{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Dataset", "@id": "https://circleback.ai/compare/bluedot-vs-fathom#dataset", "schemaVersion": 4, "type": "SoftwareApplicationComparison", "slug": "bluedot-vs-fathom", "url": "https://circleback.ai/compare/bluedot-vs-fathom", "canonicalUrl": "https://circleback.ai/compare/bluedot-vs-fathom", "title": "Bluedot vs Fathom: pricing, features, and which is better", "description": "Compare Bluedot vs Fathom: pricing, recording options, notes, action items, and integrations, with plan limits and first-party sources.", "inLanguage": "en-US", "isAccessibleForFree": true, "representations": { "html": "https://circleback.ai/compare/bluedot-vs-fathom", "markdown": "https://circleback.ai/compare/bluedot-vs-fathom.md", "json": "https://circleback.ai/compare/bluedot-vs-fathom.json", "describedBy": "https://circleback.ai/compare/llms.txt" }, "editorialPerspective": "Neutral competitor comparison; Circleback is presented only as a labeled third option.", "verdict": "Bluedot records without a bot across desktop, phone, and Apple Watch. Fathom focuses on online recordings, clips, and CRM updates, with unlimited base recording and transcription for free.", "products": [ { "id": "bluedot", "name": "Bluedot", "shortName": "Bluedot", "logoPath": "/marketing/comparisons/logos/bluedot.svg", "website": "https://www.bluedothq.com", "tagline": "Bot-free recording and sharing across desktop, phone, and Apple Watch.", "positioning": "Bluedot records without a bot across desktop, mobile, and Apple Watch, with clips, workspace chat, automated recording, and MCP access. Video, meeting length, speaker labels, and integrations depend on the plan and recording method.", "bestFor": "Teams that strongly prefer bot-free capture, want a clean recorder across desktop and mobile, and value simple notes, clips, and workspace chat.", "lessIdealFor": "Teams needing a generous free tier, inexpensive video, deep CRM/admin capabilities below the top plan, or a sophisticated native workflow builder.", "decisionSummary": { "fit": "Light, bot-free recording across desktop and mobile", "chooseFor": [ "Bot-free capture", "Simple recordings and clips" ], "watchFor": [ "Zoom extension has no speaker labels", "No workspace-wide task tracker" ] }, "pricing": { "headline": "Free for 5 meetings lifetime; paid from $14/recorder/month annually", "detail": "Prices are per recorder/month. Basic is $14 with annual billing or $18 month-to-month, but is audio-only and capped at one-hour meetings. Pro is $20 or $25 and adds video, unlimited duration, templates, and imports. Business is $32 or $39 with advanced workflows, CRM/ATS, SSO/SCIM, retention, webhooks, and organization MCP.", "freePlan": "Yes, but only five meetings total—not five per month." }, "strengths": [ "Bot-free browser and macOS/Windows desktop capture, plus iOS, Android, and Apple Watch.", "A modern, low-friction interface with notes, clips, auto-recording, workspace chat, and MCP.", "Only recorder seats are billed, which can make broad read access economical.", "Customer meeting data is not used for model training; admins can set retention, SSO/SCIM, and EU residency, while users can export recordings and transcripts." ], "tradeoffs": [ "The free plan is five meetings for the lifetime of the account, and Basic is audio-only with a one-hour limit.", "CRM/ATS sync, organization MCP, webhooks, retention, and SSO/SCIM are gated to Business.", "Speaker recognition varies by recording path; the browser extension does not identify speakers for Zoom.", "Bluedot’s current pricing page says canceled recordings are deleted after one month, while its cancellation help article says three months; confirm the policy in writing if portability matters.", "CRM, recruiting, and team-wide automation features require Business; other destinations may need custom webhook workflows.", "Action items can include owners and deadlines and webhooks can create external tasks, but Bluedot does not document a native workspace-wide action-item tracker." ], "chooseIf": [ "A visible bot is a deal-breaker and you want easy capture from almost any personal device.", "Your workflow values a clean recording library, clips, and workspace chat more than deep workflow automation.", "Paying only for recorders is more important than having a useful forever-free recorder tier." ], "features": { "capture": { "summary": "Bot-free browser and desktop capture, plus an optional Zoom bot", "detail": "Bluedot usually captures meeting and system audio without joining a bot. Its newer desktop apps broaden support beyond browser-based Google Meet and Teams workflows, while an optional recorder bot is also documented for Zoom.", "level": "strong" }, "platforms": { "summary": "Browser, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, and Apple Watch", "detail": "Device breadth is a standout, especially Apple Watch. Exact capture richness and speaker labeling depend on platform and mode.", "level": "strong" }, "inPerson": { "summary": "Mobile, watch, and desktop room recording", "detail": "Bluedot supports iOS, Android, Apple Watch, browser, and desktop capture for room conversations. The Watch records without an iPhone nearby, then syncs through the iPhone app. Bluedot’s speaker-recognition matrix documents desktop and browser meeting platforms, not mobile or Watch name-label parity, so verify those modes on a real group meeting.", "level": "strong" }, "recordings": { "summary": "Audio on Basic; video, clips, and unlimited duration on Pro+", "detail": "Basic records audio only and limits meetings to one hour. Pro adds video and removes the meeting-length limit, with playback and clips for reviewing and sharing recordings.", "level": "available" }, "notesAndSearch": { "summary": "AI notes, templates, action items, chat, and workspace memory", "detail": "Notes and meeting chat are easy to use. Templates can extract action items, responsible people, and timelines. Bluedot does not document an all-meetings workspace task center with assignment and completion state, so serious follow-through usually moves into another system.", "level": "strong" }, "companyMemory": { "summary": "Workspace meeting memory, without broader email relationship context", "detail": "Bluedot supports search and chat across meetings. The cited docs do not establish person and company histories that combine meetings, email, and calendar context.", "level": "available" }, "sharing": { "summary": "Attendee auto-share and workspace permissions", "detail": "Individuals can automatically share recordings and notes with meeting participants. Workspace admins can restrict external sharing and enforce recording defaults, while conditional auto-sorting remains a user-level setting rather than a workspace-wide sharing policy.", "level": "available" }, "automations": { "summary": "Advanced workflows and task-capable webhooks on Business", "detail": "Bluedot supports automated recording and post-meeting workflows. Webhooks can send summaries and transcripts to custom endpoints that create tasks in Asana, Trello, or Jira, although that downstream mapping is something the customer builds. Its deepest CRM/ATS and team-wide workflow features are reserved for Business.", "level": "available" }, "integrations": { "summary": "Core collaboration tools; CRM and ATS on Business", "detail": "The catalog covers common destinations but is smaller than platforms advertising hundreds or thousands of connections. CRM/ATS access is a top-plan feature.", "level": "available" }, "agentsAndApi": { "summary": "Personal MCP; organization MCP and webhooks on Business", "detail": "Personal MCP and user-level webhooks are available below Business; organization-wide MCP and team webhooks require Business. MCP follows the meetings the authenticated Bluedot user can already access, while team webhooks can receive events for every workspace user after support enables them. Users can also export transcripts as PDF or TXT and recordings as WebM.", "level": "available" }, "admin": { "summary": "Retention, SSO/SCIM, and advanced administration on Business", "detail": "Business adds SSO/SAML, SCIM, configurable retention, and EU residency. Bluedot says customer data is not used to train models and AI providers retain nothing after generation. Its pricing and cancellation help pages currently disagree on whether canceled recordings are deleted after one or three months.", "level": "available" }, "languages": { "summary": "100+ languages advertised", "detail": "Bluedot advertises broad language support. As with every vendor, evaluate real calls with accents, crosstalk, and domain vocabulary rather than relying on the count alone.", "level": "strong" } }, "sources": [ { "label": "Bluedot pricing", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/pricing", "note": "Lifetime free limit, audio/video gates, meeting duration, recorder billing, Business workflows, and governance." }, { "label": "Bluedot product overview", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/", "note": "Desktop, mobile, Watch, clips, meeting chat, and workspace memory." }, { "label": "Bluedot 2.1 release", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/blog/bluedot-2-1", "note": "June 2026 additions including Watch, MCP, auto-recording, and retention." }, { "label": "Bluedot speaker recognition", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/12731344-speaker-recognition-overview", "note": "Recognition differences across desktop, extension, Meet, Teams, and Zoom." }, { "label": "Bluedot Zoom recorder bot", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/10697005-how-to-invite-the-bluedot-recorder-to-a-zoom-meeting", "note": "Optional Zoom-bot recording path alongside the bot-free capture modes." }, { "label": "Bluedot automatic sharing", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11403151-how-to-set-up-auto-sharing", "note": "User-level automatic sharing of recordings and notes with meeting participants." }, { "label": "Bluedot workspace settings", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/15434559-workspace-settings-overview", "note": "Admin controls for external sharing, downloads, consent, recording formats, and bot behavior." }, { "label": "Bluedot mobile app", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/12878531-getting-started-with-the-bluedot-mobile-app", "note": "iOS