Fireflies vs tl;dv for recruiting: capture, ATS sync, storage and price compared

Fireflies.ai and tl;dv are general AI meeting recorders that many recruiting teams use for interviews. Both can put a bot into Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls, and both have a bot-free desktop app for Windows and Mac. As of October 2026, Fireflies is cheaper on annual billing ($10 versus $18 per seat a month on Pro), names more applicant tracking systems, and documents phone call capture through the computer. tl;dv keeps unlimited video recordings on its free plan, posts interview notes to Greenhouse, and says its data is hosted and stored in the EU.

Every vendor fact below comes from Fireflies' and tl;dv's own sites, checked in October 2026 and linked. For setup detail on each, see Fireflies.ai for recruiting and tl;dv for recruiting.

How do Fireflies and tl;dv compare at a glance?

Sources, as of October 2026: Fireflies pricing, Fireflies bot-free desktop guide, how Fireflies joins meetings, Fireflies for recruiting, Fireflies integrations; tl;dv pricing, tl;dv desktop app, tl;dv for Google Meet, tl;dv Greenhouse integration.

Which one keeps a bot out of the interview?

Both can, through their desktop apps. tl;dv's desktop app page says it records directly from system audio with no meeting bot, on Google Meet, Teams, Zoom and other platforms, with downloads for Apple silicon Macs, Intel Macs and Windows.

Fireflies' desktop guide describes the same approach and adds two things that matter in interviews. First, bot-free capture saves no audio or video file, only the transcript and summary. Second, it has built-in notices: an audio consent message played through your microphone, a chat message (Mac only, not Windows) and a watermark on your camera. Those are useful as a reminder, but they are notices, not consent. Ask the candidate before you start either way; our interview recording consent script has wording.

Which one records phone screens?

Fireflies' desktop guide lists phone calls on iPhone or Android, WhatsApp, FaceTime, Aircall, Discord and Slack among the conversations it can capture without a bot, as long as the call runs through your computer. The tl;dv pages we checked describe meeting platforms and a mobile app, not phone calls. For a recruiter whose first screen is a phone call, that is the deciding row in the table.

Which one gets notes into an ATS?

Fireflies' recruiting page says it can send meeting notes and transcripts to Greenhouse, Lever and others, and its integrations page lists Breezy HR, Loxo, Gem and Workable under applicant tracking systems. Loxo is the agency system in that list; for Bullhorn or JobAdder you would still use Zapier, the API or copy and paste.

tl;dv's Greenhouse page describes an AI meeting template for HR and recruitment, and a Google Meet workflow that syncs AI interview summaries, transcripts and timestamped recording links to the candidate's activity feed. Greenhouse is the only ATS we found on tl;dv's integrations page; its pricing page lists 5,000+ integrations through Zapier from Pro. The pages we checked do not say which plan the Greenhouse integration needs, so confirm before buying. Our guide to AI note takers for Greenhouse compares other options.

What does each cost for a recruiting team?

Per seat per month, from each pricing page as of October 2026:

• Fireflies: Free; Pro $10 billed annually or $18 monthly (8,000 minutes of storage per seat, video recording, downloads); Business $19 or $29 (unlimited storage, conversation intelligence); Enterprise $39, annual only (custom data retention, a transcript and summary only mode, HIPAA).
• tl;dv: Free; Pro $18 billed annually or $29 monthly (unlimited AI notes, custom note templates, custom bot appearance, unlimited uploads and storage); Business $29 or $39 (custom vocabulary, multi-meeting insights, team management); Enterprise custom.

Fireflies also counts AI credits: 20 on Free and Pro, 30 on Business and 50 on Enterprise, per its pricing page. If your workflow leans on its AI Skills, ask how many credits a typical interview uses. Our note-taker pricing comparison works out cost per interview across more vendors.

How do storage and retention limits play out?

• Fireflies Free stores 400 minutes per team. That is about thirteen 30-minute screens (400 ÷ 30), shared by everyone on the team.
• Fireflies Pro stores 8,000 minutes per seat, about 266 half-hour screens (8,000 ÷ 30) before you need to delete or export.
• tl;dv Free lists unlimited recordings and storage, but data retention of up to three months, and caps uploads at five and web recordings at 40 a week.
• tl;dv paid plans list custom retention, so you can set a period that fits your own policy.

For long onsite loops recorded as one meeting, tl;dv's 3-hour limit on every plan beats Fireflies' 2 hours on Free and Pro. Shorter retention is not only a limit: interview transcripts you no longer need are a liability, so pick a period on purpose.

Which AI features should recruiters be careful with?

Fireflies' recruiting page promotes AI Skills including a Candidate Sentiment Analyzer and an analysis of "cultural alignment," and says interviews can become scorecards in under five minutes. tl;dv's Business plan adds playbook monitoring and objection handling, which are sales features. Sentiment and culture judgments are weak, hard-to-defend inputs to a hiring decision, and AI output that substantially assists one can bring rules such as NYC Local Law 144 into play. Use either tool to find the candidate's words; make the rating yourself against job criteria.

How should you set up either one for interviews?

Both tools are configured for internal meetings out of the box. Before the first candidate call:

1. Decide bot or desktop per interview type. Use the desktop app for screens and for meetings a client hosts, where a bot would wait in a lobby someone else controls.
2. Check calendar auto-join. If candidate interviews share a calendar with internal meetings, an automatic bot will join those too. Turn it off for external meetings if you want bot-free interviews.
3. Rename the bot. tl;dv lists custom bot appearance on Pro; Fireflies' pricing FAQ answers whether its Notetaker's name can be changed, so check it there. A name that says whose notes these are saves an awkward question.
4. Limit sharing. Interview transcripts include pay and personal details. Keep them to the hiring panel, not a whole workspace channel.
5. Run one test with your ATS. Push a test interview and check it lands on the right candidate, with no duplicate profile.
6. Write the candidate notice. One line in the invite, repeated at the start of the call, with a real option to say no.

Which should you pick?

• Fireflies, best for: recruiters who screen by phone through the computer, teams on Lever, Workable, Breezy HR, Loxo or Gem, and anyone watching the per-seat price.
• tl;dv, best for: Greenhouse teams that want recording links on the candidate's activity feed, EU-based teams that want EU hosting, and hiring managers who want free video playback for a few months.
• Neither, if: your output is a client submittal or your ATS is Bullhorn or JobAdder; look at agency tools instead.

We make Interview Signal, one of those recruiting-specific options: a Windows and macOS app with no bot that captures phone screens taken through the computer and writes a scorecard and submittal, with no ATS integration (you paste the output); everything about Fireflies and tl;dv on this page comes from their own sites, linked and dated. See also Tactiq vs Fireflies for recruiting.