Compare notetakers
Otter vs Fathom
Otter and Fathom compared on what their own pages say, row by row — nothing about either in our words except a plain reading at the end.
Otter and Fathom, row by row
| Otter | Fathom | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan: how much | “300 monthly transcription minutes” — Basic, the free plan source | “Unlimited recordings + transcriptions” — Free, for individuals source |
| Free plan: longest meeting | “Max transcription time per conversation 30 minutes” — Basic, the free plan source | Not stated on the pages we read |
| Free plan: how much is kept | “Conversation history 25 most recent” — Basic, the free plan source | Not stated on the pages we read |
| Cheapest paid plan | “$8.33 user/month” — Pro, billed yearly source | “Free Plan or Plans from $15/mo” source |
| How it gets into a meeting | “Joins Zoom, MS Teams, and Google Meet to automatically write and share notes” source | “Choice of bot-free (in beta) or bot capture” source |
| Meeting apps | “Zoom, MS Teams, and Google Meet” source | Not stated on the pages we read |
| Who said what | “Speaker identification (by name)” source | Not stated on the pages we read |
| Languages | “AI transcription in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Chinese” source | Not stated on the pages we read |
| Video recording | “Video replay for Zoom and Google Meet” — Enterprise source | Not stated on the pages we read |
| Downloads and export | “Exportable audio, text, and captions mp3, txt” — free plan; pdf, docx and srt are on paid plans source | “Call downloads and clips (unlimited)” source |
| Single sign-on | “Single Sign-On (SSO) minimum 100-user license required” source | “Enhanced security controls with SSO & SCIM provisioning” — Enterprise source |
| API | “Otter API & Webhooks” — Enterprise source | Not stated on the pages we read |
Every cell is the company's own words, linked. Prices change — this is what each page said on 10 November 2026. Something changed? Tell us.
What the two pages add up to
- Fathom’s free plan is for individuals and does not cap recordings or transcription; Otter’s free plan stops at 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes a conversation.
- Fathom offers a choice of a bot or bot-free capture (bot-free is in beta); Otter’s notetaker joins the call.
- Single sign-on is on Fathom’s Enterprise plan, and on Otter’s only with at least 100 users.
Which matters for your meetings
For one person on a budget, Fathom's free plan is the less restricted of the two on paper — it states no cap on recordings, where Otter's stops at 300 minutes. For a company that needs single sign-on, Otter asks for at least 100 users before it is switched on; Fathom puts it on Enterprise.
What that comes to, worked out
Picture a manager with a weekly one-hour one-to-one with each of five people: about twenty-two meetings a month. Otter's free plan writes down the first 30 minutes of each until its 300 minutes are used, which happens on the tenth meeting, so the rest of the month and the second half of every meeting go unwritten. Fathom's pricing page puts no cap on recordings or transcription on its free plan for individuals, so the same month fits. The words for individuals matter if the manager wants the notes kept for a whole team; that is where Fathom's paid plans, from $15 a month, begin.
The sums use only the numbers quoted above. Yearly prices are the monthly figure times twelve.
Where Meetful is different from both
Meetful is a meeting app rather than a notetaker you add to someone else's call. It transcribes each person from their own microphone, so every line carries the name of whoever said it without guessing, and there is no bot in the participant list. The notes, the recording and the transcript are free, and anybody in the meeting can leave themselves out of the notes.
Other comparisons
Try Meetful
Meetings that take their own notes
Free video meetings in the browser: every line of the transcript under the name of who said it, and the summary and action items when you hang up. Nothing to install — guests just open the link.