Fathom AI Meeting Assistant: Current Pricing, Features, Privacy and Limits

## What changed

Fathom's newest recorded product update gives organization administrators a switch to block bot-free recording across their account. When that setting is enabled, users must capture meetings with a visible Fathom bot and the bot-free choices are disabled. It sounds like a small administrative option, but it marks an important stage in Fathom's 2026 transition. The company is no longer presenting bot-free capture only as an individual convenience. It is building the controls required for organizations to decide which capture architecture their people may use. [Fathom product updates](https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/6220097)

That distinction matters because Fathom now has two materially different meeting experiences. The established version sends a Fathom participant into Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams, records the call, and creates the transcript and summary after processing. The new desktop beta can capture a transcript or audio from the user's device without adding a bot, while retaining a bot option for full audio and video. The new experience also introduces a live summary, a private scratch pad, per-meeting capture choices, desktop meeting history, and one-click post-call actions. [New experience guide](https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/11577345)

## The capture choices are not equivalent

Eligible beta users can choose Capture Off, Transcript Only, Audio Only, or Audio and Video with a bot. Transcript Only is designed for users who want searchable notes without retaining an audio or video recording. Audio Only keeps audio but avoids a visible meeting participant. The bot route remains the route for a full audiovisual recording. These choices affect more than meeting etiquette. They change what source material exists later, what can be shared, what participants see, which platform limitations apply, and what an organization can preserve for compliance or quality review.

Bot-free does not mean invisible or exempt from consent. Fathom provides a Recording Notice that can post in the meeting chat, and the application can require a consent confirmation before the user sees the output. Fathom's broader consent documentation also describes consent emails, banners, host notifications, and visible bots. The correct mechanism depends on the platform and capture route. The user or employer still has to determine the lawful and appropriate disclosure, because a product notice cannot resolve every jurisdiction, employment policy, client contract, confidentiality duty, or participant expectation. [Recording permission guide](https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/6150977)

The new organization switch can therefore be read as a governance feature, not a judgement that a bot is always better. Some organizations prefer a visible participant because it creates an obvious signal and a consistent capture method. Others may prefer transcript-only capture because it reduces stored media. A regulated or risk-sensitive team may want one approved mode, one consent script, one sharing rule, and one retention path rather than allowing every user to choose. Fathom now gives an administrator a way to enforce the bot side of that decision.

## The beta is still narrower than the marketing headline

Fathom's current upgrade guide says the new experience is rolling out in phases to Mac users with English-language meetings. Windows support is still described as coming. The regular Fathom application continues to work on Mac and Windows, but the beta should not be described as a fully available cross-platform replacement. Fathom's pricing page also labels the bot-free choice as a Mac beta.

Platform coverage is uneven. Fathom says bot-free Zoom video capture is available on Mac. Its beta roadmap still describes Google Meet bot-free video through the Chrome extension as coming, while expanded Microsoft Teams bot-free support is also being developed and may depend on whether the user joins in a supported browser or the native application. The transcript-only or audio-only experience should therefore be tested on the exact platform, browser, desktop client, meeting type, and organization configuration a team uses. [Beta roadmap](https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/11578049)

Some familiar in-meeting functions are also not equal across versions. Fathom's documentation says in-meeting highlights are unavailable in the new experience, although users can create post-meeting clips. Real-time coaching is listed as coming soon in the bot-free desktop settings. The established bot workflow does not provide the new live summary and instead generates transcripts and summaries after the call. A buyer choosing between versions is trading among bot visibility, saved media, live assistance, highlights, coaching, platform compatibility, and policy requirements.

