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Bubbles vs Fathom

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors. Bubbles starts at $12, Fathom at $20. Both have a free tier. Only Fathom ships a public API.

BubblesJoins meetings to record, transcribe, and summarize them, plus async video replies for skipping live calls.FathomMeeting recorder with instant summaries and CRM write-back

Side by side

FactBubblesFathom
CategoryMeeting Recording & NotesMeeting Assistants
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at$12 seat_month$20 month
Public APINoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, macOS, API
Company—Fathom
Launched—2020
Last verifiedSep 1, 2026Sep 6, 2026

What our research says

Bubbles

Bubbles combines a meeting note-taker with async video messaging, so a team can either have it sit in on calls for transcripts and summaries or skip the call and record a video update instead. It lists some large reference customers, but per-seat pricing adds up once recordings need to be kept indefinitely.

Pros

  • Combines live meeting recording with async video replies in one product
  • Free plan includes AI summaries and action items, not just raw recording
  • SOC2 Type II certified
  • Notable enterprise customers listed as references

Cons

  • Free recordings expire after two weeks and cap at 30 minutes
  • Cheapest per-seat rate needs three or more members and annual billing
  • No public tier for a single user wanting unlimited length below $18/month

Fathom

The best free notetaker on the market, and the paid tiers are cheap enough that most sales teams can skip a dedicated revenue-intelligence platform. Pick it unless you need deep conversation analytics, in which case Gong is still a different class of product.

Pros

  • Free tier includes unlimited recordings, transcripts and clips, which competitors gate
  • Bot-free capture avoids the awkward third participant in the call
  • Public API and MCP server on paid plans, plus native Claude and ChatGPT integrations
  • Aggressive switching offers: free Business for Gong contract holders, 10 free nonprofit seats

Cons

  • CRM sync is capped at three users per domain on lower tiers
  • Team plan requires a two-seat minimum, so a solo user pays the $20 Premium rate
  • Advanced and custom summary templates sit behind the higher tiers
  • Account-wide Ask Fathom search is still marked beta and has lookback limits by tier

Which one fits

Choose Bubbles if you need

  • Distributed teams replacing some meetings with async video
  • Freelancers wanting free short recordings with AI summaries
  • Teams already comparing Loom-style tools with meeting-bot features

Choose Fathom if you need

  • Individuals who want unlimited recording and summaries without paying anything
  • Small sales teams that need CRM notes written automatically after every call
  • Anyone who wants meeting context piped into ChatGPT or Claude via API/MCP

More comparisons

All Fathom alternatives →Browse all Meeting Recording & Notes →