Grain vs Fireflies.ai (2026)
A head-to-head on price, free access, and staying power. Both live and price-verified as of Sep 8, 2026.
The verdict, first
Grain
- if it is built for revenue and customer-success teams wanting coaching and deal insight, and that matches your job.
- if you specifically want conversation intelligence and coaching with bot-free recording and free viewers.
- if it starts cheaper, at $15/mo against $18/mo.
Fireflies.ai
- if it is built for teams meeting across many platforms wanting searchable records, and that matches your job.
- if you specifically want cross-platform capture with sentence-level search across your whole history.
What each one is
Grain
What sets it apart conversation intelligence and coaching with bot-free recording and free viewers
Best for revenue and customer-success teams wanting coaching and deal insight · Pricing model freemium; per-recording-seat Starter/Business
Grain records and summarizes meetings and leans toward conversation intelligence for revenue teams, adding coaching, team-interaction insights, and CRM sync on higher tiers. It records without a bot and lets non-recording teammates join as free viewers. It fits customer-facing teams that want deal and coaching insight, not just a transcript.
Sources Grain pricing
Fireflies.ai
What sets it apart cross-platform capture with sentence-level search across your whole history
Best for teams meeting across many platforms wanting searchable records · Pricing model freemium; per-seat Pro/Business/Enterprise
Fireflies records and transcribes meetings across Zoom, Meet, Teams, and other platforms, with transcription in a wide range of languages and search that can jump to a specific sentence and timestamp months later. It connects to CRMs and collaboration tools and layers on assistants such as AskFred. It fits teams that meet across several platforms and want one searchable, integrated record.
Sources Fireflies pricing
Side by side
| Metric | Grain | Fireflies.ai |
|---|---|---|
| From $/mo | $15 | $18 |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Founded | 2018 | 2016 |
| Best for | SMB | solo & SMB & enterprise |
| Status | Live | Live |
ALL FIGURES = LOWEST PAID MONTHLY PLAN · STATUS & PRICE VERIFIED SEP 8, 2026
Where they differ
Price
Grain is the cheaper entry at $15/mo, versus $18/mo for Fireflies.ai. Both prices are the lowest paid monthly plan, verified Sep 8, 2026.
Free access
Both Grain and Fireflies.ai offer a permanent free tier - you can trial either at no cost. A permanent free tier lowers the risk of committing before you have validated the fit.
Track record
Fireflies.ai has been operating since 2016; Grain since 2018. For a tool you build a business process on, a longer survival record matters.
Questions of record
Grain or Fireflies.ai - which is better in 2026?
Is Grain cheaper than Fireflies.ai?
Does Grain or Fireflies.ai have a free tier?
Are Grain and Fireflies.ai still maintained?
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