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Fathom vs Otter for Freelancers: Which Free Plan Goes Further?

Updated 2026-10-26 · Prices verified on official vendor pages

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Verdict: Fathom wins for a freelancer who wants a free tool. Its free plan lists unlimited recordings and transcription. Otter wins if you need live transcription or are ready to pay, because its annual Pro price is lower.

Sources: fathom.ai/pricing and otter.ai/pricing, checked 26 Oct 2026.

Head-to-head

	Fathom	Otter.ai
Free plan	Unlimited recordings + transcription, AI summaries, clips, search	300 transcription min/month, live transcription, speaker ID, 3 lifetime imports
Entry paid plan	Premium: $20/mo monthly, $16/mo annual	Pro: $16.99/mo monthly, $8.33/mo annual
Paid plan adds	Advanced summaries, AI action items, conversational assistant, custom bot	1,200 min, 90 min/meeting, Zapier/HubSpot/Salesforce, advanced export
Automation	Zapier, Make, public API & MCP listed	Zapier on Pro, Otter MCP server listed on Basic
Platforms	Zoom, Meet, Teams (bot or bot-free beta on Mac)	Zoom, Teams, Google Meet; iOS & Android apps

When Fathom is the better pick

You run more than about 5 hours of calls a month. That's 300 minutes, Otter's free cap.
You want recordings and highlights clips to send to clients.
You'd rather not join calls with a visible bot. Fathom lists bot-free capture as a Mac beta.

Get Fathom free

When Otter is the better pick

You want live captions during the call.
You'll pay annually and want the lowest price. Otter Pro shows $8.33/month billed annually.
You transcribe uploaded audio, such as interviews or voice memos. Pro includes 10 imports a month.

Try Otter

Our recommendation

Start on Fathom Free for client calls. Add Otter only if you specifically need live transcripts or file imports. For a wider comparison, see the best AI meeting note takers for freelancers.

FAQ

Is Fathom really free?

Fathom's pricing page lists a Free plan, 'free forever', with unlimited recordings and transcriptions and instant AI call summaries.

How many minutes does Otter's free plan give?

Otter Basic lists 300 monthly transcription minutes and 3 lifetime audio/video file imports.

Which is cheaper on a paid plan?

Billed annually, Otter Pro shows $8.33/month and Fathom Premium $16/month. Monthly, Otter Pro is $16.99 and Fathom Premium is $20. Otter marks some discounted prices as first-time offers.

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