Granola vs Otter vs Fathom: Which AI Notetaker in 2026?

Pick Granola if you take your own notes and never want a bot in the call. Pick Otter if you want the lowest paid price per seat and long, searchable transcripts. Pick Fathom if you want the strongest free plan and a clear path to CRM sync and coaching for a sales team.

Key takeaways

• Granola captures device audio on every plan, so no bot joins. Basic is free with 30 days of history, Business is $14 per user a month and Enterprise $35.
• Otter Pro costs $8.33 per user a month billed annually, the lowest paid entry of the three. Free Basic is capped at 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes per conversation.
• Fathom is free forever with unlimited recordings and transcriptions. Team is $15 and Business $25 per user a month billed annually, both with a 2-user minimum.
• CRM sync sits on different tiers: Otter Pro (1 user), Granola Business (HubSpot, Attio, Affinity) and Fathom Business (CRM field sync).
• All three have an official MCP server, so you can ask Claude or ChatGPT about your meetings.

This post goes deeper on three tools from our guide to the best AI meeting assistants for B2B teams, which covers six options.

How do Granola, Otter and Fathom compare?

All prices are per user a month as listed on each vendor's pricing page in October 2026.

What does each notetaker cost for a 5-person team?

Here is the yearly list cost for five seats, using annual prices where the vendor shows one.

• Granola Business: 5 x $14 x 12 = $840 a year.
• Otter Pro: 5 x $8.33 x 12 = $499.80 a year.
• Otter Business: 5 x $19.99 x 12 = $1,199.40 a year.
• Fathom Team: 5 x $15 x 12 = $900 a year.
• Fathom Business: 5 x $25 x 12 = $1,500 a year.

Two things change this math. First, limits: Otter Pro caps each user at 1,200 transcription minutes a month and 90 minutes per conversation, which a team with long client calls can hit. Otter Business removes the meeting minute cap. Second, CRM: if sales needs notes in the CRM, compare the tier that includes it, not the entry price. That means Otter Business for more than one CRM user, Granola Business, or Fathom Business.

Granola: your notes, enhanced, with no bot

Granola does not join your meeting. It transcribes your computer's audio in the background while you type your own rough notes, then uses the meeting context to fill them out. It works across Zoom, Meet, Teams, huddles and in-person conversations, on macOS, Windows, iOS and Android.

What the plans include:

• Basic (free): AI meeting notes, shared folders, custom templates and Slack. Meeting history is limited to 30 days.
• Business ($14): unlimited history, pre-meeting briefs, follow-up emails, a workspace dictionary, Notion, Zapier and HubSpot integrations, Attio and Affinity CRM, API access and central billing.
• Enterprise ($35): the advanced Salesforce integration, SSO, SCIM provisioning, HIPAA-compliant workspaces, an Audit API and workspace-wide training opt-out and deletion policies.

SOC 2 Type II and a data processing agreement are included on every plan.

The catch is that Granola is built around the person taking notes. If you want a recording to share or clips to send to a colleague, Otter and Fathom are closer to that job. Our Granola review covers it in more detail, and our Granola alternatives page lists other options.

Choose Granola if you run back-to-back meetings, already take notes and want them cleaned up without telling every guest that a bot is listening.

Otter: the cheapest seat and long transcripts

Otter sends an AI meeting agent into Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet calls, or records from its Mac or Windows desktop app without a bot. It writes summaries and action items, and Otter AI Chat answers questions across your meetings.

What the plans include:

• Basic (free): 300 transcription minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 file imports in total and 20 AI Chat queries.
• Pro ($8.33 annual, $16.99 monthly): 1,200 minutes a month, 90 minutes per conversation, 10 imports a month, 50 AI Chat queries, Zapier and Salesforce or HubSpot sync for 1 user.
• Business ($19.99 annual, $30 monthly): unlimited meeting transcription, 4 hours per conversation, 200 AI Chat queries, CRM sync for 5 users, activity logs and usage analytics. Up to 25 billed users.
• Enterprise (custom): SSO and SCIM with a 100-user minimum, plus the Otter API and webhooks.