and Android in-person capture, uploads, transcripts, notes, playback, and sharing." }, { "label": "Bluedot Apple Watch capture", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/15460054-how-to-record-meetings-on-your-apple-watch", "note": "Independent Watch recording and the iPhone sync/upload path." }, { "label": "Bluedot webhooks", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11461975-how-to-set-up-webhooks-in-bluedot", "note": "User-level payloads and Business/Enterprise team webhooks covering every workspace user." }, { "label": "Bluedot custom note templates", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11393395-how-to-create-custom-note-templates", "note": "Custom AI output structures, including action items, responsibilities, and timelines." }, { "label": "Bluedot MCP with Claude", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/16188120-how-to-connect-bluedot-to-claude-using-mcp", "note": "Authenticated MCP access to permitted transcripts and meeting metadata." }, { "label": "Bluedot cancellation policy", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11383438-how-to-cancel-your-bluedot-subscription", "note": "Help-center deletion timing, which currently conflicts with the pricing-page statement." }, { "label": "Bluedot security", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/security", "note": "No-training policy, AI-provider zero retention, SSO/SCIM, custom retention, EU residency, and deletion behavior." }, { "label": "Bluedot transcript export", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/12497819-how-to-export-a-transcript-as-pdf-or-txt", "note": "Per-meeting transcript export in PDF and TXT." }, { "label": "Bluedot recording download", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11402197-how-to-download-a-recording", "note": "WebM recording downloads and the workspace admin download restriction." } ] }, { "id": "fathom", "name": "Fathom", "shortName": "Fathom", "logoPath": "/logos/fathom.svg", "website": "https://www.fathom.ai", "tagline": "Fast summaries, strong clips, and an unusually generous free plan for online meetings.", "positioning": "Fathom offers unlimited base online recording and transcription for free, with summaries, clips, assigned action items, and CRM sync. Bot-free options are available on Mac; Windows uses the bot. Its official pages give conflicting information about iOS availability.", "bestFor": "Individuals and sales teams that live in Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams and want a generous free plan, fast summaries, clips, and CRM-friendly workflows.", "lessIdealFor": "Companies that need confirmed iOS or Android availability, bot-free video across platforms, a workspace-wide task board, or shared history across meetings and email.", "decisionSummary": { "fit": "Free online recording, summaries, and clips", "chooseFor": [ "Online meetings on a budget", "Clips and CRM delivery" ], "watchFor": [ "iOS docs contradict each other", "Bot-free video is Zoom-on-Mac only" ] }, "pricing": { "headline": "Free; Premium from $16/user/month annually", "detail": "Free includes unlimited recordings and transcripts but only five advanced AI summaries per month. Paid prices are per user/month: Premium is $16 with annual billing or $20 month-to-month; Team is $15 or $19 with a two-seat minimum; Business is $25 or $34. Enterprise is custom.", "freePlan": "Yes: unlimited recordings and transcripts, with five advanced summaries per month." }, "strengths": [ "Unlimited free recording and transcription is unusually generous for a solo online-meeting workflow.", "Summaries, highlights, clips, playlists, assigned action items, and CRM sharing for online meetings.", "Public API and MCP support make the meeting library available to custom tools and agents.", "Action items include assignees and transcript evidence, and an Asana integration can synchronize assigned work automatically or on demand." ], "tradeoffs": [ "Fathom’s current pages disagree about iOS availability: the product overview says in-person capture is live, while the help center and launch page still describe the official app as pre-download or coming soon. Treat it as a staged rollout until your account can use it.", "Chromebook, Linux, Android, tablet, phone call, webinar, and breakout support remains limited or absent. The current Fathom 3.0 bot-free experience is Mac- and English-only; Windows users remain on the older experience for now.", "Bot-free video is currently available for Zoom on Mac. Google Meet support is still described as coming, Teams support depends on how the call is joined, and the bot remains the broadest cross-platform path.", "The free plan’s advanced AI summaries are capped even though raw recordings and transcripts are unlimited.", "Fathom may use de-identified meeting data to improve its in-house AI models unless the user or Team Edition administrator opts out. Third-party model providers are prohibited from training on it.", "All Fathom data is US-hosted. Custom retention is Enterprise-only, applies one policy to the whole team, and is currently configured through support rather than self-service." ], "chooseIf": [ "You want a generous free online-meeting recorder and rarely need in-person capture.", "Clips, highlights, fast summaries, and simple CRM delivery are the center of the workflow.", "You are comfortable using the bot when your platform does not support bot-free video." ], "features": { "capture": { "summary": "Meeting bot or bot-free transcript, audio, and Zoom video on Mac", "detail": "The bot supports the widest range of platforms and recording options. Eligible Mac users can choose bot-free transcript-only, audio plus transcript, or Zoom video; Google Meet bot-free video is still coming and Teams behavior varies by how the call is joined. Fathom says the bot-free modes preserve speaker attribution and action items.", "level": "available" }, "platforms": { "summary": "Bot-free options on Mac; bot-based recording on Windows", "detail": "Fathom supports major online platforms on computers, but its current 3.0 rollout is limited to Mac and English-language meetings. Windows remains supported through the older bot-based experience. Official pages conflict on whether iOS in-person capture is already live; Android, Chromebook, Linux, phone calls, webinars, and breakout rooms are not normal supported paths.", "level": "limited" }, "inPerson": { "summary": "iOS availability is unclear; verify in-person speaker labels", "detail": "Fathom’s marketing overview says its iOS app captures in-person meetings, but the help center and current launch page still call it coming soon or pre-download. In the older workaround, every room voice is attributed to the Fathom user rather than separated. Verify iOS access and room-speaker labeling in the actual account before rollout.", "level": "limited" }, "recordings": { "summary": "Unlimited AV, playback, highlights, and clips", "detail": "Fathom supports playback, clips, and sharing for online calls. Bot-free video is limited to Zoom on Mac; other supported platforms have different recording options.", "level": "strong" }, "notesAndSearch": { "summary": "Fast summaries, assigned action items, Ask Fathom, and team search", "detail": "Summary quality and speed are core strengths. Paid AI action items identify assignees and link to the source moment; the API also returns completion state and assignee metadata. Fathom presents action items inside each meeting rather than documenting a workspace-wide task dashboard. Advanced summary types and some AI capabilities are plan-limited even while base transcription is free.", "level": "strong" }, "companyMemory": { "summary": "Meeting and customer-call library", "detail": "Fathom organizes team calls and customer context. The cited docs do not establish shared person and company histories that combine meetings, email, and calendars across departments.", "level": "available" }, "sharing": { "summary": "Organization and team visibility defaults, plus attendee auto-share", "detail": "Admins can set auto-capture and visibility separately for external, internal, and unscheduled meetings at organization or team level, including whether users may override the default. Individuals can also send a summary, a recording, or both automatically—but the audience is every calendar invitee, including people who did not attend.", "level": "strong" }, "automations": { "summary": "CRM, webhook, Zapier, and Asana follow-through", "detail": "Fathom handles common customer-facing follow-through well. Assigned action items can sync automatically or manually to Asana, webhooks can deliver action-item payloads, and Zapier or CRM integrations extend delivery. It does not document the same broad native trigger/condition/action builder for arbitrary work systems.", "level": "available" }, "integrations": { "summary": "Strong CRM, Asana, Zapier, and common work-tool connections", "detail": "CRM delivery and collaboration integrations cover the common sales workflow, while Asana turns assigned meeting actions into trackable tasks. Broader issue-tracker coverage and custom operational actions are less central.", "level": "available" }, "agentsAndApi": { "summary": "Rich public API and MCP, scoped to the connected user", "detail": "The REST API can return speaker-attributed transcripts, summaries, action items with assignees and completion state, attendees, CRM matches, playback metadata, and recording downloads. Its official MCP connects authorized meeting data to ChatGPT, Claude, and other clients. Both follow what the authenticated user owns or can see through team sharing; an administrator key does not automatically reach private meetings across the organization.", "level": "strong" }, "admin": { "summary": "Strong upper-tier controls, with US-only hosting", "detail": "Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM, and custom retention. Fathom currently supports one retention policy per team and asks customers to configure it through support. All data is US-hosted; de-identified data may improve Fathom’s in-house models unless users or a Team Edition admin opt out.", "level": "available" }, "languages": { "summary": "38 languages on the free plan", "detail": "Fathom documents 38 supported languages. Bot-free rollout is currently narrower, so language support should be