Users frequently complain about Fathom's transcription accuracy, which ranges from only 85% to 90% according to long-term users. This lower accuracy rate means users often need to spend time manually editing transcripts to fix errors and misheard words. The reduced reliability forces people to double-check the output rather than trusting it for important decisions or follow-ups.

Many users find Fathom's feature set limited compared to what they need for productive meeting workflows. The tool focuses primarily on basic transcription and simple note-taking without offering robust automation capabilities or advanced integrations. Users report difficulty getting meeting insights into their existing work tools and processes, making it feel like an isolated solution rather than part of their workflow.

The platform struggles with more complex meeting scenarios, particularly when there are multiple speakers or background noise. Speaker identification can be unreliable, making it hard to know who said what in important discussions. Users also report that the summary and action item detection lacks the sophistication needed for business-critical meetings where precise details and clear accountability matter.

Circleback addresses these issues by providing technically superior transcripts with 95%+ accuracy that users can trust without verification. The platform offers precise speaker identification and supports over 100 languages, ensuring clear accountability regardless of meeting complexity. Unlike Fathom's limited functionality, Circleback includes a powerful automation engine that automatically identifies and assigns action items, integrates with popular business tools like HubSpot and Slack, and transforms meeting outcomes into actionable workflows across entire organizations.

1 2 3 Fathom is an AI meeting notetaker that works well with Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams. It offers real-time transcription in 25+ languages and generates quick AI summaries after meetings. The platform is particularly popular with sales teams for CRM updates and call recaps.

Fathom's biggest strength is its generous free plan, which provides unlimited meeting recordings and full AI summaries for 5 meetings monthly. Users praise the accurate transcriptions, simple interface, and excellent customer service. The AI-generated summaries appear within seconds of meeting end, and the platform offers multiple summary formats.

The main limitations include advanced features being locked behind paid plans and no support for uploading external audio files. Fathom only works with live online meetings, not in-person conversations. There's also no mobile app available, requiring desktop use for all functionality.

Compared to Circleback, Fathom falls short in several key areas. It cannot record in-person meetings or import audio files, while Circleback supports both through mobile and desktop apps. Fathom also lacks the sophisticated automation engine and extensive integrations that Circleback offers for workflow management.

Why users switch away from Fathom

One major reason users move away from Fathom is the limitation to live meetings only. Unlike some competitors, Fathom doesn't let you upload external audio files for transcription, which means you can't use it to transcribe pre-recorded meetings, phone calls, or other audio content you might have. This restriction forces users to look elsewhere when they need flexibility beyond just live online meetings.

The lack of a mobile app pushes some users toward other solutions. Since Fathom requires a desktop application and doesn't work on phones or tablets, users who frequently attend meetings on mobile devices or want to access their meeting notes while traveling find themselves constrained. This desktop-only approach doesn't fit well with increasingly mobile work styles.

Advanced features being locked behind paid plans also drives users away, particularly those who start with the generous free tier but then hit limitations. While the free plan offers a lot, important capabilities like meeting templates for structured note-taking are only available in higher-priced Team editions. Users who need these advanced organizational features but don't want to pay premium prices often seek alternatives that include more functionality in their free or lower-cost tiers.

FAQs

Fathom does not work for in-person meetings. It only supports scheduled online meetings through Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams, and cannot import external audio files.

Yes, Fathom requires a meeting bot to join the meeting. It integrates with video conferencing platforms and automatically records meetings through this bot functionality.

Users generally praise the transcription quality as quick and accurate. However, some users find the on-screen widgets like live transcripts and pop-ups distracting during calls, though these can typically be hidden.

The tool does help with action item follow-up by automatically generating action items and summaries after meetings. It can also create draft follow-up emails. However, some advanced capabilities like meeting templates with structured note sections are only available in paid Team plans, not on the free tier.

Yes, Fathom integrates with CRM software like HubSpot and Salesforce to sync call notes, and connects with Slack and Notion through Zapier. Keep in mind that advanced integrations with CRM sync and admin controls require the most expensive Team Pro plan at $29 per user per month.

Another alternative: Circleback

Fathom's transcription accuracy remains a significant limitation, with users reporting only 85-90% accuracy rates. This forces people to manually edit transcripts and double-check outputs before using them for important decisions. Circleback addresses this core issue by delivering 95%+ transcription accuracy that users can trust without verification.

The speaker identification problems that plague Fathom in multi-speaker scenarios are resolved through Circleback's precise speaker identification system. While Fathom struggles to reliably identify who said what during complex discussions, Circleback maintains clear accountability even when multiple people are speaking or background noise is present.

Fathom's limited feature set restricts users to basic transcription and simple note-taking without robust automation capabilities. Users report difficulty integrating meeting insights into their existing workflows, making Fathom feel isolated from their other tools. Circleback provides a powerful automation engine that automatically identifies and assigns action items, then integrates with business tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, Linear, Slack, and Notion to transform meeting outcomes into actionable workflows across organizations.

The platform constraints that limit Fathom to online meetings only are eliminated with Circleback's flexible recording options. While Fathom cannot record in-person meetings or import audio files, Circleback supports both through mobile and desktop applications. Users can record face-to-face conversations, import existing audio files, and capture meetings without requiring a bot to join calls.

Fathom's language support covers 25+ languages, but Circleback extends this to over 100 languages, ensuring accurate transcription and summaries regardless of the meeting language or multilingual conversations.

The workflow limitations that keep Fathom's insights separate from users' existing processes are addressed through Circleback's extensive integration ecosystem. Beyond basic CRM syncing, Circleback offers advanced automations that can create tasks in project management tools, send customized follow-up emails, post summaries to team channels, and trigger multi-step workflows through platforms like Zapier and Make.

Where Fathom's summary and action item detection lacks sophistication for business-critical meetings, Circleback provides structured, automatically organized action items with clear assignments and due dates. The platform's AI can answer natural language questions about meeting content across your entire meeting history, making it easy to retrieve specific details or generate follow-up content.

Fathom's desktop-only approach doesn't accommodate mobile work styles, while Circleback provides full mobile applications for iOS and Android that enable meeting access and recording anywhere. This flexibility ensures users can capture and review meeting content whether they're in the office, traveling, or meeting with clients in various locations.

The technical limitations that cause Fathom to struggle with complex meeting scenarios are overcome through Circleback's superior processing capabilities, which maintain accuracy and speaker identification even in challenging audio environments.