## Live summary is useful, but it needs the right label

Fathom describes the new in-call feature as a live summary that updates as the meeting progresses. That can help a user follow decisions, capture missing context, and check the direction of a conversation before it ends. It should not automatically be sold as a verbatim real-time transcript or an accessibility accommodation. Anyone who needs word-for-word live text, speaker certainty, multilingual performance, or a formal reasonable adjustment should run a direct test with representative speakers and obtain the required accessibility advice. [Real-time feature explanation](https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/7573633)

The private scratch pad adds another useful layer. A user can write their own notes while the AI builds the live summary, then tag a teammate. Fathom warns that tagging someone who was not on the call sends that person an email and grants access to the call. That means an innocent note-taking action can become an access-control decision. Teams should decide who may be mentioned, which meetings are too sensitive for external tags, and what access is granted when a note is shared.

## The broader Fathom platform is also becoming more programmable

The beta is only one part of the current product story. Fathom's recent updates added recording downloads through the API, meeting URLs and sharing status in API responses, highlights through the meetings endpoint, test webhook payloads, meeting-type filters, and Account-Wide Ask Fathom inside the desktop application. The official MCP server can expose authorized meeting context to ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, and other compatible clients. [Fathom API](https://developers.fathom.ai/api-overview) [Fathom MCP](https://developers.fathom.ai/mcp-docs)

This moves Fathom beyond a private archive of call notes. A team can use meeting data to update CRM records, draft follow-ups, create tasks, prepare for later calls, search customer evidence, build internal dashboards, or ground an AI assistant. The benefit is larger, but so is the data surface. API keys, OAuth applications, MCP sessions, CRM permissions, automation tools, and downstream databases can each create additional access paths and copies. Removing access inside Fathom does not necessarily remove content already sent to Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Asana, Notion, ChatGPT, Claude, Zapier, Make, or a custom application.

## Pricing still starts with a real free plan

Fathom's Free plan remains unusually generous for individual capture. The company advertises unlimited recordings, transcription, storage, downloads, and clips. Free users receive the General or Enhanced summary and five calls per month with advanced summaries and selected advanced AI features. Premium costs $16 per user per month on annual billing or $20 month to month. It removes the individual advanced-summary limits and adds action items, follow-up drafts, more templates, Ask Fathom, and bot customization. [Fathom pricing](https://www.fathom.ai/pricing)

Team costs $15 annually or $19 monthly per user with a two-user minimum. Business costs $25 or $34 and adds the deeper CRM, deal, custom-summary, coaching, and scorecard layer. Enterprise remains custom and is where Fathom places SSO, SCIM, custom retention, onboarding, organization security, dedicated support, and the signed BAA route.

One search limit is scheduled to change after this article's publication. From September 1, 2026, Account-Wide Ask Fathom on Free will search only the previous two weeks of personal calls. Premium keeps unlimited lookback across My Calls. Team keeps unlimited My Calls lookback but limits Team Calls and All Calls to two weeks. Business keeps unlimited lookback across personal and team calls. Unlimited recording history and unlimited AI search across that history are therefore separate benefits. [Ask Fathom limits](https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/10390017)

## Privacy and retention remain buying criteria

Fathom states that its AI subprocessors, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, are contractually prohibited from training on customer data. Its Privacy Policy separately permits the use of de-identified meeting data to improve Fathom's own proprietary AI models, depending on account settings. Individuals can opt out, and Team organizations can apply an account-wide opt-out. [Fathom Privacy Policy](https://www.fathom.ai/privacy)

Fathom says all data is stored in the United States. It advertises SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, and GDPR compliance, publishes a DPA, and offers a BAA route. Those claims do not make every account configuration suitable for every sensitive meeting. A buyer needs to confirm the applicable plan and contract, whether a BAA has actually been executed, which subprocessors receive content, who can access recordings, how links are shared, where integrated copies go, and how deletion works.

For individuals, Fathom advertises indefinite recording storage until manual deletion. Enterprise can request an automatic retention rule, but Fathom currently configures it with support. The documented policy applies one retention period across the team and permanently deletes recordings that age past the rule. A team that needs different retention for recruiting, sales, health, legal, research, or internal meetings cannot assume those distinctions are self-serve. [Retention policies](https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/6057089)

## What buyers should test now

A useful pilot should compare the established bot workflow with every beta mode the team may use. Test Zoom, Meet, Teams, Slack Huddles, scheduled calls, impromptu calls, internal meetings, external meetings, different speakers, noise, accents, technical vocabulary, and long calls. Check whether the capture notice is visible, whether every participant understands it, whether the live summary omits or changes material facts, and whether the final output corrects or compounds those errors.

