Deciding between Fireflies and Fathom.video? 

We’ve done the homework for you.

In this blog, we’ll focus on key differences between these AI Meeting assistants and compare them across the following categories:

• Transcription and accuracy
• Recording capabilities
• Privacy and security
• Comprehensive meeting summaries
• Meeting analytics
• Collaboration features
• Integrations
• Pricing

Fireflies vs. Fathom: Overview

First, a quick rundown of some standout capabilities of both platforms:

Why Choose Fireflies.ai over Fathom?

Transcription accuracy

Fireflies delivers over 90% transcription accuracy, reliably detecting speakers, questions, decisions, and other nuances. 

On this all-important front, Fathom does not disclose the accuracy, leaving you guessing about its transcription quality.

To end the guesswork, we tried Fathom to measure its transcription accuracy.

Here is the result: 

Fathom’s transcriptions are great but occasionally miss key details like punctuation and spelling, and don’t omit filler words, all of which Fireflies handled with a breeze.

A few other quirks we found while transcribing meetings with Fathom.video

During our testing, we found that:

• You cannot invite Fathom notetaker to transcribe a meeting that isn’t already a part of your calendar schedule. With Fireflies, you can add the notetaker bot to any meeting, even if it's already in progress.
  
• You cannot upload and transcribe files in Fathom. It only supports meeting transcriptions. Fireflies, in comparison, lets you transcribe MP3, MP4, M4A, and WAV files.
  
• Fathom's recording capabilities are limited to desktop meetings through their app, which must remain open throughout the meeting. 
  
• Fathom also requires you to manually stop the recording on their desktop app every time a meeting ends. If, for some reason, you forget to end the recording, you might not get a meeting transcript. 

Instead, you will receive this email:

Fireflies bot automatically stops the recording as soon the meeting ends and shares the transcript within a few minutes. 

Furthermore, Fireflies allows you to export meeting transcripts in 5 formats—DOCX, PDF, SRT, CSV, and JSON. It's worth noting how Fireflies' SRT transcripts simplify adding subtitles to content, such as podcasts or interviews.

Fathom only provides the option to manually copy the entire transcript without the ability to download it.

Language support

According to a Chairman survey by Deloitte, 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a diverse workplace culture is important to business success.

And what’s the biggest hurdle while building a global business? Language. 

Fireflies is at the forefront of multi-language transcription, allowing you to transcribe conversations in 60+ languages, including Portuguese, Spanish, French, Arabic, German, Dutch, and Italian. Regardless of your team's origin or preferred language, Fireflies captures every word diligently.

In contrast, Fathom falls short on linguistic versatility, offering support for only 7 languages.

Recording capabilities

1. Conferencing platform support

For recording capabilities, Fireflies connects with 8 top conferencing platforms:

• Zoom
• Google Meet
• Microsoft Teams
• Webex
• GoToMeeting
• Skype
• Lifesize
• Dialpad

Fathom currently only supports three:

• Zoom
• Google Meet
• Microsoft Teams

Fireflies supports almost three times more video conferencing platforms than Fathom. This versatility guarantees that your meetings across any platform will be accurately captured. So whether you're using Webex for internal discussions or Google Meet for client meetings, Fireflies always transcribes without missing a beat.

1. Chrome extension

Unlike Fathom, Fireflies offers a robust Chrome extension that offers more than just transcription; it introduces transformative AI capabilities via the extension.

1. It enables you to record Google Meet sessions, with the AI notetaker capturing the meeting discreetly in the background — no more bots visibly attending your meetings.
2. You can also directly transcribe Loom and Soapbox videos.
3. Access all your previous meeting transcripts instantly with one click in the Fireflies notebook.

4. Summarize web pages, articles, YouTube videos, etc. using AskFred for Web. Get a quick overview of key points without reading or watching the full content.

Here’s a summary of this very Fireflies vs. Fathom comparison article by AskFred:

Here's the full AskFred summary:

With these unmatched features accessible directly in Chrome, Fireflies stands out as the clear winner, delivering a whole suite of tools beyond just transcription.

