alternatives

Fathom alternatives (2026)

The cheapest alternative to Fathom is MeetGeek ($9.99/seat/mo (or ~$6/seat/mo billed annually)). Below: the strongest alternatives, ranked, with the real reason to switch.

closest cheaper pickMeetGeek$9.99/seat/mo (or ~$6/seat/mo billed annually)
self-host picknonemanaged only
total compared10managed and self-host options

Pricing decoded and verified 2026-06-04 against each vendor's live page; volatile figures flagged "verify live".

what you're leaving

Fathom is fathom is an AI meeting notetaker that joins your Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams calls, records and transcribes them, and generates summaries and action items. Its wedge is an unusually generous free plan: unlimited recording and transcription forever for individuals, with no time or meeting-count limit. Paid plans unlock advanced summary templates, a conversational meeting assistant, team sharing, and CRM field sync. Recording is done by a visible bot that joins the call, though a bot-free capture mode is in beta on Mac. The drawback: The free plan is genuinely generous on recording and transcription, but the AI features are throttled: Ask Fathom works on a single call only and advanced summary templates plus AI action items require Premium. CRM field sync (HubSpot/Salesforce) is locked to the top Business tier, not Team. Recording is done by a bot that visibly joins the call (a bot-free mode is Mac-only beta), so attendees see a notetaker present. The deepest annual discounts require yearly upfront billing.

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Ranked alternatives

Ordered by how cleanly they replace Fathom.

01

Fireflies.ai

vs Fathom

Fireflies.ai is an AI meeting assistant that sends a bot ("Fred") into your Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams calls to record, transcribe, summarize, and pull out action items. It stores transcripts in a searchable hub, pushes notes to CRMs and task tools, and offers an AskFred chat to query past meetings. It is built around per-seat pricing where most of the real cost lives in the storage cap and the AI credit pool, not the headline seat price.

self-hostNo mcpNone modelfree + per-seat (annual discount) + AI credits
$18/seat/mo Visit →
02

Granola

vs Fathom

Granola is a bot-free AI notepad that records meeting audio directly on your device instead of sending a bot to join the call. It enhances notes you type yourself with an AI transcript and summary, then lets you chat across past meetings and run templates. It is macOS-first (with a Windows app and iOS), built for individuals and small teams who do not want a visible bot announcing recording on every call. The product was rebranded in early 2026 with new paid tiers and a tighter free plan.

self-hostNo mcpServer modelfree + flat per-seat
$14/user/mo Visit →
03

Otter.ai

vs Fathom

Otter.ai is an AI meeting notetaker that records, transcribes, and summarizes calls. Its Otter Notetaker bot (OtterPilot) connects to your Google or Microsoft calendar and auto-joins Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams meetings as a visible guest participant called "Otter.ai", producing a live transcript, an automated summary, action items, and slide captures. It also has an Otter AI Chat that answers questions about the meeting and drafts follow-ups. Plans are priced per user, and the free tier and Pro plan run on monthly minute and import caps rather than unlimited usage.

self-hostNo mcpNone modelfree + flat per-seat (minute-capped on lower…
$8.49/seat/mo (billed annually) Visit →
04

Circleback

vs Fathom

Circleback is an AI meeting notetaker that joins video calls (or records in-person meetings), transcribes with speaker recognition, and produces notes and auto-assigned action items. Its differentiator is the automation layer: after a meeting it can fire workflows that update a CRM, create tasks, or push data into other tools via 1,000+ integrations. It positions as premium and accuracy-focused, with multi-language support and AI-generated custom insights. There is no permanent free plan, only a trial.

self-hostNo mcpNone modelflat per-seat
$20.83/seat/mo (billed annually) Visit →
05

tl;dv

vs Fathom

tl;dv is an AI meeting notetaker that joins Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams calls to record, transcribe, and summarize them, then extract action items and key moments. The higher Business tier adds sales-call coaching on top: native CRM sync, scorecards against sales frameworks like MEDDIC and BANT, and objection-handling analysis. It sends a bot into the call, and the free plan is usable long term but caps full AI notes and deletes recordings after three months.

self-hostNo mcpNone modelfree + flat per-seat (annual discount)
$18/seat/mo (billed annually) Visit →
06

MeetGeek

vs Fathom

MeetGeek is an AI meeting assistant that sends a bot to join Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams calls to record, transcribe in 100+ languages, summarize, and pull out action items. It organizes transcripts and recordings into searchable team spaces with analytics, and pushes meeting data to CRMs and task tools via integrations, Zapier/Make/n8n, a public API, and an MCP server. The free plan is unusually generous on seats but caps transcription at 3 hours a month, so heavy users move to paid tiers priced per seat.

self-hostNo mcpServer modelfree + per-seat (billed monthly or annually)…
$9.99/seat/mo (or ~$6/seat/mo billed annually) Visit →
07

Krisp

vs Fathom

Krisp started as a desktop AI noise-cancellation tool that strips background noise, echo, and other voices from your mic and speakers on any call app, and that is still its core strength. It has since added a "Meeting AI" notetaker layer that transcribes calls, generates AI notes and action items, records audio and video, and can convert accents in real time. The notetaker works at the audio-device level rather than as a bot that joins the call, so there is no visible meeting-bot. If you mainly want clean audio first and meeting notes second, it fits; if you want a deep CRM-grade notetaker, dedicated tools go further.

self-hostNo mcpNone modelflat per-seat (annual discount)
$8/seat/mo (billed annually) Visit →
08

