5 Best Fathom Alternatives for Meeting Notes in 2026

How do the best Fathom alternatives compare?

These five tools suit different kinds of work, so I'd compare the workflow and its limits before the headline price.

The listed monthly rates are equivalents with annual billing. They compare entry paid plans, rather than identical packages. Free plans and specific recording limits appear in the profiles below.

When does it make sense to look beyond Fathom?

Fathom remains worth keeping if its capture options and meeting analysis already fit your work. Its Free plan includes unlimited recording and transcription, with limits on advanced AI. Account-Wide Ask, currently in beta, can find information across accessible calls, subject to plan, permissions and history limits.

Fathom also has an iPhone app for in-person recording. Its Mac bot-free beta requires macOS 14.2 or later, plus account and language eligibility. Windows bot-free support is a limited Microsoft Teams alpha.

I'd look at alternatives when one of these needs matters:

• You already have recordings. Fathom doesn't accept external audio or video uploads. An interview archive needs a tool that can process existing files.
• You need another way to capture conversations. Fathom's iPhone app requires internet and cannot record phone calls. It doesn't have an Android app.
• You need to keep or reuse a particular output. A transcript, the original audio, a client report and a CRM update serve different purposes. Check the actual result you need.

One detail is easy to miss: Fathom's Transcript Only mode saves no recording. Other modes can retain media. If replaying the conversation matters, check the capture mode before recording. With any tool, follow applicable recording-consent rules and your organization's policies.

1. Notta: for varied conversations and work you need to deliver

Notta fits work that combines online meetings, phone calls, face-to-face conversations and files people send you.

For computer meetings, choose the meeting bot or bot-free recording in Notta Desktop for Mac and Windows. Web and mobile apps, Apple Watch, the Chrome extension, screen recording, audio/video uploads and supported links provide other routes. Each has different capabilities, so choose the one that fits the conversation.

Notta Memo is its dedicated recorder for phone calls and in-person meetings. Connected to the mobile app, it supports live transcription and translation. Disconnected, it records audio for later syncing. That doesn't mean it transcribes offline by itself.

Notta's live bilingual transcription captures two spoken languages in the same conversation and displays translated text alongside them. You can follow the discussion while it's happening, without waiting for a translation afterward.

The part I'd focus on after recording is Notta Brain, the AI capability built into Notta. You can combine meetings with documents, spreadsheets or images to create editable reports, presentations and other files.

For example, bring client calls and a project spreadsheet together, then ask for a progress report. Brain can find files in Google Drive, save the finished report to your chosen folder and send a project update to a connected Slack channel.

Privacy Mode in Notta Desktop provides a separate local workflow on eligible paid plans. Download a supported model to transcribe recordings on your computer after recording finishes. Recordings and transcripts stay in your chosen local folder. Standard bot-free recording uses cloud transcription.

What to budget: Pro costs $97.99 annually and includes 1,800 transcription minutes monthly. Brain includes 1,000 monthly credits, with paid options for more. Memo costs $149 for the device. Its Hardware Plan gives eligible Free-workspace owners 600 monthly minutes while the device stays bound. Standard Free includes 120 monthly minutes, limited to three minutes per recording.

2. Fireflies: for a searchable team meeting library

Fireflies makes sense if you want to find answers across meetings and move useful information into your team's existing tools.

Its meeting library brings transcripts, summaries and searchable conversations together. You can use AskFred to query that material and connect meeting information with tools such as Slack, Salesforce and HubSpot. Business adds conversation intelligence and team analytics.

Fireflies supports meeting bots, desktop and Chrome capture, mobile apps, a web recorder and uploaded audio/video. That makes it useful when your conversations arrive through several channels.

Watch the recording route. Desktop bot-free Take Notes creates a transcript and notes without saving a separate audio or video file. If you need the original recording for playback or archiving, choose a route that retains it.

What to budget: Pro costs $10 per user monthly with annual billing. Free includes 400 storage minutes per team; that's stored content, not a fresh monthly transcription allowance. Pro and higher support downloads of transcripts and saved recordings. Imports have separate processing limits, and advanced AI credits cost extra beyond included allocations.

I wouldn't choose Fireflies simply because a plan says unlimited transcription. Check imported-file allowances, retained storage and the AI workflows you expect to use.

3. Fellow: for recurring meetings and follow-through

Fellow is where I'd look when the problem starts before recording: unclear agendas, recurring discussions and follow-ups that need owners.

Fellow combines collaborative agendas, meeting templates, private notes and assigned actions. Its project connections include tools such as Asana, Jira and Linear, with plan requirements. That suits a team running regular project reviews or one-on-ones.

You can capture meetings through a bot, Mac or Windows desktop recording, supported native Zoom capture, or mobile in-person recording. External audio/video uploads are also supported. Downloading recordings, transcripts and recaps depends on workspace permissions.

Ask Fellow can use meetings alongside uploaded documents and images, create Word or Markdown documents, and export to supported destinations such as Google Docs. I'd consider this if you want meeting preparation and follow-up in the same place.

What to budget: Team costs $7 per user monthly with annual billing and includes 10 AI notes and recordings monthly. Business costs $15 on the same basis and includes unlimited AI notes and recordings. File uploads have separate caps: 10 per Team user monthly, or 50 on Business. Free includes five lifetime AI notes and recordings.

Choose the plan around how often you meet and upload files. The lowest paid rate won't suit every recurring-meeting schedule.

4. Otter: for shared live transcripts

Otter is worth a look when people need to follow a conversation in text and work together on meeting notes.

