A Fireflies.ai alternative that keeps your calls on your Mac

By Harshit Maurya, maker of Cued · Updated 16 October 2026

Cued is a Fireflies.ai alternative for Mac that records and transcribes calls on your own Mac, with no bot and nothing uploaded, and adds a notch teleprompter for what you want to say. Fireflies is a cloud AI note taker: its bot joins calls by default, your meetings are stored in its cloud, its bot-free desktop mode saves no audio or video, and it is a per-seat subscription from $10 a month billed yearly. Cued is a one-time purchase, $29 to $29, with no subscription.

Cued's meeting summary with a short summary, action items with owners, and key points — After the call: summary, action items with owners, and key points.

Why people look for a Fireflies alternative

The bot. Fireflies' Notetaker joins your calls as a participant, and some clients don't want a recording bot in the room.
Storage limits on the free plan. Fireflies Free stores 400 minutes per team, with limited AI summaries. Video recording and downloading transcripts and recordings start at Pro.
The bot-free mode keeps no recording. Fireflies' desktop app can capture a call without the bot, but Fireflies says that mode does not save audio or video files, only the transcript and summary.
Per-seat subscriptions. Pro is $10 per seat a month billed yearly ($18 month to month), Business $19 ($29 month to month). Two years of Pro for one person is $240 to $432.
Privacy questions. Fireflies stores your meetings in its cloud. It says it doesn't train AI on your data by default. It has also been sued over voice data (below).

Fireflies and Cued compared

Fireflies details from its pricing, security and help pages, checked 16 October 2026. Prices are per person.
	Fireflies.ai	Cued
Bot joins the call	Yes by default; the desktop app can record without it	Never
Saves audio and video	Video from Pro up, with the bot; the bot-free mode saves neither	Yes: screen and both sides of the audio, on your Mac
Where transcripts are made and kept	Fireflies' cloud (Free stores 400 minutes per team)	On your Mac, in Cued's folder
Trains AI on your data	Says "we don't train on it by default"	No; nothing leaves your Mac
Account	A Fireflies account and workspace	No Cued account or server; setup connects Google for your calendar
Works offline	No	Recording, transcription and summaries: yes
Teleprompter during the call	No	Yes, in the notch, hidden from screen sharing
Platforms	Web, desktop (Mac, Windows), mobile	Mac only (macOS 15, Apple silicon)
Subscription?	Yes, per seat	No, pay once
Price over 2 years	Free tier $0; Pro $240 (yearly) or $432 (monthly); Business $456 or $696	$9 founding or $29, once

The Fireflies lawsuits

In December 2025 an Illinois resident filed a proposed class action, Cruz v. Fireflies.AI Corp., in federal court in Illinois. She alleged that Fireflies' speaker recognition created voiceprints of people in meetings, including people like her with no Fireflies account, without the written notice and consent that Illinois' biometric privacy law (BIPA) requires. The court docket shows that case closed in March 2026. Court records show more suits against Fireflies filed in Illinois and California federal courts in March 2026; two of the Illinois cases were combined into one proposed class action, and in July 2026 Fireflies asked that court to dismiss it. These are allegations, not findings, and the cases may change. This isn't legal advice.

When Fireflies is the better fit

You need a bot to attend meetings you are not in.
Your team shares transcripts across Windows, web and mobile.
You rely on integrations that push notes into a CRM automatically.
You need to transcribe uploaded files or calls in many languages; Fireflies lists 100+ languages, and Cued is tested in English.

When Cued is the better fit

Clients or colleagues dislike a recording bot in the call.
Your calls must not leave your machine.
You want the video of the call, not only a transcript, without paying for a higher plan.
You want your talking points under the camera during the call, not just notes after it.
You'd rather pay once than every month.

Moving your notes from Fireflies

Cued can't import Fireflies transcripts today. So the honest way to switch is to keep your history as files and start fresh in Cued:

Export what you want to keep. On Fireflies Pro or higher, open a meeting and use the Download button. Transcripts come as PDF, DOCX, SRT, CSV, JSON or Markdown; audio as MP3 and video as MP4.
File them by client or project. A folder per client, with the date in each file name, keeps them findable without Fireflies.
Run both on one or two calls. Before you cancel, let Cued record a call alongside your usual setup and compare the transcript and summary.
Turn off the bot. Before you cancel, switch off Fireflies joining your calendar meetings, so the bot doesn't keep appearing.

Other Fireflies alternatives, including on-device ones

BB Recorder: free, no account, records Zoom, Meet and Teams video and audio locally with no bot, and says it works fully offline. Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android.
Meetily: records, transcribes and summarises on your computer, with an open-source core. Community edition free; Pro from $10 per user a month.
MacWhisper: a Mac transcription app that also records Zoom, Teams, Webex and other calls without a bot. Free, with a pay-once Pro licence (€64).
Aiko: transcribes recordings on your Mac or iPhone for $24 once, but doesn't record calls or transcribe live.
If you're also weighing cloud note takers, see our Otter and Granola AI alternative pages.

Whatever tool you use, tell people you are recording and ask for their consent. Many places require everyone's permission by law. Cued needs a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 15 or later, and is designed for MacBooks with a notch.

Questions

Can Fireflies record without a bot?

Yes, its desktop app records system audio without the Notetaker joining, but that mode does not save an audio or video recording.

Does Fireflies train on my data?

Fireflies' security page says it doesn't train on your data by default. Cued has nothing to train on: your calls never leave your Mac.

Is Fireflies being sued?

A proposed class action filed in December 2025 alleged Fireflies collected voiceprints without the consent Illinois' biometric privacy law requires; it closed in March 2026. Other suits filed in 2026 are ongoing. These are allegations, not findings.

Is there an AI note taker without a subscription?

Yes. Cued is a one-time purchase: $9 for the first 50 founding members, then $29 with a year of updates. BB Recorder is free, and MacWhisper Pro is pay-once.

Can I import my Fireflies transcripts into Cued?

Not today. Export them from Fireflies (Pro or higher) as files and keep them alongside Cued.

How much does Cued cost?

Cued is a one-time purchase: $9 for the first 50 founding members, then $29 with a year of updates. Download it from getcued.pro and pay inside the app after a quick setup.

Try Cued on your next call. Your script in the notch, your call recorded and summarised on your Mac.

Download for Mac