Fathom
by Fathom
Getting-started guide
A free AI note-taker for Zoom, Google Meet and Teams that records, transcribes and summarises your calls — generous on the free plan, with sharing defaults worth changing.
Last reviewed 2026-10-24 · for Fathom
You connect your Google or Microsoft calendar and install Fathom's desktop app. When a Zoom, Meet or Teams call starts, Fathom records it — usually with a visible "Fathom Notetaker" bot — then gives you a transcript, an AI summary and highlights you can clip and share. On a Mac there's also a newer bot-free mode.
Fathom is an AI meeting assistant. Its homepage describes it as an AI notetaker that summarizes your meetings so you can focus on the conversation. It works with Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, and its free plan includes unlimited recordings, storage and transcription, per its help centre.
Most people meet Fathom as a bot: a participant called "Fathom Notetaker" joins the call and records. Fathom's help centre says a newer bot-free mode is rolling out on Macs, which can capture just a transcript or audio without a bot. For Microsoft Teams, bot-free recording is so far only a limited Windows alpha, so expect the bot on Teams calls for now. Fathom records only while you are on the call and leaves when the meeting ends.
After the call you get a transcript in one of 38 languages, an AI summary using a meeting template, and highlights you can turn into short clips. Free includes limited use of Ask Fathom, a chat that answers questions about your calls; Fathom's pricing page says paid plans make it unlimited for your own calls, with unlimited lookback, and add AI action items, follow-up emails and CRM syncing. An iPhone app records in-person conversations.
You need a Google or Microsoft account. Fathom's help centre says it only supports Google- or Microsoft-based email addresses. Signing up with a personal address like Gmail has an extra hurdle: Fathom's quick-start guide says you need a Zoom, Meet or Teams meeting on your calendar in the next seven days to finish sign-up.
The free plan is genuinely useful. Fathom's help centre lists unlimited recordings, storage and transcription on Free, with its advanced AI summaries for a limited number of calls each month and a simpler summary after that. New accounts also get a 30-day free preview of the paid Premium features.
Paid plans are per person. Premium, Team and Business are each billed per user, with a discount for paying annually; current prices are on its Launchpad page. Team and Business need at least two users. Fathom's pricing page shows both monthly and annual prices as "/month", so check the Monthly/Annually toggle before you buy.
Official source: Sign up at fathom.ai and download the desktop app from fathom.video/download. Fathom's help centre warns about impostors posing as Fathom, so don't install anything from a link in an unexpected email.
Turn on consent requests. Fathom has an opt-in setting, Auto Request Recording Consent, that emails guests 24 hours before an external, scheduled meeting — but only in some cases. Its help centre says that with the bot, you must be the host and there must be exactly one guest; in bot-free mode it covers scheduled external meetings, and on Zoom only if you have host rights. Same-day meetings get no email. If a guest declines, auto-record is switched off for that call — but if nobody replies, Fathom still records.
Check who gets the notes. Fathom's sharing guide says that if auto-share is turned on, notes go to everyone on the calendar invite, including people who didn't attend. Leave it off, or limit it, until you know what a recap contains.
Lock down links. On Free and individual plans, recording links default to "Anyone with the link can view". Restrict sensitive recordings one by one, and remember a share can't be unsent, only revoked.
Run a test call. Start a meeting on your own and confirm a recording and summary appear in Fathom afterwards.
Recording a meeting records other people. Fathom's help centre says there's no way to silently record — the bot is visible, Zoom shows a recording banner, and bot-free mode posts a notice in the chat — and it warns that recording without consent can be illegal in some places. Telling people at the start of the call is still on you.
In your settings, check whether auto-share is on and, if it is, limit who receives notes; then switch recording links away from the "Anyone with the link" default.
Why this one: If auto-share is on, Fathom sends notes to everyone on the invite, and on Free and individual plans recording links default to anyone-with-the-link. Checking both first means nothing leaves your account by surprise.
Start a Zoom, Meet or Teams call with yourself (or a friend who's agreed), talk for a few minutes, then end it and open the recording in Fathom.
Why this one: It confirms your calendar and platform are connected properly before a real meeting depends on it.
In a finished recording, highlight a key exchange and turn it into a clip to share.
Why this one: Clips are where Fathom saves other people time: a 90-second clip beats sending someone an hour-long recording.
What did we agree on next steps, and who owns each one?
Why this one: Try this in Ask Fathom during your 30-day Premium preview. It shows whether the paid chat features are worth it before the preview ends.
Want the full picture first? See the Fathom overview for pricing, the free tier and related tools.
