Fathom has the most generous free plan in the AI note-taking category — unlimited recordings and transcriptions for scheduled video meetings, at $0, indefinitely. CraftNote takes a broader-scope approach: bot-free capture across meetings, lectures, in-person conversations, phone calls, and uploads, metered by weekly usage rather than unlimited-but-meetings-only. This page is written against both vendors' own published pricing pages as of 2026-08-25.
Overview
CraftNote
CraftNote is a bot-free AI note taker for iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and the web. It treats lectures, in-person conversations, phone calls, and uploaded files (audio, video, PDF, YouTube, podcasts) as first-class capture sources, not just scheduled video calls. Free plan: 2 hours of recording plus 10 uploads per week.
Fathom
Fathom (rebranded to fathom.ai in 2026) is built specifically around scheduled video meetings on desktop and web. Its free plan is genuinely unlimited — recordings, transcriptions, AI summaries, clips, and search, with no time cap and no expiry. It added a bot-free capture option in beta in 2026, alongside its traditional meeting bot.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | CraftNote | Fathom | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan limits | 2 hours recording + 10 uploads per week, ongoing — but covers meetings, lectures, phone calls, and files. | Unlimited recordings and transcriptions, at $0, indefinitely — the most generous free tier in the category. | ✓ |
| Scope of capture | Meetings, lectures, in-person conversations, phone calls, and uploaded audio/video/PDF/YouTube/podcasts. | Scheduled video meetings only — no lecture, in-person, or upload-based capture as a core use case. | ✓ |
| Mobile capture | Native iOS and Android apps, phone-first recording. | Desktop and web only — no phone-first recording story. | ✓ |
| Capture method | Bot-free on every platform. | Bot by default; bot-free recording available in beta as of 2026. | ― |
| Paid pricing | $9.99/month flat ($8.33 annual) — one individual tier. | Premium $20/month ($16 annual); Team $19/month ($15 annual, 2+ seats); Business $34/month ($25 annual) with CRM sync and coaching metrics. | ― |
| Sales/coaching features | Not the product's focus. | Business tier adds CRM field sync, Deal View, and coaching scorecards — a real Gong-lite for sales teams. | ✓ |
| Language support | 100+ languages for transcription and translation. | English-focused; broad multi-language transcription is not the product's emphasis. | ✓ |
Who Should Pick Which?
Choose CraftNote if…
Anyone whose recording life extends beyond scheduled video calls — lectures, in-person meetings, phone calls, uploaded files — and who wants one bot-free tool across phone and desktop.
Choose Fathom if…
Anyone whose needs are strictly scheduled desktop video meetings and who wants the single best free deal in the category; sales teams evaluating the Business tier get a legitimate lightweight Gong alternative.