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Fireflies vs Fathom: which should you use?
Pick Fathom if you want unlimited free call recordings with clear AI summaries and shareable clips. Pick Fireflies if your team needs transcripts in many languages, search and analytics across everyone's meetings, and connections to lots of other apps.
The short verdict
- Choose Fathom if you're a freelancer, consultant, or small team on lots of video calls. The free plan covers unlimited recordings and transcriptions, and the paid plans add sales-friendly features like CRM field sync and coaching scorecards.
- Choose Fireflies if you need meetings in several languages, want an API and integrations on every paid seat, or want analytics like talk time, sentiment and topic tracking across a team.
- Choose something local if you'd rather not have a bot in your calls or your recordings on a vendor's servers. See a third option.
Fireflies vs Fathom at a glance
Checked on each company's pricing page in October 2026. Prices are per seat or per user, per month.
| Fireflies | Fathom | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Limited transcripts and AI summaries, 400 min of storage per team, 20 AI credits, 2-hour recording limit | Unlimited recordings and transcriptions, instant AI summaries, clips and search (some AI features limited) |
| Entry paid plan | Pro: $18 monthly or $10 annual (as of October 2026). Unlimited transcripts, 8,000 min storage per seat | Premium: $20 monthly or $16 annual (as of October 2026). Advanced summaries, action items, AI assistant |
| Team plans | Business: $29 monthly or $19 annual (as of October 2026). Unlimited storage, 3-hour recordings, conversation intelligence | Team: $19 monthly or $15 annual. Business: $34 monthly or $25 annual (2-user minimum, as of October 2026) |
| Enterprise | $39 per seat, billed annually (as of October 2026). HIPAA, SSO, SCIM, custom retention, private storage | Talk to sales. SSO, SCIM, org-wide security controls, custom retention |
| Bot | Fireflies Notetaker joins Zoom, Meet, Teams and more; Chrome extension for Meet without a bot; new desktop app | Bot by default; bot-free capture in beta on Mac only |
| Video | 720p on Pro and Business | Video recording with clips and playlists, free plan included |
| Languages | English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian; 100+ in beta; auto-detect | Not listed on the pricing page |
| Integrations | All app and CRM integrations on Pro and up; API on every plan (rate limits differ) | Slack, Zapier and Make, Claude and ChatGPT, public API, MCP; CRM sync on paid plans, CRM field sync on Business |
| Analytics | Talk time, sentiment, topic trackers on Pro; conversation intelligence and team insights on Business | Keyword alerts on Team; coaching metrics and AI scorecards on Business |
Sources: fireflies.ai/pricing, fathom.ai/pricing.
Free plans: Fathom gives you more
Fathom's free plan is one of the most generous in the category. You can record and transcribe as many calls as you like and still get a summary after each one. A few AI features are marked as limited on the free plan.
Fireflies' free plan is better seen as a trial of the workflow. Storage is capped at 400 minutes for the whole team, AI summaries are limited, and you get 20 AI credits. For one person with a few calls a week it may be enough; for regular use, you'll be on Pro. Compare more choices in our list of the best free AI note takers.
Paid plans: what you're buying
Fireflies' paid plans are about scale and reach. Pro removes the transcript limits and opens up all integrations, so summaries and tasks can flow into the apps your team uses. Business adds unlimited storage, longer recordings, team analytics and private channels. Pricing is per seat, and a seat is anyone you add to the workspace.
Fathom's paid plans are about better notes and sales workflows. Premium adds advanced summaries, action items and an assistant you can ask about past calls. Team adds shared playlists, comments and folders. Business adds CRM field sync, deal views and coaching scorecards, which is why many sales teams use it.
Bot vs no bot
Both products are built around a bot that joins from your calendar and appears in the participant list. That's transparent, but some hosts remove or block bots, and some people simply don't want an extra attendee.