checked per capture mode.", "level": "available" } }, "sources": [ { "label": "Fathom pricing", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/pricing", "note": "Free, Premium, Team, Business, and Enterprise prices and feature gates." }, { "label": "Fathom supported systems", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/296576", "note": "Computer, platform, mobile, phone call, webinar, and breakout limitations." }, { "label": "Fathom in-person meetings", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/5500225", "note": "Current workaround, speaker limitation, and upcoming iOS path." }, { "label": "Fathom bot-free recording", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/11578049", "note": "Current Zoom-on-Mac bot-free video and Google Meet/Teams rollout status." }, { "label": "Fathom product overview", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/overview", "note": "Current bot-free capture modes, speaker attribution, action items, Ask Fathom, programmatic access, and the marketing claim that iOS capture is available." }, { "label": "Fathom 3.0 rollout", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/11577345", "note": "Current Mac-only, English-only eligibility and staged rollout behavior for the new bot-free experience." }, { "label": "Fathom auto-capture and visibility controls", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/13729025", "note": "Organization and team defaults for capture and visibility across external, internal, and unscheduled meetings." }, { "label": "Fathom attendee auto-share", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/7574785", "note": "Automatic delivery of summaries, recordings, or both to every calendar invitee, including no-shows." }, { "label": "Fathom public API", "url": "https://developers.fathom.ai/quickstart", "note": "User-scoped API keys plus meeting metadata, speaker-attributed transcripts, summaries, assigned action items, CRM matches, pagination, and administrator visibility limits." }, { "label": "Fathom MCP", "url": "https://developers.fathom.ai/mcp-docs", "note": "Official authenticated MCP access from ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, and other compatible clients." }, { "label": "Fathom AI action items", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/640768", "note": "AI detection of action items and their assignees plus follow-up email generation." }, { "label": "Fathom Asana integration", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/7639617", "note": "Automatic or manual synchronization of assigned meeting actions into Asana with source links." }, { "label": "Fathom release notes", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/6220097", "note": "July 2026 API recording-download support and current product changes." }, { "label": "Fathom security and AI training", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/296512", "note": "US data hosting, de-identified in-house model training and opt-out controls, plus third-party no-training terms." }, { "label": "Fathom retention policies", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/6057089", "note": "Enterprise-only, support-managed retention with one policy per team." } ] } ], "dimensions": [ { "key": "capture", "label": "Capture options", "lead": "Bluedot has broader documented support for capture options.", "analysis": "Bluedot: Bluedot usually captures meeting and system audio without joining a bot. Its newer desktop apps broaden support beyond browser-based Google Meet and Teams workflows, while an optional recorder bot is also documented for Zoom. Fathom: The bot supports the widest range of platforms and recording options. Eligible Mac users can choose bot-free transcript-only, audio plus transcript, or Zoom video; Google Meet bot-free video is still coming and Teams behavior varies by how the call is joined. Fathom says the bot-free modes preserve speaker attribution and action items.", "productA": { "id": "bluedot", "name": "Bluedot", "summary": "Bot-free browser and desktop capture, plus an optional Zoom bot", "detail": "Bluedot usually captures meeting and system audio without joining a bot. Its newer desktop apps broaden support beyond browser-based Google Meet and Teams workflows, while an optional recorder bot is also documented for Zoom.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Bluedot product overview", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/", "note": "Desktop, mobile, Watch, clips, meeting chat, and workspace memory." }, { "label": "Bluedot Zoom recorder bot", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/10697005-how-to-invite-the-bluedot-recorder-to-a-zoom-meeting", "note": "Optional Zoom-bot recording path alongside the bot-free capture modes." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "fathom", "name": "Fathom", "summary": "Meeting bot or bot-free transcript, audio, and Zoom video on Mac", "detail": "The bot supports the widest range of platforms and recording options. Eligible Mac users can choose bot-free transcript-only, audio plus transcript, or Zoom video; Google Meet bot-free video is still coming and Teams behavior varies by how the call is joined. Fathom says the bot-free modes preserve speaker attribution and action items.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Fathom bot-free recording", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/11578049", "note": "Current Zoom-on-Mac bot-free video and Google Meet/Teams rollout status." }, { "label": "Fathom product overview", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/overview", "note": "Current bot-free capture modes, speaker attribution, action items, Ask Fathom, programmatic access, and the marketing claim that iOS capture is available." }, { "label": "Fathom 3.0 rollout", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/11577345", "note": "Current Mac-only, English-only eligibility and staged rollout behavior for the new bot-free experience." }, { "label": "Fathom release notes", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/6220097", "note": "July 2026 API recording-download support and current product changes." } ] } }, { "key": "platforms", "label": "Desktop and mobile", "lead": "Bluedot has broader documented support for desktop and mobile.", "analysis": "Bluedot: Device breadth is a standout, especially Apple Watch. Exact capture richness and speaker labeling depend on platform and mode. Fathom: Fathom supports major online platforms on computers, but its current 3.0 rollout is limited to Mac and English-language meetings. Windows remains supported through the older bot-based experience. Official pages conflict on whether iOS in-person capture is already live; Android, Chromebook, Linux, phone calls, webinars, and breakout rooms are not normal supported paths.", "productA": { "id": "bluedot", "name": "Bluedot", "summary": "Browser, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, and Apple Watch", "detail": "Device breadth is a standout, especially Apple Watch. Exact capture richness and speaker labeling depend on platform and mode.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Bluedot product overview", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/", "note": "Desktop, mobile, Watch, clips, meeting chat, and workspace memory." }, { "label": "Bluedot 2.1 release", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/blog/bluedot-2-1", "note": "June 2026 additions including Watch, MCP, auto-recording, and retention." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "fathom", "name": "Fathom", "summary": "Bot-free options on Mac; bot-based recording on Windows", "detail": "Fathom supports major online platforms on computers, but its current 3.0 rollout is limited to Mac and English-language meetings. Windows remains supported through the older bot-based experience. Official pages conflict on whether iOS in-person capture is already live; Android, Chromebook, Linux, phone calls, webinars, and breakout rooms are not normal supported paths.", "level": "limited", "sources": [ { "label": "Fathom supported systems", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/296576", "note": "Computer, platform, mobile, phone call, webinar, and breakout limitations." }, { "label": "Fathom 3.0 rollout", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/11577345", "note": "Current Mac-only, English-only eligibility and staged rollout behavior for the new bot-free experience." } ] } }, { "key": "inPerson", "label": "In-person capture and speaker labels", "lead": "Bluedot has broader documented support for in-person capture and speaker labels.", "analysis": "Bluedot: Bluedot supports iOS, Android, Apple Watch, browser, and desktop capture for room conversations. The Watch records without an iPhone nearby, then syncs through the iPhone app. Bluedot’s speaker-recognition matrix documents desktop and browser meeting platforms, not mobile or Watch name-label parity, so verify those modes on a real group meeting. Fathom: Fathom’s marketing overview says its iOS app captures in-person meetings, but the help center and current launch page still call it coming soon or pre-download. In the older workaround, every room voice is attributed to the Fathom user rather than separated. Verify iOS access and room-speaker labeling in the actual account before rollout.", "productA": { "id": "bluedot", "name": "Bluedot", "summary": "Mobile, watch, and desktop room recording", "detail": "Bluedot supports iOS, Android, Apple Watch, browser, and desktop capture for room conversations. The Watch records without an iPhone nearby, then syncs through the iPhone app. Bluedot’s speaker-recognition matrix documents desktop and browser meeting platforms, not mobile or Watch name-label parity, so verify those modes on a real group meeting.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Bluedot mobile app", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/12878531-getting-started-with-the-bluedot-mobile-app", "note": "iOS and Android in-person capture, uploads, transcripts, notes, playback, and sharing." }, { "label": "Bluedot Apple Watch capture", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/15460054-how-to-record-meetings-on-your-apple-watch", "note": "Independent Watch recording and the iPhone sync/upload path." }, { "label": "Bluedot speaker recognition", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/12731344-speaker-recognition-overview", "note": "Recognition differences across desktop, extension, Meet, Teams, and Zoom." