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Fathom vs tl;dv

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 publishes a starting price ($20); tl;dv does not. Both have a free tier. Both ship a public API.

FathomMeeting recorder with instant summaries and CRM write-backtl;dvMeeting recorder that clips moments and syncs to CRM

Side by side

FactFathomtl;dv
CategoryMeeting AssistantsMeeting Assistants
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at$20 month—
Public APIYesYes
PlatformsWeb, macOS, APIWeb, Chrome Ext, macOS, Windows, API
CompanyFathomtldx Solutions GmbH
Launched20202020
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

tl;dv

tl;dv earns its place when the recording has to end up somewhere else, in a CRM field or a shared clip, rather than sitting in an archive nobody reads. As a pure note-taker it is unremarkable.

Pros

  • Clip-and-share is faster in practice than pointing colleagues at a timestamp
  • CRM sync is a first-class feature rather than a Zapier afterthought
  • Free tier is a real plan, not a trial
  • Desktop apps and an extension cover the three major conferencing platforms

Cons

  • Billing is euro-only, which creates FX exposure for non-EU buyers
  • The API is v1alpha1 and explicitly unstable
  • Free plan cannot retrieve meeting content through the API at all
  • The 40% annual discount is permanent marketing, so the monthly rate is the real price

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 tl;dv if you need

  • Sales teams that need call outcomes landing in the CRM without manual entry
  • Distributed teams sharing a 90-second clip instead of a 45-minute recording
  • Researchers and PMs tagging moments across many user interviews

More comparisons

All Fathom alternatives →All tl;dv alternatives →Browse all Meeting Assistants →