When it comes to AI note-taking tools, Fathom and Fireflies are two big names. Both promise to save you time by capturing and organizing your meeting notes automatically. But how do they really stack up?
If you work in finance, the stakes are even higher. Portfolio managers, investment bankers, and financial experts deal with sensitive data every day. Choosing the right AI note-taker isn’t just about convenience — it’s about security.
That’s why tools like Knapsack are gaining attention. But for now, let’s focus on Fathom and Fireflies. We’ll break down their features, strengths, and what sets them apart.
Fathom vs. Fireflies: Quick Comparison
Fathom and Fireflies both offer AI-powered note-taking, but they cater to different needs. Fathom focuses on simplicity and seamless integration with video calls, while Fireflies provides more advanced features like searchable transcripts and collaboration tools. If you handle sensitive financial data, understanding these differences is key.
Here’s a quick side-by-side comparison:
Fireflies
Fathom
Transcription
Very accurate, but misses a few times
More accurate than fireflies
Interface
Easy to use but busy
Straightforward and easy to use
AI Summary
Detailed meeting notes
Concise notes
Integrations
Integrates with web conferencing tools, collaboration tools, and CRMs
Have fewer integrations
Pricing
Affordable for small teams
Budget-friendly, but the team plan requires at least two seats.
What Is Fathom?
Fathom is an AI-powered meeting assistant designed to handle note-taking so you can stay focused on the discussion. It records, transcribes, and summarizes your meetings automatically, saving you time and effort.
Key Benefits
- High transcription accuracy: Fathom delivers over 90% accuracy, ensuring your notes are clear and dependable.
- Unlimited recordings and transcriptions: With the Pro plan and above, you can capture as many meetings as you need without limits.
- Easy integrations: Fathom works smoothly with popular video platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams.
Pricing
- Free: Includes transcription and summaries for up to 5 hours per month.
- Premium: $19/month for full access to all features.
- Team Edition: $29/month per user.
- Team Edition Pro: $39/month per user.
Pros
- Highly accurate transcriptions
- User-friendly and intuitive interface
- Generous free plan
Cons
- AI summaries can feel a bit generic
- Costs can add up for larger teams
What Is Fireflies?
Fireflies is an AI-driven note-taking tool that does more than just capture what’s said — it helps you turn conversations into actionable insights. By recording, transcribing, and analyzing meetings, Fireflies makes collaboration and follow-ups more efficient.
Key Benefits
- Advanced conversation analysis: Fireflies identifies key topics, action items, and sentiment, giving you more than just a transcript.
- CRM integration: Easily sync with tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, and other CRMs to keep your workflow smooth and organized.
- Audio highlights: Create and share short audio clips of important moments, so you never miss a key takeaway.
Pricing
- Free: Includes 800 minutes of storage per seat with basic features.
- Pro: $18/month per seat for 8,000 minutes of storage and full feature access.
- Business: $29/month per seat for unlimited storage and advanced tools like custom vocabulary and topic tracking.
- Enterprise: $39/month per seat for unlimited transcription and all premium features.
Pros
- Powerful conversation analysis and insights
- Seamless CRM integrations save time
- Searchable transcripts and shareable audio clips
Cons
- Limited storage on the free plan
- Interface can feel a bit overwhelming at first
Key Features Comparison
Let’s take a closer look at how Fireflies stacks up in key areas like onboarding, AI capabilities, usability, and more. This breakdown will help you decide if it’s the right fit for your team’s needs.
Onboarding
Fathom makes getting started quick and easy, with a smooth setup process that doesn’t require much effort.
- No manual setup: Video recording is enabled by default, saving you an extra step.
- Gamification elements: Users are rewarded for completing tasks, which makes the process more engaging.
- User-friendly guides: Clear instructions help you get familiar with the platform fast.
Fireflies also offers a straightforward onboarding experience, but there’s one small catch — you need to manually turn on video recording, which isn’t the most intuitive step. Once that’s done, the platform works seamlessly, but this extra setup could be a drawback for some users.
Overall, both tools offer easy onboarding, but Fathom’s automatic setup and gamified approach give it a slight edge.
AI Capabilities
When it comes to AI-driven features, both Fathom and Fireflies offer impressive tools, but they shine in different ways.
- Fathom’s transcription accuracy: Fathom consistently delivers around 90% accuracy, handling complex discussions with ease — a strength backed by G2 reviews.
- Fireflies’ transcription: It’s reliable but sometimes struggles with fast-paced or detailed conversations, making its output slightly less consistent.
- AI summaries: Fathom stands out with up to 14 context-specific templates tailored for different meeting types, offering quick, focused recaps.
- Fireflies’ Super Summary: Provides a five-part detailed overview, including keywords and action items, with customizable sections — great for those who prefer organized outlines.
- Automated follow-up: Fathom automatically emails meeting summaries after each call, making follow-up simple and efficient. Fireflies requires manual sharing for the same.
- Actionable insights: While Fathom’s action-taking feature hits about 90% accuracy, it still needs occasional review. Fireflies’ suggestions can sometimes feel like overkill, occasionally offering unnecessary or incorrect actions.
Both tools bring strong AI capabilities to the table, but Fathom’s accuracy and tailored templates give it a slight edge in usability and efficiency.
Usability
When it comes to usability, both Fathom and Fireflies bring a lot to the table — but they approach it differently.
- Interface design: Fathom keeps things simple with a clean and intuitive layout, but its white-on-black color scheme can be tough to read in bright light. Fireflies uses a more traditional black-on-white design, which is easier on the eyes for most users.
