-join off, you are
limited to the Free plan's default of 3 meeting transcriptions
. -
It and its providers
process and store personal information on servers located in the United States and other countries
.
Why some organisations block it
Cornell says Fireflies is currently automatically blocked from joining Cornell Zoom meetings
.
UW–Madison blocked it in October 2024. Case Western Reserve blocked it in September 2025, because
such tools often attempt to join future meetings by default
, even when others
did not agree.
Side by side
| Feature | Fireflies | Ratproof |
|---|---|---|
| Your meeting | Processed on Fireflies' servers | Stays on your computer |
| A bot in the call | Yes, unless you use its desktop app | Never |
| Account | Required | None |
| Free plan | 3 meetings unless auto-join is on; 400 minutes of storage | Unlimited transcription |
| Paid plan | $18 a month, or $10 a month billed yearly | $9.99 a month, or $79 a year |
| Live notes during the call | Yes | No. Transcribes the recording |
| Speaker labels | Yes | Yes, on your computer |
| Languages | English, and 100+ more in beta | English, Spanish, Italian, Swedish |
Fireflies' US prices and free plan, from fireflies.ai on 28 October 2026.
Which one to use
Fireflies for a team that wants live notes, an AI assistant across its meetings and CRM integrations, where everyone is fine with a bot and the cloud.
Ratproof when the call shouldn't go to anyone's servers: a client under an NDA, a source, a patient, an HR conversation. Or when the other side would mind a bot joining.
Questions
Is there a Fireflies alternative with no meeting bot?
Yes. Ratproof never joins a call. Record with your microphone, record the sound from the browser tab the call is in, or use a recording you already have. It becomes text on your computer.
Does Fireflies upload my meetings?
Its privacy policy says it and its service providers process and store personal information on servers in the United States and other countries.
How many meetings can I transcribe on Fireflies for free?
For accounts made on or after 1 September 2026, three, unless you turn on auto-join so the bot joins your meetings (Fireflies' guide, October 2026). Ratproof has no limit on free transcription.
Why do some universities block Fireflies?
UW–Madison, Cornell and Case Western Reserve block it from their meetings. Case Western said note-takers like it often join future meetings by default, even when other people did not agree.
Does Fireflies train AI on my meetings?
Its privacy policy says it does not use personal information to train AI models, and it bars its vendors from doing so. Ratproof never receives your meetings at all.