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "fathom", "name": "Fathom", "summary": "iOS availability is unclear; verify in-person speaker labels", "detail": "Fathom’s marketing overview says its iOS app captures in-person meetings, but the help center and current launch page still call it coming soon or pre-download. In the older workaround, every room voice is attributed to the Fathom user rather than separated. Verify iOS access and room-speaker labeling in the actual account before rollout.", "level": "limited", "sources": [ { "label": "Fathom in-person meetings", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/5500225", "note": "Current workaround, speaker limitation, and upcoming iOS path." }, { "label": "Fathom product overview", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/overview", "note": "Current bot-free capture modes, speaker attribution, action items, Ask Fathom, programmatic access, and the marketing claim that iOS capture is available." } ] } }, { "key": "recordings", "label": "Recordings, playback, and clips", "lead": "Fathom has broader documented support for recordings, playback, and clips.", "analysis": "Bluedot: Basic records audio only and limits meetings to one hour. Pro adds video and removes the meeting-length limit, with playback and clips for reviewing and sharing recordings. Fathom: Fathom supports playback, clips, and sharing for online calls. Bot-free video is limited to Zoom on Mac; other supported platforms have different recording options.", "productA": { "id": "bluedot", "name": "Bluedot", "summary": "Audio on Basic; video, clips, and unlimited duration on Pro+", "detail": "Basic records audio only and limits meetings to one hour. Pro adds video and removes the meeting-length limit, with playback and clips for reviewing and sharing recordings.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Bluedot pricing", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/pricing", "note": "Lifetime free limit, audio/video gates, meeting duration, recorder billing, Business workflows, and governance." }, { "label": "Bluedot recording download", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11402197-how-to-download-a-recording", "note": "WebM recording downloads and the workspace admin download restriction." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "fathom", "name": "Fathom", "summary": "Unlimited AV, playback, highlights, and clips", "detail": "Fathom supports playback, clips, and sharing for online calls. Bot-free video is limited to Zoom on Mac; other supported platforms have different recording options.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Fathom pricing", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/pricing", "note": "Free, Premium, Team, Business, and Enterprise prices and feature gates." }, { "label": "Fathom bot-free recording", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/11578049", "note": "Current Zoom-on-Mac bot-free video and Google Meet/Teams rollout status." }, { "label": "Fathom product overview", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/overview", "note": "Current bot-free capture modes, speaker attribution, action items, Ask Fathom, programmatic access, and the marketing claim that iOS capture is available." } ] } }, { "key": "notesAndSearch", "label": "Notes, action items, and search", "lead": "Both products document broad support for notes, action items, and search, with different scope and plan limits.", "analysis": "Bluedot: Notes and meeting chat are easy to use. Templates can extract action items, responsible people, and timelines. Bluedot does not document an all-meetings workspace task center with assignment and completion state, so serious follow-through usually moves into another system. Fathom: Summary quality and speed are core strengths. Paid AI action items identify assignees and link to the source moment; the API also returns completion state and assignee metadata. Fathom presents action items inside each meeting rather than documenting a workspace-wide task dashboard. Advanced summary types and some AI capabilities are plan-limited even while base transcription is free.", "productA": { "id": "bluedot", "name": "Bluedot", "summary": "AI notes, templates, action items, chat, and workspace memory", "detail": "Notes and meeting chat are easy to use. Templates can extract action items, responsible people, and timelines. Bluedot does not document an all-meetings workspace task center with assignment and completion state, so serious follow-through usually moves into another system.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Bluedot product overview", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/", "note": "Desktop, mobile, Watch, clips, meeting chat, and workspace memory." }, { "label": "Bluedot 2.1 release", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/blog/bluedot-2-1", "note": "June 2026 additions including Watch, MCP, auto-recording, and retention." }, { "label": "Bluedot custom note templates", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11393395-how-to-create-custom-note-templates", "note": "Custom AI output structures, including action items, responsibilities, and timelines." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "fathom", "name": "Fathom", "summary": "Fast summaries, assigned action items, Ask Fathom, and team search", "detail": "Summary quality and speed are core strengths. Paid AI action items identify assignees and link to the source moment; the API also returns completion state and assignee metadata. Fathom presents action items inside each meeting rather than documenting a workspace-wide task dashboard. Advanced summary types and some AI capabilities are plan-limited even while base transcription is free.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Fathom pricing", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/pricing", "note": "Free, Premium, Team, Business, and Enterprise prices and feature gates." }, { "label": "Fathom product overview", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/overview", "note": "Current bot-free capture modes, speaker attribution, action items, Ask Fathom, programmatic access, and the marketing claim that iOS capture is available." }, { "label": "Fathom AI action items", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/640768", "note": "AI detection of action items and their assignees plus follow-up email generation." } ] } }, { "key": "companyMemory", "label": "People, companies, and context", "lead": "Both products support people, companies, and context, with different scope and plan limits.", "analysis": "Bluedot: Bluedot supports search and chat across meetings. The cited docs do not establish person and company histories that combine meetings, email, and calendar context. Fathom: Fathom organizes team calls and customer context. The cited docs do not establish shared person and company histories that combine meetings, email, and calendars across departments.", "productA": { "id": "bluedot", "name": "Bluedot", "summary": "Workspace meeting memory, without broader email relationship context", "detail": "Bluedot supports search and chat across meetings. The cited docs do not establish person and company histories that combine meetings, email, and calendar context.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Bluedot product overview", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/", "note": "Desktop, mobile, Watch, clips, meeting chat, and workspace memory." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "fathom", "name": "Fathom", "summary": "Meeting and customer-call library", "detail": "Fathom organizes team calls and customer context. The cited docs do not establish shared person and company histories that combine meetings, email, and calendars across departments.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Fathom pricing", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/pricing", "note": "Free, Premium, Team, Business, and Enterprise prices and feature gates." } ] } }, { "key": "sharing", "label": "Automatic sharing and workspace defaults", "lead": "Fathom has broader documented support for automatic sharing and workspace defaults.", "analysis": "Bluedot: Individuals can automatically share recordings and notes with meeting participants. Workspace admins can restrict external sharing and enforce recording defaults, while conditional auto-sorting remains a user-level setting rather than a workspace-wide sharing policy. Fathom: Admins can set auto-capture and visibility separately for external, internal, and unscheduled meetings at organization or team level, including whether users may override the default. Individuals can also send a summary, a recording, or both automatically—but the audience is every calendar invitee, including people who did not attend.", "productA": { "id": "bluedot", "name": "Bluedot", "summary": "Attendee auto-share and workspace permissions", "detail": "Individuals can automatically share recordings and notes with meeting participants. Workspace admins can restrict external sharing and enforce recording defaults, while conditional auto-sorting remains a user-level setting rather than a workspace-wide sharing policy.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Bluedot automatic sharing", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11403151-how-to-set-up-auto-sharing", "note": "User-level automatic sharing of recordings and notes with meeting participants." }, { "label": "Bluedot workspace settings", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/15434559-workspace-settings-overview", "note": "Admin controls for external sharing, downloads, consent, recording formats, and bot behavior." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "fathom", "name": "Fathom", "summary": "Organization and team visibility defaults, plus attendee auto-share", "detail": "Admins can set auto-capture and visibility separately for external, internal, and unscheduled meetings at organization or team level, including whether users may override the default. Individuals can also send a summary, a recording, or both automatically—but the audience is every calendar invitee, including people who did not attend.