Two kinds of meeting tool sit behind this search: a broad AI meeting assistant and a focused notetaker. Fireflies records, transcribes and summarises calls, then adds questions about the meeting and AI teammates that attend and speak for you. Fathom sends a full recap with action items as the call ends, and its homepage says it's now part of Superhuman.
Sales reps, customer success managers and operations leads all want the same thing from a notetaker: to stop typing during calls and still leave with the follow-ups. Fireflies and Fathom both promise that. Read their homepages side by side, though, and they're aiming at different amounts of help, from a recap you skim to software that joins calls in your place. Nothing below is ranked; it's built from what each vendor says on its own site.
Assistant suite or focused notetaker
Fireflies describes an AI notetaker called Fred that records, transcribes and summarises meetings with notes, decisions and action items. Around that core it adds a way to ask questions about your meeting, pull out key details or generate content such as follow-ups, tweets or summaries. It also describes AI SDRs and recruiters that attend meetings and speak on your behalf, capture without a bot in the meeting, and automatic language switching from meeting to meeting.
Fathom's homepage is narrower and more focused on the moment a call finishes. It says a full recap arrives the moment your meeting ends, action items included, so work keeps moving while everything's still fresh. It describes accurate speaker attribution, even in bot-free recordings, and a way to ask Fathom what was said about objections and get the answer straight away. It also says it's free to start, with a bot or bot-free.
So the split is about scope. Fireflies wants to be the assistant around your meetings, including ones you don't attend. Fathom wants the recap to be ready and right, and to stay out of the way while the call happens.
That difference shows up in the language each company uses. Fireflies talks about automating meetings, generating content and having software speak for you, which is the vocabulary of a team that wants fewer hours on calls. Fathom talks about work moving while everything's still fresh and never losing the thread, which is the vocabulary of someone who still wants to be in the room but doesn't want to write the notes. Neither is the wrong ambition. They're simply different, and it helps to know which one you share before you sign up for a team plan.
Two details worth reading twice
The first is on Fathom's own homepage, which opens with the words Fathom is now part of Superhuman. That means the notetaker sits inside a larger product family. Its pages still describe Fathom's recaps and capture, but before a team signs up it's fair to ask who'll handle your account, and whether help and settings now live under the Superhuman name.
The second is the bot question. Both vendors say they can capture meetings without a visible bot joining the call, which many clients and prospects will appreciate. Fireflies then goes much further than recording, with AI teammates that attend and speak for you. That's a very different thing to put in front of a customer, so test it on an internal call first and decide where your team draws the line.
A quick way to test both at once: record the same internal meeting with each tool, bot-free where you can. Then compare who's credited with what, how quickly the recap reaches you, and whether the action items match what people agreed. Ask each tool one question about the call, such as what was said about next steps, and check the answer against your own memory.
- Use a real internal call, not a demo, with at least three speakers.
- Note whether anyone in the call noticed the notetaker.
- Time how long each recap takes to arrive after the call ends.
- Check speaker names on a stretch where people talk over each other.
- Send one follow-up drafted by each tool and see which needed fewer edits.
The pair at a glance
A plain summary of what each tool is and who it tends to serve, in alphabetical order.
| Tool | Kind of tool | Who it tends to serve |
|---|---|---|
| Fathom | AI meeting notetaker | People wanting a fast recap with action items |
| Fireflies | AI meeting assistant | Teams wanting answers, follow-ups and AI teammates from calls |
And the same two, one line each, in no particular order beyond the alphabet.
Fathom
Best for: People who want a full recap with action items the moment a call ends, captured with a bot or bot-free. Vendor claim: Fathom is now part of Superhuman.
Fireflies
Best for: Teams wanting meetings recorded and transcribed, plus questions and AI teammates. Vendor claim: Fred records, transcribes and summarizes meetings with notes, decisions and action items.
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If you run sales, client or team calls
If you run a high volume of sales calls and want software that does more than take notes, Fireflies is built for that: questions about each meeting, generated follow-ups and AI SDRs that can attend and speak for you. If you mostly want a clean, quick recap with action items and fair speaker attribution, Fathom's pages describe exactly that, with a bot or bot-free.
Customer success teams sit in between. When your calls are relationship calls, a quiet recap that lands as the meeting ends may matter more than an assistant that speaks. When you juggle calls in several languages, Fireflies' automatic language switching is the detail to test. And for internal team meetings, the simplest tool that gets action items to the right people is usually enough.
For wider shortlists, see these Fireflies alternatives and Fathom alternatives, or the roundup of AI note takers if you're still deciding what kind of tool you need.
Do you make an AI meeting notetaker or assistant? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
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Frequently asked questions
Does Fathom offer a free plan?
Fathom's homepage says it's free to start, with a bot or bot-free. Limits change, so check Fathom's own site for what the free option includes before you rely on it.
Does Fireflies offer a free plan?
The Fireflies homepage lines quoted here don't mention one. Plans change, so look at Fireflies' own site for the current options.
Is Fathom part of Superhuman now?
Its own site says so. Fathom's homepage opens with the line Fathom is now part of Superhuman, while its pages still describe Fathom's recaps and capture.
Can either tool record without a bot joining the call?
Both say so. Fireflies lists capture without a bot in the meeting, and Fathom says it works with a bot or bot-free, with speaker attribution even in bot-free recordings.
What are AI teammates in Fireflies?
Fireflies describes AI SDRs and recruiters that attend meetings and speak on your behalf. Try them on internal calls before anyone outside your company meets one.
Can I ask questions about a meeting afterwards?
Both describe it. Fireflies lets you ask questions and generate follow-ups, and Fathom lets you ask what was said about objections and get an answer straight away.
