Minutes vs Fathom: when is free the wrong price?
By the makers of Minutes · updated 18 September 2026 · full disclosure
| Minutes | Fathom | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $24.99 one-time | Free, or $15 to $34 per user per month depending on plan and billing |
| Where the audio goes | Nowhere. It stays on your Mac | Fathom's cloud |
| Recording limits | None | None, even on the free plan |
| Works offline | Entirely | |
| Joins calls for you | You are in the meeting yourself | A bot, or bot-free capture in beta |
| Where notes live | Plain Markdown in a folder you own | Fathom's workspace |
| Search across meetings | Your own folder and Spotlight | Global search on paid plans |
| CRM sync | On Business | |
| Platforms | macOS 26 or later, Apple Silicon | Mac, Windows, web |
Why Minutes is better
- Nothing is uploaded. Recording, transcription and the summary run on your Mac.
- No cloud account to lose. Notes are Markdown files in a folder you choose.
- Both sides, kept apart. Your microphone and your Mac's audio are separate channels.
- Catches you confirm. Nothing goes to Calendar or Reminders until you tap Add.
Download Minutes freeGet all three apps, $24.99
macOS 26 or later on Apple Silicon · 7-day refund
Full comparison and details
Fathom has the most generous free plan in this category: unlimited recordings, unlimited transcription and AI summaries, at no cost. Minutes comes with Crest for $24.99 once and does the work on your own Mac, where the recording never leaves. This page is about the trade between those two, and it is a real trade.
Last updated: 18 September 2026
Full disclosure: this page is published by the makers of Minutes. Fathom's prices and limits below are taken from Fathom's own pages, checked on 18 September 2026.
The short version
Pick Minutes if what gets said in your meetings should not be on somebody else's server: salaries, health, clients, legal, anything under an NDA. Or you simply want the notes to be files you own, forever, with no account behind them.
Pick Fathom if the meetings are ordinary work calls, you want a searchable history across all of them, and you would rather pay nothing: its free plan includes unlimited recordings and AI summaries.
Side by side
The comparison table is at the top of this page.
Where Minutes is better
- Nothing is uploaded. Recording, transcription and the summary all run on your Mac with the models that ship inside macOS. Not encrypted in transit and stored carefully: never sent. Disconnect the network mid meeting and it keeps working.
- There is no cloud account to lose. Notes are Markdown files in a folder you choose. If you stop using Minutes, every note still opens in any editor. Nothing is behind a login that can expire, change terms, or be acquired.
- Both sides, kept apart by channel. Your microphone and the audio your Mac plays are recorded as separate channels, so who said what is a fact rather than a guess from voice matching.
- Catches you confirm. Decisions and action items come out with an Add button for Calendar and Reminders, and nothing is written anywhere until you tap it.
Where Fathom fits
- A free plan with no cap. Unlimited recordings, unlimited transcription and AI summaries at $0.
- It shows up so you do not have to. A bot joins the call, or bot-free capture handles it. Minutes records what your Mac hears while you are in the meeting.
- Teams and CRM. Shared search across every call, coaching metrics, and CRM syncing on the higher plans. Minutes has none of these.
- It runs on Windows and the web. Minutes is a Mac app, on a recent macOS, on Apple Silicon.
The pricing math
Fathom is free for unlimited recordings and summaries. Premium is $20 per user per month, or $16 billed annually. Team is $19 and $15, Business $34 and $25. Minutes comes with Crest: $24.99 once buys Crest Pro, Take and Minutes.
On price alone Fathom wins, and it is not close: free is free. The reason to pay $24.99 anyway is that free means your meetings live on a server you do not control, under terms that can change. For a lot of calls that is fine. For some of them it is not, and only you know which kind you have.
FAQ
Is Fathom really free?
Yes. Its free plan includes unlimited recordings, unlimited transcription and AI call summaries. Paid plans start at $16 per user per month billed annually for one person on Premium, or $15 a user on the two-user Team plan, and add advanced summaries, global search and CRM features. Prices from fathom.ai/pricing, checked 18 September 2026.
Is there an AI note taker that does not upload anything?
Yes. Minutes records, transcribes and summarizes entirely on your Mac using the models inside macOS, so there is no server to send audio to.
Can Minutes join a meeting without me?
No. It captures what your Mac plays and what your microphone hears while you are in the call. If you need something to attend for you, Fathom does that.
What happens to my notes if I stop paying?
Nothing happens to the notes: they are Markdown files already on your disk. Buy Minutes once and there is nothing to stop paying; if you subscribe and stop, the files stay exactly where they are.
Which Macs does Minutes run on?
macOS 26 or later on Apple Silicon. That floor is the reason there is nothing to download and nothing to upload.
Keep the meeting on your Mac
Both sides of the call transcribed, a summary written on device, and the promises pulled out with an Add button. Plain Markdown in a folder you own. Comes with Crest: $24.99 once for Crest Pro, Take and Minutes.
Get all three apps, $24.99 Try free for 7 daysmacOS 26 or later on Apple Silicon · nothing uploaded, ever · 7-day trial, no card up front
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