1. Mobile app

For on-the-go users, Fireflies pulls ahead with a robust mobile note-taking app that makes note-taking seamless across devices. The app allows users to record in-person conversations or voice memos effortlessly and seamlessly syncs with Fireflies' web application.  

It can differentiate between speakers, labeling them Speaker 1, Speaker 2, etc., for clarity, letting users easily discern who said what.

Fathom currently lacks a mobile application, which limits accessibility for remote or traveling users. Capturing essential meetings while out of the office remains challenging without a mobile app.

Fireflies’ commitment to smooth mobile-desktop integration gives professionals the flexibility to stay productive from anywhere.

Privacy & security

Meetings contain sensitive information, so robust data privacy and security are non-negotiable. 

Here's how Fireflies and Fathom compare:

• Fireflies provides end-to-end encryption, granting you complete control over meeting data. Fathom uses encryption but does not specify if it is end-to-end.
  
• Fireflies provides private storage as an add-on for enterprises wanting unmatched data security. Fathom doesn’t have this option.
  
• Fireflies is SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA compliant, suitable even for healthcare teams. Fathom is SOC 2 Type II and GDPR compliant.
  
• Fireflies never trains AI models on user data or shares data with third parties. Fathom may access or share data with users’ consent.

• Both platforms offer the capability for data deletion at your discretion.
  
• Fireflies and Fathom offer Single Sign-On (SSO) for added security.

When safeguarding your sensitive data, the nuances make all the difference. Select your platform wisely.

Actionable meeting insights

1. Customizable AI summaries

Both platforms do an excellent job of capturing the gist of the conversation. You get an AI-generated meeting summary for every call you transcribe with Fathom and Fireflies. 

But there is a difference.

Fathom provides a cookie-cutter, generic summary even on its paid tier, while Fireflies provides a 5-part, customizable AI Super Summaries, which include:

• Keywords
• Time-stamped meeting outline
• Meeting overview
• Action items
• Meeting notes

You can customize these sections, enable or disable them, or change them completely. 

Don’t need a meeting outline or any other part of the summary? Disable the app within AI Apps. Don't like the default action items summary? Change it with a simple prompt. 

For example, as a sales rep, you can change the default Action Items App prompt to get tailored insights.

The default prompt is, “List out the follow-ups and action items from the transcript. Respond in {language} language.”

And here’s what the summary looks like:

You can change the prompt to, “Identify and list the follow-up action items in the transcript. Group action items based on the responsible person. Highlight any requested information the prospect asked to receive after the call separately.” Here’s what the new output looks like:

2. ChatGPT-style meeting assistant

Fireflies’ AskFred is your own personal meeting assistant. It is a ChatGPT-style chatbot designed to answer your questions based on the meeting transcript.

For example, ask, "What were the key takeaways from this meeting?" AskFred will extract all the points, saving you time reviewing the meeting.

You can request specific action items, ask for feedback on the meeting, or have AskFred generate follow-up emails, tweets, or blog ideas based on the transcript. The possibilities are vast.

Additionally, AskFred offers a library of proven prompts to handle common meeting insights requests. Use and customize these prompts, or create your own. 

You can automate frequently used prompts to run right after the meeting ends.

In contrast, Fathom offers no conversational AI features comparable to AskFred. The only way to get insights is through Fathom's paragraph summaries.

Meeting analytics

Fathom provides basic meeting analytics like talk time, monologue duration, and how many questions were asked. It also lets you track specific keywords across all your conversations.

Fireflies offers more advanced Conversation Intelligence, including:

• Talk-to-listen ratio
• Number of conversations
• Total and average time spent in meetings

• Average words spoken per minute
• Number of questions asked
• Filler words used by participants
• Sentiment ratio of the conversation

Furthermore, Fireflies lets you filter these metrics by meeting title, duration, type, and more.

This granular data helps managers pinpoint strengths and weaknesses. For example, they can see if someone consistently speaks too fast or uses a lot of filler words. Managers can then provide tailored coaching to help reps improve.

