Choose Fathom if you want a free note taker that is good enough to keep, summaries that flow into your CRM, and guests who never need to download anything. Choose Fireflies if the value is in searching across many calls, if you need many transcription languages, or if you pay yearly per user and want the lowest price here.
Both join your calls, write the summary and keep the recording. They differ in what they treat as the product: Fathom the summary of each meeting and where it goes next, often your CRM; Fireflies the archive of every call, transcribed without limit and searchable as a whole.
On monthly billing, Fathom Premium is $20 a month for one person and Fireflies Pro is $18 a user a month. Billed yearly, the gap widens: $16 against $10.
At a glance
| Criterion |  Fathom |  Fireflies.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Used mainly for | Meeting notes, CRM sync | Meeting transcription, AI meeting summaries |
| Entry price | $20.00/mo · Premium | $18.00/mo · Pro |
| Free plan | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
| Free trial | ✓Yes | ✕No |
| Works on | Web, macOS | Web, Chrome, iOS, Android |
| Documented integrations | HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack | Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce |
| Setup | Easy: minutes | Easy: minutes |
| Main limitation | Fewer languages than some rivals | Free plan stores only 400 minutes per team, so the archive fills fast |
| Our evidence level | Vendor documented | Vendor documented |
| Try it | Try Fathom ↗ | Try Fireflies.ai ↗ |
Every cell comes from the tool's record, built from its official documentation and pricing page. The integrations listed are the ones the vendor documents, not tested by us.
Each meeting against the whole archive
Fathom focuses on summaries and highlight reels for each call, can capture with or without a bot joining, and pushes notes into the CRM cleanly. Fireflies transcribes every call on every plan and lets you search across all of them at once, which is what makes it useful to a team that runs many client calls.
What a team pays
Fathom Premium is for one person; for a team, Fathom Team is $19 a user a month on monthly billing with a two-user minimum, and Business $34. Fireflies Pro is $18 a user a month, Business $29. A team of three on monthly billing pays $57 on Fathom Team or $54 on Fireflies Pro. Billed yearly, Fireflies Pro falls to $10 a user, Fathom Team to $15.
The free plans limit different things
Fathom's core product is free forever, with advanced features on the paid plans. Fireflies' free plan gives unlimited transcription and AI summaries but stores only 400 minutes per team, so the archive fills fast. Fathom is the better free plan to stay on; Fireflies' is a way to try it.
Where each one stops
Fathom works in fewer languages than some rivals and is not a full transcription archive. Fireflies' gap between monthly and annual pricing is unusually large, and its AI credits are metered separately from transcription. Neither suits a team that cannot record calls at all.
Pricing side by side
| Tool | Verified price | Billing condition | Free | Checked | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fathom | $20.00/mo · Premium | $16/mo billed annually; $20/mo billed monthly | Yes | 25.10.2026 | Visit ↗ |
| Fireflies.ai | $18.00/mo · Pro | $18 per user/month billed monthly; $10 per user/month billed annually (Fireflies advertises up to 44% off) | Yes | 25.10.2026 | Visit ↗ |
Frequently asked questions
Is Fathom really free?
Its core product is free forever: recording, transcripts and summaries. Advanced features need Premium at $20 a month on monthly billing, or $16 billed yearly.
Which is cheaper per user?
Fireflies, billed yearly: Pro is $10 a user a month against $15 for Fathom Team. On monthly billing they are close: $18 for Fireflies Pro, $19 for Fathom Team.
Which one is better for sales calls?
Fathom, if the notes need to land in your CRM: the integration is one of its strengths. Fireflies is the better pick when a sales team wants to search what was said across every call.
Does Fireflies limit transcription on the free plan?
No, transcription is unlimited on every plan. The free plan limits storage to 400 minutes per team.