Fathom vs Granola: Which AI Note Taker Fits Recruiters? (2026)

Prices and features checked on each vendor’s own site on 21 October 2026. Neither vendor paid for or reviewed this article.

What is the difference between Fathom and Granola?

Both are AI note takers that write a summary of your call when it ends. The difference is how they capture the call and what they keep afterwards.

Fathom is a meeting recorder. In its classic setup a Fathom bot joins your Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams call, records audio and video, and sends an AI summary as soon as the call ends. Its pricing page now also offers bot free capture in beta.

Granola is an AI notepad. It never sends a bot. You open a note, Granola transcribes your microphone and computer audio, and when the call ends it combines your own typed notes with the transcript. Its security page says it does not store meeting audio, only the transcript and your notes.

How do Fathom and Granola compare side by side?

This table uses each vendor’s own pricing pages and help centers.

How much do Fathom and Granola cost in 2026?

Both publish their prices. Fathom shows annual and monthly rates, and its team plans need at least 2 users. Granola’s billing help page says Basic and Business are billed monthly, and annual billing is only offered on Enterprise contracts.

Note that Fathom Team at $15 is cheaper per seat than Premium at $16, but Team needs a second paying user. Granola’s help page lists Enterprise as “from” $35, so larger teams may get a different figure.

What does each one cost per year by team size?

This is a Work Insiders calculation from the published prices above. Fathom figures use annual billing. Granola Business figures are 12 monthly payments, since it has no annual option. Taxes are not included.

For a 10 person recruiting desk, Granola Business costs $120 a year less than Fathom Team. If you need CRM field sync, the like for like Fathom plan is Business at $3,000.

Is Fathom free forever?

Fathom says so. Its pricing page labels the free plan “free forever”, and its cost FAQ says the free version includes unlimited storage and recordings. Some features, such as advanced summaries and Ask Fathom, are marked as limited use on free.

What is the catch with Granola’s free plan?

History. You can take unlimited notes on Basic, but only the last 30 days show in the app. Granola says older notes are stored, not deleted, and come back when you upgrade. Basic also limits integrations to Slack and chat to the Auto model.

Does Granola join the call as a bot?

No. Granola’s transcription guide says there is no meeting bot. It runs on your computer and uses your system audio and microphone, so it works with Zoom, Meet, Teams, Slack huddles and internet calling apps. You have to open a note for it to start; it does not record meetings on its own.

Fathom works the other way by default. A bot joins as a visible participant, and Fathom’s help center says it can only record if you are also on the call. Its newer desktop experience adds capture modes: transcript only, audio only and full audio and video with the bot. Fathom’s upgrade guide says this is Mac only for now, with Windows bot free capture in a limited Teams alpha.

Who is responsible for recording consent?

You are, with either tool. Recording and transcription laws differ by state and country, and some require every person on the call to agree. Both vendors give you ways to notify people, but neither takes on the legal duty for you.

Fathom’s consent FAQ says there is no way to record silently. With the bot, participants see it in the list and Fathom shows a recording banner. In bot free mode, its Recording Notice posts this in the meeting chat: “Fathom is recording and taking notes, and you consent by continuing.” If that notice is off, Fathom asks you to confirm consent in the app.

Granola offers an automated chat message and a camera watermark, which users can switch on for themselves on Basic and Business. On Enterprise an admin can enforce them. Its consent guide recommends getting consent whenever you transcribe others, and its notice page says customers “remain responsible for determining what notice or consent is required”.

Which note taker is better for candidate interviews?

It depends on what you need after the call. If hiring managers want to watch a clip of the candidate, Fathom is the only one of the two that keeps video.

If you run phone screens and back to back calls and only need clean written notes, Granola fits well. It also works on phone calls through its iOS app and in person on mobile. You still need to tell candidates, and Granola’s notice tools only work if you switch them on.

For structured interview scorecards and ATS sync, neither is built for it. See our Metaview vs BrightHire comparison for tools made for interviews.

How good are the summaries and transcripts?

Neither vendor publishes an accuracy rate, so test both on your own calls.

