At a glance
Fireflies details reflect how the product is commonly documented; verify current specifics on their own pages. The Nod row is first-party.
- Bot in the call — Nod: never · Fireflies: Notetaker joins; desktop, Chrome, and Google Meet SDK paths can be bot-free.
- Stored audio — Nod: none, in memory ~5s then discarded · Fireflies: Notetaker saves audio/video; desktop Take Notes saves notes/transcript but no audio/video file.
- Where data lives — Nod: EU (AWS eu-west-1), AES-256, per-user RLS · Fireflies: verify the current region and plan.
- Model training — Nod: none, Zero Data Retention upstream · Fireflies: check their current policy.
- Capture breadth — Nod: audio the Mac can hear · Fireflies: bot, desktop, browser, mobile, upload, and telephony paths.
- Meetings you're not in — Nod: impossible by design · Fireflies: yes, send the bot without you.
- CRM & workflow depth — Nod: light · Fireflies: deep, and the main reason teams buy it.
- Platforms — Nod: macOS only · Fireflies: broader desktop, web, extension, and mobile coverage.
- Price — Nod: 14-day trial then $12–$20/mo annually · Fireflies: free tier plus paid plans.
What the bot costs you, and what it buys you
The Fireflies Notetaker can attend without you and capture the call independently of your machine. It also appears in the participant list and can be blocked by waiting rooms or policy. Fireflies' newer bot-free modes remove that participant for supported workflows while keeping its broader workspace and integration surface.
Nod makes the capture choice once: it always listens through the Mac and never stores audio. Whether that narrower contract is better depends on whether you value minimal retention more than Fireflies' broader capture, automation, and team capabilities.
Recording versus remembering
Fireflies' Notetaker keeps replayable audio and video; desktop Take Notes does not save an audio or video file. Nod uses one contract in every capture and treats the audio as disposable the moment it becomes text. Capture is local on your Mac; transcription isn't. Each audio segment is sent through a European proxy to hosted transcription, and Nod discards it when the text returns. No model trains on the data. Groq may retain transient error or abuse logs for up to 30 days unless Zero Data Retention is enabled. Only the transcript and summary are saved by Nod, encrypted at rest in the EU (AWS eu-west-1). See the security page.
The practical consequence: with Nod you can never go back to the raw audio, because it doesn't exist. In exchange, there is no recording of your client calls sitting in anyone's cloud, and nothing to disclose, subpoena, or leak.
Who should pick which
Choose Nod if you're on a Mac, you want no participant in the call, no retained audio, EU hosting, coverage of phone and in-person conversations, and recall across everything you've ever discussed.
Choose Fireflies if you need broader capture modes, the Notetaker to attend without you, deep CRM automation, team administration, cross-platform access, or the Notetaker's retained audio/video library.
Related: Nod vs meeting bots for the general case, and the Fireflies alternatives roundup for the rest of the field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Nod a good replacement for Fireflies.ai?
It can replace one Fireflies workflow for a Mac user who wants no participant and no retained audio. It is not a full replacement for Fireflies' broader capture modes, the Notetaker's retained audio/video library, integrations, team administration, or ability to send a Notetaker to meetings you do not attend.
Does Nod work with Zoom, Google Meet and Teams like Fireflies?
Yes, and without integrating with any of them. Because Nod captures your Mac's audio rather than joining the meeting, it works the same on Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Slack huddles, Discord, FaceTime, and a phone on speaker — including locked-down external calls where a bot would be denied.
Which is cheaper, Nod or Fireflies?
Fireflies has a free tier, so at zero usage it's cheaper. On paid plans Nod works out to $12–$24 a month billed annually after a 14-day trial with no card; compare against the Fireflies tier you'd actually need. See pricing.