Fathom or Granola? Bot and Bot-Free Meeting Notes Side by Side

Priya runs customer success for a software company. Her day is eight Zoom and Google Meet calls, back to back, and she wants every one recorded and summarized without lifting a finger. Dan sells to restaurant groups. He takes a few video calls a week from his laptop, but the meetings that matter happen across a table, and he types his own notes as he goes. (Both are composites, not real people.)

Both searched Fathom vs Granola on the same afternoon. They should not end up with the same answer.

Fathom and Granola are two of the best-known AI note takers, and they work in opposite ways.

Fathom records the call and writes the summary for you, with a bot or, on a Mac, without one. Granola never sends a bot: it listens to your computer's audio and turns the rough notes you type into finished ones.

This comparison uses only each company's own pages, all checked on October 19, 2026. It is not a hands-on test, and every claim links to the page it came from.

A quick disclosure: ParrotNotes publishes this blog, and ParrotNotes is our app. It appears once, near the end, for readers like Dan whose important meetings happen in a room. If that's you, try ParrotNotes free and come back for the rest.

Fathom vs Granola: the short answer

Choose Fathom if most of your meetings are Zoom, Google Meet or Teams calls, you want a summary without typing anything, and your team wants shared call highlights, coaching scorecards or CRM updates after every call.

Choose Granola if you like to write your own notes, you don't want anything visible joining the call, and your calls happen in many different apps, including Slack huddles and browser calls.

Look at a third option if your meetings happen face to face, your team carries Android phones as well as iPhones, or your customers speak a language outside both tools' lists. That's covered in the section on a third option for meetings in a room.

How each one captures a meeting

The biggest difference between Fathom and Granola is how the audio gets in.

Fathom joins the call or listens on your Mac. Fathom's device compatibility article says it records on Mac and Windows computers, on "a supported meeting platform (like Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams)." The classic setup sends a recorder bot into the meeting. Fathom's pricing page now offers a "choice of bot-free (in beta) or bot capture" on every plan, and the help center says "the new bot-free experience is currently available on Mac only," with Windows "coming soon." Premium adds a custom meeting bot.

Granola never joins. Granola's homepage says it "uses your computer audio, so doesn't invite a bot." Its mobile help page explains that on macOS it "captures system audio, so it works inside any meeting app." Nothing appears in the participant list, and the same setup covers Zoom, Meet, Teams, Slack huddles and anything else that plays sound through your computer.

On the phone, both can work in person. Fathom's help center says "you can also use the Fathom iOS mobile app to record in-person conversations," and its iOS app page calls in-person meetings conversations "you couldn't capture before." Neither page mentions Android.

Granola has iPhone and Android apps, and its docs say mobile takes notes in person and, on iOS, on outbound calls made through Granola's built-in dialer. Granola also says plainly that "Granola can't transcribe virtual meeting calls on mobile."

The practical upshot: if you want the bot gone on a Windows laptop today, Granola does that and Fathom's bot-free mode is still Mac only. If you want a recording that keeps going without your laptop's audio, Fathom's bot does that.

Fathom vs Granola, head to head

Sources: Fathom's pricing page, help center articles on devices and languages, and iOS page; Granola's pricing page, homepage, mobile help and language help. All checked October 19, 2026.

The meeting-type matrix

Feature lists blur together. A faster test is to write down the kinds of meetings you actually have, then check each one against what the vendor says it covers.

Same sources as the table above, checked October 19, 2026.

Count the rows that match your week. Priya's eight daily calls all sit in the first two rows, so both tools cover her, and the decision moves to how she wants her notes written. Dan's week is mostly the "in person" rows. Both tools now reach the room on an iPhone, but he has to open an app on his phone for each visit, and half his team carries Android.

What each one costs

Fathom prices from fathom.ai/pricing; Granola prices from granola.ai/pricing, which shows monthly prices only. Checked October 19, 2026.

What the free plans hold back. Fathom Free lists "Unlimited recordings + transcriptions" and "Instant AI call summaries," while advanced summaries, Ask Fathom (its AI chat) and automation integrations are marked "Limited use." Fathom's pricing page doesn't put a number on that limit, so we won't either.

Granola Basic includes AI meeting notes with "limited meeting history," which its comparison table sets at 30 days, and AI chat on its automatic model only.

What paying adds. Fathom Premium adds advanced call summaries, AI action items, the conversational assistant and a custom bot. Its Team plan adds highlight playlists and keyword alerts, and Business adds CRM field sync, a deal view and coaching scorecards. Granola Business adds unlimited history, its advanced AI models, integrations with Attio, Notion, HubSpot, Affinity and Zapier, MCP and API access, and pre-meeting briefs. Our Granola pricing guide goes through Granola's plans line by line.

Notes: who writes them?

This is the difference you'll feel every day.

Fathom writes the notes for you. You talk, it records, and the summary and action items are waiting when the call ends. You can ask Fathom questions about a call, and the pricing page lists an account-wide version across all calls as a beta feature. For someone in back-to-back calls who never wants to type, that's the whole appeal.

