Side-by-side comparison · Productivity & Notes
Fathom vs Granola vs PLAUD
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Sales and customer-facing teams who want every call recorded and summarised without paying per seat to start.
Pick it if: Founders, consultants and managers who sit in back-to-back calls and hate the awkward recording bot.
Pick it if: People who spend their day in face-to-face meetings, site visits and phone calls rather than on video calls.
Granola scores highest overall, but Fathom gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.
Overview
| Attribute | Fathom | Granola | PLAUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Records your video calls and sends you a summary, action items and transcript. | Takes meeting notes from your computer's audio, so no bot ever joins the call. | A pocket-sized recorder that turns in-person conversations into transcripts and notes. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Paid |
| Starting price | $20/mo | $14/user/mo | $17.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Fathom | Granola | PLAUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.2 | 4.4Winner | 3.5 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 3.5 | 4.5 | 3.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 2.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Fathom | Granola | PLAUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mobile app | – | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | – | No | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | – |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | No | No | No |
| Understands images | No | No | Yes |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | No | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | No | No | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | No | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 7/ 17 | 8/ 17 | 8/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Fathom | Granola | PLAUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | FreeOur pick Free Anyone who wants every call recorded without paying. | Basic Free Trying it, or anyone who only needs the last month of notes. | Starter Free with a device ($159 to $189) Light users who record a few meetings a week. |
Premium $20/mo, or $16/mo billed yearly One person who wants the fuller summaries every time. | BusinessOur pick $14/user/mo Anyone in regular client or sales calls. | ProOur pick $17.99/mo, or $99.99/yr Anyone recording most working days. | |
Team $19/user/mo, or $15/user/mo billed yearly Small teams sharing calls with each other. | Enterprise $35/user/mo Companies that need admin control over who records what. | Unlimited $29.99/mo, or $239.99/yr People who record all day, every day. | |
Business $34/user/mo, or $25/user/mo billed yearly Sales teams living in a CRM. | |||
Enterprise Custom Larger organisations needing SSO and rollout help. | |||
| Which plan to pick | Most people should simply use Free; it covers more than the paid tiers of its rivals. Only move to Team or Business when several people need to search each other's calls or you want notes landing in HubSpot or Salesforce without lifting a finger. | Start on Basic and see how it fits your week. If you find yourself wanting a call from six weeks ago, that's your signal to move to Business. Enterprise is only for IT-managed rollouts. | Buy the device and live on the free 300 minutes for a month to see how much you really record. If you run out, Pro on yearly billing at about $100 is the better deal; Unlimited only pays off if you record several hours a day. Avoid monthly billing, which costs more than double. |
Key features
| Attribute | Fathom | Granola | PLAUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standout features |
|
|
|
Pros and cons
| Attribute | Fathom | Granola | PLAUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pros |
|
|
|
| Cons |
|
|
|
Who each one is for
| Attribute | Fathom | Granola | PLAUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for |
|
|
|
| You'll find it used by |
|
|
|
Questions people ask
Which is better, Fathom, Granola or PLAUD?
Granola scores highest overall in our ratings (Fathom 4.2/5, Granola 4.4/5 and PLAUD 3.5/5). Fathom is best for recording sales and client calls and sharing call clips with the team. Granola is best for client and sales calls and interviews and one-on-ones. PLAUD is best for in-person meetings and site visits and recording phone calls.
Which is cheaper, Fathom, Granola or PLAUD?
Fathom: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo. Granola: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $14/user/mo. PLAUD: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $17.99/mo.
Which is easier to use, Fathom, Granola or PLAUD?
Granola rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Founders, consultants and managers who sit in back-to-back calls and hate the awkward recording bot.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
Swap in another tool
More tools from Productivity & Notes in the library.
