Fathom vs Read AI
A practical look at price, capture, notes, workflows, and what each product is actually good at.
The short answer
Which one fits better?
Best fit
Fathom
Free online recording with fast summaries and polished clips
Price
Free; Premium from $16/user/month annually
Pricing details
Free includes unlimited recordings and transcripts but only five advanced AI summaries per month. Paid prices are per user/month: Premium is $16 with annual billing or $20 month-to-month; Team is $15 or $19 with a two-seat minimum; Business is $25 or $34. Enterprise is custom.
Free option: Yes: unlimited recordings and transcripts, with five advanced summaries per month.
Good for
- Online meetings on a budget
- Clips and CRM delivery
Watch for
- iOS docs contradict each other
- Bot-free video is Zoom-on-Mac only
Best fit
Read AI
Live engagement, sentiment, and speaker analytics
Price
Free for 5 meetings/month; Pro from $15/user/month annually
Pricing details
Prices are per user/month: Pro is $15 with annual billing or $19.75 month-to-month; Enterprise is $22.50 or $29.75 and adds playback; Enterprise+ is $29.75 or $39.75 and adds advanced retention, domain, SAML, and HIPAA-related options, with a five-license minimum.
Free option: Yes: five meetings per month.
Good for
- Manager coaching signals
- Cross-tool workplace search
Watch for
- Playback requires Enterprise
- API/MCP beta; no static keys
Side by side
The details that matter.
Ratings show documented breadth, not overall product quality. Open a row for specifics.
What matters
Capture options
FathomAvailable with limitsRead AIBroad supportCapture options
Fathom:Available with limitsRead AI:Broad support
Capture options
Capture options
Fathom
Meeting bot or bot-free transcript, audio, and Zoom video on Mac
The bot remains the broadest mature path. Eligible Mac users can choose bot-free transcript-only, audio plus transcript, or Zoom video; Google Meet bot-free video is still coming and Teams behavior varies by how the call is joined. Fathom says the bot-free modes preserve speaker attribution and action items.
EvidenceFathom bot-free recordingFathom product overviewFathom 3.0 rolloutFathom release notes
Read AI
Meeting bot, macOS/Windows desktop, and mobile
The assistant can join scheduled calls, while desktop records device audio without relying solely on a bot. Disclosure and opt-out flows remain part of the participant experience.
EvidenceRead AI desktop app
Desktop and mobile
FathomNarrow or indirectRead AIBroad supportDesktop and mobile
Fathom:Narrow or indirectRead AI:Broad support
Desktop and mobile
Desktop and mobile
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.
Read AI
Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android
Desktop captures device audio for online meetings. The iPhone and Android apps record in-person conversations and put their reports beside Zoom, Meet, and Teams meetings; neither mobile app can record another app or phone call using the same microphone.
EvidenceRead AI desktop appRead AI iPhone appRead AI Android app
In-person capture and speaker labels
FathomNarrow or indirectRead AIBroad supportIn-person capture and speaker labels
Fathom:Narrow or indirectRead AI:Broad support
In-person capture and speaker labels
In-person capture and speaker labels
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.
Read AI
iOS and Android real-time transcript and summary
Both mobile apps record room conversations with a live transcript and summary. They do not capture phone calls, FaceTime, or a virtual-meeting app on the same device. In shared-room audio, distinct voices may begin as Conference Room — Speaker 1, Speaker 2, and so on; owners and editors can rename or reassign them afterward.
EvidenceRead AI iPhone appRead AI Android appRead AI mobile capture limitsRead AI speaker editing
Recordings, playback, and clips
FathomBroad supportRead AINarrow or indirectRecordings, playback, and clips
Fathom:Broad supportRead AI:Narrow or indirect
Recordings, playback, and clips
Recordings, playback, and clips
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
Read AI
Playback only on Enterprise and Enterprise+
Pro and free users can receive notes and transcripts, but source media is not a durable playback library. Read documents a 30-day grace period before lower-tier media deletion.
Notes, action items, and search
FathomBroad supportRead AIBroad supportNotes, action items, and search
Fathom:Broad supportRead AI:Broad support
Notes, action items, and search
Notes, action items, and search
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
Read AI
Summaries, action items, Search Copilot, and coaching analytics
Read’s differentiated layer is live and post-meeting intelligence: engagement, sentiment, speaker stats, action items, and search across connected content. Recommendations can resurface recent work assigned to the user, but Read does not document a full workspace-wide task board with assignee and completion management comparable to dedicated action trackers.
