Side-by-side comparison · Productivity & Notes
Fathom vs Notion vs Otter.ai
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: Anyone who wants one place for their notes, plans and team knowledge, from solo creators to whole companies.
Pick it if: Journalists, students, researchers and anyone who records conversations outside of video calls.
Overview
| Attribute | Fathom | Notion | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Records your video calls and sends you a summary, action items and transcript. | One workspace for notes, docs, wikis and project tracking, with AI built in. | Live transcripts for meetings, lectures and in-person conversations on your phone. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $20/mo | $10/member/mo | $16.99/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 | Notion | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.2 | 4.3Winner | 3.6 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers the job it's built for, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 5.0 | 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 | 4.5 | 3.0 |
| 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 | Notion | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | – | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | – |
| Browser extension | – | Yes | Yes |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | 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 | Yes | No |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | No | Yes | No |
| Runs agents or automations | No | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | No | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | – |
| Capabilities score | 7/ 17 | 13/ 17 | 9/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Fathom | Notion | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | FreeOur pick Free Anyone who wants every call recorded without paying. | Free Free One person getting organised. | Basic Free Occasional in-person recording. |
Premium $20/mo, or $16/mo billed yearly One person who wants the fuller summaries every time. | Plus $10/member/mo billed yearly Small teams who want shared docs without the AI. | ProOur pick $16.99/mo, or $8.33/mo billed yearly Anyone who records a few conversations a week. | |
Team $19/user/mo, or $15/user/mo billed yearly Small teams sharing calls with each other. | BusinessOur pick $20/member/mo billed yearly Teams who want the AI properly switched on. | Business $30/user/mo, or $19.99/user/mo billed yearly Teams who record all day. | |
Business $34/user/mo, or $25/user/mo billed yearly Sales teams living in a CRM. | Enterprise Custom Larger companies with security and compliance needs. | Enterprise Custom Organisations needing SSO, API and compliance. | |
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. | Solo users can stay on Free for a long time. For a team the honest answer is Business, because Plus leaves out the AI that makes Notion interesting now. Note that yearly billing is what gets you the $10 and $20 prices, and monthly billing costs more. | Pro on the yearly plan is the sensible choice, and the monthly price is more than double it, so commit for a year or don't bother. Business is only worth it for teams recording several hours a day. |
Key features
| Attribute | Fathom | Notion | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Fathom | Notion | Otter.ai |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Fathom | Notion | Otter.ai |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Fathom, Notion or Otter.ai?
Notion scores highest overall in our ratings (Fathom 4.2/5, Notion 4.3/5 and Otter.ai 3.6/5). Fathom is best for recording sales and client calls and sharing call clips with the team. Notion is best for team wikis and documentation and personal notes and planning. Otter.ai is best for in-person meeting transcripts and interviews and research.
Which is cheaper, Fathom, Notion or Otter.ai?
Fathom: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo. Notion: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $10/member/mo. Otter.ai: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $16.99/mo.
Which is easier to use, Fathom, Notion or Otter.ai?
Fathom rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Sales and customer-facing teams who want every call recorded and summarised without paying per seat to start.
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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