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Fathom auto-capture and visibility controls", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/13729025", "note": "Organization and team defaults for capture and visibility across external, internal, and unscheduled meetings." }, { "label": "Fathom attendee auto-share", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/7574785", "note": "Automatic delivery of summaries, recordings, or both to every calendar invitee, including no-shows." } ] } }, { "key": "automations", "label": "Automations", "lead": "Both products support automations, with different scope and plan limits.", "analysis": "Bluedot: Bluedot supports automated recording and post-meeting workflows. Webhooks can send summaries and transcripts to custom endpoints that create tasks in Asana, Trello, or Jira, although that downstream mapping is something the customer builds. Its deepest CRM/ATS and team-wide workflow features are reserved for Business. Fathom: Fathom handles common customer-facing follow-through well. Assigned action items can sync automatically or manually to Asana, webhooks can deliver action-item payloads, and Zapier or CRM integrations extend delivery. It does not document the same broad native trigger/condition/action builder for arbitrary work systems.", "productA": { "id": "bluedot", "name": "Bluedot", "summary": "Advanced workflows and task-capable webhooks on Business", "detail": "Bluedot supports automated recording and post-meeting workflows. Webhooks can send summaries and transcripts to custom endpoints that create tasks in Asana, Trello, or Jira, although that downstream mapping is something the customer builds. Its deepest CRM/ATS and team-wide workflow features are reserved for Business.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Bluedot pricing", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/pricing", "note": "Lifetime free limit, audio/video gates, meeting duration, recorder billing, Business workflows, and governance." }, { "label": "Bluedot 2.1 release", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/blog/bluedot-2-1", "note": "June 2026 additions including Watch, MCP, auto-recording, and retention." }, { "label": "Bluedot webhooks", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11461975-how-to-set-up-webhooks-in-bluedot", "note": "User-level payloads and Business/Enterprise team webhooks covering every workspace user." }, { "label": "Bluedot custom note templates", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11393395-how-to-create-custom-note-templates", "note": "Custom AI output structures, including action items, responsibilities, and timelines." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "fathom", "name": "Fathom", "summary": "CRM, webhook, Zapier, and Asana follow-through", "detail": "Fathom handles common customer-facing follow-through well. Assigned action items can sync automatically or manually to Asana, webhooks can deliver action-item payloads, and Zapier or CRM integrations extend delivery. It does not document the same broad native trigger/condition/action builder for arbitrary work systems.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Fathom pricing", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/pricing", "note": "Free, Premium, Team, Business, and Enterprise prices and feature gates." }, { "label": "Fathom Asana integration", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/7639617", "note": "Automatic or manual synchronization of assigned meeting actions into Asana with source links." }, { "label": "Fathom public API", "url": "https://developers.fathom.ai/quickstart", "note": "User-scoped API keys plus meeting metadata, speaker-attributed transcripts, summaries, assigned action items, CRM matches, pagination, and administrator visibility limits." } ] } }, { "key": "integrations", "label": "Integrations", "lead": "Both products support integrations, with different scope and plan limits.", "analysis": "Bluedot: The catalog covers common destinations but is smaller than platforms advertising hundreds or thousands of connections. CRM/ATS access is a top-plan feature. Fathom: CRM delivery and collaboration integrations cover the common sales workflow, while Asana turns assigned meeting actions into trackable tasks. Broader issue-tracker coverage and custom operational actions are less central.", "productA": { "id": "bluedot", "name": "Bluedot", "summary": "Core collaboration tools; CRM and ATS on Business", "detail": "The catalog covers common destinations but is smaller than platforms advertising hundreds or thousands of connections. CRM/ATS access is a top-plan feature.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Bluedot pricing", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/pricing", "note": "Lifetime free limit, audio/video gates, meeting duration, recorder billing, Business workflows, and governance." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "fathom", "name": "Fathom", "summary": "Strong CRM, Asana, Zapier, and common work-tool connections", "detail": "CRM delivery and collaboration integrations cover the common sales workflow, while Asana turns assigned meeting actions into trackable tasks. Broader issue-tracker coverage and custom operational actions are less central.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Fathom pricing", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/pricing", "note": "Free, Premium, Team, Business, and Enterprise prices and feature gates." }, { "label": "Fathom Asana integration", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/7639617", "note": "Automatic or manual synchronization of assigned meeting actions into Asana with source links." } ] } }, { "key": "agentsAndApi", "label": "API, MCP, CLI, and data portability", "lead": "Fathom has broader documented support for API, MCP, CLI, and data portability.", "analysis": "Bluedot: Personal MCP and user-level webhooks are available below Business; organization-wide MCP and team webhooks require Business. MCP follows the meetings the authenticated Bluedot user can already access, while team webhooks can receive events for every workspace user after support enables them. Users can also export transcripts as PDF or TXT and recordings as WebM. Fathom: The REST API can return speaker-attributed transcripts, summaries, action items with assignees and completion state, attendees, CRM matches, playback metadata, and recording downloads. Its official MCP connects authorized meeting data to ChatGPT, Claude, and other clients. Both follow what the authenticated user owns or can see through team sharing; an administrator key does not automatically reach private meetings across the organization.", "productA": { "id": "bluedot", "name": "Bluedot", "summary": "Personal MCP; organization MCP and webhooks on Business", "detail": "Personal MCP and user-level webhooks are available below Business; organization-wide MCP and team webhooks require Business. MCP follows the meetings the authenticated Bluedot user can already access, while team webhooks can receive events for every workspace user after support enables them. Users can also export transcripts as PDF or TXT and recordings as WebM.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Bluedot MCP with Claude", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/16188120-how-to-connect-bluedot-to-claude-using-mcp", "note": "Authenticated MCP access to permitted transcripts and meeting metadata." }, { "label": "Bluedot webhooks", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11461975-how-to-set-up-webhooks-in-bluedot", "note": "User-level payloads and Business/Enterprise team webhooks covering every workspace user." }, { "label": "Bluedot transcript export", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/12497819-how-to-export-a-transcript-as-pdf-or-txt", "note": "Per-meeting transcript export in PDF and TXT." }, { "label": "Bluedot recording download", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11402197-how-to-download-a-recording", "note": "WebM recording downloads and the workspace admin download restriction." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "fathom", "name": "Fathom", "summary": "Rich public API and MCP, scoped to the connected user", "detail": "The REST API can return speaker-attributed transcripts, summaries, action items with assignees and completion state, attendees, CRM matches, playback metadata, and recording downloads. Its official MCP connects authorized meeting data to ChatGPT, Claude, and other clients. Both follow what the authenticated user owns or can see through team sharing; an administrator key does not automatically reach private meetings across the organization.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Fathom public API", "url": "https://developers.fathom.ai/quickstart", "note": "User-scoped API keys plus meeting metadata, speaker-attributed transcripts, summaries, assigned action items, CRM matches, pagination, and administrator visibility limits." }, { "label": "Fathom MCP", "url": "https://developers.fathom.ai/mcp-docs", "note": "Official authenticated MCP access from ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, and other compatible clients." }, { "label": "Fathom release notes", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/6220097", "note": "July 2026 API recording-download support and current product changes." } ] } }, { "key": "admin", "label": "Security, privacy, and admin", "lead": "Both products support security, privacy, and admin, with different scope and plan limits.", "analysis": "Bluedot: Business adds SSO/SAML, SCIM, configurable retention, and EU residency. Bluedot says customer data is not used to train models and AI providers retain nothing after generation. Its pricing and cancellation help pages currently disagree on whether canceled recordings are deleted after one or three months. Fathom: Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM, and custom retention. Fathom currently supports one retention policy per team and asks customers to configure it through support. All data is US-hosted; de-identified data may improve Fathom’s in-house models unless users or a Team Edition admin opt out.", "productA": { "id": "bluedot", "name": "Bluedot", "summary": "Retention, SSO/SCIM, and advanced administration on Business", "detail": "Business adds SSO/SAML, SCIM, configurable retention, and EU residency. Bluedot says customer data is not used to train models and AI providers retain nothing after generation. Its pricing and cancellation help pages currently disagree on whether canceled recordings are deleted after one or three months.