A Fireflies alternative with no bot in the room.
Fireflies sends a bot into your meeting and processes the audio on its servers, metered by plans and credits. Chirp records the same meeting on your Mac: no bot, nothing uploaded, every speaker named, for $39 once.
Free for 7 days. No account, no card.
Respect first, then the difference.
Fireflies is one of the most capable meeting note-takers there is. Its bot joins your calls, transcribes them, writes AI summaries, and files everything into a searchable, shareable workspace with CRM integrations. For teams that live in that workflow, it genuinely delivers.
The honest difference starts with the bot. Fireflies works by adding a participant to your meeting; everyone sees it, hosts can block it, and the audio is processed on Fireflies' servers, with usage metered by plans and credits. Chirp does the same core job from the other direction: it records the meeting audio your Mac is already playing, transcribes it on-device, and nothing joins the call or leaves your machine.
Where Chirp is different
No bot in the call
Nothing joins the meeting and nothing shows up in the participant list. Chirp listens to what your Mac already hears, so it works even where bots get blocked.
Nothing is uploaded
Transcription happens on your Mac. The audio, the transcript, and the speaker profiles never touch a server, ours or anyone's.
No minutes, no credits
Fireflies meters plans by transcription minutes and AI credits. Chirp has no meter at all: record as much as you want, forever.
Speakers remembered
Each transcript labels who said what, and the speaker library recognizes voices across meetings. Name a teammate once and they stay named.
It also dictates
Meetings are half of Chirp. The other half is hotkey dictation that types what you say into any app, at your cursor.
Pay once
$39 for one Mac, every feature, no per-user-per-month math. The first price is the whole price.
The transcript, without the bot.
Chirp records from your Mac and names each speaker as the call runs.
FaceTime100% on-device · Speaker profiles never leave your Mac
Side by side
As of June 2026. Check fireflies.ai for their current plans.
What Fireflies does better
Team workspace and integrations
Shared meeting libraries, channels, comments, and CRM integrations like Salesforce and HubSpot. Fireflies is built for a team operating on meetings together; Chirp is built for your Mac.
AI summaries and AskFred
If you want the meeting condensed into action items, or to ask questions across all your calls, that's Fireflies' product. Chirp gives you the verbatim, speaker-labeled record instead.
Works from anything
Phone, web, Windows. Chirp is Mac-only by design.
If your whole team runs on shared AI meeting notes, Fireflies earns its seats, honestly. If you want your own meetings transcribed accurately, privately, on your own machine, with no meter running, that's what I built Chirp for.
Questions
How does Chirp record a meeting without a bot?
Your Mac is already playing the meeting audio. Chirp captures that system audio plus your microphone, transcribes it on-device, and labels each speaker. Nothing joins the call, so it works in meetings where bots are blocked, and in meetings you don't host.
Is there a limit on how much I can transcribe?
No. There are no minutes, credits, or monthly caps. Chirp runs on your own Mac, so there is nothing for anyone to meter.
Does Chirp write AI summaries like Fireflies?
No. Chirp keeps the accurate, speaker-labeled record of what was said, with the audio attached. The transcript is yours to summarize with whatever tool you trust.
Will people know I am recording?
No bot appears in the call, so nothing announces itself. That means the announcing is on you: tell people you're recording, the same as you would with any recorder. Rules vary by region.
What does the $39 include?
Everything. Meeting Mode with speaker labels, the speaker library, solo dictation, searchable history with audio playback, exports, and all future updates. No subscription, no tiers, no credits.