Granola vs Fathom: Which One I'd Pick in 2026

Granola and Fathom solve the same problem from opposite ends. Granola is an AI notepad. It listens through your device, never sends a bot, never keeps the audio, and turns your rough notes into finished ones. Fathom is a meeting recorder. Its bot (or its bot-free mode on Mac) captures video, audio and a transcript, then builds summaries, clips and CRM updates on top.

Granola at a glance

Granola is a notepad that runs on your computer or phone. You write as much or as little as you like, and it uses the meeting context to write clear notes, personal to you.

Key features:

• No meeting bot; captures system audio and mic on macOS, Windows, iPhone and Android
• AI chat with one meeting or across meetings on every plan
• Slack on every plan; Notion, Zapier, HubSpot, Attio and Affinity on Business
• MCP on every plan

Pros:

• Nothing joins the call, and no audio is kept
• Works with any meeting app that plays through your computer
• 31 transcription languages on desktop, with switching mid-meeting
• Lowest paid price of the two

Cons:

• No recording to rewatch or clip
• Basic only shows the last 30 days of notes
• Salesforce is Enterprise only
• No coaching features
• No uploads of existing recordings

Pricing: Basic is free. Business is $14 per user per month and Enterprise is $35, billed monthly except Enterprise contracts.

Best for: solo users and small teams who want light, bot-free notes.

Fathom at a glance

Fathom is a recorder first. Its bot joins Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, and on Mac it can capture without a bot in beta.

Key features:

• Full video, audio and searchable transcript, with unlimited recordings and call storage
• Instant AI summaries, action items and a live summary during the call
• Clips, playlists and call downloads
• CRM sync to HubSpot, Salesforce and other CRMs, plus CRM field sync

Pros:

• Free plan with unlimited recordings and no history limit
• 15+ advanced summary templates, including BANT and Sandler
• Deal View, coaching metrics and AI scorecards on Business
• Trackers flag topics across calls and send them to Slack or email

Cons:

• Bot-free capture is Mac only and in beta
• No Android app, and the iPhone app lacks Ask Fathom and search
• Advanced summaries and Ask Fathom are limited on Free
• Team and Business need at least two users
• No uploads of existing recordings

Pricing: Free costs nothing. Premium is $16 per month billed annually or $20 monthly. Team is $15 or $19 per user, and Business is $25 or $34 per user.

Best for: sales and customer teams, and solo users who want a simple free recorder.

Capture: a notepad on your device vs a recorder in the call

Granola has no meeting bot. It runs in the desktop app (macOS or Windows) or the mobile app (iPhone or Android) and transcribes your system audio and microphone, so it works with Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Slack huddles and any other app that plays audio through your computer. Transcription starts when you open the meeting's note or start a new one. The web app is only for viewing and editing notes.

Fathom's default is a bot that joins Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams calls, and it also captures Slack Huddles. On Mac, its bot-free beta offers three modes: transcript only, audio plus transcript, or full audio and video. Fathom does not record phone calls.

Winner: Granola. Bot-free is the whole product, and it works on Windows and mobile too. Fathom offers more capture modes, but its bot-free option is Mac only and still in beta.

Recordings and playback

This is the clearest split. Granola sends audio to its transcription provider and never records or saves audio or video. You keep a transcript and notes, but you can never go back and listen.

Fathom keeps the recording: full video, audio and a searchable transcript, with unlimited recordings and call storage. You can download calls, cut clips and build playlists of highlights, and paid team plans can build playlists across all team meetings.

Winner: Fathom. If you need to rewatch a demo, check a customer's exact words or share a short clip, Granola can't do it.

Notes and summaries

Granola turns whatever you jot down into finished notes using the meeting context. Business adds pre-meeting briefs, follow-up emails and a workspace dictionary.

Fathom writes summaries for you: instant summaries and action items when the call ends, a live summary during the call, and custom dictionaries for company jargon. Advanced summaries use 15+ templates. Business adds custom summaries.

Winner: Granola, for people who want notes that reflect what they cared about. Teams that want hands-off, structured summaries will lean toward Fathom.

Free plan

Granola Basic gives you unlimited meeting notes, AI chat, shared folders, templates and Slack. The catch is history: you only see the last 30 days in the app. Older notes are stored and come back when you upgrade.

Fathom Free gives you unlimited recordings and transcription, instant AI summaries, clips, playlists, search across your calls, and a choice of bot or bot-free capture. Advanced summaries and Ask Fathom are limited.

Winner: Fathom. For a solo user who wants a free notetaker to keep, Fathom's free plan has no history wall.

Apps and languages

Granola runs on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android and Apple Watch, and the mobile apps are free. It supports 31 transcription languages on desktop and 17 on mobile. Speaker tags work for Zoom, Google Meet and Teams on desktop; elsewhere the transcript shows "Me" and "Them".