The catch is that the free plan is a trial in practice. At 30 minutes per conversation, most client calls get cut short. Budget for Pro at least.

Choose Otter if you want transcripts of long meetings, interviews or webinars at the lowest paid price, and you are fine with a bot or the desktop app doing the recording.

Fathom: the best free plan and a sales upgrade path

Fathom records, transcribes and summarizes calls with a bot or, in beta on Mac, without one. Its free plan is free forever, with unlimited recordings and transcriptions, instant AI call summaries, clips, playlists and search across your calls.

What the paid plans add:

• Premium ($16 annual, $20 monthly, for individuals): advanced call summaries, AI action items, a conversational meeting assistant and a custom meeting bot.
• Team ($15 annual, $19 monthly, 2-user minimum): global search across the team's calls, team highlight playlists, comments, folders and keyword alerts.
• Business ($25 annual, $34 monthly, 2-user minimum): CRM field sync that updates records after meetings, Deal View, coaching metrics, AI scorecards and custom summaries.
• Enterprise (talk to sales): SSO, SCIM, custom data retention and a dedicated success manager.

The catch is that some features, including Ask Fathom across your account, are marked "limited use" on the pricing page without a number. Test them with real calls before you rely on them. Our Fathom review goes deeper.

Choose Fathom if you want everyone on the team recording calls for free today, with Business ready when sales leaders want CRM updates and coaching.

Which one works best with Claude and ChatGPT?

All three publish an official MCP server, so an AI assistant can search and quote your meetings.

• Granola MCP works with Claude, ChatGPT and Claude Code, and any tool that supports Streamable HTTP with OAuth. It can search notes and transcripts and browse folders. On Basic it only reaches notes from the last 30 days. On Enterprise, admins choose which notes members can reach and can turn off write actions.
• Fathom MCP connects through the Fathom app in ChatGPT, the Fathom connector in Claude or Claude Code, at api.fathom.ai/mcp. Fathom's docs do not say which plans include it.
• Otter's MCP server lets ChatGPT, Claude and other AI chat tools access your meeting knowledge, according to Otter's homepage.

See every tool with a server in our MCP servers collection and the ones built for Claude in works with Claude. If sales uses Claude to prepare calls and follow-ups, our free Claude for Sales Teams guide has setup steps and prompts.

How to choose between Granola, Otter and Fathom

1. Decide how you feel about bots. If clients or candidates object to a bot in the call, Granola is the safest choice. Otter's desktop app and Fathom's Mac beta also avoid bots.
2. Measure your meeting length. Otter's per-conversation caps (30 minutes free, 90 on Pro) matter more than its price if your calls run long.
3. Find the CRM tier you need. For one rep, Otter Pro covers it. For a team, compare Otter Business, Granola Business and Fathom Business side by side.
4. Check security needs early. SSO is on Granola Enterprise, Otter Enterprise (100-user minimum) and Fathom Enterprise. Use our AI vendor security checklist before rollout.
5. Set recording rules. Tell your team when notetakers may run and how guests are told. Our free AI acceptable use policy template is a good place to write that down.
6. Run a two-week trial with real calls. Have two people use each tool on the same type of meeting and compare the notes.

Still weighing others? Our full meeting assistants guide also covers Fireflies.ai and Avoma. Browse every productivity tool in the directory, the best AI tools for sales teams or the best AI tools for executives and managers. If notes need to land in a CRM, our Attio vs HubSpot vs Pipedrive comparison covers where they go next.

Bottom line

Fathom is the best starting point for most B2B teams: the free plan has no recording caps, and Business at $25 per user adds CRM field sync and coaching when sales needs it. Granola is the best choice for people who want better versions of their own notes and no bot at all, at $14 per user on Business. Otter is the cheapest paid seat at $8.33 on annual billing, but its minute and per-conversation caps mean most teams should price Business. Pick the two that fit how you meet, trial them on real calls, and compare the tier you will actually need.