Fireflies.ai
Proton
| Feature | Fireflies.ai | Proton |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $18/mo | Free / from $3.99/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.5 / 5 |
| Best For | sales-teams, recruiters, managers, customer-success, consultants | privacy-advocates, journalists, activists, security-conscious-users |
| Founded | 2016 | 2014 |
| Transcription | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ai Summary | ✓ | ✗ |
| Crm Sync | ✓ | ✗ |
| Conversation Intelligence | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ask Fred | ✓ | ✗ |
| Topic Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sentiment Analysis | ✓ | ✗ |
| Encrypted Email | ✗ | ✓ |
| Vpn | ✗ | ✓ |
| Cloud Storage | ✗ | ✓ |
| Calendar | ✗ | ✓ |
| Password Manager | ✗ | ✓ |
| Aliases | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Destructing Messages | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Fireflies.ai Pros
- Integrates with 40+ tools including CRM
- Conversation intelligence metrics
- AskFred AI chatbot for meeting queries
- Automatic meeting log to CRM
✗ Fireflies.ai Cons
- Audio quality affects transcription
- Can feel intrusive to meeting participants
- Advanced analytics only on higher plans
✓ Proton Pros
- End-to-end encryption for all services
- Swiss-based with strong privacy laws
- Open-source and independently audited
- Comprehensive privacy suite (mail, VPN, drive, calendar)
- Free tier available for all services
✗ Proton Cons
- Free storage is limited (1GB for mail)
- Less feature-rich than mainstream alternatives
- Search functionality limited due to encryption
The Verdict
Fireflies.ai is built for sales teams and recruiters, with a focus on transcription and ai-summary. Proton targets privacy advocates and journalists and leads with encrypted-email and vpn.
On pricing, Proton is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $3.99/mo compared to $18/mo for Fireflies.ai. That $14.01/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.