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Bluedot workspace settings", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/15434559-workspace-settings-overview", "note": "Admin controls for external sharing, downloads, consent, recording formats, and bot behavior." }, { "label": "Bluedot cancellation policy", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11383438-how-to-cancel-your-bluedot-subscription", "note": "Help-center deletion timing, which currently conflicts with the pricing-page statement." }, { "label": "Bluedot pricing", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/pricing", "note": "Lifetime free limit, audio/video gates, meeting duration, recorder billing, Business workflows, and governance." }, { "label": "Bluedot security", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/security", "note": "No-training policy, AI-provider zero retention, SSO/SCIM, custom retention, EU residency, and deletion behavior." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "fathom", "name": "Fathom", "summary": "Strong upper-tier controls, with US-only hosting", "detail": "Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM, and custom retention. Fathom currently supports one retention policy per team and asks customers to configure it through support. All data is US-hosted; de-identified data may improve Fathom’s in-house models unless users or a Team Edition admin opt out.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Fathom pricing", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/pricing", "note": "Free, Premium, Team, Business, and Enterprise prices and feature gates." }, { "label": "Fathom auto-capture and visibility controls", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/13729025", "note": "Organization and team defaults for capture and visibility across external, internal, and unscheduled meetings." }, { "label": "Fathom security and AI training", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/296512", "note": "US data hosting, de-identified in-house model training and opt-out controls, plus third-party no-training terms." }, { "label": "Fathom retention policies", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/6057089", "note": "Enterprise-only, support-managed retention with one policy per team." } ] } }, { "key": "languages", "label": "Languages", "lead": "Bluedot has broader documented support for languages.", "analysis": "Bluedot: Bluedot advertises broad language support. As with every vendor, evaluate real calls with accents, crosstalk, and domain vocabulary rather than relying on the count alone. Fathom: Fathom documents 38 supported languages. Bot-free rollout is currently narrower, so language support should be checked per capture mode.", "productA": { "id": "bluedot", "name": "Bluedot", "summary": "100+ languages advertised", "detail": "Bluedot advertises broad language support. As with every vendor, evaluate real calls with accents, crosstalk, and domain vocabulary rather than relying on the count alone.", "level": "strong", "sources": [ { "label": "Bluedot pricing", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/pricing", "note": "Lifetime free limit, audio/video gates, meeting duration, recorder billing, Business workflows, and governance." } ] }, "productB": { "id": "fathom", "name": "Fathom", "summary": "38 languages on the free plan", "detail": "Fathom documents 38 supported languages. Bot-free rollout is currently narrower, so language support should be checked per capture mode.", "level": "available", "sources": [ { "label": "Fathom pricing", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/pricing", "note": "Free, Premium, Team, Business, and Enterprise prices and feature gates." }, { "label": "Fathom bot-free recording", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/11578049", "note": "Current Zoom-on-Mac bot-free video and Google Meet/Teams rollout status." } ] } } ], "directComparison": null, "thirdOption": { "product": { "id": "circleback", "name": "Circleback", "shortName": "Circleback", "logoPath": "/logos/circleback_square.png", "website": "https://circleback.ai", "tagline": "Every meeting becomes useful company memory.", "positioning": "Circleback records online meetings with a meeting bot or bot-free desktop app, then turns them into detailed notes, speaker-labeled transcripts, and automatically assigned action items. Automatic sharing, search, and automations turn those meetings into shared company memory. People and AI agents can use the same complete record through the app, API, MCP, and CLI. In-person conversations captured on mobile or Apple Watch, plus imported recordings, flow through the same system.", "bestFor": "Teams across sales, product, engineering, recruiting, customer success, and leadership that need shared meeting notes, assigned follow-up, and automations—with the full record available to people and AI agents.", "lessIdealFor": "People who only need occasional transcripts, or sales organizations buying primarily for forecasting and rep coaching.", "decisionSummary": { "fit": "Online meeting notes, follow-through, and shared company memory", "chooseFor": [ "Detailed notes and labeled transcripts", "Full meeting data via API, MCP, and CLI" ], "watchFor": [ "Paid plans are per user", "Not a forecasting suite" ] }, "pricing": { "headline": "Free; Pro from $15/user/month annually; Business from $25/user/month annually; Enterprise $35/user/month, billed annually", "detail": "Free includes unlimited meetings and members with 30 days of meeting and recording history, limited automations, and API, MCP, and CLI access. Pro adds automations with all integrations, including Notion, HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio, webhooks, and many more apps, plus custom AI insights. Paid prices are per user/month: Pro is $15 with annual billing or $18 month-to-month; Business is $25 or $29; Enterprise is $35 with annual billing only. See https://circleback.ai/pricing for current plan packaging.", "freePlan": "Free includes unlimited meetings and members, with 30 days of meeting and recording history, limited automations, and API, MCP, and CLI access." }, "strengths": [ "Record online meetings with a meeting bot or bot-free desktop app. In-person and imported recordings get the same speaker-labeled transcripts. Keep the recording for playback, or retain just the notes and transcript.", "The notes are detailed enough to stand alone, while automatically assigned action items stay trackable across the workspace and can become issues in Linear or another work tracker.", "Conditional automatic sharing, company context, free viewers, enforced defaults, and actions in connected apps make each meeting useful beyond the person who recorded it.", "Circleback is built for people and AI agents. The complete meeting record available to a person—including the recording, full speaker-labeled transcript, notes, action items, attendees, people, and companies—is also available programmatically through the public API, MCP, and CLI.", "Security controls include encryption at rest and in transit, SOC 2 Type II, EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework certification, GDPR support, and HIPAA compliance. Customer data is never used to train models, and an external infrastructure pentest report is available through the security portal.", "For in-person conversations, one tap on your phone’s Lock Screen widget or Apple Watch complication starts recording; a configured iPhone Action button starts it with a press and hold. There is no separate recorder to buy, carry, or charge." ], "tradeoffs": [ "The Free plan has shorter history and limited automations. Pro adds automations with all integrations, including Notion, HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio, webhooks, and many more apps, plus custom AI insights. A solo user who only wants occasional transcripts may find a more generous free recorder elsewhere.", "It is not a sales forecasting suite. Gong goes further on deal inspection, rep coaching, and forecasting.", "It is not a live meeting coach. Read AI goes further on real-time engagement and sentiment signals, while Krisp specializes in cleaning up audio before it reaches the transcript.", "Circleback’s primary processing operations are in the United States. A company with a hard regional-hosting or on-premises requirement should confirm fit during security review." ], "chooseIf": [ "You want online meetings captured with or without a bot, with the same speaker-labeled record for in-person conversations and imported recordings.", "You want notes that explain the meeting to someone who missed it, plus assigned action items in one shared list and your issue tracker.", "You want Circleback to look things up and do the next step in the apps where your team works.", "You want coworkers, ChatGPT, Claude, other agents, and your own tools to use the same company context.", "You also want quick in-person recording from your phone or Watch without a separate recorder." ], "features": { "capture": { "summary": "Online meetings with or without a bot; in-person recording too", "detail": "Use the meeting bot for Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, and Webex calls, or record online meetings locally on macOS or Windows without a bot. On desktop, click Record in the detected-meeting prompt. In-person recording on mobile or Apple Watch and imported phone calls join the same system. Every route produces speaker-labeled transcripts, notes, and assigned action items, with search, sharing, and automations in one workspace.", "level": "strong" }, "platforms": { "summary": "Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, and Apple Watch", "detail": "macOS and Windows apps capture online meetings without a bot, including system audio and video, with recording from the detected-meeting prompt. The iOS and Android apps record in-person conversations and include Assistant. Apple Watch records from your