Compare › Fathom vs Otter.ai
Fathom vs Otter.ai: free plan compared
Side by side, from each vendor's own pages. Last checked 2026-10-16.
| Fathom | Otter.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free plan | Free plan |
| Free plan details | Unlimited recordings, storage and transcription; advanced AI summaries for your first 5 calls each month, then the General/Enhanced template only. | 300 transcription minutes per month; only the first 30 minutes of each conversation are viewable on Basic; 3 lifetime file imports; 20 AI Chat queries per user. |
| Monthly transcription minutes (free) | unlimited | 300 |
| Max length per meeting (free) | unknown | 30 min |
| Meetings per month (free) | unknown | unknown |
| AI summary limits (free) | Advanced summaries for the first 5 calls per month; standard summaries after that. | Automated summaries listed on Basic; AI Chat limited to 20 queries per user (3 per conversation). |
| Transcript / notes retention | Unlimited recordings & storage. | Basic shows your 25 most recent conversations; older ones are archived, not deleted (help article last updated Dec 2023, may be stale). |
| Paid plan from | $16/mo (Premium (individual)); billed monthly: 20 USD | $8.33/user/mo (Pro); billed monthly: 16.99 USD |
| How it records | Bot or bot-free. Choice of bot capture or bot-free capture (bot-free is a beta feature for Mac). | Bot joins call. Notetaker joins Zoom, MS Teams and Google Meet; can also live-transcribe via the Otter app. |
| Meeting platforms | Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams | Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet |
| Languages | 38 languages | English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese |
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FAQ
Which has the better free plan, Fathom or Otter.ai?
It depends on your meeting load. Fathom: Unlimited recordings, storage and transcription; advanced AI summaries for your first 5 calls each month, then the General/Enhanced template only. Otter.ai: 300 transcription minutes per month; only the first 30 minutes of each conversation are viewable on Basic; 3 lifetime file imports; 20 AI Chat queries per user. Use the calculator to check your own numbers.
Do Fathom and Otter.ai need a bot to join the call?
Fathom: Bot or bot-free. Choice of bot capture or bot-free capture (bot-free is a beta feature for Mac). Otter.ai: Bot joins call. Notetaker joins Zoom, MS Teams and Google Meet; can also live-transcribe via the Otter app.
How much do Fathom and Otter.ai cost after the free plan?
Fathom starts at $16/mo; Otter.ai starts at $8.33/user/mo (lowest listed paid prices, usually billed annually).
Sources
Fathom
- Fathom pricing · checked 2026-10-16
- Fathom help: Free vs Premium · checked 2026-10-16 (seen via search index)
- Fathom help FAQs (languages, platforms) · checked 2026-10-16 (seen via search index)
Otter.ai
- Otter pricing · checked 2026-10-16
- Otter help: Basic plan limits · checked 2026-10-16 (seen via search index)
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