Verdict up front: For most individuals, Fathom is the better deal — its free plan records and transcribes unlimited meetings with instant AI summaries, and there is no minute cap to watch. Otter.ai is the pick when you need a broader transcription workspace: live in-app recording, more languages, file imports and a mature team library. Fathom Premium costs $16 per user per month billed annually; Otter Pro costs $16.99 a month, or $8.33 a month billed annually.
Bottom line: Choose Fathom for free, unlimited meeting capture on Zoom, Meet and Teams. Choose Otter.ai if transcription beyond live video calls — uploads, in-person recording and multilingual work — is your daily job.
Fathom vs Otter.ai at a glance
| Feature | Fathom | Otter.ai | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | $0 forever: unlimited recordings and transcriptions, instant AI summaries | Basic $0: 300 transcription minutes/month, 30 minutes per conversation | Fathom, by a wide margin |
| First paid plan | Premium: $16/user/month billed annually ($20 monthly) | Pro: $8.33/user/month billed annually ($16.99 monthly) | Otter on annual price |
| Team plan | Team: $15/user/month billed annually ($19 monthly), 2-user minimum | Business: $19.99/user/month billed annually ($30 monthly) | Fathom |
| Minute limits | No cap on recordings or transcription, including Free | Pro: 1,200 minutes/month; Business: unlimited meetings, 6,000 imported minutes/month | Fathom |
| Capture style | Joins Zoom, Meet and Teams; bot-free capture in beta on Mac, or bot capture | Joins Zoom, Meet and Teams, plus live transcription from its own app | Otter for in-person and app recording |
| Languages | Focused on English-first meeting workflows | Transcription in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese | Otter |
| Sales and CRM features | Business: CRM field sync, Deal View, coaching metrics and AI scorecards | Salesforce and HubSpot sync on higher tiers, sales assistant features | Fathom for dedicated sales coaching |
What the pricing pages don’t make obvious
Otter’s free Basic plan has three limits that rarely make the headlines, all stated on Otter’s own pricing page: you can import only 3 files in your account’s lifetime (not per month), you can only see your 25 most recent conversations, and each conversation stops transcribing at 30 minutes. A free user with long meetings hits the wall in the first week.
Fathom’s gotcha runs the other way: its paid Team and Business plans carry a 2-user minimum, stated on Fathom’s pricing page. A solo user belongs on the free plan or Premium at $16 a month billed annually — not on a team tier priced per seat.
Fathom: the free plan is the product
Fathom made its name by giving away what rivals charge for. The free plan includes unlimited recordings and transcriptions, instant AI summaries, clips, playlists and search across your calls. Premium adds advanced summaries from expert templates, AI-generated action items, a conversational meeting assistant and a custom meeting bot. Team adds global search and collaboration, and Business adds CRM field sync, a Deal View for sales pipelines, coaching metrics and custom summaries.
If you are still weighing Fathom against the other big meeting bot, our Fireflies vs Fathom comparison covers that matchup, and our Fathom review walks through the free plan in detail.
Otter.ai: the wider transcription workspace
Otter goes beyond the meeting bot. It transcribes live from its web and mobile apps — useful for in-person conversations and lectures — imports audio and video files, syncs cloud recordings, and works in six languages. Pro lifts the caps to 1,200 minutes a month, 90 minutes per conversation and 10 file imports a month, but note that Pro workspaces stop at 5 billed users; larger teams must buy Business, which allows up to 25 billed users, 4-hour conversations and 3 concurrent meetings.
That breadth is why Otter remains the default for journalists, researchers and students, even though its free tier is tight. See how it fares in Fireflies vs Otter.ai and in the bot-free alternative covered by Granola vs Otter.ai.
Which should you pick?
Pick Fathom if your meetings happen on Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams and you want summaries and searchable recordings without paying. It is the strongest free offer in this category, and sales teams get coaching and CRM features at Business level.
Pick Otter.ai if you transcribe more than video calls: uploaded files, in-person recordings, lectures, or work in Spanish, French, German, Japanese or Chinese. Budget for Pro at $8.33 a month billed annually from the start — the free tier’s 300 minutes and 3 lifetime imports run out fast.
Frequently asked questions
Is Fathom really unlimited for free?
Yes. Fathom’s pricing page lists unlimited recordings and transcriptions on the free plan, with instant AI summaries. Paid plans add advanced summaries, action items, team search and CRM features rather than more minutes.
How many free minutes does Otter.ai give you?
Otter Basic gives 300 transcription minutes per user per month, with a 30-minute cap per conversation, only 3 lifetime file imports and access to your 25 most recent conversations.
Which is cheaper for a small team?
Fathom Team is $15 per user per month billed annually, with a 2-user minimum. Otter’s team-level plan, Business, is $19.99 per user per month billed annually. Otter Pro is cheaper per person but caps workspaces at 5 billed users.
Does Otter.ai work for in-person meetings?
Yes. Otter transcribes live from its own web and mobile apps, so it can record in-person conversations. Fathom is built primarily around online meetings on Zoom, Meet and Teams, with a bot-free capture option in beta.