Side-by-side comparison · Productivity & Notes
Granola vs Fathom 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
Granola
4.2Pick it if: Founders, consultants and managers who sit in back-to-back calls and hate the awkward recording bot.
Fathom
4.0Pick it if: Sales and customer-facing teams who want every call recorded and summarised without paying per seat to start.
Otter.ai
3.5Pick it if: Journalists, students, researchers and anyone who records conversations outside of 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 | Granola | Fathom | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Takes meeting notes from your computer's audio, so no bot ever joins the call. | Records your video calls and sends you a summary, action items and transcript. | Live transcripts for meetings, lectures and in-person conversations on your phone. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $14/user/mo | $20/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 | Granola | Fathom | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.2Winner | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow much it can do, and how well the pieces fit together. | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 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 | Granola | Fathom | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | – | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | – |
| Browser extension | No | – | 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 | No | Yes |
| Understands images | No | No | No |
| 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 | – |
| Capabilities score | 8/ 17 | 7/ 17 | 9/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Granola | Fathom | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Basic Free Trying it, or anyone who only needs the last month of notes. | FreeOur pick Free Anyone who wants every call recorded without paying. | Basic Free Occasional in-person recording. |
BusinessOur pick $14/user/mo Anyone in regular client or sales calls. | Premium $20/mo, or $16/mo billed yearly One person who wants the fuller summaries every time. | ProOur pick $16.99/mo, or $8.33/mo billed yearly Anyone who records a few conversations a week. | |
Enterprise $35/user/mo Companies that need admin control over who records what. | Team $19/user/mo, or $15/user/mo billed yearly Small teams sharing calls with each other. | 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 Organisations needing SSO, API and compliance. | ||
Enterprise Custom Larger organisations needing SSO and rollout help. | |||
| Which plan to pick | 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. | 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. | 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 | Granola | Fathom | Otter.ai |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Granola | Fathom | Otter.ai |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Granola | Fathom | Otter.ai |
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How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability. The "Visit" buttons may use affiliate links, which never affect a score.
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