Granola vs Fathom

Granola and Fathom take different paths to the same goal. Granola listens quietly on your device and enhances the notes you type, with no visible bot. Fathom records and transcribes the full meeting, keeps the video, and offers one of the most generous free tiers in the category.

Pick Granola for private, low-friction notes on Mac, Windows, and iOS. Pick Fathom if you want free unlimited recordings, video playback, and AI summaries without paying upfront. The choice comes down to silent notes versus a full recorded record.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Recording and consent laws vary by state and country, so consult qualified counsel before rolling either tool out across your organization.

Granola vs. Fathom: Side-by-Side

What Each Tool Actually Is

Granola is an AI notepad that runs on your computer and phone. It captures meeting audio on-device and rewrites your rough notes into a clean summary, with nothing shown in the participant list.

Fathom is a recording-first assistant. It captures the meeting audio and video, transcribes it, and generates AI summaries, action items, and clips you can search and share.

Granola centers your notes and stays quiet. Fathom centers a complete, replayable recording of the whole meeting.

The gap shows up in what you walk away with. Granola leaves you a clean summary to act on, while Fathom leaves you a searchable video you can revisit, clip, and share with people who missed the call.

• Granola: on-device listening, no bot, note enhancement.
• Fathom: records audio and video, transcribes, and clips.
• Granola gives you a summary; Fathom gives you the whole recording.

Capture Model: Silent Notes vs Recording

Granola's defining trait is silent, on-device capture with no visible bot. Other attendees may not know notes are being taken, which is exactly why some users prefer it.

Fathom records the meeting, including video, and offers a choice between a standard bot and a bot-free capture mode that is in beta. Its default posture is a full recording you can replay later.

A stored video recording is powerful for coaching and reference, but it also raises the stakes on consent. Everyone in the frame is now on tape.

The bot-free mode narrows the gap with Granola, but it is still in beta. For now, Fathom's default identity is a recorder, and that is the lens to judge it through when you weigh it against a silent notepad.

• Granola: silent, on-device notes; no stored video.
• Fathom: full audio and video recording; bot or bot-free capture.
• Recording depth raises both usefulness and consent stakes.

Free Tier Compared

Fathom's free tier is its strongest selling point. It includes unlimited recordings and transcriptions plus instant AI summaries, which is unusually generous for a note-taker.

Granola's free Basic plan includes AI notes, chat, folders, and templates, but limits meeting history. It is a strong personal notepad, not an unlimited archive.

If you want to record and keep everything without paying, Fathom's free tier is hard to beat. If you want clean notes rather than a full recording archive, Granola's free plan fits. Confirm current limits on each vendor's site.

The catch with a generous free tier is data. Free unlimited recording means you accumulate a lot of stored video quickly, which is powerful but also something your team should govern from day one.

• Fathom free: unlimited recordings and transcriptions, AI summaries.
• Granola free: AI notes, chat, folders, templates, limited history.
• Verify current free-tier terms on granola.ai and fathom.ai.

Paid Pricing (Annual and Monthly)

Granola's Business plan is listed at $14 per user per month, with Enterprise at $35 per user per month. Both add unlimited history, advanced AI, and integrations over the free tier.

Fathom's paid plans start with Premium at $20 per month, or $16 per month billed annually. Its Team plan is $19 per user per month, or $15 annually, and Business is $34 per user per month, or $25 annually, adding CRM field sync.

Because Fathom's free tier is so capable, many users never pay. When they do, the tiers are close to Granola's. Pricing changes often, so confirm current numbers on each vendor's pricing page.

The real cost question is not the sticker price. It is whether you need the paid features at all, since Fathom's free recording covers a lot. Map your must-have features to the lowest tier that includes them before you commit a budget.

• Granola: Business $14/user/mo; Enterprise $35/user/mo.
• Fathom: Premium $20/mo ($16 annual); Team $19/user/mo ($15 annual); Business $34/user/mo ($25 annual).
• Fathom's free tier reduces the need to upgrade; verify on fathom.ai/pricing.

→ Compare per-token pricing for every AI model

Video, Recording, and Reference

Fathom's video recording is a real differentiator. You get a replayable recording with searchable transcript, clips, and playlists, which is valuable for coaching, onboarding, and dispute resolution.

Granola does not build around stored video. It produces a summary of what was said and enhances your notes, so there is no recording to replay later.

If you need to revisit exactly what happened on camera, Fathom wins. If you only need the takeaways and prefer not to store a recording, Granola wins.

Recording also changes how people behave on a call. Some participants speak more carefully when a camera is rolling, which is worth weighing for sensitive or candid conversations where a summary might serve you better.

• Fathom: replayable video, clips, playlists, searchable transcript.
• Granola: summary-first notes with no stored video.
• Choose by whether you need a replay or just the outcome.

Integrations and CRM

Fathom connects to Salesforce and HubSpot, with CRM field sync available on its Business tier, so meeting outcomes can update deal records automatically.

