# Fathom vs tl;dv

> Fathom vs tl;dv: Fathom is our pick, leading for consultants & agencies and privacy &. They split on free tier transcription quota and business/team plan.

This is the verified Fathom vs tl;dv breakdown: Fathom (Free-first AI meeting notetaker) and tl;dv (AI meeting recorder and notetaker) are AI meeting notetakers platforms, priced from $16/seat/mo and $18/seat/mo respectively. The bottom line, head-to-head facts, and true cost tiers follow.

AI meeting notetakers platforms · 32 facts compared · all sourced · pricing verified Jul 20, 2026

## Bottom line

Fathom wins five of the seven use cases. It costs less per seat, $16/seat/mo annually against tl;dv's $18/seat/mo, and that lower price carries through to consultants and agencies, recruiters, and the solo and free plan, where Fathom's free tier includes unlimited transcription minutes against tl;dv's 3 hour per meeting cap. Fathom also includes a HIPAA BAA, a feature tl;dv does not publish, helping it take privacy and compliance. tl;dv answers back only on sales teams, where its three CRM integrations, HubSpot, Zoho, and Salesloft, edge out Fathom's Salesforce and HubSpot pairing. Engineering teams end in a tie.

## Verdict summary

| Use case | Winner | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Consultants & Agencies | Fathom | Fathom's annual seat price is $16/seat/mo against tl;dv's $18/seat/mo, a real gap for an agency adding seats across client accounts. |
| Engineering Teams | Tie | Both tools generate automatic action items, both offer a public API, and both produce an AI summary, so the core workflow for landing standup notes automatically is matched. |
| Privacy & Compliance | Fathom | Fathom includes a HIPAA BAA on its plans, a documented feature tl;dv does not publish. |
| Product & UX Research | Fathom | Both tools offer clips and highlight reels, both record video, and both let you chat with a meeting afterward, so the core research toolkit matches on either side. |
| Recruiters | Fathom | Both tools generate an AI summary and identify speakers automatically, giving recruiters clean, labeled candidate interview notes either way. |
| Sales Teams | tl;dv | tl;dv connects to three CRMs, HubSpot, Zoho, and Salesloft, one more than Fathom's Salesforce and HubSpot pairing, giving reps another place for a call to land automatically. |
| Solo & Free | Fathom | Fathom's free plan gives unlimited transcription minutes with no per meeting cap and unlimited recording, capping only advanced summaries at 5 per month. |

## Fathom vs tl;dv: head-to-head facts

| Fact | Fathom | tl;dv | Verified |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Price per seat (billed monthly) | 20 $/seat/mo ([source](https://www.fathom.ai/pricing)) | 29 $/seat/mo ([source](https://tldv.io/app/pricing/)) | Jul 20 |
| Price per seat (billed annually) | 16 $/seat/mo ([source](https://www.fathom.ai/pricing)) | 18 $/seat/mo ([source](https://tldv.io/app/pricing/)) | Jul 20 |
| What the free tier caps | 5 advanced summaries/mo; unlimited recording ([source](https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/5290881)) | 10 mtgs full AI notes; 3-mo storage; 10 AI prompts ([source](https://intercom.help/tldv/en/articles/8919450-what-are-the-limits-of-the-free-plan)) | Jul 20 |
| Capture method | hybrid ([source](https://www.fathom.ai/pricing)) | hybrid ([source](https://intercom.help/tldv/en/articles/8434028-how-can-i-record-without-the-bot)) | Jul 20 |
| Bot-free capture option | ✓  Yes ([source](https://www.fathom.ai/overview)) | ✓  Yes ([source](https://tldv.io/desktop-app/)) | Jul 20 |
| Meeting platforms supported | Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams ([source](https://www.fathom.ai/integrations)) | Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams ([source](https://tldv.io/features/)) | Jul 20 |
| Languages supported | 38 ([source](https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/296192)) | 30 ([source](https://tldv.io/features/)) | Jul 20 |
| AI meeting summary | ✓  Yes ([source](https://www.fathom.ai/pricing)) | ✓  Yes ([source](https://tldv.io/features/)) | Jul 20 |
| SOC 2 Type II | ✓  Yes ([source](https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/296512)) | ✓  'SOC 2 (Type II)' ([source](https://tldv.io/features/security-commitment/)) | Jul 20 |

## Fathom vs tl;dv pricing: true cost at 3 usage tiers

Real monthly bill for a team, from published per-seat rates on annual billing. Free-only or platform-bundled tools show n/a; their free-tier cap is the story.

| Volume | Buyer | Fathom | tl;dv | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 seat | Solo / freelancer | $16/mo | $18/mo | A single user. Free tiers often cover this entirely. |
| 10 seats | Growing team | $160/mo | $180/mo | A whole team on paid seats; annual billing assumed. |
| 50 seats | Department | $800/mo | $900/mo | Company rollout. Most vendors negotiate at this size. |

## Fathom vs tl;dv: verdicts by use case

### Consultants & Agencies → Fathom

Fathom's annual seat price is $16/seat/mo against tl;dv's $18/seat/mo, a real gap for an agency adding seats across client accounts. Fathom also publishes in person and mobile capture support, a capability tl;dv does not list, important for consultants meeting clients face to face. Both offer a bot free capture option. Storage is unlimited on paid plans for both, though tl;dv's free tier only keeps recordings for 3 months against Fathom's unlimited storage. Transcript export is only documented for Fathom, copy and paste only. With the lower seat price and documented in person capture, Fathom is the stronger fit here.

