Gong is a comprehensive conversation intelligence platform designed primarily for sales teams, offering AI-powered call analysis, deal forecasting, and extensive coaching capabilities. Its strengths include robust analytics, seamless CRM integration with 250+ connectors, and powerful sales optimization features that help teams identify winning patterns. However, it comes with enterprise-level pricing (typically $1,400-$1,600 per user annually) and can experience transcription delays or accuracy issues that may frustrate users seeking immediate insights.

Gong works best for established sales organizations with substantial budgets who need deep conversation analytics and pipeline management. The platform excels at helping sales managers coach their teams and analyze deal progression across multiple touchpoints. While it offers extensive integrations, users often find themselves needing additional tools to actually execute on the insights Gong provides, rather than just analyzing them.

Fathom positions itself as an accessible AI meeting assistant with a generous free plan, focusing on quick meeting summaries and basic CRM synchronization. Its key advantages include instant post-meeting recaps, unlimited free recordings for individual users, and simple sharing capabilities through video clips. The main limitations are its restriction to supported platforms (Zoom, Teams, Meet only), lack of mobile applications, and limited in-person meeting capabilities.

Fathom suits individual contributors, small teams, and budget-conscious users who primarily conduct online meetings and need basic transcription and summary features. It works particularly well for users who want to eliminate note-taking without investing in enterprise-grade analytics. Despite its integrations with popular CRMs, users frequently find the platform lacks the depth needed to fully automate their post-meeting workflows and task management.

Comparison table

What users say about Gong and Fathom

User reviews for Gong highlight its powerful sharing capabilities, with users praising how they can quickly share calls with clients or prospects immediately after meetings without administrative hassle. The platform excels at capturing meeting summaries and tracking key moments throughout sales calls, while seamlessly keeping CRM systems updated. Based on comprehensive review analysis, Gong maintains strong user satisfaction with its AI notetaking functionality across various business scenarios.

Fathom receives consistently positive feedback from users who appreciate its seamless integration and reliability across multiple platforms. Customer reviews emphasize that it works flawlessly and integrates smoothly into Zoom and other video conferencing platforms, making it always accessible during calls. Users particularly value its ability to record complete video calls while generating high-quality AI summaries, positioning it as a dependable solution for meeting documentation and follow-up.

High costs make Gong financially prohibitive for many users, particularly smaller teams and organizations. With enterprise pricing requiring annual platform fees around $5,000 for small teams plus $1,400–$1,600 per user per year, plus potential onboarding services costing an additional $7,500, the total investment can quickly become overwhelming. The lack of monthly payment options and requirement for custom quotes only adds to the barrier, making it difficult for businesses to budget or scale gradually with the platform.

Technical performance issues create frustration and inefficiency for users who depend on reliable call processing and accurate transcriptions. Users frequently report experiencing lags and delays in call processing, which can disrupt workflow and delay important sales insights. Additionally, occasional transcription inaccuracies undermine the core value proposition of the platform, as sales teams need to rely on precise conversation intelligence to make informed decisions and improve their performance.

Privacy and information accessibility concerns drive users to seek alternatives that better balance security with usability. While Gong offers privacy features like phone number redaction to protect sensitive information, these same features sometimes hide useful information from calls that sales teams need to access. This creates a frustrating trade-off where security measures interfere with the practical utility of the platform, forcing users to choose between comprehensive data access and privacy compliance.

Based on user feedback, there are three primary reasons why users switch away from Fathom, despite its popular free plan and quick meeting summaries.

The most significant limitation is Fathom's restricted platform compatibility. Unlike more comprehensive solutions, Fathom only works when using supported online platforms like Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet. This means it cannot capture dial-in calls, phone conversations, or in-person meetings unless they occur through one of these specific video platforms. For sales teams or professionals who conduct business across multiple communication channels, this restriction severely limits Fathom's utility as a complete conversation intelligence solution.

Another major drawback is the lack of mobile functionality. Fathom has no mobile app and is not compatible with iOS or Android devices. Users can only view summaries on mobile after meetings conclude, but cannot actively record or participate in the full meeting intelligence experience while on-the-go. This limitation is particularly problematic for field sales representatives or traveling professionals who need flexible access to their conversation intelligence tools across all devices.

Finally, users find Fathom's analytical capabilities insufficient for deeper business insights. The platform lacks cross-meeting search functionality and comprehensive analytics in the free and lower-tier plans. While it excels at producing quick summaries, it doesn't provide the advanced conversation analytics, deal intelligence, or performance coaching features that growing teams need. Additionally, some users report that the on-screen widgets and banners can be distracting during important meetings, though these can be disabled on paid plans.

Using Gong

Does Gong work for in-person meetings?

Yes, Gong supports capturing in-person (face-to-face) meetings via its mobile app, which is useful for live meetings or field sales.

Does Gong require a meeting bot to join the meeting?

For in-person meetings, Gong can record calls outside of web conferences, including phone/VoIP calls and ad hoc face-to-face meetings via the mobile app. These recordings are then uploaded to Gong for transcription and analysis.

What do users say about the quality of Gong transcriptions?

Some users report occasional transcription inaccuracies, though Gong provides rich call analytics including transcripts that help improve rep performance. The platform uses in-house models optimized for sales conversations across 70+ languages.

How does Gong help users follow up on action items?

Gong includes an automation engine with AI-driven "agents" and workflows that can automatically generate follow-up tasks. It can trigger deal alerts, analyze emails, and provide AI recommendations to streamline sales processes.

Does Gong integrate with software like Hubspot, Salesforce, or Linear?

Yes, Gong has extensive integrations with 250+ tools, including CRM, communication and productivity software such as Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, Slack, Zoom, Google Meet, Webex, and Calendly.

Using Fathom

Does Fathom work for in-person meetings?

No – Fathom is designed for online meetings only and does not natively capture in-person discussions unless they occur on a Zoom/Meet call.

Does Fathom require a meeting bot to join the meeting?

No, Fathom is bot-free. It uses a desktop app for Mac/Windows and Zoom App that capture audio locally without needing a bot to join the meeting.

What do users say about the quality of Fathom transcriptions?

Users highly praise Fathom's transcription capabilities, particularly noting that meeting recaps are ready seconds after calls end. The service is highly rated 5/5 by thousands of users for freeing them from note-taking, and it supports multiple languages with the ability to translate summaries into 28 languages.

How does Fathom help users follow up on action items?

Fathom auto-generates follow-up emails and CRM updates on paid plans. It automatically syncs summaries to CRM systems like Salesforce and HubSpot, saving time by auto-logging notes and tasks. Users can also share video clips of meetings to provide context in platforms like Slack.

Does Fathom integrate with software like Hubspot, Salesforce, or Linear?

Yes, Fathom integrates with CRM systems including Salesforce and HubSpot, automatically syncing summaries to these platforms.

Another alternative: Circleback

Circleback provides best-in-class AI-powered meeting notes and automations. We support over 100 languages and automatic participant identification in both in-person and online meetings.

• Automatically-identified and assigned action items

• AI-enabled search across all meetings

• Automations with 100+ app integrations

• Industry-leading security with SOC 2 Type II, EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and HIPAA compliance

• Ability to capture both online and in-person meetings with desktop and mobile apps