Fathom vs Otter.ai

Fathom and Otter are both AI meeting recorders with free plans.

Quick verdict by use case

Unlimited free recordings: Fathom's free plan lists unlimited recordings and transcriptions.
Transcribing uploaded audio files: Otter, but the free plan allows only 3 imports for the life of the account.
Teams: Compare Fathom Team ($15-19/user, 2-user minimum) with Otter Business ($30/user).

There is no single winner. These picks are based on what each official pricing page lists; try both on your own task before paying.

	Fathom	Otter.ai
What it does	A free AI meeting recorder with instant summaries.	Records and transcribes meetings and writes AI summaries.
Is it actually free?	Free tier with limits	Free tier with limits
Free plan limits	Free forever: unlimited recordings and transcriptions, instant AI call summaries, bot-free (beta) or bot capture.	Basic (free): 300 transcription minutes a month, Zoom/Teams/Meet notes, live transcription, and only 3 audio/video file imports for the lifetime of the account.
Pricing	Free; Team $15-19/user/month (2-user minimum); Business $25-34/user/month.	Free; Pro $16.99/user/month ($8.49 billed annually); Business $30/user/month; Enterprise custom.
Best for	Individuals who want unlimited free meeting recordings.	Transcribing meetings and calls.
Not great for	Team features without paying.	Transcribing many uploaded recordings on the free plan (3 imports, ever).
Last checked	2026-10-13	2026-10-13

Good for: Individuals who want unlimited free meeting recordings.

Not great for: Team features without paying.

Good for: Transcribing meetings and calls.

Not great for: Transcribing many uploaded recordings on the free plan (3 imports, ever).

Meetings & notesFree tier with limits

An AI notetaker that joins meetings, transcribes and summarizes them.

Free? Free forever: unlimited transcription (with fair-use limits), limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of storage.

Meetings & notesFree tier with limits

AI meeting notes that combine your own notes with the transcript, without a bot joining the call.

Free? Basic ($0): AI meeting notes with limited meeting history; chat across meetings; templates.

Last checked 2026-10-13 · No benchmark scores: we only compare what the official pages state. · How we verify · Report an error