wrist without the iPhone nearby. Every app sends recordings into the same Circleback meeting system.", "level": "strong" }, "inPerson": { "summary": "Phone, desktop, or Watch—with speaker labels", "detail": "Record in-person conversations from iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, or Apple Watch. For quick capture, tap your phone’s Lock Screen widget or Apple Watch complication, or press and hold your configured iPhone Action button. No separate recorder is needed. Recordings get the same speaker labels, notes, assigned action items, search, sharing, and automations as online meetings. Phone calls use an existing call recording imported into Circleback.", "level": "strong" }, "recordings": { "summary": "Optional recordings with playback, downloads, and clips", "detail": "Every capture route can keep the source recording with the meeting. Play it beside the transcript, download it, link to a moment, or make a clip. If you only want notes and the speaker-labeled transcript, turn recording storage off.", "level": "strong" }, "notesAndSearch": { "summary": "Detailed standalone notes, assigned action items, and cited search", "detail": "Circleback’s notes are designed to give someone who missed the meeting its context, decisions, and next steps. It automatically creates action items and assigns them when the conversation makes the owner clear. One workspace-wide list lets teams filter and complete tasks across meetings. Custom insights extract the fields a team needs, while Assistant searches meetings and connected email with citations.", "level": "strong" }, "companyMemory": { "summary": "Meeting and email history for each person and company", "detail": "Person and company pages combine rolling summaries, relationship timelines, emails, meetings, attendees, and upcoming events. Search and Assistant work across that context, so a conversation stays useful to the next person and the next team.", "level": "strong" }, "sharing": { "summary": "Conditional automatic sharing with workspace safeguards", "detail": "Automations can share matching meetings with specific people, teams, or the whole workspace based on titles, participants, invitee emails or domains, tags, and combined conditions. Admins can set or enforce default sharing access while members retain explicit controls for private or sensitive conversations.", "level": "strong" }, "automations": { "summary": "Conditional sharing, CRM updates, and task creation", "detail": "Run actions when meetings match conditions, extract the fields each team cares about, share notes, and route the result into the system where work happens. Sales can update the CRM; product and research can collect themes; engineering can open assigned issues in Linear or another tracker; recruiting and customer teams can route structured follow-up. Automations also post to Slack, call webhooks, and re-run against older meetings.", "level": "strong" }, "integrations": { "summary": "Search other apps, then do the work there", "detail": "Circleback Assistant can look up context and take actions in tools such as Linear, Notion, Asana, HubSpot, PostHog, Attio, Ashby, Intercom, and Plain. Automations can create Linear issues from assigned meeting action items, write action items to monday.com, and send outcomes to Slack, Salesforce, Zoho, and more. Connect additional tools through Zapier, Make, webhooks, or custom MCP servers.", "level": "strong" }, "agentsAndApi": { "summary": "The same complete meeting data for people and AI agents", "detail": "Circleback is built for people and AI agents. The complete meeting record a person can access—its full speaker-labeled transcript, recording, notes, action items, metadata, attendees, and related people and companies—is also available programmatically through the public API, MCP, and CLI. The API also supports action-item updates. MCP and CLI add search and retrieval across meetings, transcripts, action items, calendars, email, people, companies, and tags, and can update meetings and tags, share meetings, and create, update, or delete action items. Connect ChatGPT or Claude, build internal tools, or receive meeting data by webhook.", "level": "strong" }, "admin": { "summary": "Security, privacy, and workspace controls", "detail": "Customer data is encrypted at rest and in transit and never used to train models. Circleback is SOC 2 Type II, certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, supports GDPR obligations, and is HIPAA-compliant with BAAs available. The security portal includes compliance materials and an external infrastructure pentest report. Available controls include single sign-on (SAML or OIDC) and SCIM provisioning, configurable data retention and recording storage, enforced workspace and sharing settings, teams and roles, domain and API key access controls, centralized billing, usage reporting, and free viewer seats.", "level": "strong" }, "languages": { "summary": "100+ transcription languages", "detail": "Users can choose from more than 100 meeting languages and separately control the output language used for generated notes.", "level": "strong" } }, "sources": [ { "label": "Circleback product guide", "url": "https://circleback.ai/llms.txt", "note": "Capture modes, apps, search, automations, integrations, recordings, MCP, CLI, webhooks, and security resources." }, { "label": "Circleback pricing", "url": "https://circleback.ai/pricing", "note": "Current plan prices, included features, Business controls, Enterprise options, and free viewer seats." }, { "label": "Circleback recording guide", "url": "https://circleback.ai/docs/support/recording/getting-started-with-recording", "note": "Desktop, mobile, bot, and import capture paths for online and in-person conversations." }, { "label": "Circleback desktop recording", "url": "https://circleback.ai/docs/support/recording/desktop-app/record-meetings-with-the-desktop-app", "note": "Detected-meeting recording prompts, automatic recording, and bot-free desktop audio and video capture." }, { "label": "Circleback mobile recording shortcuts", "url": "https://circleback.ai/docs/support/recording/mobile-app/record-meetings-with-the-mobile-app", "note": "Mobile recording and links to widget and Action button setup guides." }, { "label": "Circleback iPhone Action button", "url": "https://circleback.ai/docs/support/recording/mobile-app/start-recording-with-the-action-button-on-iphone", "note": "Configure Controls → Circleback → Record, then press and hold to start recording." }, { "label": "Circleback Apple Watch complication", "url": "https://apps.apple.com/us/app/circleback-ai-meeting-notes/id6738971048", "note": "Publisher description documents one-tap Watch complication recording and the same transcript and notes as other meetings." }, { "label": "Circleback optional recording storage", "url": "https://circleback.ai/docs/support/recording/configure-whether-meeting-recordings-are-saved", "note": "Keep notes, action items, transcript, and insights while disabling stored audio and video." }, { "label": "Circleback mobile and Apple Watch apps", "url": "https://circleback.ai/mobile", "note": "iOS, Android, and Apple Watch capture for in-person meetings and conversations." }, { "label": "Circleback public API", "url": "https://circleback.ai/docs/api", "note": "Programmatic access to the complete meeting record available in Circleback, including notes, action items, transcripts, recordings, people, and companies." }, { "label": "Circleback MCP documentation", "url": "https://circleback.ai/docs/support/platform/circleback-mcp", "note": "Access from ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Codex, and other MCP clients to meetings, transcripts, action items, people, companies, calendar, email, and tags, plus write tools for meetings, tags, sharing, and action items." }, { "label": "Circleback CLI documentation", "url": "https://circleback.ai/docs/support/platform/circleback-cli", "note": "Command-line and JSON access to meetings, speaker-labeled transcripts, action items, calendars, email, people, companies, and cross-meeting action-item search." }, { "label": "Circleback Assistant connectors", "url": "https://circleback.ai/docs/support/assistant/ask-circleback-assistant", "note": "Search and take action in connected work apps from Circleback Assistant." }, { "label": "Circleback automatic sharing", "url": "https://circleback.ai/docs/support/automations/automatically-share-meetings-with-your-workspace", "note": "Conditional sharing by meeting title, participants, invitee emails or domains, and tags to people, teams, or the workspace." }, { "label": "Circleback enforced workspace settings", "url": "https://circleback.ai/docs/support/workspace-and-teams/default-and-enforced-workspace-settings", "note": "Admin-controlled defaults for sharing access, recording storage, joining preferences, and other meeting settings." }, { "label": "Circleback security and data processing", "url": "https://circleback.ai/dpa", "note": "Retention responsibilities, subprocessors, and United States primary processing operations." }, { "label": "Circleback security overview", "url": "https://circleback.ai/docs/support/security/security", "note": "Encryption at rest and in transit, SOC 2 Type II, no-training commitment, GDPR support, HIPAA compliance and BAA availability, EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework certification, and an external infrastructure pentest." }, { "label": "Circleback security portal", "url": "https://security.circleback.ai/", "note": "Compliance materials, security controls, subprocessors, and an external infrastructure pentest report." }, { "label": "Circleback action items in Linear", "url": "https://circleback.ai/docs/support/automations/integrations/integrate-with-linear", "note": "Automatically create Linear issues from meeting action items and preserve the matched assignee." } ] }, "label": "A third option to consider" }, "faqs": [ { "question": "Which is better: Bluedot or Fathom?", "answer": "Bluedot records without a bot across desktop, phone, and Apple Watch. Fathom focuses on online recordings, clips, and CRM updates, with unlimited base recording and transcription for free." }, { "question": "Which is less expensive, Bluedot or Fathom?", "answer": "Bluedot: Free for 5 meetings lifetime; paid from $14/recorder/month annually. Fathom: Free; Premium from $16/user/month annually. Compare the paid seats, included usage, recording access, and admin features you actually need." }, { "question": "Can Bluedot and Fathom record without a bot?", "answer": "Bluedot: Bot-free browser and desktop capture, plus an optional Zoom bot. Fathom: Meeting bot or bot-free transcript, audio, and Zoom video on Mac. Check whether your preferred recording method preserves video and speaker labels." }, { "question": "Which is better for a whole company?", "answer": "Compare automatic sharing, permissions, retention, and the defaults admins can enforce. Bluedot: Attendee auto-share and workspace permissions. Fathom: Organization and team visibility defaults, plus attendee auto-share." }, { "question": "Can I access and move the full meeting data?", "answer": "Bluedot: Personal MCP; organization MCP and webhooks on Business. Fathom: Rich public API and MCP, scoped to the connected user. Check the selected plan, authentication model, transcript scope, export format, and retention window for the workflow you need." }, { "question": "How was this comparison researched?", "answer": "We use first-party pricing pages, product pages, help docs, and release notes for both products. Links appear in each feature comparison and in the Sources section." } ], "variableMeasured": [ "Capture options", "Desktop and mobile", "In-person capture and speaker labels", "Recordings, playback, and clips", "Notes, action items, and search", "People, companies, and context", "Automatic sharing and workspace defaults", "Automations", "Integrations", "API, MCP, CLI, and data portability", "Security, privacy, and admin", "Languages" ], "sources": [ { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot pricing", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/pricing", "note": "Lifetime free limit, audio/video gates, meeting duration, recorder billing, Business workflows, and governance." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot product overview", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/", "note": "Desktop, mobile, Watch, clips, meeting chat, and workspace memory." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot 2.1 release", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/blog/bluedot-2-1", "note": "June 2026 additions including Watch, MCP, auto-recording, and retention." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot speaker recognition", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/12731344-speaker-recognition-overview", "note": "Recognition differences across desktop, extension, Meet, Teams, and Zoom." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot Zoom recorder bot", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/10697005-how-to-invite-the-bluedot-recorder-to-a-zoom-meeting", "note": "Optional Zoom-bot recording path alongside the bot-free capture modes." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot automatic sharing", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11403151-how-to-set-up-auto-sharing", "note": "User-level automatic sharing of recordings and notes with meeting participants." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot workspace settings", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/15434559-workspace-settings-overview", "note": "Admin controls for external sharing, downloads, consent, recording formats, and bot behavior." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot mobile app", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/12878531-getting-started-with-the-bluedot-mobile-app", "note": "iOS and Android in-person capture, uploads, transcripts, notes, playback, and sharing." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot Apple Watch capture", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/15460054-how-to-record-meetings-on-your-apple-watch", "note": "Independent Watch recording and the iPhone sync/upload path." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot webhooks", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11461975-how-to-set-up-webhooks-in-bluedot", "note": "User-level payloads and Business/Enterprise team webhooks covering every workspace user." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot custom note templates", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11393395-how-to-create-custom-note-templates", "note": "Custom AI output structures, including action items, responsibilities, and timelines." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot MCP with Claude", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/16188120-how-to-connect-bluedot-to-claude-using-mcp", "note": "Authenticated MCP access to permitted transcripts and meeting metadata." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot cancellation policy", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11383438-how-to-cancel-your-bluedot-subscription", "note": "Help-center deletion timing, which currently conflicts with the pricing-page statement." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot security", "url": "https://www.bluedothq.com/security", "note": "No-training policy, AI-provider zero retention, SSO/SCIM, custom retention, EU residency, and deletion behavior." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot transcript export", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/12497819-how-to-export-a-transcript-as-pdf-or-txt", "note": "Per-meeting transcript export in PDF and TXT." }, { "productId": "bluedot", "productName": "Bluedot", "label": "Bluedot recording download", "url": "https://help.bluedothq.com/en/articles/11402197-how-to-download-a-recording", "note": "WebM recording downloads and the workspace admin download restriction." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom pricing", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/pricing", "note": "Free, Premium, Team, Business, and Enterprise prices and feature gates." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom supported systems", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/296576", "note": "Computer, platform, mobile, phone call, webinar, and breakout limitations." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom in-person meetings", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/5500225", "note": "Current workaround, speaker limitation, and upcoming iOS path." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom bot-free recording", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/11578049", "note": "Current Zoom-on-Mac bot-free video and Google Meet/Teams rollout status." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom product overview", "url": "https://www.fathom.ai/overview", "note": "Current bot-free capture modes, speaker attribution, action items, Ask Fathom, programmatic access, and the marketing claim that iOS capture is available." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom 3.0 rollout", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/11577345", "note": "Current Mac-only, English-only eligibility and staged rollout behavior for the new bot-free experience." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom auto-capture and visibility controls", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/13729025", "note": "Organization and team defaults for capture and visibility across external, internal, and unscheduled meetings." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom attendee auto-share", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/7574785", "note": "Automatic delivery of summaries, recordings, or both to every calendar invitee, including no-shows." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom public API", "url": "https://developers.fathom.ai/quickstart", "note": "User-scoped API keys plus meeting metadata, speaker-attributed transcripts, summaries, assigned action items, CRM matches, pagination, and administrator visibility limits." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom MCP", "url": "https://developers.fathom.ai/mcp-docs", "note": "Official authenticated MCP access from ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, and other compatible clients." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom AI action items", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/640768", "note": "AI detection of action items and their assignees plus follow-up email generation." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom Asana integration", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/7639617", "note": "Automatic or manual synchronization of assigned meeting actions into Asana with source links." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom release notes", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/6220097", "note": "July 2026 API recording-download support and current product changes." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom security and AI training", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/296512", "note": "US data hosting, de-identified in-house model training and opt-out controls, plus third-party no-training terms." }, { "productId": "fathom", "productName": "Fathom", "label": "Fathom retention policies", "url": "https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/6057089", "note": "Enterprise-only, support-managed retention with one policy per team." } ], "methodology": { "approach": "First-party pricing, product documentation, help-center articles, and release notes. Capability levels describe documented breadth, not overall product quality. Competitor strengths and material plan or capture-mode limits are both included. No pay-to-play rankings.", "ratingLabels": { "strong": "Broad support", "available": "Available with limits", "limited": "Narrow or indirect", "not-available": "Not documented" }, "ratingScale": { "strong": "Broad native support across the product or relevant paid plans.", "available": "Documented support with meaningful scope, mode, or plan limits.", "limited": "Narrow, indirect, beta, or substantially plan-gated support.", "not-available": "No current first-party documentation for a native option." }, "claimLevelEvidence": "Each feature dimension includes the exact first-party sources used for both products.", "limitations": "Prices and features change. Check the linked sources and test both products on real calls." } }