Then test the operating layer: default sharing, anyone-with-link access, calendar invitees who did not attend, teammate mentions, folders, search, Account-Wide Ask Fathom, CRM matching, field truncation, scorecards, action owners, API scopes, webhook retries, MCP access, deletion, retention, and offboarding. Track time saved after human review, not the time implied by an unreviewed AI draft.

The latest update makes Fathom more credible as an organization-level platform because it recognizes that capture mode is a policy decision. It does not complete the bot-free transition. The right 2026 description is a mature bot-based meeting assistant with a promising, increasingly capable, but still phased desktop beta layered beside it.

WhatAI Decision Box

Fathom records, transcribes, summarizes, searches, and activates meeting knowledge from Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. Its permanent Free plan includes unlimited individual recordings, storage, and transcription, while paid plans add advanced AI, shared team libraries, CRM automation, coaching, governance, and broader meeting search.

The mature Fathom workflow uses a visible meeting bot, while the new desktop experience adds transcript-only and audio-only bot-free capture, live summaries, per-meeting capture choices, and a private scratch pad. That new experience is still a phased Mac and English-language beta. Premium costs $16 per user per month on annual billing or $20 monthly. Team costs $15 or $19 with a two-user minimum, Business costs $25 or $34, and Enterprise is custom. Fathom stores meeting data in the United States, retains individual recordings until deletion, and may use de-identified meeting data to improve its own models unless the user or organization opts out.

Use the discussion below to share tested transcription quality, beta availability, platform behavior, pricing, CRM results, consent workflows, privacy controls, support experiences, and comparisons with Granola, Otter, Fireflies, Read AI, and Gong. State the plan, operating system, meeting platform, language, capture mode, and test date so readers can separate current evidence from older versions.

Use Cases

Pricing varies by plan and region — see current pricing.

Plan features change — last updated: 2026-08-15.

Fathom Community Discussions

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Fathom Pros & Cons

How to Get Results with Fathom: Step-by-Step Workflow

1. Define approved meeting types

   List which internal, external, sales, recruiting, research, support, health, legal, and confidential meetings may be captured, and which must remain off limits.

2. Choose the correct plan and capture route

   Separate the permanent Free plan, Premium individual features, Team collaboration, Business CRM intelligence, and Enterprise governance. Verify whether each user is eligible for the bot-free beta.

3. Connect the intended identity

   Use the approved Google or Microsoft account, primary calendar, meeting-platform account, team, and CRM identity. Confirm that calendar events and external attendees match the records needed downstream.

4. Configure consent and notices

   Enable the appropriate recording notice, consent email, visible bot, banner, meeting-chat message, or spoken disclosure. Document platform and timing gaps and do not rely on one automatic signal alone.

5. Set capture and sharing defaults

   Choose internal, external, impromptu, and Slack Huddle auto-capture rules. Set whether attendees receive the summary, recording, or nothing, and restrict anyone-with-link access where it is not required.

6. Run representative tests

   Test bot, transcript-only, audio-only, and eligible bot-free video routes across the real operating systems, meeting platforms, browsers, languages, speakers, accents, noise, terminology, and call types.

7. Review high-impact facts

   Compare every important name, number, date, owner, deadline, decision, commitment, quote, technical term, scorecard result, and CRM field with the source transcript and participant understanding.

8. Connect downstream tools carefully

   Add CRM, Asana, Slack, Zapier, Make, ChatGPT, Claude, API, webhooks, or MCP only when scopes, destinations, human approvals, retry behavior, duplicate handling, and deletion ownership are defined.

9. Test access, retention, and offboarding

   Verify call roles, link sharing, folder access, team visibility, model-improvement opt-out, manual deletion, Enterprise retention, exports, account removal, and every downstream copy.

