Fireflies vs Fathom

Both tools sit in your meetings and hand you notes, but the free line has moved. Fathom's free tier is now the strongest of the two: unlimited recording and transcription with no storage cap, and instant AI call summaries included. Fireflies still transcribes unlimited meetings for free, but its free AI is now metered — limited summaries and a 20-credit allowance for AskFred and premium AI features — with action items held behind Pro. Paying flips the bout: Fireflies Pro costs less than Fathom Premium and unlocks the deeper AI. Which one wins depends on whether you'll stay free or pay.

The bout at a glance

Fireflies' free tier: unlimited transcription, but limited AI summaries, a 20-credit allowance for AskFred and premium AI features, 400 minutes of team storage, no transcript downloads, and no video recording. Fathom's free tier: unlimited recording and transcription, instant AI call summaries, clips and playlists, and no storage cap. Advanced summaries and the Ask Fathom assistant are limited-use on Fathom's free tier; AI action items and AI follow-up emails sit behind Premium. Sources: fireflies.ai/pricing and fathom.ai/pricing, checked 2026-10-08.

When Fathom is the better pick

Pick Fathom when the job is "record and transcribe everything for free." Its free plan has no storage cap and no transcription limit, so you can log every call without watching a meter — and you still get instant AI call summaries, clips, and playlists. Advanced summaries and the Ask Fathom assistant are limited-use on the free tier; the features that make notes fully actionable — AI-generated action items and AI follow-up emails — require Premium at $16/mo on annual billing ($20 monthly). Teams pay $15/user/mo (2-user minimum) for shared folders, comments, and keyword alerts; CRM field sync and Deal View only arrive on Business at $25/user/mo. One thing worth knowing: Fathom was acquired by Superhuman in September 2026 — the company says nothing changes for users in the near term. It's the cleanest free recorder-transcriber of the two, and the natural choice if you'd rather pay later, only if you outgrow the basics.

When Fireflies is the better pick

Pick Fireflies when you'll pay for the AI to do more than transcribe. Pro at $10/seat/mo on annual billing ($18 monthly) unlocks unlimited AI summaries, action items and a task manager, transcript downloads, video recording, AI Skills, Voice Agents, and unlimited integrations — undercutting Fathom's Premium on price. The free plan still transcribes unlimited meetings in 100+ languages with automatic detection, but the AI layer is now metered: limited summaries and a 20-credit allowance for AskFred and premium features, plus the 400-minute team storage cap and no downloads. The CRM and dialer integrations that make Fireflies a sales-workflow machine (Salesforce, HubSpot, Aircall and more) open up fully on Pro. If your meeting notes need to feed the rest of your stack, Fireflies is the stronger default — but budget for the paid plan.

The verdict

It's a genuine split, not a dodge — but the line has moved since we first published this bout. Choose Fathom if you'll stay on the free plan: unlimited recording and transcription, no storage cap, and instant summaries at $0 make it the better free tier by a real margin. Choose Fireflies if you'll pay: Pro at $10/seat/mo unlocks unlimited AI summaries and action items, more languages (100+ vs 38), and deeper CRM and dialer integrations for less than Fathom's Premium. If the only question is "which one is free forever and unlimited," Fathom wins. If the question is "which one is the cheaper, deeper AI workhorse for a paying team," Fireflies wins.