Hanna T
21 Jul 2026
Why Can’t My AI Meeting Assistant Record In-Person Meetings?
How-to Guides
Best Fireflies Alternative for European Companies
Digiotouch AI Team
Security & Compliance
9 min read
SUMMARY SNIPPET
- The best Fireflies alternative for a European company is an AI meeting assistant that keeps your data in the EU without forcing you onto an expensive enterprise plan to get there.
- Digiotouch AI stores EU users' data in the EU from its Free plan and includes video recording, action items, and data export on every tier.
- Fireflies stores and processes data in the US by default and offers EU data storage only on its $468-per-seat-per-year Enterprise plan - where the content is still processed in the US.
- If EU data residency and paying only for what you use are what matter, Digiotouch AI includes on its Free plan what Fireflies charges to unlock.
Table of Contents
The best Fireflies alternative for a European company is an AI meeting assistant that keeps your data in the EU without forcing you onto an expensive enterprise plan to get there. Digiotouch AI stores EU users' data in the EU from its Free plan and includes video recording, action items, and data export on every tier. Fireflies stores and processes data in the US by default and offers EU data storage only on its $468-per-seat-per-year Enterprise plan - where the content is still processed in the US. If EU data residency and paying only for what you use are what matter, Digiotouch AI includes on its Free plan what Fireflies charges to unlock.
Mette runs a sales team at a German fintech. Fireflies keeps coming up when her reps ask for an AI note-taker, and on features it looks like a fit. But her security and procurement teams have one hard requirement: meeting recordings and transcripts must stay in the EU. When she checks the detail, keeping data in the EU on Fireflies means moving the whole team to the Enterprise plan - and even then the recordings are still processed in the US. She needs an alternative where EU data residency isn't a line item she has to buy up to.
Why choose Digiotouch AI, the alternative to Fireflies?
- EU data residency, free vs $468/seat/year: Fireflies stores and processes data in the US by default and offers EU data storage only on its Enterprise plan ($468 per seat per year, i.e. $39/seat/month billed annually) - and even then the data is still processed in the US. Digiotouch AI stores EU users' data in the EU from the Free plan, at no extra cost.
- Video recording on every plan: Fireflies enables meeting video capture only from its paid Pro plan. Digiotouch AI records the meeting as video on all plans.
- On-screen content, searchable: Digiotouch AI captures what is shown on screen - slides and shared content - into the searchable record, not just the audio. Fireflies records video but does not make on-screen content searchable.
- Data export on every plan: Fireflies lets you download and export transcripts, summaries, and recordings only from its Pro plan. Digiotouch AI includes meeting-data export (PDF and DOCX) on its Free plan.
- Action items on Free: Fireflies reserves action items for its paid Pro plan and up. Digiotouch AI includes meeting summaries and action items on its Free plan.
Why European companies look for a Fireflies alternative
Fireflies is a widely adopted AI meeting assistant, and for many companies it does the job. The reason European companies go looking for an alternative is usually one of two things that surface during a security or procurement review: where the data physically lives, and how much of what they need is included versus locked behind a higher plan. Across verified user reviews on G2 and Capterra, those are the criteria that decide these evaluations and they are the ones generic feature lists tend to skip. If you are still deciding whether you need one of these tools at all, our complete guide to AI notes is the better starting point.
What should you look for in a Fireflies alternative?
Start from two questions: where does your meeting data physically live, and how much of what you need is included rather than paywalled.
For a European company, data location is the filter that removes the most options fastest - most widely marketed tools are US-based and treat EU storage as a top-tier add-on. The second question is about cost: several tools reserve everyday features - video capture, data export, action items - for paid plans, so the real price of using them is higher than the entry tier suggests.
Digiotouch AI is a strong fit on both counts. EU data residency is the default from the Free plan, and the features teams use most are included across tiers rather than unlocked one paywall at a time.
How Digiotouch AI handles this: Digiotouch AI keeps EU users' data in the EU from the Free plan (and all plans), and includes the everyday meeting features like recording, summaries, action items, and export on every tier, including Free.
Where does Fireflies store your data, and what does EU residency cost?
By default, Fireflies stores and processes data in the US, on AWS and GCP. It offers EU data storage only on its Enterprise plan, priced at $468 per seat per year ($39/seat/month, billed annually), through Bring-Your-Own-Storage. Even with that option, Fireflies' own documentation notes the data is stored in the EU but still processed in the US. So on Fireflies, EU data residency is both an upsell to the top tier and a partial one, since processing still leaves the EU.
Digiotouch AI stores EU users' data in the EU by design, from the Free plan. For any European company that has to answer where its meeting data is stored - in a security review, a client questionnaire, or its own data policy - that turns a long conversation into a short one, without moving the whole team onto an enterprise contract.