10. Measure reviewed outcomes

    After thirty days, compare note-taking time, review time, follow-up speed, missed commitments, CRM accuracy, search success, consent incidents, access errors, and per-seat cost before expanding.

Fathom Gotchas and Limits to Know Before You Start

• The new bot-free desktop experience is a phased beta for eligible Mac users with English-language meetings, not a universal replacement for the established Fathom bot.
• Windows supports the previous experience, but Windows bot-free support is still described as coming soon.
• Bot-free video coverage differs across Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, and may depend on browser, native app, account, and rollout status.
• Organization administrators can block bot-free capture and require the meeting-bot workflow.
• The live feature is documented as an updating summary, not necessarily a verbatim real-time transcript or accessibility accommodation.
• In-meeting highlights and real-time coaching are not yet equivalent in the new bot-free experience.
• Fathom can capture only one meeting at a time.
• External recording uploads are not supported.
• Normal mobile and in-person capture are not yet released; the announced iOS app is a coming-soon route available for pre-download.
• The documented laptop workaround for an in-person meeting attributes all room audio to the Fathom user and is unsuitable for reliable multi-speaker separation.
• Chromebooks, Linux computers, tablets, phone calls without standard meeting links, webinars, and breakout rooms are not normal supported capture routes.
• Bot-based Zoom calls with more than 250 attendees or registration requirements are not supported, although bot-free capture has different platform limits.
• Fathom must be present with the user and does not independently attend a meeting after the user leaves.
• Only the primary connected Google or Microsoft calendar is read for normal scheduling, so secondary-calendar events can be missed.
• Free includes five calls per month with advanced summaries and selected advanced AI features, not unlimited access to every AI feature.
• From September 1, 2026, Account-Wide Ask Fathom lookback differs by plan and context even though stored recordings may remain unlimited.
• Current Team and Business plans do not support free seats and require a two-user minimum.
• Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled, and Team cancellation may require contacting Fathom.
• The advertised 90-day guarantee needs its live eligibility and claim conditions confirmed before purchase.
• CRM sync depends on supported plans, objects, fields, permissions, attendee email matching, primary-calendar data, and open records.
• Salesforce does not support Lead matching in the documented integration, excludes closed Opportunities, and can truncate content to field limits.
• AI summaries, action items, follow-up drafts, Ask Fathom answers, scorecards, alerts, and CRM updates can be wrong or incomplete.
• Consent emails have host, platform, schedule, date, and attendee limitations and do not replace legal or organizational responsibility.
• Auto-share can send material to every person on the connected calendar invitation, including invitees who did not attend.
• Anyone-with-the-link access can expose recordings if a URL is forwarded.
• ChatGPT, Claude, CRM, API, webhook, MCP, automation, and collaboration integrations create downstream copies with separate permissions and deletion behavior.
• Fathom states that all data is stored in the United States.
• Individual recordings are advertised as stored indefinitely until manually deleted.
• Automated retention policies are Enterprise-only, require Fathom assistance, and currently apply one policy to the full team.
• Fathom may use de-identified meeting data to improve its own models unless the user or organization opts out, although third-party AI providers are not authorized to train on meeting data.
• HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2, DPA, and BAA claims do not remove the buyer's duty to verify the applicable plan, executed agreement, configuration, integrations, and use case.
• Deleting or restricting a call in Fathom does not automatically erase copies already shared, downloaded, synced, exported, or processed elsewhere.
• The previous usefathom.com referral link belonged to Fathom Analytics, a separate company and product, and must not be used for Fathom AI Notetaker.

Which Fathom Feature Fits Your Use Case

Starter Prompts for Fathom

Is Fathom free?

Yes. Fathom advertises a permanent Free plan for individuals with unlimited recordings, storage, transcription, downloads, and clips. Free includes the General or Enhanced summary and limited advanced AI use, including five calls per month with advanced summaries and selected features. New users also receive a 30-day Premium preview, but they can remain on Free when it ends.