Fathom’s languages page lists transcripts in 38 languages, with translated summaries in six of them. Paid plans add more than 15 summary templates, including sales frameworks like BANT and Sandler, and Business adds custom summary templates for your organization.

Granola builds its notes around what you type, so your own shorthand guides the summary. Speaker tags name each person on Meet, Zoom and Teams on Mac and Windows; without them, the transcript shows “Me” and “Them”. You can add personal jargon to improve spelling of names and terms, and Business adds a workspace dictionary. Templates and saved prompts called recipes are on every plan.

Does Fathom or Granola sync notes to a CRM or ATS?

Both sync to CRMs. Neither documents a native integration with Greenhouse, Lever, Bullhorn or any other ATS on its integrations pages, which we checked on 21 October 2026.

Fathom connects to HubSpot, Salesforce and Close. Its Salesforce guide says it matches external attendees to Contacts by email and logs the summary as a Task. It does not match against Leads. Field mapping into specific CRM fields needs the Business plan.

Granola’s integrations page lists its own connectors for HubSpot, Attio and Affinity, and Salesforce through Zapier. Its pricing page puts these on Business, with a more advanced Salesforce option on Enterprise.

Both connect to Zapier, which you could test as a route into an ATS. Neither vendor documents one.

Can I ask questions across all my meetings?

Yes, with both. Fathom’s Ask Fathom answers questions about one call, and an account wide version that searches all your calls is in beta. Paid plans have unlimited lookback on your own calls.

Granola Chat works on every plan, across one meeting, a folder, selected meetings or everything. Its chat guide says Basic can reach the last 30 days and paid plans reach your full history. Business also lets you pick the AI model.

Do Fathom and Granola have an API or MCP server?

Both have a first party MCP server, so Claude, ChatGPT and other AI assistants can search your meeting notes. Fathom’s MCP docs give the server address as api.fathom.ai/mcp. Its integrations page says the Claude and ChatGPT connections are on every plan, while its pricing table lists the public API and MCP among paid features.

Granola’s MCP reaches your own notes from the last 30 days on Basic, and personal plus shared workspace notes on Business. Its MCP page says MCP is off by default for enterprises until an admin turns it on. The Granola API, with webhooks, is on Business and Enterprise.

Who should choose Fathom?

• Solo recruiters who want unlimited free recordings and summaries.
• Teams that share video clips of calls with hiring managers or clients.
• Agency desks that want call notes written into HubSpot or Salesforce.
• Buyers who want a 90 day money back guarantee on paid plans.

Who should choose Granola?

• Recruiters who do not want a bot in candidate or client calls.
• People who like to type their own notes and have AI fill the gaps.
• Teams that prefer no stored audio for privacy reasons.
• Recruiters who take phone and in person meetings as well as video calls.
• Small teams paying month to month at $14 a seat.

Which one should I pick?

What are the best alternatives to Fathom and Granola?

If neither fits, these listings cover similar ground.

Tool	What it does differently	Best for
Metaview	AI notes built for interviews	Teams that want interview notes in the ATS
BrightHire	Interview intelligence platform	Structured interviewing at scale
Sorinai	Bot free notepad that fills a screening sheet live	Agency screens on video, phone and WhatsApp
Grain	Bot free notes with free viewer seats	Teams where many people read notes
Otter	Live transcripts during the call	People who want to read along
Fireflies	Transcription in 100+ languages, API on all plans	Multilingual teams
tl;dv	Free recordings, 30+ languages	Budget video recording
Read AI	Meeting coach and search across email and chat	People who want coaching

See every tool in our AI note takers category.

How should you trial both before you choose?

Both have free plans, so you can run them side by side without paying. Fathom’s paid plans also come with a free trial and a 90 day money back guarantee. Granola offers time limited trials of Business and Enterprise and lets you cancel at any time, with the plan running to the end of the billing period.

Run the same five calls through each: a candidate screen, a client intake call, an internal meeting, a phone call and one with a strong accent or jargon. Set up your consent message before the first external call, not after.

Look for program discounts too. Fathom offers up to 2 years of Team free for startups backed by select VCs and 10 free seats for nonprofits. Granola offers 12 months of Business free for accepted startups and students, and 50% off for nonprofits.

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