Fathom vs Otter.ai

Fathom

Mac for the new bot-free experience; Windows on the older path

Fathom supports major online platforms on computers, but its current 3.0 rollout is limited to Mac and English-language meetings. Windows remains supported through the older bot-based experience. Official pages conflict on whether iOS in-person capture is already live; Android, Chromebook, Linux, phone calls, webinars, and breakout rooms are not normal supported paths.

EvidenceFathom supported systemsFathom 3.0 rollout

Otter.ai

Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android

Broad app coverage makes Otter easy to use in virtual or room conversations. The desktop app now supports configurable automatic recording for detected calls. Feature parity and allowances differ between in-app and imported usage.

EvidenceOtter pricingOtter desktop automatic recording

Fathom

iOS is staged; the old room workaround cannot separate speakers

Fathom’s marketing overview says its iOS app captures in-person meetings, but the help center and current launch page still call it coming soon or pre-download. In the older workaround, every room voice is attributed to the Fathom user rather than separated. Verify iOS access and room-speaker labeling in the actual account before rollout.

EvidenceFathom in-person meetingsFathom product overview

Otter.ai

Strong mobile live transcription

iOS and Android are mature room-recording tools with live text. Otter separates voices after processing and can learn previously tagged speakers, but new or uncertain voices remain Speaker 1 or Unknown until tagged. Live platform-name labels are a separate Notetaker behavior, strongest on Zoom.

EvidenceOtter pricingOtter speaker identification

Fathom

Unlimited AV, playback, highlights, and clips

Fathom has polished review and sharing for online calls. Video no longer universally requires the bot, but the current bot-free video path is limited to Zoom on Mac rather than equivalent across every supported platform.

EvidenceFathom pricingFathom bot-free recordingFathom product overview

Otter.ai

Audio playback broadly; video replay on Enterprise

Audio is synchronized to text on ordinary plans. Video replay requires Enterprise and currently applies to supported Zoom and Google Meet recordings rather than every capture path.

EvidenceOtter pricingOtter conversation export

Fathom

Fast summaries, assigned action items, Ask Fathom, and team search

Summary quality and speed are core strengths. Paid AI action items identify assignees and link to the source moment; the API also returns completion state and assignee metadata. Fathom presents action items inside each meeting rather than documenting a workspace-wide task dashboard. Advanced summary types and some AI capabilities are plan-limited even while base transcription is free.

EvidenceFathom pricingFathom product overviewFathom AI action items

Otter.ai

Live transcript, search, and automatically assigned action items

Otter’s transcript experience is mature. It automatically detects and assigns action items, links generated work back to transcript evidence, and gives each user a cross-meeting list with edit, reassign, and completion controls. That list only shows work assigned to the signed-in person, rather than a workspace-wide manager view. Allowances and advanced custom workflows vary by plan.

EvidenceOtter pricingOtter action itemsOtter automatic action-item assignment

Fathom

Meeting and customer-call library

Fathom organizes team calls and customer context well, but does not center a broader email/calendar/person/company knowledge layer for all departments.

EvidenceFathom pricing

Otter.ai

Cross-meeting search and chat

Otter can answer across conversations, but does not emphasize full relationship pages combining meetings, email, calendar, people, companies, and future events.

EvidenceOtter pricing

Fathom

Organization and team visibility defaults, plus attendee auto-share

Admins can set auto-capture and visibility separately for external, internal, and unscheduled meetings at organization or team level, including whether users may override the default. Individuals can also send a summary, a recording, or both automatically—but the audience is every calendar invitee, including people who did not attend.

EvidenceFathom auto-capture and visibility controlsFathom attendee auto-share

Otter.ai

User auto-share and Enterprise workspace defaults

Individuals can auto-share by calendar audience and use channels. Enterprise admins can choose the options members see and set a default, but ordinary audience defaults are not fully locked; admins can only force privacy by leaving “Don’t share” as the sole option. External auto-share channels are also Enterprise-only.