Fathom has a desktop app and an iPhone app on all plans, with no Android app. It transcribes and summarizes natively in seven languages (English, Spanish, Dutch, French, Italian, German and Portuguese) on Premium and Team, and Ask Fathom can translate into 29 more.

Winner: Granola, on platform coverage and language count.

Integrations, CRM and AI tools

Granola includes Slack on every plan. Business adds Notion, Zapier, HubSpot, Attio and Affinity, plus API access, and Salesforce is on Enterprise. MCP works on every plan: Basic reaches your personal notes from the last 30 days, and Business adds public workspace notes.

Fathom connects to Slack, Zapier and Make, has Claude and ChatGPT integrations, and offers a public API and MCP. CRM sync pushes meeting summaries into HubSpot, Salesforce and other CRMs, and CRM field sync updates records after meetings. Business adds a Deal View, coaching metrics and AI scorecards.

Winner: Fathom, especially for sales and customer teams. Granola covers the main tools but keeps Salesforce for Enterprise and has no coaching features.

Privacy and security

Both hold SOC 2 Type II. Granola includes it on every plan, offers a DPA, and keeps HIPAA-compliant workspaces, SSO and SCIM on Enterprise. Fathom says it is HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II and GDPR compliant and stores all data in the United States.

On model training, both use your data in a stripped form with an opt-out. Granola lets each user opt out, and Enterprise can opt out the whole workspace. Fathom uses de-identified customer data to improve its own models, doesn't let its AI sub-processors train on user data, and lets team organizations opt out every user.

Winner: Granola, on footprint. No bot shows up and no audio is kept. If your work needs a saved recording, Fathom's model is the right trade.

Pricing

Prices are per user per month. Granola bills Basic and Business monthly, with annual billing for Enterprise contracts only. Fathom's Team and Business plans need at least two users, and every paid plan has a 90-day guarantee. Granola offers 12 months of Business to accepted startups and students and 50% off Business for nonprofits. Fathom offers up to two years of Team to startups backed by select investors and 10 free seats for nonprofits.

Winner: Granola, for the lowest paid sticker price. Fathom's annual Team price comes close.

Who should choose which

Choose Granola if you:

• run back-to-back meetings and want no bot in any of them
• like jotting your own notes and having AI fill them in
• work on Windows or Android, or meet in languages beyond Fathom's seven
• don't need to rewatch or clip calls

Choose Fathom if you:

• want a free plan you can use indefinitely without losing access to old meetings
• need recordings, clips and playlists for coaching, demos or handoffs
• run sales calls and want CRM sync, scorecards and deal views
• mostly meet on Zoom, Google Meet or Teams

Also consider: Circleback

Circleback is worth a look if you want parts of both. It records with a bot on Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex, or without a bot through its desktop app for macOS and Windows. For meetings it detects, the desktop app saves video and audio of the meeting window by default, plus a speaker-labeled transcript. The phone app (audio) and Apple Watch cover in-person meetings, you can upload audio or video files, and you can import past meetings from Fathom and Granola.

Free includes unlimited meetings, with meetings older than 30 days locked until you upgrade. API, MCP and CLI access come on every plan, with Free MCP reaching the last 30 days. Free automations send notes to Slack and action items to Linear. CRM, Zapier and webhook automations need Pro, which is $15 per user per month billed annually or $18 monthly. It transcribes in 100+ languages.

Trade-offs: no call scoring or coaching scorecards like Fathom Business, CRM automations start at Pro, and HIPAA and SSO are Enterprise only.

FAQ

Does Granola record audio or video?

No. Granola transcribes live and doesn't save audio or video, so there is no recording to play back. You keep the transcript and your notes.

Which has the better free plan, Granola or Fathom?

Fathom, for most solo users. Fathom Free includes unlimited recordings and transcription with no history limit. Granola Basic includes unlimited notes but shows only the last 30 days in the app until you upgrade.

Can Fathom record without a bot?

Yes, on Mac. Fathom's bot-free capture is in beta and offers transcript only, audio plus transcript, or full video modes. Granola is bot-free on every device.

Do Granola and Fathom work for in-person meetings?

Both do through mobile apps. Granola has iPhone, Android and Apple Watch apps. Fathom has an iPhone app that records in-person meetings, with no Android version.

Can I upload an existing recording to Granola or Fathom?

No. Granola doesn't support importing pre-recorded audio files, and Fathom doesn't support uploaded calls. Both only transcribe live meetings.

Which is cheaper, Granola or Fathom?

Granola, slightly. Granola Business is $14 per user per month, billed monthly. Fathom Premium is $16 per month billed annually or $20 monthly, and Fathom Team is $15 per user per month billed annually or $19 monthly, with a two-user minimum.