Otter.ai vs Fathom (2026): the transcription workhorse or the free meeting notes app?
Otter.ai records and transcribes meetings live, with searchable transcripts, summaries and action items, and a free Basic plan capped at 300 minutes a month. Fathom records and transcribes meetings on Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, and its free plan is the most generous in the category: unlimited recording and transcription forever.
| Otter.ai | Fathom | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Basic plan free with 300 transcription minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation | Free plan with unlimited recording, transcription and storage; advanced AI summaries limited to the first 5 calls a month |
| Paid tier | Pro from $16.99 a month ($8.33 billed annually) | Premium from $20 a month ($16 billed annually); Team from $19 per user a month |
| Best for | People who want a live transcript they can search later | People who take a lot of calls and want unlimited meeting notes for free |
| Standout strength | Live transcription with speaker labels, plus a desktop app that needs no bot | Unlimited free recording and transcription — no meeting cap, no storage cap |
| Watch out for | The free plan cuts every call at 30 minutes, and Pro caps workspaces at 5 billed users | Advanced AI summaries, action items and Ask Fathom need Premium, and Fathom was acquired by Superhuman in September 2026 |
Fathom wins on the free tier alone: unlimited recording and transcription with no meeting cap is something no other meeting assistant offers, and most solo users never need to pay. Its Premium plan is only worth it when you want unlimited advanced summaries, AI action items and the Ask Fathom assistant. Otter wins when the transcript is the product: a live record you can search by speaker, date or keyword, with a desktop app that captures without a bot joining the call.
For a solo user, Fathom's free plan goes further than Otter's 300 minutes a month. For someone who needs searchable live transcripts and a mature transcription workflow, Otter's Pro plan at $8.33 a month billed annually is the cheaper paid option. Try Fathom free first — it costs nothing to find out if it covers your calls.
Sources: official pricing pages and 2026 comparison coverage. Otter.ai listing · Fathom listing