HumlaThe private Fireflies alternative
Fireflies emails a summary to everyone on the invite and keeps your calls in its cloud. Humla records your Mac and sends nothing.
Free · Open source · macOS 13+ (Apple Silicon)
Which should you pick?
- Switch to Humla if you want a free, local, open-source alternative that keeps meetings on your Mac.
- Stick with Fireflies if you want the 100+ integrations, 200+ AI “skills”, and CRM automation.
Why people leave Fireflies.
Why people look for a Fireflies alternative — the reasons that come up most.
- Recaps are emailed to everyone on the invite by default — external guests included — so your notes leave your hands automatically.
- The Notetaker bot auto-joins calendar meetings and shows in the participant list. There's a botless desktop mode, but the bot is the default path.
- It's cloud-only. Meetings are stored on Fireflies' servers either way.
- It's priced per seat — $10–39/user/month — and AI features draw on a monthly credit allowance.
What Humla does instead.
Humla is the silent, local alternative — no bot at all, and no auto-emailed recap.
- No bot, no exposure. Humla records silently on your Mac; nothing ever joins the call and nobody gets auto-emailed.
- Local and private. Run fully on-device with your own key or offline — meetings stay on your disk in local SQLite.
- Free and open source. Humla is free; optional sync is $5/user/month — or self-host it free.
- Own your data. No vendor retention and no auto-sharing — the summary goes exactly where you send it.
- Speaks your language. Around 99 languages via Whisper — on-device or with your own key — plus a dedicated Norwegian model and per-language routing.
See a meeting become a note.
New note, record, summary — that's the whole workflow. The cleanup afterwards is none, on a five-minute meeting or an hour-long one.
When Fireflies is still the better pick.
Humla isn't for everyone. Stick with Fireflies if:
- You want the 100+ integrations, 200+ AI “skills”, and CRM automation.
- You need a mobile app and team analytics dashboards.
- You're comfortable with cloud storage, and you want the recap emailed round automatically.
FAQ
Is there a Fireflies alternative with no bot?+
Yes. Humla records through macOS itself — nothing joins the call, and no summary is emailed to attendees.
Does Humla store my meetings in the cloud?+
Only if you choose to. By default everything stays on your Mac; optional Humla Cloud syncs notes — never your keys — at $5/user/month, or self-host it.
Is Humla free?+
Yes, free and open source, with no per-seat cost for the app itself.