Pick Fathom if…
you want a genuinely free notetaker, or you're a sales team that wants CRM field sync and call coaching.
If you're comparing these, the free tier is probably the question. Fathom gives unlimited recordings, transcripts and instant summaries for nothing; Otter caps you at 300 minutes a month.
Start with Fathom: its free plan covers unlimited recording and summaries, and it's built for sales call review and CRM-synced recaps. Otter.ai ($16.99/mo) makes more sense if you want Otter's live transcription across the whole team, file imports, or meetings up to 4 hours on its Business plan.
| App | Free tier | Paid from | Top plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fathom | Yes | $20/mo | $34/mo | Sales call review, CRM-synced recaps, hiring interview notes |
| Otter.ai | Yes | $16.99/mo | $30/mo | Teams already living in Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet who want automatic notes and searchable transcripts |
Monthly prices in US dollars before tax, from each vendor's official pricing (US list price; weekly-billed plans converted to a monthly figure). Updated October 7, 2026
| Fathom | Otter.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Unlimited recordings, transcripts, instant summaries | 300 transcription minutes/mo, 3 lifetime imports |
| Built for | Sales calls, CRM recaps, hiring interviews | Teams in Zoom, Teams or Meet wanting searchable transcripts |
| Paid upgrade | Advanced summaries, action items, coaching scorecards | More minutes, longer meetings, CRM integrations |
| Watch out for | Visible bot; advanced summary templates cap at 5/mo after trial | Per-seat pricing; accuracy dips with crosstalk |
you want a genuinely free notetaker, or you're a sales team that wants CRM field sync and call coaching.
you need real-time transcripts, long meetings up to 4 hours on Business, or file imports of recordings made elsewhere.
The free plan includes unlimited recordings, transcriptions, instant summaries, clips and playlists. Paid plans add advanced summaries, action items and team features.
No — on most plans its bot joins as a visible participant, with no silent mode.
Fathom Business ($34/mo per user) adds CRM field sync, deal-view summaries and AI scorecards. Otter Pro includes Salesforce and HubSpot integrations but is built around transcription.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.