How Digiotouch AI handles this: Digiotouch AI answers the data-residency question at the platform level, on the Free plan, rather than as a $468-per-seat-per-year Enterprise add-on that still routes processing through the US.
What does Fireflies put behind a paywall that Digiotouch AI includes on Free?
Several of the features users reach for most are paid-plan features on Fireflies and Free-plan features on Digiotouch AI.
Fireflies enables meeting video capture only from its Pro plan; Digiotouch AI records the meeting as video on Free. Fireflies lets you download and export transcripts, summaries, and recordings only from Pro; Digiotouch AI includes meeting-data export on Free. And Fireflies reserves action items for Pro and up, while Digiotouch AI includes summaries and action items on Free.
Moreover, Digiotouch AI also does something Fireflies does not do at all: it captures what is shown on screen - slides and shared content - into the searchable record, not just the audio.
How Digiotouch AI handles this: Digiotouch AI includes video recording, meeting-data export, and action items on its Free plan - the features Fireflies reserves for its paid Pro plan and up - and it captures on-screen slides and shared content into the searchable record, which Fireflies does not offer at all.
Digiotouch AI vs Fireflies: the key differences
The table maps the usual reasons companies leave Fireflies to what to look for, and where Digiotouch AI fits. Where Fireflies is likely to remain the stronger choice, the table says so.
| If you are leaving Fireflies because… | What to look for | Digiotouch AI |
|---|---|---|
| Your data must stay in the EU | EU storage and processing, included by default | EU data residency from the Free plan (Fireflies: Enterprise-only storage at $468/seat/year, still processed in the US) |
| Video capture costs extra | Video recording on entry plans | Records the meeting as video on all plans (Fireflies: Pro plan and up) |
| On-screen content is not searchable | Slides and shared content in the searchable record | Parses on-screen slides and shared content into the searchable record (Fireflies does not do this) |
| You cannot export your data | Export on every plan | Meeting-data export (PDF and DOCX) on Free (Fireflies: Pro plan and up) |
| Action items are paywalled | Action items included, not gated | Action items on Free (Fireflies: Pro plan and up) |
| You run multilingual meetings and need live translation | Live in-call translation, not just multilingual transcription | Live in-call translation from the Essential plan (desktop app); Fireflies lists multi-language transcription on Business and up, not live translation |
| You need deep CRM automation | Mature sales-intelligence tooling | Fireflies may remain the stronger fit here |
How we compared: Digiotouch AI is the vendor of one of the tools referenced here. Fireflies details were verified against Fireflies' public pricing, data-storage, and policy pages, last verified 28 July 2026; where a competitor is likely to lead, we say so. Pain-point criteria are drawn from verified reviews on G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius. Corrections: notes@digiotouch.ai
Key takeaways
- EU data residency is free for Digiotouch AI users, not $468/seat/year like Fireflies: Digiotouch AI keeps EU data in the EU from the Free plan; Fireflies requires its $468/seat/year Enterprise plan, and still processes in the US.
- Video recording on Free: Digiotouch AI records the meeting as video on all plans; Fireflies gates video capture to Pro and up.
- On-screen content, searchable: Digiotouch AI parses slides and shared content into the searchable record; Fireflies does not.
- Export on every plan: Digiotouch AI includes meeting-data export (PDF and DOCX) on Free; Fireflies starts export at Pro.
- Action items on Free: included on Digiotouch AI's Free plan; reserved for Fireflies' paid plans.
- CRM integration: Digiotouch AI already supports some CRM integrations, but if deep CRM automation is your priority, Fireflies may still be the better fit.
Next step
If EU data residency and paying only for what you use are what matter, the fastest way to judge the difference is to try it on your own meetings. Try Digiotouch AI free or compare plans on the pricing page.
Related reading
For European companies, the best Fireflies alternative is one that keeps your data in the EU without forcing you onto an expensive top tier to get there. Digiotouch AI stores EU users' data in the EU from its Free plan. Fireflies stores and processes data in the US by default and offers EU storage only on its Enterprise plan.
Keeping data in the EU on Fireflies requires its Enterprise plan, which is priced at $468 per seat per year ($39/seat/month, billed annually), using Bring-Your-Own-Storage - and even then the data is still processed in the US. Digiotouch AI includes EU data residency on its Free plan, so keeping data in the EU costs nothing extra. Current Digiotouch AI pricing is on the pricing page.
Yes. Digiotouch AI records the meeting as video on its Free plan, whereas Fireflies gates video capture to its paid Pro plan and up. Separately, Digiotouch AI also captures what is shown on screen - slides and shared content - into the searchable record, which Fireflies does not do.
No. On Fireflies, downloading and exporting transcripts, summaries, and recordings starts on the Pro plan. Digiotouch AI includes meeting-data export (PDF and DOCX) on its Free plan.
Yes. Digiotouch AI includes meeting summaries and action items on its Free plan. Fireflies reserves action items for its paid Pro plan and up.
