Plaud NotePin vs Fireflies: Which AI Note-Taker Fits the Way You Work?

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If you spend half your week in meetings, an AI note-taker can give you hours back. Instead of typing while people talk, you get a transcript, a summary and a list of action items a few minutes after the meeting ends.

Two of the most popular options work in completely different ways. Plaud NotePin is a small device you wear. Fireflies.ai is software that joins your online meetings. So the real question isn’t “which one is better?” but “where do your meetings happen?”

Here’s a plain-English comparison, with real prices, so you can pick the right one, or decide you don’t need either.

The short answer: if most of your conversations happen in person (client visits, job sites, interviews, lectures), choose Plaud NotePin. If most of your meetings happen on Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, choose Fireflies, and start with its free plan.

Plaud NotePin vs Fireflies at a glance

	Plaud NotePin	Fireflies.ai
What it is	A small wearable recorder (pin, clip, necklace or wristband)	Software with a “bot” that joins online meetings, plus apps
Best for	In-person conversations	Zoom, Google Meet and Teams calls
Upfront cost	$159 (NotePin) or $179 (NotePin S)	$0
Free plan	300 minutes of transcription per month	Unlimited transcription, 400 minutes of storage per team
Paid plans	Pro $99.99/year, Unlimited $239.99/year	Pro $10/month, Business $19/month (per person, billed yearly)
Works without your phone or laptop open	Yes, records on its own	No, needs the meeting app, browser or phone app
Languages	Up to 112	100+
Team features	Limited	Strong (shared notes, CRM sync, analytics)

Prices are US list prices as of late October 2026 and can change.

Plaud NotePin: the note-taker you wear

How it works

The NotePin is about the size of a thumb. You clip it to your shirt, wear it on a lanyard or wristband, and press a button to start recording. It stores recordings on the device (the newer NotePin S has 64GB) and syncs them to the Plaud app on your phone. The app then transcribes the audio and creates a summary, in any of up to 112 languages.

There’s no bot and no app to open during the conversation. That’s the whole point: it captures conversations that never happen on a screen.

What it costs

There are two versions:

• NotePin, $159: magnetic pin, clip, charging dock and cable.
• NotePin S, $179: adds a physical button (easier to use than the original’s pressure-sensitive one), a lanyard and a wristband.

Then there’s the subscription:

• Starter (free): 300 minutes of AI transcription per month. That’s 5 hours, enough for one or two meetings a week.
• Pro: $17.99 a month or $99.99 a year, for 1,200 minutes a month (20 hours).
• Unlimited: $29.99 a month or $239.99 a year.

Unused minutes don’t roll over to the next month. Over two years, a NotePin costs $159 on the free plan, about $359 with Pro (billed yearly) or about $639 with Unlimited.

👉 Check the current price of Plaud NotePin on Amazon

What’s good

• Truly hands-free. Press once and forget about it. Battery is rated for up to 20 hours of recording.
• Clean transcripts for one-on-one and small-group conversations, according to hands-on reviews.
• Works anywhere: a client’s office, a car, a construction site, a doctor’s appointment, a classroom.
• Your recordings stay even if you cancel a paid plan.

What’s not

• It’s mainly for in-person audio. If you need phone calls too, Plaud sells other devices, such as the card-shaped Plaud Note.
• Range is limited. Reviewers found people sitting far away at a big table came through quietly, with gaps in the transcript. It works best within about 10 feet.
• The real cost is the subscription if you record a lot.
• Wearing a visible recorder can feel awkward in some meetings. (More on consent below.)

Fireflies.ai: the note-taker that joins your calls

How it works

You connect Fireflies to your calendar. When a meeting starts on Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, the Fireflies notetaker joins the call as a participant and records. After the call you get a transcript, summary, action items and a searchable archive of all your meetings. You can also ask questions like “What did we agree about the budget?” across past calls.

Fireflies also has a Chrome extension and a mobile app, so you can record some calls and conversations from your phone.

