Why this comparison matters
Fireflies, Otter.ai and Fathom all do the same basic job. A bot (or in some cases a desktop app) joins your call, records it, writes a transcript and turns it into a summary with action items. All three have a free plan. All three sell team and business tiers that add CRM sync and admin controls. From the outside they look interchangeable.
The differences show up in the limits. Otter caps free users at 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes per conversation. Fireflies gives unlimited transcription but only 400 minutes of storage per team on its free plan. Fathom offers unlimited recordings for free, then asks for a two-user minimum on its team plans. Those rules decide which tool fits a solo consultant, a five-person agency or a 40-seat sales floor far more than the feature lists do.
This piece compares the three on pricing, features, integrations and the reliability complaints that show up in public reviews. scored.tools does not test tools hands-on, so the scores below come from our published criteria, which draw on vendor pricing pages, documentation and third-party review data.
Scores at a glance
| Criterion | Fireflies | Otter.ai | Fathom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 7.6 | 6.8 | 7.8 |
| Output quality | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| Ease of use | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Pricing value | 8 | 7 | 9 |
| API and integration | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Problem fit | 7 | 5 | 6 |
Ease of use is a tie because all three can be set up for free in a few clicks, with no sales call. Fathom leads overall on pricing value and on its public API. Otter trails, mostly on problem fit, where independent reviews raise accuracy and privacy concerns (covered below).
Feature comparison
| Feature | Fireflies | Otter.ai | Fathom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Unlimited transcription, limited AI summaries, 400 mins storage per team | 300 mins/month, 30-min cap per conversation, 3 file imports | Unlimited recordings and transcripts, instant summaries |
| Meeting platforms | Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Chrome extension, mobile and desktop apps | Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Chrome extension, Mac and Windows desktop app, iOS and Android | Zoom, Google Meet, Teams via bot, bot-free capture in beta |
| Live transcript during the call | Not a headline feature | Yes | Not a headline feature |
| Languages | 100+ with auto-detection, per Fireflies | Multi-language support, per the pricing page | Not specified on the pricing page |
| Ask questions across meetings | AskFred | AI Chat | Ask Fathom (limited on free) |
| CRM sync | Paid tiers; dialer integrations with Aircall and RingCentral | Salesforce and HubSpot | Salesforce and HubSpot field sync on Business tier |
| Public API | Yes (uploads, transcripts, keywords, user management) | API access listed on Enterprise only | Yes, plus an MCP server |
| Other integrations | Limited beyond dialers | Slack, Zapier, Jira, MCP server | Asana, ChatGPT, Claude, Zapier |
| Sales and coaching tools | Conversation intelligence and team analytics (Business) | SDR and recruiting agent modes | Deal View, coaching metrics, AI scorecards (Business) |
| SSO and SCIM | Enterprise | Enterprise | Enterprise |
| HIPAA | Enterprise | Enterprise option | Not listed on the pricing page |
Where each one stands out
Fireflies has the widest app coverage and the cheapest paid seats. The AskFred assistant lets you query past calls, and the API covers uploads, transcripts and user management, so you can pipe transcripts into your own tools. The weak spot, according to G2 reviewers, is speaker labelling when people talk over each other, along with summaries that wander on informal calls. Outside of dialers like Aircall and RingCentral, the integration list is short.
Otter.ai is the only one of the three that sells a live transcript as a main feature, so you can read along while the call is happening. That helps when you are taking questions, or when someone on the call is hard of hearing. Its Salesforce and HubSpot sync and the SDR and recruiting agent modes are aimed at sales and HR teams. On accuracy, a review from Lindy reports 92 to 95% on clear audio, falling to 70 to 75% with cross-talk, and flags weak speaker identification. The same review notes privacy concerns, including a federal lawsuit against Otter. Lindy also sells an AI assistant, so read its review with that in mind. Otter lists API access only on Enterprise, which matters if you want to build on top of it.
Fathom has the most generous free plan of the three, with unlimited recordings and no per-call cap listed. It also has the most open developer story: a public API, an MCP server and native connectors for ChatGPT, Claude, Asana and Zapier. Capterra shows it at 5.0/5 from more than 803 reviews. The counterpoint is a review from tl;dv that scored Fathom 60/100 on transcription and 68 on summaries. tl;dv sells a rival note taker, so treat that result as a prompt to run your own trial rather than a final word.
