AI meeting transcription: Otter, Fireflies, Fathom
Three AI meeting assistants, three different logics. What sets Otter, Fireflies and Fathom apart, and which to choose for your real use.
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An AI assistant joins your meeting, records, transcribes and sends minutes before you have even hung up. The principle is now well established; the choice of tool, on the other hand, depends less on raw quality — it is close from one service to another — than on what you do with it next. Three tools come up systematically in comparisons: Otter, Fireflies and Fathom. Here is what really sets them apart.
Otter — transcription as the priority
Otter bets above all on the quality of the raw transcription, including for multi-voice exchanges or technical vocabulary. The free plan includes 300 minutes of transcription per month, with a cap of 30 minutes per conversation — enough to test the tool, a little short for regular use. The paid plans hover around $8 to $20 per user per month depending on commitment and volume.
Choose Otter if your priority is a faithful text above all, for example for interviews or technical meetings dense with vocabulary.
Fireflies — automation and integrations
Fireflies stands out for the number of possible connections to the rest of your tools (CRM, calendar, storage spaces) and for its multilingual handling. The free plan covers up to 800 minutes of storage, but provides only about twenty AI summaries per month — beyond that, the transcription stays available, the automatic synthesis does not. The paid plans start around $10 per user per month.
Choose Fireflies if you want to connect the meeting minutes to your other tools (CRM first) rather than read them in isolation.
Fathom — the most polished summary, for free
Fathom has the distinctive feature of an unlimited free plan on recordings, transcriptions and storage — the restriction is on the number of “advanced” AI summaries (about five per month). Its minutes, organised into key points, decisions and actions to take, are reputed to be among the best structured on the market. The paid plans start around $15 per user per month to lift this limit.
Choose Fathom if you want to start without paying and the structure of the minutes (decisions, actions) matters more than the volume of minutes.
The three in one table
A recap of the points that weigh when deciding. Prices and caps change regularly: check them on the official pages before you decide.
| Otter | Fireflies | Fathom | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 300 min/month, 30 min/conversation | ~800 min storage, ~20 summaries/month | Unlimited (except ~5 “advanced” summaries/month) |
| Starting paid price | ~$8–20/user/month | ~$10/user/month | ~$15/user/month |
| Strength | Transcription fidelity | Integrations (CRM…) + multilingual | Structured summaries (decisions, actions) |
| Ideal for | Interviews, technical meetings | Connecting minutes to your tools | Starting free, clear minutes |
The routing table
| Your priority | Reflex |
|---|---|
| Maximum transcription fidelity | Otter |
| Automation to CRM and other tools | Fireflies |
| Start for free, well-structured summary | Fathom |
| Frequent multilingual meetings | Fireflies |
A point of caution common to all three
These tools invite themselves into your meetings as a full participant: the other people present must be informed, and transcribing sensitive exchanges (HR, clients, contracts) raises the same confidentiality questions as any other use of AI at work. Before rolling the tool out to the whole team, reread our confidentiality habits for AI at work.
Choosing in three questions
No need to test all three for weeks. Three questions are enough to decide:
- Will I reread, or connect? If the minutes must feed other tools (CRM, calendar), Fireflies; if they are read as-is, Otter or Fathom.
- What is my starting budget? If zero, Fathom, whose free plan is the most generous.
- What costs me most if it gets it wrong? For interviews or technical vocabulary, prioritise fidelity: Otter.
Key takeaway
All three tools do the essentials: transcribe and summarise a meeting. To fit them into a full method before, during and after the meeting, follow our dedicated guide. What should decide is your real use — Otter for text fidelity, Fireflies for automation to your other tools, Fathom to start for free with well-structured minutes. Test on a real meeting before rolling out: prices and free caps change regularly, check them on the official pages before choosing.
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Frequently asked questions
Which one has the best free plan?
Fathom: its free plan is unlimited on recordings, transcriptions and storage. The only restriction is on the number of 'advanced' AI summaries, about five per month.
Which to choose to connect the minutes to a CRM?
Fireflies, which stands out for the number of possible connections to your other tools (CRM, calendar, storage) and for its multilingual handling.
Which offers the most faithful transcription?
Otter, which bets above all on the quality of the raw transcription, including for multi-voice exchanges or technical vocabulary.
Are there precautions to take before using them in a meeting?
Yes. These tools join the meeting as a full participant: the people present must be informed, and transcribing sensitive exchanges (HR, clients, contracts) raises the same confidentiality questions as any other use of AI at work.
Is AI transcription 100% reliable?
No. Strong accents, industry jargon and overlapping speech still generate errors across all three tools. The transcription remains an excellent starting point, but reread the passages that shape a decision before relying on them.
Do these tools handle French and multilingual meetings?
Yes, all three transcribe French. For regularly multilingual meetings, Fireflies handles several languages best. Still, check the list of supported languages on the official page, as it changes.