EvidenceOtter automatic sharingOtter workspace auto-share controls

Fathom

CRM, webhook, Zapier, and Asana follow-through

Fathom handles common customer-facing follow-through well. Assigned action items can sync automatically or manually to Asana, webhooks can deliver action-item payloads, and Zapier or CRM integrations extend delivery. It does not document the same broad native trigger/condition/action builder for arbitrary work systems.

EvidenceFathom pricingFathom Asana integrationFathom public API

Otter.ai

Meeting agents and custom workflows, with plan differences

Otter automatically detects and assigns action items, tracks each person’s work across meetings, can create Jira issues with assignees and due dates, and uses custom workflows, Zapier, and AI Chat actions for role-specific output and downstream work. The personal action view does not give a manager one board for every assignee, and connector or workflow eligibility varies by plan.

EvidenceOtter pricingOtter action itemsOtter automatic action-item assignmentOtter Jira integrationOtter AI Chat connectors

Fathom

Strong CRM, Asana, Zapier, and common work-tool connections

CRM delivery and collaboration integrations cover the common sales workflow, while Asana turns assigned meeting actions into trackable tasks. Broader issue-tracker coverage and custom operational actions are less central.

EvidenceFathom pricingFathom Asana integration

Otter.ai

Meeting platforms, CRM, Zapier, Slack, Jira, work-app connectors, and Enterprise exports

Paid plans connect Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zapier. AI Chat’s Advanced mode can read and act in Gmail, Google Drive, Notion, and Jira, with Salesforce context available separately. Slack can post summaries and action notifications, while Enterprise supports account-manager-enabled SharePoint and automatic Drive exports. Availability and setup vary substantially by plan.

EvidenceOtter pricingOtter AI Chat connectorsOtter Jira integrationOtter Slack integrationOtter SharePoint export

Fathom

Rich public API and MCP, scoped to the connected user

The REST API can return speaker-attributed transcripts, summaries, action items with assignees and completion state, attendees, CRM matches, playback metadata, and recording downloads. Its official MCP connects authorized meeting data to ChatGPT, Claude, and other clients. Both follow what the authenticated user owns or can see through team sharing; an administrator key does not automatically reach private meetings across the organization.

EvidenceFathom public APIFathom MCPFathom release notes

Otter.ai

MCP broadly; API and webhooks on Enterprise

MCP is listed even on Basic and can access meetings captured by or shared with the authenticated user. It currently has no public API-key setup for arbitrary AI applications. The public API and webhooks require Enterprise and account-manager enablement.

EvidenceOtter MCP serverOtter public API

Fathom

Strong upper-tier controls, with US-only hosting

Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM, and custom retention. Fathom currently supports one retention policy per team and asks customers to configure it through support. All data is US-hosted; de-identified data may improve Fathom’s in-house models unless users or a Team Edition admin opt out.

EvidenceFathom pricingFathom auto-capture and visibility controlsFathom security and AI trainingFathom retention policies

Otter.ai

Business administration; advanced security on Enterprise

Business adds centralized features and bulk export. Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM, API access, video replay, granular retention, no-training by default, and HIPAA options. Several advanced controls—including retention and automatic Drive export—require account-manager setup.

EvidenceOtter pricingOtter workspace auto-share controlsOtter privacy and model trainingOtter Enterprise controlsOtter retention policyOtter conversation export

Fathom

38 languages on the free plan

Fathom documents 38 supported languages. Bot-free rollout is currently narrower, so language support should be checked per capture mode.

EvidenceFathom pricingFathom bot-free recording

Otter.ai

Six transcription languages, two still in beta

Otter transcribes English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and spoken Mandarin with Simplified Chinese output. German and Chinese are beta. It normally handles one language per conversation; French can auto-switch with English, and other mixed-language pairs are not supported.

EvidenceOtter supported languages