Bubbles vs Fathom (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Bubbles if

• Fits if you're on a Mac and want to look back over the last two hours
• Works for small teams that want a notetaker and shareable replay clips

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you stay free: 5 recordings a week, 30 minutes each, locked after 2 weeks
• Pricey if you're alone: $18 a month while the workspace has 1 or 2 members
• Watch out: on the free plan the Notetaker joins all meetings with 2 or more invitees, and everyone gets the recording
• Not for you if you don't use a Mac and want a no-bot mode, which needs macOS 13 or later
• Watch out: the homepage says no bots join calls, but the notetaker is a bot

Pick Fathom if

• Fits if you want unlimited call recording and transcripts on the free plan
• Works for sales teams that want call notes landing in HubSpot or Salesforce

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you're on Android, Linux, a Chromebook or an iPad, as none of those are supported
• Not for you if you want no bot in the call on Windows, since bot-free capture is Mac only and in beta
• Pricey if you're one person who wants the advanced summary on every call, at $16 a month yearly ($20 monthly)
• Tight if you stay free: advanced summaries cover 5 calls a month, and action items and Ask Fathom are rationed
• Watch out: Team and Business need at least 2 users, and CRM field sync and scorecards need Business at $25 a user

Bubbles

• The homepage says no bots join your calls, while the Notetaker and pricing pages describe a bot that joins meetings; the two modes work differently.
• The download listed is for macOS 13 or later; the Notetaker is the route for other computers.
• On the free plan the Notetaker joins all meetings with 2 or more invitees and every invitee gets the recording.
• Pro pricing is $18 per member a month for 1 or 2 members and $12 at 3 or more.

Fathom

• On the Free plan, advanced summaries cover only the first 5 calls each month, and action items and Ask Fathom are limited.
• Team and Business plans have a 2-user minimum.
• Bot-free capture is Mac only for now. There is no Android app, and Linux, Chromebooks and iPads are not supported.
• CRM field sync, deal view and coaching scorecards require the Business plan.

Bubbles

Two-hour rolling replay

The Mac app keeps the last two hours of screen and audio, encrypted on your computer, and erases the oldest minute as new ones arrive.

Notes from jotted fragments

During a call you can type a few fragments; on save, AI turns the transcript and your fragments into a summary, action items and a full transcript.

AI Notetaker for calendar meetings

After you connect a calendar, the Notetaker joins meetings on Zoom, Google Meet and Teams and emails a summary and action items.

Trim and share

Scroll back through the replay, trim a moment and share a link. The site says only the trimmed part is uploaded.

Chat with your meetings

The site shows ChatGPT and Claude among the places where you can chat with your meeting content, and it publishes a Bubbles API.

Controls on who gets recordings

On Pro you choose which meetings the Notetaker joins and who receives recordings. On the free plan all invitees receive them.

Fathom

Bot or bot-free capture

Record with a meeting bot that joins the call, or capture from the desktop app with nothing added to the meeting. Bot-free capture is in beta and currently works on Mac only.

AI summaries and action items

A summary is ready when the call ends. Free accounts get advanced summary templates on their first 5 calls each month; paid plans remove the cap and add AI action items.

Ask Fathom

Ask questions about a single call or across the calls in your account and get answers drawn from the transcripts. Use is limited on the Free plan.

Clips and playlists

Cut highlights out of a recording and group them into playlists to share with people who missed the meeting. Included on every plan.

CRM sync

Sends call notes to HubSpot, Salesforce or Close. The Business plan adds CRM field sync, a deal view, and coaching metrics with AI scorecards.

Team workspace

Team plans add global search across everyone's calls, comments, folders and keyword alerts that flag when chosen terms come up.

Bubbles

• BasicFree

  5 meeting recordings a week of up to 30 minutes, unlimited screen recordings; Bubbles lock after 2 weeks and the Notetaker joins all meetings.

• Pro Teams$12

  per member / month, billed yearly ($15 billed monthly)

  For workspaces of 3 or more: unlimited length and recordings, AI transcripts, choose which meetings the Notetaker joins, custom branding.

• Pro Personal$18

  per member / month, billed yearly ($22 billed monthly)

  Same features as Pro Teams for workspaces of 1 or 2 members; switches to Pro Teams pricing when the workspace reaches 3.

Fathom

• Free$0

  Unlimited recordings and transcription, instant AI summaries, clips, playlists and search across calls.

• Team$15

  per user / month, billed annually ($19 monthly), 2-user minimum

  Everything in Premium, plus global search across calls, comments, folders and keyword alerts.

• Premium$16

  per user / month, billed annually ($20 monthly)

  For individuals: advanced call summaries, AI action items, the conversational assistant and a custom meeting bot.

• Business$25

  per user / month, billed annually ($34 monthly), 2-user minimum

  Everything in Team, plus CRM field sync, deal view, coaching metrics with AI scorecards and custom summaries.

• Enterprise$35

  per user / month, billed annually only, sold through sales

  Everything in Business, plus SSO, SCIM provisioning, custom retention, a dedicated success manager and hands-on implementation. Bought by booking a meeting.

Bubbles

• Annual discount

  Yearly billing lowers the member price

  Pro Teams is $12 a member billed yearly against $15 billed monthly. Pro Personal is $18 against $22.

Fathom

• Annual discount

  Lower per-user price on annual billing

  Fathom labels annual billing "save 25%+". At listed prices Premium drops from $20 to $16, Team from $19 to $15 and Business from $34 to $25 per user per month.

• Nonprofit

  10 free seats for nonprofits

  Fathom's pricing page offers nonprofits 10 free seats. An application is required.

• Startups

  Up to 2 years of Team free for startups

  Under the Qualified Portfolio Program, startups affiliated with select venture firms and accelerators get up to 2 years of Fathom Team free.