Vector-MOM, Granola, Fireflies or Otter.ai: which one should you choose to turn your meetings into usable minutes? If your priority is data confidentiality — negotiated prices, manufacturing processes, sensitive HR matters — the answer fits in one sentence: Vector-MOM is currently the only one of the four tools that hosts and processes data natively in Europe, by default, without a paid option reserved for an Enterprise plan. At €12/user/month, its price sits at the lower end of its three competitors' paid plans.
That said, the three American tools have real strengths, and it would be dishonest to dismiss them out of hand. Granola wins people over with its polished interface and its integrations (Notion, Slack, HubSpot). Fireflies.ai remains a solid value-for-money choice, with broad language coverage. Otter.ai laid the foundations of the sector, with particularly well-developed search across transcripts. The right choice depends as much on your priorities as on your line of business.
This article compares the four tools point by point: pricing, data hosting, quality of speaker diarisation (identifying who is speaking), French-language support and ease of getting started. The aim is to give you what you need to decide, without overselling either Vector-MOM or the others.
The real issue for an industrial SME: where does your meeting data go?
A meeting at an industrial SME is not a harmless brainstorming session. You negotiate a price with a customer, you discuss a manufacturing process that gives you an edge over the competition, you talk about a recruitment or an HR dispute. As we explained in our article on automatic AI meeting minutes, as soon as a tool transcribes these discussions, the content becomes a text document stored somewhere.
Granola, Fireflies.ai and Otter.ai are all American companies, and their data processing takes place mainly in the United States. There is only one partial exception: Fireflies offers a “Private Storage” option in the European Union, reserved for the Enterprise plan — and even then, only storage at rest is in the EU; the processing itself remains in the US. None of the three offers native, default European hosting.
The minutes of a meeting where you negotiate a price with a customer, or discuss a sensitive HR matter, should not depend on a server thousands of kilometres away, under a jurisdiction that is not yours.
Granola: polish for consultants and start-ups
Granola is designed for freelancers, consultants and start-up teams, through a desktop app for Mac and Windows. Its strong point: a polished interface and native integrations with Notion, Slack and HubSpot, which are pleasant to use day to day if you already work in that ecosystem.
The Basic plan is free but capped at 25 notes. Business, at $14/user/month, unlocks unlimited history and integrations. Enterprise goes up to $35/month. Transcription covers around fifteen languages, including French. Speaker diarisation — identifying who is speaking — is reliable up to 3 or 4 participants, but degrades beyond that, which can be a problem in larger meetings.
On confidentiality, Granola states that it is GDPR-compliant as a data processor and obtained SOC 2 Type 2 certification in July 2025 — a genuine sign of seriousness. But processing takes place in the United States, audio is deleted after transcription, and the tool is not HIPAA-compliant. The mobile app is available on iOS only, not Android.
Fireflies.ai: good value for money, with caveats worth knowing
Fireflies.ai is aimed more at sales teams and CRM users, with a general-purpose, international positioning. It is one of the most comprehensive tools in terms of language coverage, with more than 100 languages claimed, French included.
The Free plan costs nothing. Pro starts at $10/month on annual billing ($18 monthly), Business at $19/month annually ($29 monthly), and Enterprise at $39/month. One point to watch: advanced AI features consume “AI credits” charged on top of the advertised price — so the actual bill can exceed the listed rate. A visible bot joins the meeting to record it, which at least has the merit of transparency.
By default, Fireflies stores data on Google Cloud and AWS in the United States. The EU “Private Storage” option exists, but only on the Enterprise plan, and it covers storage only, not processing. For an SME that is not aiming for that tier, European hosting is therefore not a realistic option.
Otter.ai: the pioneer, caught up by consent issues
Otter.ai is the veteran of the sector, created for journalists and students before expanding into the business world. Its recognised strength: particularly well-designed search across transcripts, inherited from that long experience.
The free Basic plan includes 300 minutes per month. Pro is listed at $16.99/month on monthly billing ($8.33/month annually), but the included volume was recently cut from 6,000 to 1,200 minutes per month — a change that existing users did not welcome. Business costs $30/month, and Enterprise is on quotation. A visible bot, “OtterPilot”, joins meetings to record them.
French support has been added officially, but several third-party reviews report a persistent weakness with accents and non-English languages. Otter is an American company, running on AWS infrastructure in the United States. More sensitive still: Otter.ai is named as a defendant in a federal class action under way in 2026 over recording people without clear consent via its bot — the most frequently cited complaint in 2026 reviews of the tool.