Each now offers a partial way around it. Fireflies' Chrome extension records Google Meet without the bot, and its new desktop app promises notes without a bot on the call, with a visible indicator for participants. Fathom's bot-free capture is a Mac-only beta. Our guide to an AI note taker without a bot covers how these approaches differ.
Meeting notes with no bot in the call
Hark records Zoom, Teams, Meet and any other app from your own computer and transcribes it there. Free forever, with a 2-day preview of AI meeting notes.
Privacy and data handling
Both are cloud services that store your recordings and transcripts on their servers.
- Fireflies says on its security page: "We don't train on it by default." It lists SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA, AES-256 encryption at rest and TLS in transit, and a zero-day data retention policy with vendors and partners. HIPAA, SSO and custom retention are Enterprise features.
- Fathom says in its privacy policy (updated August 16, 2026) that it may use de-identified meeting data to train its own models depending on your settings, and that you can opt out in account settings. It says it doesn't authorize OpenAI, Anthropic, Google or other third parties to use your personal information, and aims to delete recordings within 30 days of an account deletion request.
Recording laws differ from place to place, and some require every participant's consent. Whatever you use, tell people the call is recorded.
A third option: Hark
If you like the idea of automatic meeting notes but not a bot in the call or your audio on someone else's servers, Hark is built for you. It's a desktop app for Windows, Mac and Linux.
- Records your microphone and your computer's audio, so it works with any meeting app. No bot ever joins.
- Transcribes on your computer, with no minute or storage limits, live and then more accurately after the call.
- Tells speakers apart by voice and remembers the people you name for future meetings.
- Lets Claude Desktop or Claude Code read your meetings through a local connection, at no cost from Hark.
- Free forever for recording and transcription; $12/month adds AI meeting notes by Claude and sync.
What Hark doesn't do: other languages (English only), video recording, CRM sync, team workspaces or calendar auto-join. On a Mac it records the microphone only. Its AI features send transcript text to Claude. Sales teams who want deal views should stick with Fathom or Fireflies. See also our Fireflies alternatives, Fathom alternatives and best AI note takers.
Related
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- Fireflies.ai alternatives Alternatives to Fireflies for people who want no meeting bot.
- Fathom alternatives Fathom alternatives compared on privacy, platforms and price.
- Granola vs Otter Bot-free Granola against bot-based Otter.
- Best AI note takers An honest roundup of AI note takers, with what each does best.
Frequently asked questions
Is Fireflies or Fathom better? +
Fathom is the better pick for individuals and small teams who want unlimited free recordings with good summaries. Fireflies is the better pick for teams that need many languages, deep search and analytics across everyone's calls, and integrations with lots of work apps. Both are strong for sales teams on their paid plans.
Which is cheaper, Fireflies or Fathom? +
As of October 2026, Fireflies Pro was $10 per seat per month billed annually ($18 monthly) and Business $19 ($29 monthly). Fathom Premium was $16 per month billed annually ($20 monthly), Team $15 per user ($19 monthly) and Business $25 per user ($34 monthly). Fathom's free plan does more, so for one person it can cost nothing.
Do Fireflies and Fathom need a bot in the meeting? +
Both join calls as a bot by default. Fireflies has a Chrome extension that captures Google Meet without its bot and a new desktop app for bot-free notes. Fathom lists bot-free capture as a beta for Mac only as of October 2026.
Does Fireflies or Fathom train AI on my calls? +
Fireflies' security page says it does not train on your data by default. Fathom's privacy policy says it may train its own models on de-identified meeting data depending on your settings, and that you can opt out in account settings. Both say outside AI companies don't train on your data.
What languages do Fireflies and Fathom support? +
Fireflies says English is its primary language, with Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian supported and over 100 more in beta. Fathom's pricing page doesn't list languages, so check its help center if you meet in languages other than English.
Record, transcribe and remember every meeting
Hark records your calls on your own computer, transcribes them privately, and learns who is speaking. Free forever, with a 2-day preview of AI meeting notes.