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Fathom vs Sembly AI

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. Fathom starts at $20, Sembly AI at $17. Only Fathom has a free tier. Only Fathom ships a public API.

FathomMeeting recorder with instant summaries and CRM write-backSembly AIMeeting recorder producing summaries, tasks and searchable transcripts

Side by side

FactFathomSembly AI
CategoryMeeting AssistantsMeeting Assistants
Pricing modelFreemiumPaid
Starts at$20 month$17 month
Public APIYesNo
PlatformsWeb, macOS, APIWeb
CompanyFathomSembly AI, Inc.
Launched20202019
Last verifiedSep 6, 2026Sep 6, 2026

What our research says

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

Sembly AI

Worth the premium when you need meetings turned into structured commitments — tasks, risks, decisions — rather than a searchable transcript. If a transcript plus a summary paragraph is all you want, this is priced well above what you need.

Pros

  • Extracts risks, decisions and tasks as separate items rather than one summary blob
  • Multi-meeting chat, AI-generated documents and insights from the Pro tier upward
  • Captures Zoom, Teams, Meet and Webex rather than a single platform
  • MCP access on Pro and MAX lets external agent clients reach the meeting data

Cons

  • No standing free tier — every plan's free option is a time-limited trial
  • Single-user Basic at $17/month sits above several competitors' entry price
  • The differentiating features all start at Pro, so Basic is a weak comparison point
  • No public developer API; the /api path resolves to a sales demo form

Which one fits

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

Choose Sembly AI if you need

  • PMOs and consultancies tracking commitments across dozens of calls
  • Teams that need to interrogate several meetings at once, not one at a time
  • Regulated environments needing HIPAA handling, custom SSO and audit logs
  • Recruiters and sales teams reviewing call sentiment at volume

More comparisons

All Fathom alternatives →All Sembly AI alternatives →Browse all Meeting Assistants →