Fathom vs Sembly (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Fathom: it is second in our ranking of AI meeting note takers, and it grades higher too, 2.8 against 2.4.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Fathom grades higher on the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Fathom
AI notetaker for Zoom, Google Meet and Teams with a free plan
Sembly
AI meeting agent that records, summarizes and drafts follow-ups
Which one is for you
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
Pick Sembly if
- Fits if you want a bot that joins calls from your calendar
- Works for consultants who send follow-ups, status reports and decks to clients
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 1 meeting hour a month
- Watch out: Studio credits meter the deck and document work, and extra credits are sold separately
- Pricey if you want multi-meeting chat or custom templates, since those start at Pro, $20 a user a month
- Watch out: MAX needs at least 3 users and Enterprise at least 10
- Skip it if you use a platform beyond Zoom, Meet, Teams or Webex
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAFathomGood | 2.4GPASemblyFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPremium, the plan for one person, is $16 a month on the yearly deal and $20 monthly; Team is $15 but needs two of you. That's the dear end of a category starting near $10, and CRM field sync and coaching scorecards wait on Business at $25. | C$10 a month on Basic, billed yearly, for one user, just above the cheaper quarter's $8.33. Pro is $20 a user and MAX $30. |
| Free plan and trial | BUnlimited recordings, storage and transcription with a summary after every call, plus clips and playlists — a plan one person could really live on. The caps are real, though: advanced summaries cover the first 5 calls a month, and action items and Ask Fathom are rationed. | CThe free plan covers 1 meeting hour a month, with a 7-day trial on paid plans. |
| Features | BIt covers the job: bot or, on a Mac, bot-free capture in beta, a summary when the call ends, questions across all your calls, clips and playlists, notes into HubSpot, Salesforce or Close, and shared search and keyword alerts for teams. Fireflies and tldv cover the same ground. | BCalendar capture, transcripts in 45+ languages, tasks, decks and documents from meeting content, client folders and integrations. Nothing on the listing shows a gap in the core note-taking job. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record, but nothing to set up: the summary is waiting when the call ends and there's nothing for you to do in between. | CNo store rating on record. You connect a calendar and set up clients and brand packages. |
| Platforms and integrations | BMac, Windows and iPhone, sending notes to Slack, Notion, Asana, HubSpot, Salesforce and Zapier. No Android app, and Linux, Chromebooks and iPads aren't supported. | BWeb only, with Slack, HubSpot, Jira, Asana, Salesforce, Zapier and MCP, but no desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | free recording and transcripts of video calls | a notetaker that joins your calls and drafts follow-ups |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Fathom and Sembly. How we grade
Price against what you get
Fathom starts at $15 a month for each person and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Sembly starts at $10 a month and scores 2.7.
Fathom scores higher, and starts $5 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI meeting note takers on the chart, 15 score higher than Fathom for less, and 14 score higher than Sembly for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Fathom also covers templates.
- Sembly also covers tasks.
At a glance
| Fathom | Sembly | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $15 per user / month, billed annually (Team plan, 2-user minimum) | $10 per month, billed annually ($14 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Unlimited recordings, storage and transcription with instant AI summaries, clips and playlists. Advanced summaries cover only the first 5 calls each month, and action items and Ask Fathom have limited use. | 1 hour of meeting capture per month, transcripts, notes and summaries, tasks, basic AI chat and 750 Studio credits a month. |
| Free trial | Free trial on Premium, Team and Business; the pricing page does not give its length. Paid plans carry a 90-day guarantee. | 7-day free trial on Basic, Pro and MAX |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Fathom Video Inc. (part of Superhuman) | Sembly AI, Inc. |
| Price read from | fathom.ai | sembly.ai |
| Checked | Nov 9, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Sembly
- The free plan covers 1 meeting hour a month; all other plans are unlimited for capture.
- Studio credits meter the AI deliverable work; extra credits are sold separately on paid plans.
- MAX needs at least 3 users and Enterprise at least 10.
- The pricing page lists capture for Google Meet, Teams, Zoom and Webex only, and the dashboard runs in a browser.
Key features
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.
Sembly
- Calendar-based meeting capture
- Records Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex meetings from a synced calendar, and can attend meetings you skip.
- Transcripts in 45+ languages
- Word-for-word transcripts with named speakers, plus notes with a summary, topics, decisions, risks and next steps.
- Tasks with owners and deadlines
- Commitments raised in a meeting become tasks that can be confirmed and then sent on to project management tools.
- Decks and documents from meetings
- Generates proposals, status reports and follow-up emails from meeting content, exported as editable PowerPoint and Word files.
- Clients and brand packages
- Organizes work by client and applies a brand package to generated files. Limits rise from 5 clients on Free to 500 on MAX.
- AI chat across meetings
- Free and Basic chat about a single meeting. Pro and above can ask questions across several meetings.
Plans
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.
Sembly
Free$0
1 meeting hour a month, notes, tasks, basic AI chat, 1 month of meeting history and 750 Studio credits.
Basic$10
per month, billed annually ($14 billed monthly)
One user. Unlimited online meetings, 12 months of history, standard video, 2,500 Studio credits a month.
Pro$20
per user / month, billed annually ($29 billed monthly)
Up to 40 users. Adds custom note templates, multi-meeting AI chat, consent tracking, MCP and 3,000 credits.
MAX$30
per user / month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly)
3 to 500 users. Adds unlimited history, HIPAA compliance, custom SSO, audit log, HD video, 3,500 credits.
EnterpriseCustom
For 10 or more users or custom contracts and DPAs; adds a dedicated success manager and onboarding.
Ways to pay less
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.
Sembly
- Annual discount
Save 30% with annual billing
Sembly's pricing page shows annual billing at 30% off: Basic $10 instead of $14, Pro $20 instead of $29 and MAX $30 instead of $39 per month.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Fathom or Sembly?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Fathom starts at $15 per user / month, billed annually (Team plan, 2-user minimum), and Sembly starts at $10 per month, billed annually ($14 billed monthly). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Fathom or Sembly?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Fathom and Sembly have a free plan.
Which platforms do Fathom and Sembly run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Fathom lists macOS, Windows and iOS apps and only Sembly lists a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.