GILD verdict
Choose Fathom when people record live calls and want summaries in a CRM, and choose Otter when they also need to transcribe recorded files or record without a bot on Windows.
- The workflow
- A small team picking one meeting recorder for live calls, starting from the free plans and moving to paid seats.114
- The decisive evidence
- DocumentedFathom Free has unlimited recordings and transcription. Otter Basic stops at 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes per conversation.114
- DocumentedFathom transcribes only live meetings it records and its bot-free mode is a Mac beta. Otter imports files on every plan and records without a bot on Mac and Windows.361417
- DocumentedBoth train their own models on de-identified meeting data under their privacy policies, so a team that objects must change settings on either product.715
- GILD analysisFor 10 people on annual billing, Fathom Team costs US$1,800 a year and Otter Business US$2,398.80, since Otter Pro stops at 5 billed users. No published test compares their transcripts on the same meetings, so score both on a week of your own calls.
Fathom's free plan records and transcribes without a minutes cap, while Otter's free plan stops at 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes a conversation. Otter imports recorded files and can record without a bot on Mac and Windows. Fathom cannot summarize an uploaded file, and its bot-free capture is a Mac beta. For a team of 10 on annual billing, Otter Business and Fathom Team land within about US$600 a year of each other.
Choosing between Fathom and Otter
Choose Fathom if
- People want unlimited free recordings and transcription before the company buys seats.
- Summaries should sync to HubSpot or Salesforce, with CRM field sync and Deal View on Business.
- A small team wants the lowest annual seat for shared folders and search, at US$15 per user per month on Team.
Choose Otter if
- People need to transcribe recorded audio or video files, which Fathom cannot import.
- Bot-free recording is needed on Windows as well as Mac.
- An individual wants the lowest annual paid seat, Otter Pro at US$8.33 per user per month.
Side by side
| Dimension | Fathom | Otter |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | A bot records Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams calls from the Mac or Windows app. Bot-free capture is a Mac beta23 | Otter Notetaker joins Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams calls, and the Mac and Windows desktop app records meetings without a bot1617 |
| Free plan | Unlimited recordings and transcription, recordings kept until deleted, and advanced summaries for the first 5 calls a month145 | 300 transcription minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 lifetime file imports, and the 25 most recent conversations14 |
| Recorded files | No uploads: Fathom transcribes only live Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams meetings it records6 | 10 file imports a month on Pro and unlimited on Business, with up to 90 minutes per conversation on Pro and 4 hours on Business14 |
| Paid seat, billed monthlyList prices in US dollars, checked Oct 28, 2026. | Premium US$20, Team US$19, and Business US$34 per user per month, with a 2-user minimum on Team and Business1 | Pro US$16.99 and Business US$30 per user per month14 |
| Paid seat, billed annuallyList prices in US dollars, checked Oct 28, 2026. | Premium US$16, Team US$15, and Business US$25 per user per month1 | Pro US$8.33 and Business US$19.99 per user per month. Pro allows up to 5 billed users and Business up to 2514 |
| Cost at a stated workloadGILD's calculation from list prices checked Oct 28, 2026: seats times monthly price times 12, all from stated inputs. | GILD's calculation for a 10-person team for one year on annual billing: Team at US$15 per user per month is US$1,800, and Business at US$25 is US$3,0001 | GILD's calculation for the same 10-person team: Pro allows only 5 billed users, so the team needs Business at US$19.99 per user per month, which is US$2,398.80 a year14 |
| Model training | De-identified meeting data trains Fathom's in-house models unless a user opts out, and an organization admin can opt out every user. OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google may not train on it78 | The privacy policy, effective June 16, 2026, says Otter trains its proprietary AI on de-identified audio recordings and transcriptions. A separate Help improve Otter setting controls access to conversations for training, including human review1518 |
| Notice to participants | Visible bot and Zoom recording notice, a chat message or consent prompt in bot-free capture, and optional consent emails to external guests a day ahead910 | Optional pre-recording emails to every guest before Otter Notetaker joins, which a workspace admin can make the default, and a recording message in Teams meeting chat from the desktop app1719 |
| Admin and compliance | Enterprise adds SAML single sign-on, SCIM, custom retention, and a signed HIPAA BAA. SOC 2 Type II and GDPR18 | Enterprise adds SAML single sign-on, SCIM, domain capture, custom retention, and HIPAA with a BAA. SOC 2 Type II14202122 |
| AI assistants and API | MCP connector for Claude and ChatGPT and a public API on every plan11112 | MCP server on every plan. The API and webhooks are on Enterprise1423 |
What practitioners report, side by side
Each product's figures come from its own practitioners, for the group you pick.
