embral vs Fireflies.ai
Fireflies is a team product: bot joins calls, everything lands in a shared workspace, integrations for most CRMs. Desktop app (late 2025) records botless, with processing still in Fireflies' US cloud on AWS & GCP.
Billing is per seat: free tier with limited AI credits, Pro at $10/seat/month annual. Downloading your own transcripts requires a paid plan.
embral has nothing to download: notes are already files on disk, Markdown & SQLite, written by a local pipeline. Windows, macOS, Linux alpha. Free.
| embral | Fireflies.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux (alpha) | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android |
| How it records | No bot. Captures mic and app audio on your computer | Bot joins by default; desktop botless mode |
| Where audio is processed | On your device by default; optional metered cloud | Their cloud (AWS and GCP, US) |
| Works offline | Yes, after a one-time model download | No |
| Where your data lives | Markdown and SQLite in a folder you choose | Their cloud; exports need a paid plan |
| Dictation into any app | Yes, one global hotkey with AI cleanup | No |
| AI assistant access | Built-in read-only MCP server | Hosted MCP (beta); GraphQL API |
| Open source | Open core (embral-core on GitHub) | SDKs only |
| Pricing | Local app free; cloud from $7/mo for 10 hours | Free tier; Pro from $10/seat/mo annual |
| Account required | No, unless you use the cloud tier | Yes |
Where Fireflies.ai fits
Sales teams logging every call into a shared archive with CRM handoffs are Fireflies' home ground. One honest bot advantage: notes happen even when nobody opens an app.
Try embral
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Free, no account required.
Sources
- fireflies.ai
- Fireflies pricing
- Fireflies desktop app
- Fireflies security
- Fireflies: data storage
- Fireflies: exporting
Fireflies.ai details last checked 2026-08-02. Out of date? Write to [email protected].