Otter provides live transcripts, shared conversations, comments and meeting notes. Its capture options include mobile and desktop, alongside meeting-bot recording and existing-file imports. It's worth considering when live collaboration matters more than a dedicated physical recorder.

Otter's AI also goes beyond transcript questions. Work can create Word and PowerPoint files and use supported connectors for follow-up tasks. Availability is rolling out by account, and connector access depends on the plan.

What to budget: Pro costs $8.33 per user monthly with annual billing. It includes 1,200 minutes shared between capture and imports, 10 imported files monthly and 90-minute conversations.

Business costs $19.99 on the same billing basis. It separates unlimited capture from 6,000 imported minutes monthly. Basic provides 300 monthly minutes and access to the first 30 minutes of each conversation's transcript. Its three file imports apply to the account's lifetime.

If you have an interview backlog, count both files and minutes before choosing a plan. Ten short files and one long recording can hit different limits.

5. Gong: for sales coaching and deal reviews

I'd choose Gong when your sales team needs to connect customer conversations with coaching, account context and deal reviews.

For a manager, that could mean reviewing a rep's call, giving structured feedback and checking the same account's activity against CRM information. Gong connects with Salesforce, HubSpot and Microsoft Dynamics. Coaching and forecast tools have their own application-seat requirements.

Gong captures online meetings through configured conferencing routes, including bot and supported native Zoom recording. It also supports mobile in-person audio, imports from connected dialers and manual audio/video uploads. Recording and download permissions depend on your setup.

Gong Assistant can combine accessible sales conversations with uploaded files to create and revise documents. Its document outputs can be downloaded as Markdown. That fits sales teams building coaching materials from customer conversations.

What to budget: Gong pricing is a custom quote with per-user licenses and a platform fee. Confirm the applications, seats and recording permissions included in your proposal. Gong doesn't publish a standard monthly rate.

If you mainly need interview transcripts or occasional internal notes, I'd start with the other options. If coaching and deal review drive the purchase, Gong deserves a closer look.

Feature comparison: Fathom and its alternatives

Here's how the tools compare on the tasks that matter most. I'd focus on the rows that could change how you record, reuse or deliver your work.

If you already have recordings to process, Fathom's upload gap is a clear reason to look elsewhere. Its transcript-download cross applies to the app: you can copy text, while its permission-based API provides a separate export route.

For a presentation, Notta and Otter Work are the clearest matches here. Notta also creates Excel files and infographics. For a written report, Word or Markdown may be enough. I'd choose the output your team can actually edit.

Check the recording route, too. Fireflies Desktop's Take Notes mode gives you text without a saved audio file. Notta Desktop Privacy Mode can transcribe locally after supported-model setup; Otter records audio offline but waits for internet to transcribe it.

For bilingual meetings, Notta captures two spoken languages and shows translated text live. Otter's bilingual option is French and English only. Fireflies needs its multilingual setting, since regular Auto-Detect captures the dominant language. Translating a finished recap is a different task from following translated text during the call.

Which Fathom alternative should you choose?

I'd choose based on the work you need to finish, rather than an arbitrary team-size cutoff:

• Client work across calls, files and languages: Start with Notta. Bring conversations and project files together to create a report or presentation you can use.
• A team library you need to search and connect: Consider Fireflies. Decide whether you also need replayable audio from each recording route.
• Recurring meetings with agendas and accountable follow-ups: Consider Fellow. Match its recording and upload caps to your schedule.
• People collaborating around a live transcript: Consider Otter. Check conversation length and import limits before picking a plan.
• Sales coaching tied to accounts and deals: Consider Gong. Ask for the applications and permissions your workflow actually needs.

If you've narrowed the choice to Notta and Fathom, the Notta vs. Fathom comparison covers that two-product decision.

Before you move your Fathom recordings

Keep the material you need before changing how your team records meetings. Fathom lets you copy transcript text and download individual saved recordings. Exporting a larger collection can require a technical workflow using Fathom's permission-scoped API.

I'd start with one recording you have permission to move. Check that the new tool accepts the file and preserves the output you need. Uploading audio for a new transcript is different from importing a finished transcript with its original timestamps, speakers and permissions.

If you only have copied transcript text, you can use it as document context in a supported AI workflow. That doesn't recreate a meeting record with playable source audio. Keep the original where you still need that evidence.

Frequently asked questions

Is Fathom still free?

Yes. Fathom has a Free plan with unlimited recording and transcription, plus limits on advanced AI features. Its capture options include iPhone recording and eligible Mac bot-free beta access. Check the mode if you need saved audio or video, because Transcript Only doesn't keep a recording.

Which Fathom alternatives have a free plan?

Notta, Fireflies, Fellow and Otter have free plans with different limits. Notta has a three-minute per-recording limit, Fireflies limits retained storage, and Fellow includes five lifetime AI notes and recordings. Otter limits transcript access and lifetime imports. I'd choose the trial around the actual task you want to check.

Can I upload existing recordings to Fathom?

No. Fathom doesn't accept existing audio/video uploads. Notta, Fireflies, Fellow, Otter and Gong support external recordings, with different plan, file-size, duration or permission limits. If you have a backlog, check those limits before choosing. Mobile capture doesn't automatically mean a product can process files recorded elsewhere.

Can I use Fathom without a meeting bot?

Yes. Its Mac bot-free beta requires macOS 14.2 or later, plus account and language eligibility. Windows support is a limited Teams alpha. The iPhone app also records in-person conversations without a bot. These options don't establish offline processing or remove the need for consent.

Before choosing an alternative to Fathom, try the conversation or file that matters to your work. If Notta fits, you can create a free account to try a short sample. Standard Free is limited to three minutes per recording; check Notta pricing if you need longer transcripts.