People, companies, and context
FathomAvailable with limitsRead AIBroad supportPeople, companies, and context
Fathom:Available with limitsRead AI:Broad support
People, companies, and context
People, companies, and context
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
Read AI
Cross-source Search Copilot
Search can span meetings, email, messages, and documents, which is broader than a transcript library. The experience is a search layer rather than explicit relationship timelines and upcoming-event pages.
EvidenceRead AI pricing
Automatic sharing and workspace defaults
FathomBroad supportRead AIBroad supportAutomatic sharing and workspace defaults
Fathom:Broad supportRead AI:Broad support
Automatic sharing and workspace defaults
Automatic sharing and workspace defaults
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
Read AI
Workspace-wide participant and team report access
Workspace admins can set automatic report access for internal or external participants and give teams role-based access to matching reports, including retroactive access. Owners can send recaps and recurring-meeting pre-reads through email, Slack, or Teams. Participant rules use calendar invitees, including no-shows, and the owner’s settings govern each report, so teams should configure workspace controls deliberately.
EvidenceRead AI workspace sharing settingsRead AI report distribution
Automations
FathomAvailable with limitsRead AIAvailable with limitsAutomations
Fathom:Available with limitsRead AI:Available with limits
Automations
Automations
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
Read AI
Recaps, pre-reads, scheduled updates, and agent actions
Read can send post-meeting recaps, recurring-meeting pre-reads, and scheduled topic updates, while Ask Read actions can draft and send email, create calendar events, and update HubSpot after user approval. It is more opinionated around its own agents and intelligence outputs than a general meeting trigger/condition/action canvas.
Integrations
FathomAvailable with limitsRead AIBroad supportIntegrations
Fathom:Available with limitsRead AI:Broad support
Integrations
Integrations
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.
Read AI
Calendar, conferencing, email, messaging, documents, and premium connectors
Search Copilot’s cross-source coverage is a strength, although connector eligibility varies by paid plan.
EvidenceRead AI pricing
API, MCP, CLI, and data portability
FathomBroad supportRead AIAvailable with limitsAPI, MCP, CLI, and data portability
Fathom:Broad supportRead AI:Available with limits
API, MCP, CLI, and data portability
API, MCP, CLI, and data portability
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.
Read AI
Open-beta REST API and MCP with full meeting reports
Read’s API and remote MCP can return meeting metadata, participants, summaries, chapters, action items, topics, metrics, full speaker-labeled transcripts, and recording-download URLs. They are open beta, use browser OAuth with short-lived rotating tokens, lack service credentials and file upload, and only reach reports the user can access unless an admin enables global report access.
Security, privacy, and admin
FathomAvailable with limitsRead AIBroad supportSecurity, privacy, and admin
Fathom:Available with limitsRead AI:Broad support
Security, privacy, and admin
Security, privacy, and admin
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
Read AI
Core admin on Enterprise; advanced governance on Enterprise+
Retention, domain controls, SAML, and HIPAA-related capabilities are concentrated in Enterprise+. That plan currently carries a five-license minimum.
EvidenceRead AI pricingRead AI workspace sharing settingsRead AI workspace offboardingRead AI data handling
Languages
FathomAvailable with limitsRead AIAvailable with limitsLanguages
Fathom:Available with limitsRead AI:Available with limits
Languages
Languages
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.
Read AI
Read’s pricing page says 20+; its detail table says 16+
Read’s current pricing page uses “20+ languages” in the Free plan card but “16+ languages” in the detailed comparison table. The coverage is useful but materially narrower on paper than competitors advertising 75 or 100+; verify the language you need rather than relying on the headline count.
EvidenceRead AI pricing
Worth a look
Circleback
If neither Fathom nor Read AI quite fits, Circleback covers a different job: capturing online and in-person meetings and sharing them by rule. It is built for people and AI agents, with the same full meeting data available through its API, MCP, and CLI.
Every meeting
Bot, botless desktop app, iPhone, Android, or Apple Watch. Speaker labels every time; recording optional.
Shared company memory
Detailed notes, automatic sharing, and people and company context across every team.
People and AI agents
Assigned actions and automations for people; the same full meeting data for agents through API, MCP, and CLI.
Sources
First-party pricing, product docs, help articles, and release notes.
Fathom sources15 first-party references
- Fathom pricing
Free, Premium, Team, Business, and Enterprise prices and feature gates.
