Circleback vs Fathom

Circleback and Fathom cost the same on annual billing: $15 per user a month for the first team tier and $25 for Business. The difference is in what each does with a summary. Circleback treats the call as a source of action items that it can route into Notion, HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio, Linear or a webhook. Fathom is a recorder with summary templates, clips, trackers and, on Business, CRM field sync and coaching metrics for sales teams.

If the job is "get the tasks out of the meeting and into our tools", start with Circleback. If it's "keep a library of call recordings and coach a sales team", start with Fathom. Individuals can stay free on either. We opened both pricing pages and Circleback's help center on 10 November 2026; Fathom's security details come from our Fathom review. We haven't tested either hands-on, so we don't score summary accuracy.

Quick answer by meeting workflow

Capture and supported platforms

Circleback gives three ways in. Its bot joins Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex from your calendar or a pasted link. The desktop app for macOS and Windows records microphone and computer audio, plus video by default, without a bot, and prompts you when it detects a meeting. Mobile apps for iOS and Android (and Apple Watch, per the pricing page) cover in-person conversations, and you can import an existing recording. It can also record Slack huddles. Circleback says it supports more than 100 languages, detects the main spoken language and can write notes in a different language from the transcript.

Fathom records Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. Its pricing page offers a choice of a meeting bot or bot-free capture, which it marks as a beta feature for Mac. Its help center, as cited in our review, recommends the Mac or Windows desktop app even if you also use the Zoom app or Chrome extension, because it works when you're not the host. All plans, including Free, list unlimited recordings and transcription.

Summary structure and source checking

The search question is which tool writes the better summary. That depends on your calls, and an accuracy score we invented would be worse than none. What we can compare is what each vendor documents.

Circleback

Notes and action items are generated after every meeting; action items are captured, assigned and organised. Transcripts carry speaker labels, and you can edit notes, add your own notes, add custom vocabulary for technical terms and comment on moments. Pro adds "custom AI insights" (the help center covers them under generating insights with AI) and automations that send results to other apps. Ask Circleback answers questions across all your meetings, in the app, on mobile or in Slack.

Fathom

Fathom produces instant AI summaries on every plan and lists "chronological and enhanced summaries". It offers more than 15 meeting templates, including sales frameworks such as BANT and Sandler; template use is limited on Free. Premium adds advanced summaries, AI action items and a conversational assistant; Team adds Ask Fathom across team calls and trackers. Business adds custom summaries for your organisation, Deal View and coaching metrics, and Enterprise adds custom-built summaries with implementation help.

For source checking, both keep a transcript next to the summary, and Fathom keeps the video by default with clips and playlists. Circleback stores recordings too unless you switch them off. Either way, check the claim in the summary against the transcript before it goes to a client.

Integrations, consent and retention

Circleback's homepage lists Google Calendar, Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Notion, Linear, HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio, Asana, PostHog, Ashby, Intercom, Plain, Zoho, folk, Monday, Zapier and Make, plus an API, MCP server, CLI and webhooks. Free has limited automations; Pro adds automations with all integrations. Fathom lists Zoom, Meet, Teams, Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce, Asana, Notion, Zapier and Make, with Claude and ChatGPT on every plan and a public API and MCP. CRM field sync, which writes into specific CRM fields, is a Fathom Business feature.

On data, Circleback states SOC 2 Type II, certification under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (including the UK extension), encryption at rest and in transit, a DPA under GDPR, HIPAA support and no training on customer data. Business admins can set custom data retention, and anyone can turn off saving audio and video; the bot then posts a chat message saying no recording is stored. Fathom lists SOC 2 Type II, US data storage, a DPA for EU and UK customers on request, a standard BAA on Team and Business, and custom data retention only on Enterprise. It uses de-identified customer data to improve its own models (our review, 26 October and 6 November).

Neither tool gets consent for you. A bot in the call is visible; bot-free capture isn't, which puts the burden on whoever records to tell the other side.

Free limits, paid seats and a pilot budget

Read from circleback.ai/pricing (monthly and yearly toggles) and fathom.ai/pricing on 10 November 2026, USD before tax. We didn't capture a monthly Enterprise figure for Circleback. Circleback's FAQ prices 50 users on annual billing at $9,000 a year on Pro, $15,000 on Business and $21,000 on Enterprise.

Who pays for a seat

On annual billing, five people cost $75 a month on Circleback Pro or Fathom Team, and $125 on either Business plan. Monthly billing separates them: five people on Business cost $145 a month on Circleback and $170 on Fathom. Circleback Business and Enterprise add unlimited free viewers, so colleagues who only read shared notes don't need a seat. Fathom's team plans need at least two paid users. Circleback offers 30% off for non-profits and 50% for students; Fathom has a free-seat programme for non-profits and a 90-day guarantee on its plans.

A two-week pilot

1. Pick six recurring calls of different kinds, get consent and write the decisions and owners yourself.
2. Alternate the tools rather than running both bots in one meeting.
3. Score each summary against your list: missed decisions, wrong owners, wrong numbers. Keep the rejects.
4. Test the destination: one automation into Notion or the CRM for Circleback, CRM sync for Fathom if you're on Business.
5. Check retention settings and who can see recordings before inviting the wider team.

Already on Fathom and happy with the recordings? Stay, unless the gap is automations or Windows bot-free capture. Circleback's help center has an import guide for Fathom history if you do switch; export a sample first. For a wider shortlist see Fathom alternatives and the meeting notes hub.

Sources checked 10 November 2026

• Circleback pricing: plans, monthly and yearly prices, FAQ.
• Circleback homepage: integrations list and languages.
• Getting started with recording: bot platforms, desktop and mobile apps, imports.
• Recording storage setting and meeting languages.
• Circleback security: SOC 2, DPF, GDPR, training and HIPAA.
• Switch to Circleback: Fathom import guide.
• Fathom pricing: plans, seat minimums, templates and bot-free beta.
• Fathom security and data storage: sources listed in our Fathom review.

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