Vector-MOM vs Granola, Fireflies and Otter.ai: the comparison
Here, criterion by criterion, is what the public data and each vendor's pricing pages say.
| Criterion | Vector-MOM | Granola | Fireflies | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry-level paid price | €12/user/month | $14/user/month (Business) | $10/month annually, $18 monthly (Pro) | $8.33/month annually, $16.99 monthly (Pro) |
| Data hosting | Europe, native and by default | United States | United States by default; EU option reserved for Enterprise (processing still in the US) | United States (AWS US-West) |
| Diarisation / who is speaking | Speaker identification included | Reliable up to 3-4 participants, less so beyond | Dedicated bot that joins the meeting, visible to participants | Dedicated “OtterPilot” bot, visible to participants |
| French language | Designed for French-speaking teams | ~15 languages including French | 100+ languages claimed, including French | French support added officially, weaknesses reported with accents |
| Getting started | Account available immediately, 30-day free trial, no credit card required | Free plan capped at 25 notes | Free plan available | Free plan, 300 min/month |
| Points to watch | No hidden costs reported | Enterprise at $35/month to go further | Advanced AI features billed as separate credits | Pro volume cut from 6,000 to 1,200 min/month, poorly received |
Test European confidentiality on your own meetings, without commitment.
Try Vector-MOM for freeWhat Vector-MOM really brings, and for whom
On the core job, Vector-MOM does the same as its three competitors: recording, transcription, speaker identification, structured write-up. The difference comes down to two specific points. First, hosting: Vector-MOM processes and hosts data in Europe, natively, for every account — not only for those paying for an Enterprise plan, unlike Fireflies, where the closest option remains incomplete and reserved for the most expensive tier. For an industrial SME that discusses customer prices, processes or HR matters in meetings, this is not a marketing detail: it is a question of which law applies to its own data.
Second, price: at €12/user/month, Vector-MOM sits below or level with the entry-level paid plans of Granola and Fireflies, and well below Otter.ai on monthly billing. The account is available immediately, and the 30-day free trial does not require a credit card.
In all honesty, Vector-MOM is a younger tool than its three competitors, and its ecosystem of third-party integrations is less extensive than that of Granola or Fireflies, which have several years' head start in this area. If connecting your minutes to a dozen pieces of software already in place is your absolute priority, check this point before switching. Vector-MOM is part of the Indusiax Suite, alongside Stator-CRM, Rotor-FSM and Flux-Link — an overall fit we detail in our comparison of software for industrial SMEs.
In practice: Granola suits a consultant already settled in the Notion/Slack ecosystem. Fireflies has a case for an international sales team, provided you keep an eye on the AI credits bill. Otter.ai remains relevant if you want advanced transcript search and are not bothered by the ongoing debate over consent. For a French industrial SME whose meetings regularly cover prices, processes or HR, Vector-MOM's native European hosting becomes hard to ignore. The Vector-MOM product page and the pricing page give full details of the offer.
Frequently asked questions
Is Vector-MOM really cheaper than Granola, Fireflies and Otter.ai?
At €12/user/month, Vector-MOM sits below Granola's Business plan ($14), slightly below Fireflies' annual Pro plan ($10, with AI credits charged on top), and well below Otter.ai on monthly billing ($16.99). On annual billing, Otter.ai can work out cheaper per seat, but with a volume of minutes that is now capped.
Where is Vector-MOM data hosted?
In Europe, natively and by default, for every account, whatever the plan. That is the main difference from Granola and Otter.ai, which are hosted in the United States, and from Fireflies, where EU hosting is only a paid option on the Enterprise plan and covers storage only, not processing.
Is it easy to migrate from Granola, Fireflies or Otter.ai to Vector-MOM?
There is no automatic import of the history from these tools. In practice, migrating means starting your next meetings directly in Vector-MOM, while keeping your old minutes exported from your previous tool during the transition. The 30-day free trial, with no credit card required, lets you test the switch without commitment.
Does Vector-MOM handle French as well as the American tools?
Vector-MOM was designed from the outset for French-speaking teams, which sets it apart from tools such as Otter.ai, where French support was added later and several reviews report weaknesses with accents. Granola and Fireflies also cover French, with a broader list of languages on the Fireflies side.
All four tools do a serious job of transcription and automatic minute-taking. In the end, the choice comes down to the trade-off you are prepared to accept: Granola's integration ecosystem and polish, Fireflies' value for money and language coverage, Otter.ai's track record and advanced search — or, for a French industrial SME concerned about the confidentiality of what is said in meetings, Vector-MOM's native European hosting and contained price.