- Fathom supported systems
Computer, platform, mobile, phone call, webinar, and breakout limitations.
- Fathom in-person meetings
Current workaround, speaker limitation, and upcoming iOS path.
- Fathom bot-free recording
Current Zoom-on-Mac bot-free video and Google Meet/Teams rollout status.
- Fathom product overview
Current bot-free capture modes, speaker attribution, action items, Ask Fathom, programmatic access, and the marketing claim that iOS capture is available.
- Fathom 3.0 rollout
Current Mac-only, English-only eligibility and staged rollout behavior for the new bot-free experience.
- Fathom auto-capture and visibility controls
Organization and team defaults for capture and visibility across external, internal, and unscheduled meetings.
- Fathom attendee auto-share
Automatic delivery of summaries, recordings, or both to every calendar invitee, including no-shows.
- Fathom public API
User-scoped API keys plus meeting metadata, speaker-attributed transcripts, summaries, assigned action items, CRM matches, pagination, and administrator visibility limits.
- Fathom MCP
Official authenticated MCP access from ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, and other compatible clients.
- Fathom AI action items
AI detection of action items and their assignees plus follow-up email generation.
- Fathom Asana integration
Automatic or manual synchronization of assigned meeting actions into Asana with source links.
- Fathom release notes
July 2026 API recording-download support and current product changes.
- Fathom security and AI training
US data hosting, de-identified in-house model training and opt-out controls, plus third-party no-training terms.
- Fathom retention policies
Enterprise-only, support-managed retention with one policy per team.
Read AI sources14 first-party references
- Read AI pricing
Current meeting limits, prices, languages, playback gate, governance, and Enterprise+ minimum.
- Read AI desktop app
Device-audio recording and participant disclosure behavior.
- Read AI iPhone app
In-person real-time transcript and summary.
- Read AI Android app
Android in-person capture, live transcript and summary, and report access.
- Read AI mobile capture limits
Phone-call and same-device virtual-meeting limitations across iOS and Android.
- Read AI speaker editing
Generic same-room labels plus transcript-wide speaker renaming and turn reassignment.
- Read AI recording availability
Enterprise playback requirement and lower-plan source-media deletion.
- Read AI workspace sharing settings
Participant auto-sharing, team report access, and workspace distribution controls.
- Read AI report distribution
Owner-level participant sharing, invitee behavior, email/Slack/Teams recaps, recurring-meeting pre-reads, and workspace controls.
- Read AI actions
Agent actions for HubSpot updates, approved email sending, calendar creation, and scheduled reports.
- Read AI API and MCP overview
Open-beta scope, prerequisites, OAuth and rate-limit constraints, permissions, and current feature gaps.
- Read AI MCP tools
Full transcript, summary, action, metric, recording-download, agent-dispatch, and sharing tools.
- Read AI data handling
Storage, access, AI-training consent, and the opt-out Customer Experience Improvement Program.
- Read AI workspace offboarding
Account deactivation, report transfer, and the limits of simply removing a workspace member.
Questions people usually ask
Which is better: Fathom or Read AI?
Fathom is the simpler recorder with a strong free tier. Read AI asks more of the buyer but adds live engagement analytics, coaching signals, and cross-tool search.
Which is less expensive, Fathom or Read AI?
Fathom: Free; Premium from $16/user/month annually. Read AI: Free for 5 meetings/month; Pro from $15/user/month annually. Compare the paid seats, included usage, recording access, and admin features you actually need.
Can Fathom and Read AI record without a bot?
Fathom: Meeting bot or bot-free transcript, audio, and Zoom video on Mac. Read AI: Meeting bot, macOS/Windows desktop, and mobile. The useful check is whether your required capture mode keeps video, a recording, and speaker names.
Which is better for a whole company?
First ask who gets each note automatically; otherwise useful context stays with the recorder. Then compare permissions, retention, and enforced defaults. Fathom: Organization and team visibility defaults, plus attendee auto-share. Read AI: Workspace-wide participant and team report access.
Can I access and move the full meeting data?
Fathom: Rich public API and MCP, scoped to the connected user. Read AI: Open-beta REST API and MCP with full meeting reports. Check the selected plan, authentication model, transcript scope, export format, and retention window for the workflow you need.
How was this comparison researched?
We use first-party pricing pages, product pages, help docs, and release notes for both products. The sources are linked below.

