Side-by-side comparison · Productivity & Notes
Fathom vs Notion 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: Anyone who wants one place for their notes, plans and team knowledge, from solo creators to whole companies.
Pick it if: People who spend their day in face-to-face meetings, site visits and phone calls rather than on video calls.
Overview
| Attribute | Fathom | Notion | PLAUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | A pocket-sized recorder that turns in-person conversations into transcripts and notes. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Paid |
| Starting price | $20/mo | $10/member/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 | Notion | PLAUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.2 | 4.3Winner | 3.5 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, 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 | 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 | Notion | PLAUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mobile app | – | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | – | Yes | 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 | Yes | No |
| Understands images | No | Yes | Yes |
| 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 | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 7/ 17 | 13/ 17 | 8/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Fathom | Notion | PLAUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | FreeOur pick Free Anyone who wants every call recorded without paying. | Free Free One person getting organised. | 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. | Plus $10/member/mo billed yearly Small teams who want shared docs without the AI. | 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. | BusinessOur pick $20/member/mo billed yearly Teams who want the AI properly switched on. | 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 companies with security and compliance needs. | ||
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. | 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 | Notion | PLAUD |
|---|---|---|---|
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Fathom | Notion | PLAUD |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Fathom | Notion | PLAUD |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Fathom, Notion or PLAUD?
Notion scores highest overall in our ratings (Fathom 4.2/5, Notion 4.3/5 and PLAUD 3.5/5). 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. PLAUD is best for in-person meetings and site visits and recording phone calls.
Which is cheaper, Fathom, Notion or PLAUD?
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. PLAUD: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $17.99/mo.
Which is easier to use, Fathom, Notion or PLAUD?
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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