### Engineering Teams → Tie

Both tools generate automatic action items, both offer a public API, and both produce an AI summary, so the core workflow for landing standup notes automatically is matched. The integrations differ in shape rather than one clearly beating the other: Fathom names Slack, Notion, Asana, and Zapier directly, while tl;dv names Slack and Zapier but claims reach into more than 5000 apps through Zapier. Neither publishes a direct Jira connection. Fathom is slightly cheaper on the annual seat, $16/seat/mo against tl;dv's $18/seat/mo, but that is a minor factor next to where the notes actually land.

### Privacy & Compliance → Fathom

Fathom includes a HIPAA BAA on its plans, a documented feature tl;dv does not publish. Fathom also publishes custom admin data retention controls on its Enterprise plan, another item tl;dv does not list. tl;dv answers back by excluding customer data from AI training, while Fathom does not exclude it, a real point in tl;dv's favor for training conscious buyers. Both support bot free capture and GDPR EU data residency. With Fathom ahead on the BAA and retention controls against tl;dv's single win on training exclusion, Fathom edges out for a compliance focused buyer.

### Product & UX Research → Fathom

Both tools offer clips and highlight reels, both record video, and both let you chat with a meeting afterward, so the core research toolkit matches on either side. Fathom supports 38 languages against tl;dv's 30, useful for a broader international interview panel. Fathom also publishes a transcript export option, copy and paste only, while tl;dv does not document one. With the heaviest attributes tied and language coverage the clearest remaining difference, Fathom is the narrow pick for researchers running interviews across sessions and languages.

### Recruiters → Fathom

Both tools generate an AI summary and identify speakers automatically, giving recruiters clean, labeled candidate interview notes either way. Fathom is cheaper on the annual seat, $16/seat/mo against tl;dv's $18/seat/mo, and it names more integrations directly, Slack, Notion, Asana, and Zapier, against tl;dv's Slack and Zapier. Transcript export is only documented for Fathom, copy and paste only, tl;dv does not publish an export format. With the top two attributes tied and price and integrations both leaning Fathom's way, Fathom is the narrow pick for a talent team on a budget.

### Sales Teams → tl;dv

tl;dv connects to three CRMs, HubSpot, Zoho, and Salesloft, one more than Fathom's Salesforce and HubSpot pairing, giving reps another place for a call to land automatically. Both tools generate automatic action items and both offer clips and highlight reels for coaching moments. Fathom is cheaper on the annual seat, $16/seat/mo against tl;dv's $18/seat/mo, a real but smaller factor here. With CRM reach as the deciding factor and action items and clips tied, tl;dv is the narrow pick for a sales team that wants every call synced automatically.

### Solo & Free → Fathom

Fathom's free plan gives unlimited transcription minutes with no per meeting cap and unlimited recording, capping only advanced summaries at 5 per month. tl;dv's free plan caps transcription at 3 hours per meeting and limits the free tier to 10 meetings with full AI notes, 10 AI prompts, and 3 months of storage. Fathom is also cheaper on the monthly seat, $20/seat/mo against tl;dv's $29/seat/mo. Both generate an AI summary automatically. With the free plan being the core of this use case and Fathom ahead on both caps and price, Fathom is the clear pick.

## Fathom vs tl;dv: common questions

### Is Fathom cheaper than tl;dv?

Yes. Fathom costs $20/seat/mo billed monthly or $16/seat/mo billed annually, both under tl;dv's $29/seat/mo monthly or $18/seat/mo annual rate. Fathom's business plan is also cheaper at $34/seat/mo, against tl;dv's $59/seat/mo billed annually or $98/seat/mo billed monthly.

### Fathom vs tl;dv: which is better for consultants & agencies?

Fathom is the better fit for consultants and agencies. Its annual seat price is $16/seat/mo against tl;dv's $18/seat/mo, and Fathom publishes in person and mobile capture support, a capability tl;dv does not list, useful for consultants meeting clients face to face. Both offer a bot free capture option.

### Does Fathom or tl;dv exclude customer data from AI training?

tl;dv excludes customer data from AI model training. Fathom does not exclude customer data from training, according to its published policy.

### Is Fathom or tl;dv better for sales teams syncing calls to a CRM?

tl;dv connects to three CRMs, HubSpot, Zoho, and Salesloft. Fathom connects to Salesforce and HubSpot. tl;dv covers one more CRM option for reps logging calls automatically.

### How many languages does Fathom support compared to tl;dv?

Fathom supports 38 languages. tl;dv supports 30 languages.

### How long does tl;dv keep recordings on its free plan?

tl;dv's free plan stores recordings for 3 months, while its paid plans keep recordings for an unlimited period.

### Does Fathom offer a HIPAA business associate agreement?

Yes, Fathom includes a HIPAA BAA on its plans.

### Is tl;dv a cheaper alternative to Fathom for a team scaling up?

No, tl;dv's business plan runs $59/seat/mo billed annually or $98/seat/mo billed monthly, well above Fathom's business plan at $34/seat/mo. Fathom stays cheaper as a team adds seats.

Source: https://www.versusref.com/notetakers/fathom-vs-tldv/
