Fathom is one of the easiest meeting tools to recommend, mainly because its free plan is so generous. It records your calls, writes a summary the moment they end, and gives sales teams templates and CRM sync on paid plans.
Telmi overlaps with Fathom on the after-call part. Where it differs is the call itself: Telmi shows you what to say while the other person is still talking. So the real question is whether you need help after your calls, during them, or both.
The short version
- Pick Fathom if you want free, unlimited recordings and summaries, or your sales team wants follow-ups and CRM updates done for them.
- Pick Telmi if you want live answers during calls, grounded in your own material, without a bot, on a Mac.
What Fathom does well
- A free plan that doesn’t run out. Fathom’s free plan includes unlimited recordings and transcriptions and instant AI summaries. Telmi’s free plan is 5 calls. If budget is the deciding factor, Fathom wins this one easily.
- Choice of capture. You can use a meeting bot, or a bot-free mode that’s in beta on Mac.
- Built for follow-up. Summaries, action items, follow-up emails, and templates for sales methods like BANT and Sandler. Trackers and Ask Fathom let you dig into what was said.
- CRM sync. On the Business plan, Fathom syncs with your CRM. Telmi has no CRM integrations yet.
- Team and enterprise plans. Team, Business, and Enterprise tiers, with HIPAA and a BAA on Team and above, and SSO and SCIM on Enterprise.
What Telmi does differently
Fathom is focused on what happens after the call. Its site doesn’t describe suggestions during the call. That live part is Telmi’s main job:
- Answers while they’re still asking. SAY cards show a short answer you can say, often before the question ends. Telmi starts on a question as it forms and predicts likely next questions ahead of time.
- Your facts. Answers draw on a knowledge pack built from your docs, pricing, and positioning. Saved answer cards match on your Mac, instantly, in your exact words.
- Control over delivery. Make any answer shorter, longer, simpler, more confident, or rephrased with one tap.
- Nudges. A gentle prompt if you’ve been talking for 90 seconds, or a question is still open.
- Ask anything mid-call, or have Telmi look at what’s on your screen.
After the call, Telmi writes a summary, key points, decisions, action items, and a follow-up email, plus coaching that quotes the moments that mattered and gives you better lines. Here’s what we think good coaching looks like.
Side by side
| Feature | Telmi | Fathom |
|---|---|---|
| How it hears the call | On your Mac, no bot | Bot, or bot-free mode (beta, Mac) |
| Suggestions during the call | Yes, live answers and nudges | Not described |
| Summary and action items | Yes | Yes, instant |
| Follow-up email | Yes | Yes |
| Note templates | Recipes: saved prompts you run on any note | Templates, including BANT and Sandler |
| Coaching after the call | Yes, per call | Trackers and Ask Fathom |
| CRM sync | None yet | Business plan |
| HIPAA | No | With BAA, Team and above |
| SSO and SCIM | No | Enterprise |
| Free plan | 5 calls | Unlimited recordings and summaries |
| Paid plan | $20/month | Premium from about $16/user/month |
Pricing
As of November 2026, per Fathom’s pricing page, Fathom has a free forever plan with unlimited recordings, transcriptions, and instant summaries. Paid plans start with Premium at about $16 per user per month, followed by Team, Business, and Enterprise tiers. Check their page for the exact price on monthly versus annual billing.
Telmi is free for your first 5 calls, then $20 a month for unlimited calls, with a daily fair-use cap of 3,000 AI requests. No annual plan yet.
If you only need recordings and summaries, Fathom’s free plan is hard to beat, and we’d tell a friend that. Telmi’s price is for the live help.
Where Telmi falls short
- Mac only, and macOS 26 or later. No Windows release or mobile app yet.
- No CRM sync, no Slack or Notion integration.
- No team workspace, admin console, SSO, HIPAA, or SOC 2.
- The free plan is 5 calls, not unlimited.
Who should pick which
Choose Fathom if you want a free notetaker that just works, you need CRM updates and follow-ups handled for a sales team, or you need HIPAA coverage.
Choose Telmi if your calls depend on answering well in real time, like discovery calls, demos, investor meetings, or interviews, and you want help before you speak, not just a record after. You’ll need a Mac on macOS 26 or later.
Some people use a notetaker for the team record and Telmi for their own live help. If you’re not sure which kind of tool you need, start with AI meeting copilot vs AI notetaker.