What it costs

Fireflies charges per person, and paying yearly is much cheaper:

• Free: $0. Unlimited transcription and AI summaries, but only 400 minutes of storage for the whole team, so older recordings drop off. Recordings are capped at 2 hours each.
• Pro: $10/month billed yearly, or $18 month to month. 8,000 minutes of storage per person, video recording and downloads.
• Business: $19/month billed yearly, or $29 month to month. Unlimited storage, team analytics and conversation insights.
• Enterprise: $39/month, yearly only, for large companies that need advanced security.

Two details to know: some advanced AI features use “AI credits,” which are limited on every plan. And if you create a free account and turn off automatic joining for your calendar, Fireflies limits you to just 3 transcriptions.

👉 Try Fireflies free: the Free plan needs no credit card, so you can test it on your next few meetings before deciding.

What’s good

• Free plan that’s actually useful for people with a few online meetings a week.
• Nothing to buy or charge. It’s all software.
• Great for teams: shared notes, Salesforce and HubSpot sync, analytics on Business.
• Searchable meeting memory across months of calls.

What’s not

• A bot in the meeting can annoy clients, and some companies block meeting bots.
• It’s built for screens. For in-person meetings you need to open the mobile app and place your phone on the table, which is less convenient than a wearable.
• Per-person pricing adds up as your team grows, and monthly billing costs almost twice as much as yearly.
• Storage limits on Free and Pro can push heavy users to Business.

Which one should you choose?

Choose Plaud NotePin if you:

• Meet clients, patients or customers face to face.
• Work on the move: real estate, construction, field sales, trades, consulting.
• Interview people, attend lectures or record your own voice notes and ideas.
• Want something that works without your laptop or phone in hand.

Choose Fireflies if you:

• Spend most of your day on Zoom, Google Meet or Teams.
• Work in a team that needs shared, searchable meeting notes.
• Use a CRM like Salesforce or HubSpot and want notes added automatically.
• Want to start free and don’t want to buy hardware.

Some people use both: Fireflies for online calls, NotePin for everything that happens away from the screen.

If online meetings are your main need, the easiest next step is to start with the free Fireflies plan and upgrade only if you run out of storage.

Before you buy either: check what you already have

You might not need a new tool at all:

• Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams all offer built-in AI meeting notes on some paid plans. If your company already pays for them, try those first.
• Your phone’s voice recorder app can transcribe on many recent iPhones and Android phones for free. It’s less convenient than a NotePin, but it costs nothing.

A word on recording consent

Whatever tool you use, tell people you’re recording, and get their agreement. In the US, some states, including California, Florida and Illinois, require everyone in a conversation to consent to a recording. Other countries have their own rules. Fireflies at least appears in the participant list. A small wearable doesn’t announce itself, so with a NotePin it’s up to you to say it out loud.

For sensitive conversations, such as medical, legal or HR meetings, also check each company’s current security and privacy documents before you start.

FAQ

Can Plaud NotePin record Zoom calls?

It can pick up a call playing through your speakers, but it isn’t designed for that. For online meetings, a software tool like Fireflies gives cleaner audio and speaker names.

Is Fireflies really free?

Yes, there’s a free plan with unlimited transcription. The catch is storage: only 400 minutes per team, so older recordings disappear. It’s enough to try it properly, or for a few meetings a week.

Do I need a subscription for Plaud NotePin?

No. The free Starter plan includes 300 minutes of transcription a month. You only need Pro or Unlimited if you record more than about 5 hours a month.

Which is cheaper over a year?

For a single person on online meetings, Fireflies Pro at $120 a year is cheaper than a NotePin plus Plaud Pro ($159 + $99.99 in the first year). For in-person use, the comparison doesn’t really apply, because Fireflies isn’t built for it.

Is my data safe?

Both companies say they follow security standards, and Fireflies offers extra controls on its Enterprise plan. Don’t record anything you wouldn’t want stored in the cloud, and read the privacy policy before using either tool for confidential work.

Sources

• Plaud NotePin, Plaud, November 2026
• Plaud NotePin S, Plaud, November 2026
• Plaud devices and AI plans, Plaud, November 2026
• Fireflies pricing 2026: which plan is right for you?, Fireflies.ai, July 2026

Featured image: Photo by Luke Southern on Unsplash.