- Navigation and learning curve: Fathom’s straightforward interface makes it easy to find what you need quickly, with minimal effort. Fireflies offers a clean look too, but it’s more feature-rich — which means it can take a bit longer to get comfortable with everything it offers.
- Action sharing: Fathom shines when it comes to sharing action items. It offers one-click options to copy actions or create an email draft, making follow-ups super simple. With Fireflies, action-sharing takes a bit more effort and requires closer review, as the suggested actions can sometimes feel excessive or inaccurate.
- Advanced filtering: Fireflies stands out here with more advanced filtering options for sentiment analysis, speaker identification, and customizable trackers. If you’re coming from a platform like Avoma, you’ll find Fireflies’ interface familiar, making the transition easier.
Integrations
When it comes to integrations, both Fathom and Fireflies cover the essentials, but there are some key differences in how they handle CRM sync and task management.
- Video conferencing support: Both tools integrate seamlessly with popular platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, making it easy to capture and transcribe meetings across different services.
- CRM integration: Fathom and Fireflies both sync well with HubSpot and Salesforce, but the way they manage notes differs. Fathom pushes call summaries directly into the original meeting activity in HubSpot, keeping everything organized. Fireflies, on the other hand, often creates new meetings by default when pushing notes — which can lead to duplicate entries and messy tracking. You can adjust this in Fireflies’ settings, but it’s an extra step that Fathom handles more smoothly.
- Task management: Fathom has a handy feature that lets you transfer meeting actions directly into HubSpot as tasks. This is great for teams who rely heavily on task management, but if you prefer to keep your task list focused on sales or specific projects, you can easily turn this feature off.
- Real-world experience: While both tools claim Salesforce integration, there’s limited firsthand feedback on how well these connections perform. That said, based on the HubSpot experience, Fathom’s approach to syncing seems more reliable and efficient.
Overall, Fathom takes the lead in CRM sync, offering cleaner and more accurate record-keeping. Fireflies has solid integration options too, but you may need to spend more time tweaking settings to avoid data duplication.
Analytics and Reporting
When it comes to analytics, Fireflies offers more advanced reporting features, but Fathom brings some unique real-time insights to the table.
- Advanced reporting: Fireflies excels in this area, providing detailed meeting analytics and tracking various metrics. This helps teams gain deeper insights into conversations and performance over time.
- Real-time feedback: Fathom stands out with its in-call alerts, a feature that gives immediate feedback on your speaking habits. It warns you if you’re dominating the conversation and tracks the number of monologues during the call. This can be a great tool for improving communication balance in meetings.
- Practical insights: While Fireflies focuses on post-meeting analysis with rich data and customizable reports, Fathom’s real-time coaching makes it easier to adjust your approach on the spot.
Both tools bring value in different ways — Fireflies for its robust data analysis and Fathom for its immediate, actionable feedback. Choosing between them depends on whether you prioritize deep post-meeting insights or real-time improvement.
Pricing
Both Fathom and Fireflies offer free plans, but there’s a key difference in what’s included.
- Free plan: Fathom provides unlimited recording time, while Fireflies limits the number of recording minutes. This makes Fathom’s free tier more flexible for frequent use.
- Paid plans: Pricing for both platforms is fairly close, though Fathom’s entry point for teams is higher due to a 3-seat minimum requirement.
- Fireflies pricing: Starts at $10 per user per month (billed annually) or $18 per user per month (billed monthly). Their Business plan costs $19 (annual) or $29 (monthly), and the Enterprise plan is $39 per user per month (annual only).
- Fathom pricing: Teams plans require a minimum of 3 users. The Standard plan is $24 per user per month (annual) or $32 (monthly), while the Pro plan is $29 (annual) or $39 (monthly).
- Best for teams: For small to mid-sized teams, the price difference is minimal unless you’re managing more than 20-30 users.
Overall, while both tools offer competitive pricing, Fathom’s free plan stands out for unlimited recordings, while Fireflies offers a lower entry point for smaller teams.
Which Should You Choose?
Fireflies: Advanced Filtering and Detailed Reports
Fireflies shines when it comes to advanced filtering and analytics.
- Robust filtering: Easily sort transcripts by sentiment, speakers, and trackers.
- Comprehensive reporting: Track a wide range of meeting metrics and dive deep into data analysis.
- Customization: Offers flexible options for AI-generated summaries and meeting notes.
- Interface challenges: The user experience can feel a bit clunky, and the layout takes some time to master.
If you prioritize detailed reporting and advanced search capabilities, Fireflies brings plenty to the table — but expect a bit of a learning curve.
Fathom: Superior Note-Taking and Accuracy
Fathom stands out for its simplicity and performance when it comes to capturing and organizing meeting details.
- Accurate transcriptions: Delivers highly reliable AI-generated transcripts.
- Seamless note-taking: Provides clear, well-structured summaries with minimal effort.
- Efficient action management: Makes tracking and sharing follow-up tasks quick and easy.
- User-friendly interface: Clean, intuitive design that’s simple to navigate.
Fathom’s accuracy and ease of use make it ideal for teams that want fast, reliable meeting documentation without the hassle.
Final Thoughts: Picking the Right AI Notetaker
Both Fathom and Fireflies bring strong features to the table, but the right choice depends on what matters most to you. If you value advanced filtering, detailed reporting, and deeper data insights, Fireflies might be the better fit — though it does come with a bit of a learning curve. On the other hand, if you want accurate transcriptions, easy-to-use action management, and a simple, intuitive interface, Fathom stands out as the clear winner.
For me, Fathom’s balance of accuracy, usability, and efficiency makes it the better choice. But whichever tool you pick, both can help you stay organized and make the most of your meetings.