Sembly AI

vs Fathom

Sembly is an AI meeting assistant whose bot joins Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Webex calls to record, transcribe in 40+ languages, and produce structured notes, summaries, and detected tasks. Its Semblian 2.0 layer is genuinely agentic: it can chat across multiple meetings, generate documents and insights from your meeting history, and surface risks, issues, and follow-ups rather than just transcribing. Higher tiers add sentiment analysis, custom note templates, automations, webhooks, and MCP access. It is a bot-joins-the-call product, so participants see a Sembly attendee.

self-hostNo mcpClient modelflat per-seat (tiered features)
$10/seat/mo (annual) Visit →
09

Plaud

vs Fathom

Plaud is a hardware-first AI notetaker. You buy a physical device (the Plaud Note card recorder, Note Pro, or the wearable NotePin/NotePin S) that records in-person conversations, meetings, and phone calls, then the app and a paid subscription handle transcription, summaries, and template-based notes. Unlike bot-based notetakers that join a Zoom or Teams call, Plaud captures audio from the room or phone via the device, so it works for face-to-face meetings and offline conversations. The hardware purchase is required for the core experience; the app exists but the recording capture and Plaud Desktop features depend on owning a device.

self-hostNo mcpNone modelhardware + subscription
device from $159 + free or from $8.33/mo annual Visit →
10

Cluely

vs Fathom

Cluely is a desktop AI assistant that listens to your calls in real time, transcribes them, takes meeting notes, and feeds you live on-screen answers and suggested next steps during the conversation. It also takes screenshots of and reads your screen to generate responses. Honest caveat: Cluely markets itself as "completely undetectable" and originally launched under a "cheat on everything" slogan, explicitly designed so the other people on a call cannot see that you are being coached by AI, including hiding itself from screen-sharing software on higher tiers. That positioning raises real consent and ethics concerns, because the other meeting participants are typically not aware they are being recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. Treat it as a personal real-time prompter, not a transparent shared notetaker, and check recording-consent laws in your jurisdiction before using it.

self-hostNo mcpNone modelflat per-user subscription (per-account, no…
$19.99/mo Visit →

Fathom vs the alternatives

The baseline against every option, decoded.

toolentry pricepricing modelfree tierself-hostmcp
Fathom baseline free; paid $15/seat/mo annual free + per-seat Unlimited recordings and transcriptions forever for individuals, instant AI summaries, clips, playlists, and search across calls. Ask Fathom is limited to a single call, advanced summary templates and team/CRM features are paid. No None
Fireflies.ai $18/seat/mo free + per-seat (annual discount) + AI credits Free forever: unlimited transcription, 800 mins of storage per seat, limited AI summaries, no recording. Bot still joins calls. No None
Granola $14/user/mo free + flat per-seat Basic ($0): AI meeting notes, AI chat within and across meetings, shared folders, custom templates, multi-language, model-training opt-out. History access is limited (widely reported as a 25-note lifetime cap with a short retention window). No Server
Otter.ai $8.49/seat/mo (billed annually) free + flat per-seat (minute-capped on lower tiers) Basic plan: 300 transcription minutes/mo, capped at 30 minutes per conversation, and only 3 lifetime audio/video file imports. Includes live transcription, speaker ID, and Otter AI Chat. No None
Circleback $20.83/seat/mo (billed annually) flat per-seat No permanent free plan, only a free trial. Paid subscription required after trial. No None
tl;dv $18/seat/mo (billed annually) free + flat per-seat (annual discount) Unlimited recordings but auto-deleted after 3 months; full AI notes on first 10 meetings only (then just the first 10 min summarized); 10 lifetime AI prompts; 20 CRM/Zapier trigger credits; 5 file uploads max. No None
MeetGeek $9.99/seat/mo (or ~$6/seat/mo billed annually) free + per-seat (billed monthly or annually) with per-hour transcription overage on Pro Basic plan: free forever, unlimited seats, 3 hours of transcription per month, AI summaries, recording in 100+ languages, search, mobile apps and Chrome extension. Transcripts kept 3 months, audio 1 month, no video storage. No Server
Krisp $8/seat/mo (billed annually) flat per-seat (annual discount) No permanent free plan. 7-day free trial (no card) with unlimited transcription, noise cancellation, recording, and AI notes. No None
Sembly AI $10/seat/mo (annual) flat per-seat (tiered features) No permanent free plan. All paid tiers offer a free trial only; Basic is the cheapest entry at $17/mo monthly or $10/mo billed annually. No Client
Plaud device $159 + free or from $8.33/mo annual hardware + subscription Starter (free): 300 transcription minutes/month, basic capture and playback only. No AI summaries, templates, or Ask Plaud on the free tier. No None
Cluely $19.99/mo flat per-user subscription (per-account, no published team/seat plan) Starter (free): limited AI responses per day, limited meeting notetaking, custom instructions, upload up to ~3 files, and access to your past meeting history. No None

Dirr is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Fathom. Tool names and logos are the property of their respective owners. Figures are decoded from public pricing and dated; verify volatile prices on the vendor site before buying.

Questions

What is the best alternative to Fathom?

The cheapest alternative to Fathom is MeetGeek ($9.99/seat/mo (or ~$6/seat/mo billed annually)). The right pick depends on whether you optimize for price, control, or hands-off automation.

Is there a free alternative to Fathom?

Yes. n8n is free if self-hosted, and Gumloop's free tier gives 5,000 credits/mo. Most listed tools have a free plan to test before paying.

Why switch from Fathom?

Common reasons: The free plan is genuinely generous on recording and transcription, but the AI features are throttled: Ask Fathom works on a single call only and advanced summary templates plus AI action items require Premium. CRM field sync (HubSpot/Salesforce) is locked to the top Business tier, not Team. Recording is done by a bot that visibly joins the call (a bot-free mode is Mac-only beta), so attendees see a notetaker present. The deepest annual discounts require yearly upfront billing.

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