Furthermore, Fireflies has Topic Trackers, allowing you to set and track specific topics discussed and how often. Track topics like content creation, lead conversion, pipeline, follow-up, budget, revenue, and more.

For instance, when tracking topics like "budget" or "revenue," Fireflies will retrieve meetings where these topics were mentioned.

Collaboration features

1. Audio snippets

On the face of it, Fireflies has Soundbites, and Fathom has Highlights—allowing you to turn key meeting moments into shareable audio snippets.

But there is a slight difference between the two.

Fathom creates Highlights automatically after every meeting, clipping moments it thinks are important. Fireflies gives the option to create Soundbites in three ways:

• Manually highlighting the transcript
• Using keywords
• Magic Soundbites with AI

For a more hands-on, manually generate sound bites by selecting the transcript. Or, enter a particular keyword and let Fireflies generate it for you.

Magic Soundbites are for you if you'd rather leave the manual work behind and let AI do the job. Magic Soundbites are similar to Fathom’s Highlights as it automatically turns key meeting moments into short audio clips.

Furthermore, you can organize all your Soundbites into Playlists.

Consider it similar to creating different music playlists based on genre or mood. Create Soundbites Playlists around client feedback, customer pain points, key decisions, etc.

Fathom also has Playlists, but it automatically clubs relevant Highlights together instead of giving you control over customization.

So, if you prefer fully automated audio snippets and trust the AI's choices, Fathom is your go-to. But if you trust the AI yet desire more granular control over creation and organization, Fireflies is the better pick.

2. Searchable knowledge base

Both Fireflies and Fathom.video lets you easily search through all your past meetings. But it is only Fireflies that lets you organize meetings into different Channels. 

By default, Fireflies offers three Channels:

1. My Meetings
2. All Meetings
3. Shared With Me

Channels allow you to organize related meetings the way you want.

For example, create a “Sales Calls” channel for all your sales calls. Or make a "Technical round" channel to house all your technical round interviews. 

Based on your Fireflies plan, you can create unlimited public and private Channels to categorize discussions.

Fathom, in contrast, lacks any capabilities for organizing meetings. 

3. Automate workflows

The number of supported integrations decides how effortlessly your meeting notes and transcript flow between apps.

Fathom currently has only four integrations: Salesforce, HubSpot, Close, and Slack.Compared to Fireflies’ suite of 40+ integrations, including platforms like Salesforce, Hubspot, Freshsales, Aircall, Slack, and Notion, Fathom’s library falls short.

With Fireflies integrations, you can:

• Automatically log meeting notes and summaries directly into CRM systems under designated contacts
• Transcribe and summarize calls on dialers like Aircall and RingCentral
• Directly transcribe audio/video files kept in Dropbox or OneDrive folders.
• Use Fireflies API and Zapier for building custom integrations

Flexible pricing and accessibility

Let’s break down the pricing of both platforms.

Fireflies has 4 plans:

• Free 
• Pro - $10/month/seat, billed annually
• Business - $19/month/seat, billed annually
• Enterprise - Custom pricing

Fathom has 3 plans:

• Free (only for individuals)
• Teams Standard - $24/month/user, billed annually
• Teams Pro - $29/month/user, billed annually

What’s noteworthy is that Fireflies offers its paid plans to teams and individual users.

In contrast, while Fathom is free for individuals, it doesn’t allow individual users to upgrade to use more advanced features. To unlock all the features, you must sign up from an official account and have a team of at least 3 people.

Both platforms also offer a free trial for all the features, but you can’t access Fathom’s free trial without scheduling a call with their sales team.

Fireflies offers a convenient 7-day free trial of the Business Plan, allowing users to explore all features. 

The Verdict

Fathom is undoubtedly an excellent choice for individuals seeking basic call recording and transcription services. Fathom suffices if you're content with simple, one-size-fits-all summaries and don't require advanced features.

Fireflies gives you more for less. You pay less compared to Fathom's Teams plans and gain access to a wealth of advanced features, unparalleled functionality, customizable options, extensive integrations, and much more.

So, when you can elevate your meeting experience, enhance collaboration, and streamline workflows with a single platform, why pay more and settle for less?