How much does Fathom Premium cost?

Premium is advertised at $16 per user per month when billed annually or $20 on month-to-month billing. It adds unlimited advanced summaries, AI action items, follow-up drafts, Ask Fathom, and bot customization. Taxes, currency, promotions, and checkout terms can vary.

How much do Fathom Team and Business cost?

Team is advertised at $15 per user per month annually or $19 monthly, with a two-user minimum. Business is $25 annually or $34 monthly per user, also with a two-user minimum. Enterprise pricing is custom.

Does Fathom have unlimited recordings?

Fathom advertises unlimited recordings, transcription, downloads, clips, and storage on the individual Free and Premium plans. Unlimited capture does not mean unlimited use of every advanced summary, Ask Fathom context, team feature, CRM function, API request, or Enterprise control.

Does Fathom work without a meeting bot?

Partly. The phased Fathom desktop beta offers Transcript Only and Audio Only bot-free capture, plus bot-free Zoom video capture for eligible Mac accounts. The current rollout is limited to Mac users with English-language meetings, and platform coverage remains incomplete. Organizations can also block bot-free capture.

Does Fathom provide live transcription?

The new bot-free desktop experience provides a live summary that updates during an eligible meeting. The previous bot-based experience processes the transcript and summary after the meeting. Fathom describes the live feature as a live summary, so buyers needing a verbatim real-time transcript or accessibility accommodation should test it directly.

Which meeting platforms and devices does Fathom support?

The established experience records supported Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams meetings from Mac and Windows computers. Fathom does not currently list Chromebooks, Linux, tablets, mobile capture, phone calls without meeting links, webinars, or breakout rooms as normal supported routes. The new bot-free beta is currently Mac-only.

Can Fathom record in-person meetings or uploaded files?

Not as a normal released workflow as of August 2026. Fathom says an iOS in-person capture app is coming and available for pre-download. The established product does not accept uploaded external recordings for analysis. Fathom documents a laptop-and-meeting-link workaround for in-person audio, but it cannot distinguish multiple people in the same room reliably.

Can Fathom record two meetings at once?

No. Fathom states that it can join only one meeting at a time, so overlapping calls require the user to choose which one to capture.

Does Fathom require recording consent?

Fathom provides visible notice or confirmation mechanisms for both bot and bot-free capture, but users remain responsible for the laws, policies, contracts, and participant expectations that apply. Consent emails have platform, host, scheduling, and timing limitations, so they should not be the only control.

Does Fathom use meeting data to train AI models?

Fathom says its third-party AI subprocessors are contractually prohibited from training on customer meeting data. Fathom may use de-identified meeting data to improve its own proprietary models based on account settings. Users can opt out, and Team organizations can apply an organization-wide opt-out.

Where does Fathom store data and how long is it kept?

Fathom states that all data is stored in the United States. Individual recordings are advertised as stored indefinitely until manually deleted. Enterprise customers can request an automated retention policy, but Fathom currently configures it with support and applies one policy to the team.

Is Fathom HIPAA compliant?

Fathom advertises HIPAA compliance and provides a Business Associate Agreement route, with the current pricing table placing a signed BAA under Enterprise. Healthcare buyers must confirm that the correct plan, BAA, configuration, access controls, retention, integrations, and internal procedures cover the intended use before recording protected health information.

Does Fathom connect to ChatGPT and Claude?

Yes. Fathom offers official ChatGPT and Claude connection routes through its MCP server, and its pricing page advertises those integrations on every plan. Access should be limited to authorized meeting data, and outputs should be checked against the source meeting before use.

Does Fathom have an affiliate programme?

Fathom AI has an application-based Growth Partner programme managed through PartnerStack. Eligible partners receive commission for qualified new Team or Business customers under private partnership terms and a 90-day cookie. Fathom also has a separate in-product points and referral system. The old usefathom.com link in this entry belonged to Fathom Analytics, a different product, and has been removed.

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