Granola's Business plan integrates with Notion, Slack, HubSpot, and Zapier, plus API and MCP access. It is flexible for knowledge-base and custom workflows.

For revenue teams that want CRM fields updated from calls, Fathom's Business sync is a clear draw. For teams that want notes in a shared workspace, Granola's connectors are enough.

• Fathom: Salesforce and HubSpot, with CRM field sync on Business.
• Granola: Notion, Slack, HubSpot, Zapier, API, and MCP access.
• CRM field sync favors Fathom; knowledge-base flows favor Granola.

Privacy, Consent, and Training-Data Defaults

The privacy tradeoff is sharp. Granola captures silently, so participants may not know notes are being taken, and the burden of consent falls on you.

Fathom stores a full recording, often with a visible bot, so recording is usually obvious. But a stored video also means more sensitive data to protect and govern than a silent summary.

On training data, the complaint against Granola alleges it uses captured communications for AI model training by default. Fathom's own training and retention defaults should be confirmed on its site. Federal wiretap law and state all-party consent statutes like California's can apply to either tool.

• Granola's silent capture puts the consent burden on the user.
• Fathom's stored recording is obvious but holds more sensitive data.
• Confirm each vendor's training and retention defaults before rollout.

Data Governance and Admin Controls

Admin controls are what separate a personal tool from an enterprise one. Granola's Enterprise plan adds SSO, org-wide auto-deletion periods, and a company-wide option to opt out of model training.

Fathom stores full video, which raises the governance stakes. Its Enterprise tier adds SSO, SCIM, and custom data retention, but a video archive still needs clear access and deletion rules.

For a security review, the questions are the same for either tool. Where is the data stored, how long is it kept, who can access it, and is it used for training?

Retention is the setting teams miss most. A recording that lingers for years becomes a liability if it is ever subpoenaed, so set a deletion window that matches your policy.

• Granola Enterprise: SSO, auto-deletion, company-wide training opt-out.
• Fathom Enterprise: SSO, SCIM, and custom data retention controls.
• Confirm storage, retention, access, and training answers in writing.

The AI Note-Taker Litigation Context

AI note-takers are now the subject of class-action litigation. In Chamberlain v. Granola, Inc., No. 3:26-cv-07926 (N.D. Cal., filed July 30, 2026), the complaint alleges Granola recorded conversations without all-party consent and used the audio to train AI models.

The case is early-stage, and every claim is an allegation, not a ruling. Parallel class actions have been filed against Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai, so the legal question spans the whole category.

Plaintiffs face a real hurdle. Federal wiretap law often allows recording when one party consents, and the tool's own user is that party. The Ninth Circuit also reads the exception for a criminal or tortious purpose narrowly, so state all-party consent laws like California's may carry more weight.

For the full picture, see our guides on the Granola lawsuit and the broader AI note-taker lawsuits. They explain the federal wiretap theory and the one-party versus all-party consent divide.

• Chamberlain v. Granola is early-stage; nothing is proven.
• Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai face parallel suits on similar theories.
• The core federal theory rests on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

Setup, Learning Curve, and Daily Use

Granola is fast to start. You install the app, type notes during the call, and let the AI clean them up. There is little to learn and no group setup.

Fathom is also easy to begin, thanks to its free tier, but it introduces a recording to manage. You review the video, trim clips, and share highlights after each meeting.

In daily use, Granola feels like a quiet notepad, while Fathom feels like a video library of your meetings. One gives you takeaways; the other gives you a replay.

The choice shapes what you store. Granola keeps a light summary, while Fathom keeps a full recording that your team will want rules for, especially as the archive grows.

• Granola: minimal setup, notepad-like, stores a light summary.
• Fathom: easy free start, but builds a video archive to manage.
• Granola gives takeaways; Fathom gives a replayable library.

Which Should You Choose?

Choose Granola if you want quiet, well-formatted notes with no bot and no stored recording. It suits founders, consultants, and privacy-minded teams.

Choose Fathom if you want a free, replayable recording with transcript, clips, and CRM sync. Its generous free tier makes it easy to start, and its video is valuable for coaching.

Some teams use both. They run Granola for sensitive internal conversations they would rather not record, and Fathom for calls where a replay genuinely helps training or handoffs.

Whichever you pick, govern the output. Fathom's stored recordings and Granola's silent capture each need a policy for consent, access, and retention.

• Granola: silent notes, no stored video, low friction.
• Fathom: free unlimited recording, video replay, CRM sync.
• Set consent, access, and retention rules before scaling.

The Verdict

There is no universal winner, because Granola and Fathom optimize for different things. Granola wins as a silent notepad; Fathom wins as a free, full-recording tool with video.

Fathom's generous free tier and replayable video make it easy to adopt and valuable for coaching, onboarding, and reference. Granola's on-device, no-bot model appeals to anyone who wants notes without a recording sitting in the cloud.

Paid pricing is close, so let capture style and governance decide. Granola's silent model needs a consent plan, while Fathom's stored recordings need access and retention rules. Pilot both on real meetings and confirm current pricing and data defaults on each vendor's site.