Side-by-side comparison · Productivity & Notes
Fathom vs Heidi vs Shortwave
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: GPs, specialists, psychologists and allied health practitioners who spend their evenings writing up notes.
Pick it if: Busy Gmail and Google Workspace users who want AI to search, sort and draft their email.
Overview
| Attribute | Fathom | Heidi | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Records your video calls and sends you a summary, action items and transcript. | AI medical scribe that listens to a consult and writes the notes and letters. | AI email app for Gmail that searches, sorts, drafts and acts on your inbox for you. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $20/mo | Free | $18/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | No | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Fathom | Heidi | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.2 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Fathom | Heidi | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | – | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | – | Yes | – |
| API access | 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 | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | No | – | – |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | No | No | – |
| Runs agents or automations | No | – | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | Yes | Yes |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 7/ 17 | 10/ 17 | 9/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Fathom | Heidi | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | FreeOur pick Free Anyone who wants every call recorded without paying. | Free Free A single clinician trying it on real consults. | Free Free Trying it on your Gmail inbox. |
Premium $20/mo, or $16/mo billed yearly One person who wants the fuller summaries every time. | ClinicianOur pick See website (14-day free trial) A clinician who uses it every day. | ProOur pick $18/mo Individuals who use the AI daily. | |
Team $19/user/mo, or $15/user/mo billed yearly Small teams sharing calls with each other. | Practice Custom Clinics with several practitioners. | Business $30/seat/mo Teams who share threads and need more AI. | |
Business $34/user/mo, or $25/user/mo billed yearly Sales teams living in a CRM. | Enterprise Custom Health services and large groups. | Premier $45/seat/mo Heavy users with complex email workflows. | |
Enterprise Custom Larger organisations needing SSO and rollout help. | Max $120/seat/mo People who live in email all day. | ||
| 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 Free for a couple of weeks of real consults. If it saves you time every day, trial the Clinician plan; if you need notes to flow into your practice software or want one bill for the clinic, ask about Practice. | Start on Free for a week to see if you like the app. Pro is enough for most individuals; pick Business only if you share threads with a team. Every paid plan has a 14-day free trial. |
Key features
| Attribute | Fathom | Heidi | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standout features |
|
|
|
Pros and cons
| Attribute | Fathom | Heidi | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pros |
|
|
|
| Cons |
|
|
|
Who each one is for
| Attribute | Fathom | Heidi | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for |
|
|
|
| You'll find it used by |
|
|
|
Questions people ask
Which is better, Fathom, Heidi or Shortwave?
They tie on our overall rating (Fathom 4.2/5, Heidi 4.2/5 and Shortwave 4.2/5). Fathom is best for recording sales and client calls and sharing call clips with the team. Heidi is best for writing up consult notes and drafting referral and specialist letters. Shortwave is best for finding old emails by describing them and clearing a cluttered Gmail inbox quickly.
Which is cheaper, Fathom, Heidi or Shortwave?
Fathom: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo. Heidi: It's free to use. Shortwave: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $18/mo.
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.
