Side-by-side comparison · Productivity & Notes
Fathom vs Jotform AI Agents 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: Small businesses, clinics, schools and nonprofits that collect information from customers and answer the same questions every day.
Pick it if: Busy Gmail and Google Workspace users who want AI to search, sort and draft their email.
Overview
| Attribute | Fathom | Jotform AI Agents | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Records your video calls and sends you a summary, action items and transcript. | Builds AI agents that answer customers and fill in forms by chat, phone, SMS or WhatsApp. | 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 | $34/mo | $18/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Fathom | Jotform AI Agents | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.2 | 4.0 | 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 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 3.5 | 3.5 | 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 | Jotform AI Agents | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | – | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | – | Yes |
| Browser extension | – | – | – |
| API access | 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 | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | No | – | – |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | No | – | – |
| Runs agents or automations | No | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | – | Yes |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 7/ 17 | 9/ 17 | 9/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Fathom | Jotform AI Agents | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | FreeOur pick Free Anyone who wants every call recorded without paying. | Starter Free Testing an agent on a small site. | 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. | BronzeOur pick $34/mo billed yearly ($39 monthly) A small business going live. | 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. | Silver $39/mo billed yearly ($49 monthly) Busier businesses. | 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. | Gold $99/mo billed yearly ($129 monthly) High-volume teams. | Premier $45/seat/mo Heavy users with complex email workflows. | |
Enterprise Custom Larger organisations needing SSO and rollout help. | Enterprise Custom Large organisations. | 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. | Test on the free plan, then move to Bronze to remove branding and lift the limits. Silver costs little more yearly and gives 2.5 times the conversations, so pick it if you're near the Bronze cap. | 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 | Jotform AI Agents | Shortwave |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Fathom | Jotform AI Agents | Shortwave |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Fathom | Jotform AI Agents | Shortwave |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Fathom, Jotform AI Agents or Shortwave?
They tie on our overall rating (Fathom 4.2/5, Jotform AI Agents 4.0/5 and Shortwave 4.2/5). Fathom is best for recording sales and client calls and sharing call clips with the team. Jotform AI Agents is best for website chat that answers FAQs and captures leads and client intake and registration. Shortwave is best for finding old emails by describing them and clearing a cluttered Gmail inbox quickly.
Which is cheaper, Fathom, Jotform AI Agents or Shortwave?
Fathom: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo. Jotform AI Agents: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $34/mo. 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.
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