Granola builds on your notes. Granola's homepage describes notes that are "enhanced instantly" with meeting context. You jot what matters to you during the call, and when it ends, Granola fills in the detail from the transcript around your points. Your judgment shapes what ends up in the note.

Neither approach is better in general. It depends on whether typing during a meeting helps you think or pulls your attention away.

Lena, a recruiter who runs twelve screening calls a day, wants her hands free and her eyes on the candidate, so the automatic route suits her. Omar, a product manager, says the act of writing is how he decides what matters, so he'd rather keep typing and let the AI fill the gaps. (Lena and Omar are composites, not real people.)

Languages and mixed-language teams

Fathom transcribes 38 languages, according to its languages article. Summaries can be translated to and from English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian and Dutch.

Granola lists 31 transcription languages on desktop and 17 on mobile in its multi-language help page. On desktop you can switch the language mid-meeting from the meeting controls, and you can set notes to come out in English whatever language was spoken. On mobile, Granola picks one language for the whole meeting.

If your customers speak a language outside both lists, or you need the whole transcript in a different language from the one spoken, check both pages against your own language before you commit. That gap is one reason readers end up in the next section.

Integrations and team features

Fathom leans toward sales and customer teams. Its pricing page lists integrations with Claude, ChatGPT, Zapier, Make and Slack, a public API and MCP, and CRM syncs. The Business plan writes call details into CRM fields automatically and adds coaching metrics and AI scorecards. A sales manager who reviews calls will find more built for that job in Fathom.

Granola leans toward the person taking notes. Business brings integrations with Attio, Notion, HubSpot, Affinity and Zapier, MCP integration "in all your apps," API access, shared folders and a workspace dictionary for names and terms. Its features are built around one person's notes first and sharing second.

If your manager wants scorecards from every call, Fathom fits. If you want your own notes in Notion or your CRM with less clutter, Granola fits.

Five questions that pick one for you

Answer these honestly and the choice usually makes itself.

1. Do you want to type during meetings? No: Fathom. Yes: Granola.
2. Does a bot in the participant list bother you or your clients? Yes, and you're on Windows: Granola today. On a Mac, both can skip the bot.
3. Do your calls happen outside Zoom, Meet and Teams? Slack huddles, browser calls or other apps point to Granola, which works on any app that plays through your computer.
4. Does your manager want scorecards, highlight reels or CRM fields filled in? Fathom's Team and Business plans are built for that.
5. How many of your important meetings happen in a room, and what phones does your team carry? If the answer is "most" or "some Android," read the next section before you choose either.

A third option for meetings in a room

Fathom and Granola both started on the laptop, and both added phone apps later. If most of your meetings happen across a table, on a site walk or in a client's office, a phone-first app may fit your week better than either.

ParrotNotes was built for that. You open it on the phone you already carry, put the phone on the table and talk. No bot joins anything, and the phone keeps recording with the screen locked. When you stop, you get a transcript, an AI summary, action items and a follow-up email draft.

Fathom and Granola facts from the sources above; ParrotNotes facts from parrotnotes.app/pricing. Checked October 19, 2026.

Back to Dan. He keeps a video notetaker for the handful of scheduled calls, and for the restaurant visits he puts ParrotNotes on the table. A Spanish-speaking owner can talk in Spanish, and Dan reads the transcript in English on the drive back. His Android-carrying teammates use the same app, so every visit note has the same shape.

What it costs. ParrotNotes Free includes 100 minutes of recording a month, an automatic summary on every recording, and 5 AI-powered recordings a month where insights, action items, sales frameworks and chat all work. Pro is $19.99 a month, or $14.99 a month billed annually, with 3,000 minutes a month, recordings up to 3 hours, all AI features on every recording, speaker identification, 99+ languages with translation and AI search across your notes.

It runs on iOS, Android and macOS. Recording works offline, and transcription and the summary arrive once you're back online.

If your meetings are in a room, download ParrotNotes free and record your next one. For the full one-to-one comparisons, see ParrotNotes vs Fathom and ParrotNotes vs Granola.

Ask before you record, with any of them

Whichever tool you pick, tell people you're recording and get their agreement. A visible bot announces itself; device audio and a phone on the table don't, so the responsibility moves to you.

Recording-consent rules differ by place: in the US some states need everyone's consent, and our guide to one-party consent states explains the split. A simple "Mind if I record this so I can focus on you instead of my notes?" covers most meetings. This is general information, not legal advice.

The verdict

Fathom and Granola solve the same problem from opposite ends.

• Fathom is the hands-off choice for people who live in Zoom, Meet and Teams and want the summary written for them. Its team plans add highlight reels, coaching scorecards and CRM sync, and its iPhone app now reaches in-person meetings.
• Granola is the bot-free choice for people who like to write their own notes, on Mac or Windows, in any meeting app. It has iPhone and Android apps for the room, and its plans are priced per user from a free Basic tier.

If your notes come from video calls, pick between those two using the five questions above. If they come from rooms, client sites and coffee tables, and from people who don't all speak English, start with the phone in your pocket. Try ParrotNotes free on your next in-person meeting. Still weighing Fathom on its own? Our Fathom alternatives guide and Granola AI review go deeper on each.