Fathom vs Grain

Grain costs $15/seat/mo on the annual plan versus $16/seat/mo for Fathom, a modest edge for agencies billing seats across many client accounts. Both tools support in-person and mobile capture and a bot-free capture option, so client meetings can be recorded without a bot joining either way. Recording storage is unlimited on paid plans for both tools. Grain also exports transcripts in PDF, SRT, VTT, and DOCX, while Fathom offers copy and paste only, useful when sending files to clients. The slightly lower annual price plus richer exports give Grain the edge.

Fathom integrates with Slack, Notion, Asana, and Zapier, giving async teams a direct route from meeting notes into the project and task tools engineering teams already use. Grain's integrations list Slack, Zapier, and Aircall, which leans toward call and sales workflows rather than engineering. Both tools generate automatic action items, offer a public API, and include an AI meeting summary, so hands off capture and custom automation work either way. Grain is slightly cheaper on an annual plan at $15/seat/mo versus $16/seat/mo for Fathom, but the difference is small. The stronger fit with Notion and Asana makes Fathom the better pick here.

Fathom includes a HIPAA BAAHIPAA BAA - A signed Business Associate Agreement that lets you handle protected health information under US healthcare privacy law. as part of its plan, a fact not published for Grain, making Fathom the safer bet if a signed BAA is a hard requirement. Grain, on the other hand, excludes customer data from AI training, while Fathom does not, which matters just as much for privacy conscious teams worried about model training. Both tools offer bot-free capture and support GDPR or EU data residency, and both give admins retention controls, Fathom through custom Enterprise settings and Grain through auto-retention policies. With the two most important compliance requirements split between them, neither tool clearly leads for this use case.

Fathom and Grain both offer clips and highlight reels, video recording, and an ask your meeting AI chat, so researchers get the core interview workflow either way. Grain pulls ahead on transcript exports, supporting PDF, SRT, VTT, and DOCX, compared to copy and paste only for Fathom, making it easier to move interview transcripts into other research tools. Fathom supports 38 languages, while Grain does not publish a language count for comparison. With the core clip, video, and chat features tied and Grain offering stronger export options, Grain is the better fit for research teams working across sessions.

Both Fathom and Grain include automatic AI meeting summaries and speaker identification, so speaker labelled notes are available either way for candidate interviews. Grain pulls ahead on exports, supporting PDF, SRT, VTT, and DOCX, while Fathom offers copy and paste only, a real limitation when pushing transcripts into an ATS. Grain is also slightly cheaper per seat annually, $15/seat/mo versus $16/seat/mo for Fathom. Fathom lists a broader integration set with Slack, Notion, Asana, and Zapier compared to Grain's Slack, Zapier, and Aircall. With the summary and diarizationdiarization - Splitting a transcript by speaker, so you can see who said what. features tied, the stronger export options make Grain the better fit for talent teams.

Fathom and Grain both list the same CRM integrations, Salesforce and HubSpot, so CRM sync works the same way on either tool. Both also generate automatic action items and offer clips or highlight reels for pulling coaching moments out of calls. Grain supports live, real-time transcription during calls, a capability not listed for Fathom. Grain's annual per-seat price is $15/seat/mo, compared with $16/seat/mo for Fathom. With the CRM integration and call feature set tied, the real-time transcription and small price edge make Grain the better choice for sales teams.

Fathom's free plan includes unlimited recording, with only advanced AI summaries capped at 5 per month. Grain's free plan caps out at a fixed number of recorded meetings per month, a hard limit that a solo user doing daily calls will hit quickly. Both plans include an AI meeting summary. Grain's cheapest paid seat is $19/seat/mo billed monthly. Fathom charges $20/seat/mo billed monthly, a small gap that does not offset the free tier difference. The more generous unlimited free plan makes Fathom the better starting point for individuals and tiny teams.