The honest take

Free AI meeting recorder. Records, transcribes, and summarizes your Zoom/Meet/Teams calls — at zero cost for the basic plan.

Who it's for: Anyone who's been paying for Otter and wants a free alternative that does 90% of the same thing.

Key features

Free Actually free

The free tier is unlimited recordings of Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. No hidden minute caps.

Auto Auto-join

Fathom's bot joins your scheduled meetings automatically. You never click record.

Summary AI summaries

Every call gets a summary, action items, and a shareable link. Click any moment in the transcript to jump to that second of the video.

Privacy Privacy-first

HIPAA, GDPR, and SOC 2 compliant. Doesn't train on your data. SOC 2 Type II since 2023.

Pros and cons

✓ What works

Free tier is the most generous in the category
Click-to-jump transcript is a time-saver
Auto-join actually works reliably
GDPR/HIPAA compliant out of the box

✗ What doesn't

Free tier limited to 5 users per team
No ambient (stealth) mode — bot always shows up
Less polished UI than Granola or Otter
Pro tier is $24/mo, more than Otter

Verdict

Fathom is what killed Otter's growth in 2024-2025. The free tier is genuinely free, the AI summaries are good, and the click-to-jump transcript is the best in the category. Start here if you're new to meeting AI.

💡 Transparency: This review contains affiliate links. If you sign up through our link, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. We only recommend tools we use ourselves. Full disclosure.