Does the Fireflies app work offline?
No. Fireflies records and transcribes by sending your meeting audio to its cloud servers, so it needs an internet connection to work. With no signal, it cannot transcribe, and even online your conversation is processed and stored in a cloud account rather than staying on your device.
Why Fireflies needs the internet
Fireflies is built as a cloud service. The notetaker joins your call, streams the audio to its servers, runs transcription and summaries there, and saves the result to your online workspace. That design has trade-offs: it stops working when you are offline, and your meeting audio leaves your control the moment it is uploaded. For internal strategy calls, hiring panels, or anything under an NDA, that upload is the part people worry about.
What works offline instead?
Inscribe takes meeting notes entirely on-device. It records, transcribes with Apple's speech engine or Whisper, labels speakers, and drafts a summary with an on-device intelligence model, all without an internet connection. The audio never goes to a server. You can run it on a plane, in a basement conference room, or anywhere with no signal and still get a clean transcript and action items.
| Feature | Fireflies | Inscribe |
|---|---|---|
| Works offline | No | Yes |
| Where audio is processed | Cloud servers | On your device |
| Account required | Yes | No |
| Speaker labels | Cloud-based | On-device |
| In-person meetings | Workarounds needed | Record the room directly |
Does Otter.ai work offline?
No. Like Fireflies, Otter.ai transcribes in the cloud, so it also needs an internet connection and stores your audio in an online account. If offline use and privacy are the reason you are asking, the pattern is the same across the cloud meeting tools: they trade local control for a server pipeline.
Can you get the same features on-device?
Most of them, yes. Inscribe covers the parts people actually use: calendar linking, full-screen live captions during the call, on-device speaker labels, name-mention alerts, automatic action items and decisions, and AI-drafted minutes. You pick the transcription model (Apple Speech or Whisper Tiny, Base, or Small) and the summary style. Action items can go to Apple Reminders, and you can export the transcript and summary to PDF or text.
When offline notes are the right call
Travel with patchy WiFi. Secure offices that block outside services. Client and patient conversations that should never sit in a third-party account. In each case, on-device transcription gives you the notes without the upload. For everyday meetings it is simply more reliable, because it does not depend on a connection at all.
The short version
If your question is whether Fireflies works offline, the answer is no, and the same goes for Otter. If you need meeting notes that work with no internet and keep your audio private, an on-device tool is what you are looking for. Inscribe records, transcribes, labels speakers, and summarizes locally, with no account and nothing uploaded.
Related reading
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Fireflies app work offline?
No. Fireflies sends meeting audio to its cloud servers to transcribe, so it needs an internet connection and does not work offline.
Does Otter.ai work offline?
No. Otter.ai also transcribes in the cloud and stores audio in an online account, so it requires a connection and does not run offline.
What meeting app works offline?
Inscribe records, transcribes, labels speakers, and summarizes meetings entirely on-device, so it works with no internet and keeps your audio private.
Is on-device transcription as accurate?
Yes. Inscribe uses Whisper (Tiny, Base, or Small) or Apple's speech engine locally, so you can pick Whisper Small for accuracy without uploading any audio.
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Private, on-device transcription with AI summaries and cross-library Q&A. Works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
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