Pricing comparison
Prices below come from each vendor's pricing page and our tool data as of October 2026. Annual billing is much cheaper than monthly for all three, so compare like with like.
| Tier | Fireflies | Otter.ai | Fathom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, unlimited transcription, 400 mins storage per team | $0, 300 mins/month, 30-min calls | $0, unlimited recordings |
| Entry paid | Pro: $10/seat/month (annual), unlimited summaries, 8,000 mins storage per seat | Pro: $8.33/user/month annual or $16.99 monthly, 1,200 mins/month, 90-min calls | Premium: $16/month annual or $20 monthly (single user) |
| Team | n/a | n/a | Team: $15/user/month annual or $19 monthly, 2-user minimum |
| Business | $19/seat/month (annual), unlimited storage, conversation intelligence | $19.99/user/month annual or $30 monthly, unlimited meetings, 4-hour calls | $25/user/month annual or $34 monthly, 2-user minimum, CRM field sync |
| Enterprise | $39/seat/month (annual only), SSO, SCIM, HIPAA | Custom | Contact sales |
For a single paid user, Otter Pro on annual billing is the cheapest at $8.33 a month, but it carries minute caps that Fireflies and Fathom do not have. Fireflies Pro at $10 a seat is the cheapest uncapped paid option for small teams. At the business tier, Fireflies and Otter land within a dollar of each other on annual billing, while Fathom costs $25 a seat and needs at least two users. Fathom's argument is that its free plan covers more, so many individuals will never need to pay.
Watch the free plan limits closely. Fireflies' 400 minutes of storage is shared across the whole team, which is under seven hours of saved calls. Otter's 30-minute cap per conversation cuts off most standard one-hour meetings. Fathom's free plan has neither limit, though the pricing page marks AI action items and Ask Fathom as "limited use" without giving a number.
Use case scenarios
Solo consultant or freelancer: pick Fathom
Unlimited free recordings and summaries with no per-call cap means a one-person shop can run every client call through Fathom without paying. If you later want AI action items and the meeting assistant, Premium is $16 a month on annual billing. Otter's free tier runs out after 300 minutes and splits any call longer than 30 minutes. Fireflies' free storage fills up after a handful of calls.
Small team on a tight budget: pick Fireflies
Fireflies Pro at $10 a seat on annual billing gets you unlimited summaries and 8,000 minutes of storage per seat, with no two-user minimum. A three-person team pays $30 a month. The same team on Fathom Team pays $45. If your calls are mostly structured (demos, standups, client reviews), the speaker-label complaints matter less.
Sales or recruiting team that wants a live transcript: pick Otter.ai
Otter.ai is the pick when you want to read the transcript during the call, and its SDR and recruiting modes fit those workflows directly. Business at $19.99 a user on annual billing removes the minute caps and lifts the per-call limit to four hours. Given the accuracy drop on cross-talk reported by Lindy and the privacy lawsuit, run a trial on your own calls and have legal check the recording consent flow before rolling it out.
Teams that build on their meeting data: pick Fathom
If you want transcripts flowing into Claude, ChatGPT or your own scripts, Fathom's public API and MCP server are the most open setup here. Fireflies' API is a close second and covers uploads and user management. Otter limits API access to Enterprise.
Regulated industries: pick Fireflies
Fireflies publishes an Enterprise price ($39 a seat, annual) that includes HIPAA compliance, SSO, SCIM and audit logs. Otter offers a HIPAA option at a custom price. Fathom's pricing page does not mention HIPAA, so healthcare buyers will need to ask its sales team.
Verdict
Fathom scores highest overall at 7.8 and is the best default for individuals and developers, thanks to its unlimited free plan and open API. Check its transcription quality on your own calls, because the one independent score available is low and comes from a competitor.
Fireflies (7.6) is the best value for small and mid-sized teams paying per seat, and the clearest choice if you need HIPAA at a published price. Expect to clean up speaker labels on busy calls.
Otter.ai (6.8) wins one specific case: teams that need a live transcript during the meeting and CRM sync for sales or recruiting. For most other buyers, the minute caps, the Enterprise-only API and the privacy questions raised in independent reviews put it third.