Overall signal
All users rate Fathom +23, 77 points above Otter at −54. Most of the gap is in complaints, with 56 of Otter's 82 sources negative against 7 of Fathom's 31.
The score counts the authors from all users that take a side, one vote each with their latest view, and is how far positive votes lead negative ones, per 100 votes, so Fathom's +23 rests on votes split 14 positive, 9 mixed and 7 negative. Each of Otter's authors wrote one source here, so each source is one vote.
A lead of a fifth of the votes reads positive and a lead of half strong positive, with the same lines below zero. The dots show each source, positive, mixed, negative. Run a pilot on a month of real meetings to measure how much each summary needs editing before it is shared.
Footprint on the AI Knowledge Work stack
They differ on one of 7 layers. On Documents, Fathom touches it and Otter supports it. Coverage is each product's placement on this stack, as its product page shows it. Core is a job the product owns; Supports and Touches are jobs it helps with. Coverage says nothing about how well a product does them.
| Layer | Fathom | Otter |
|---|---|---|
| Create | ||
| Documents | Touches | Supports |
The 6 layers where they match
| Layer | Fathom | Otter |
|---|---|---|
| Assist | ||
| AI assistant | Touches | Touches |
| Find | ||
| Web research | Touches | Touches |
| Enterprise search | Supports | Supports |
| Create | ||
| Meeting notes | Core | Core |
| Analyze | ||
| Data analysis | Touches | Touches |
| Automate | ||
| Automation | Supports | Supports |
What practitioners praise
Among all users, Otter alone has four praise themes that reach 5 sources from 3 authors. Live Transcription and Voice Notes & Interviews lead, at 11 of 14 and 5 of 6. Free Plan and Note Quality reach 5 sources from 3 authors only for Fathom, at 7 of 7 and 7 of 10. Otter needs a pilot on the same meetings before you choose on either.
| Praised for | Fathom | Otter |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | 7 of 7 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Note Quality | 7 of 10 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Live Transcription | Not a theme in its sources | 11 of 14 |
| Voice Notes & Interviews | Not a theme in its sources | 5 of 6 |
| Searchable Record | Not a theme in its sources | 4 of 6 |
| Summaries & Action Items | Not a theme in its sources | 3 of 5 |
Each count is the sources that praise a theme, or raise it as a concern, out of those that discuss it. A row pairs the two products when both carry a theme under the same or an equivalent name.
A count ending in "so far" has under 5 sources from 3 authors among all users. "Not a theme in its sources" means GILD found no theme of that name in that product's sources.
What practitioners raise as concerns
Among all users, Otter alone has five concern themes that reach 5 sources from 3 authors. Uninvited Notetaker and Privacy & Consent lead, at 23 of 23 and 19 of 20. Platform Gaps and Notetaker Bots in Meetings reach 5 sources from 3 authors only for Fathom, at 6 of 8 and 5 of 5. Otter needs a pilot on the same meetings before you choose on either.
| Raised as a concern | Fathom | Otter |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Gaps | 6 of 8 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Notetaker Bots in Meetings | 5 of 5 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Uninvited Notetaker | Not a theme in its sources | 23 of 23 |
| Privacy & Consent | 2 of 4 so far | 19 of 20 |
| IT Control | Not a theme in its sources | 15 of 19 |
| Transcript Accuracy | Not a theme in its sources | 11 of 12 |
| Price & Minute Caps | Not a theme in its sources | 9 of 17 |
23 sources
- Fathom pricing (plans, seats, and features by plan)
- Fathom Help Center: What devices is Fathom compatible with?
- Fathom Help Center: How to Upgrade to Fathom 3.0+ (capture modes and Recording Notice)
- Fathom Help Center: Free vs. Premium for Individuals
- Fathom Help Center: How many recordings can I have in Fathom?
- Fathom Help Center: Can I upload an external recording into Fathom for analysis?
- Fathom Privacy Policy (last updated Aug 16, 2026)
- Fathom Help Center: Is Fathom secure?
- Fathom Help Center: Can I record calls without asking for permission?
- Fathom Help Center: Automatically Requesting Recording Consent
- Fathom Help Center: Fathom MCP, Connect Claude & ChatGPT
- Fathom Help Center: Public API
- Fathom Help Center: Salesforce Integration
- Otter.ai pricing
- Otter.ai Privacy Policy (effective June 16, 2026)
- Otter Help Center: Otter Notetaker Overview
- Otter Help Center: Otter Desktop App (Mac & Windows)
- Otter Help Center: Provide feedback to Otter
- Otter Help Center: Recording Permissions with Otter
- Otter Help Center: Enterprise Admin Controls Overview
- Otter Help Center: Set a custom Data Retention policy
- Otter Help Center: HIPAA | Otter.ai
- Otter Help Center: Otter MCP Server