Updated September 2026
The private Fathom alternative
Fathom's free plan is genuinely good, and it is free because your meetings live on their infrastructure. For everyday standups that is fine. For confidential conversations, free is the wrong price.
Windows 10 & 11 (64-bit) · Mac (Apple Silicon) · Free 7-day trial · No card, just your email.
| Private Notetaker | Fathom | |
|---|---|---|
| Where meetings are processed | 100% on your device | Processes and stores your meetings on Fathom's servers |
| Bots in your meetings | Never | Fathom bot joins by default; bot-free capture is a Mac-only beta, and calls are still stored on Fathom's servers |
| Works offline | Yes | No, it needs their cloud |
| How privacy is enforced | Architecture: audio never leaves your device | Policy: SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA programs |
| Where your meetings live | Only on your own disk | Recordings and transcripts stored on Fathom's servers |
| Price | $15/mo or $149 once, yours forever | Free for individuals, teams from $19/user/mo |
Fathom facts and pricing as published 5 November 2026. Generous free tier for individuals.
Their privacy is a policy.
Ours is architecture.
Privacy by policy
Every cloud note taker
- Hosted in a chosen region, so you trust where the servers are
- Encrypted in transit and at rest, so you trust the keys are handled well
- Deleted on request, so you trust the deletion actually happens
- "We don't train on your data", so you trust the pledge outlives the roadmap
Privacy by architecture
Private Notetaker
- ✓Audio is captured, transcribed, and summarized on your hardware
- ✓There is no server holding your meetings to breach or subpoena
- ✓Nothing to delete, because nothing was ever collected
- ✓No pledge required. The data simply is not there
Don't take our word for it. Turn WiFi off and watch it keep working.
I built this for myself. I live in back-to-back client calls, and I was never comfortable piping confidential conversations about clients' revenue, ad accounts, and contracts through someone else's cloud just to get a summary. So I made a note taker where everything stays on my machine. I have used it every working day since. Now I am opening it up.
Simple pricing. Either way, it is all yours.
Available for Windows & Mac. Pay once or monthly, whichever suits you.
Monthly
Cancel anytime. The notes you took stay yours.
- ✓Unlimited meetings and recording time
- ✓Local transcription and AI summaries
- ✓Full-history search on your device
- ✓Windows and Mac, light and dark mode
- ✓No account required to take notes
Lifetime
Pay once, yours forever. Includes updates.
- ✓Unlimited meetings and recording time
- ✓Local transcription and AI summaries
- ✓Full-history search on your device
- ✓Windows and Mac, light and dark mode
- ✓No account required to take notes
- ✓Never a subscription
Prefer to try first? Download the app and use it free for 7 days. No card, just your email. Buying charges right away and is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Fathom questions, answered
Does Fathom process meetings in the cloud? +
Yes. Fathom processes and stores your meetings on Fathom's servers. Recordings and transcripts live there. Private Notetaker transcribes and writes notes on your Mac or Windows PC, so audio never leaves the device.
Does Fathom join meetings with a bot? +
By default, yes. The bot joins your calls as '(Name)'s Fathom Notetaker' and appears in the participant list. Fathom 3.0 on a Mac adds a bot-free beta (macOS 14.2 or newer, rolling out in phases as of 30 October 2026), and the transcript and summary are still stored in your Fathom account. Private Notetaker never appears in the participant list: it captures audio locally on your machine, and nothing is uploaded.
What is the difference between Private Notetaker and Fathom? +
Fathom's free plan for individuals is genuinely generous, and it is free because your meetings live on Fathom's infrastructure. Private Notetaker is a local app: recording, transcription, and AI summaries run on your device, it works offline, and no bot joins. $15/mo or a $149 lifetime license, with a 7-day free trial and no card required. For confidential conversations, where the audio is processed is the comparison that matters.
Does Fathom work offline? +
No. Fathom needs its cloud. Private Notetaker transcribes and summarizes with no internet connection because the speech-to-text and language models run on your computer.
Where does Fathom store recordings compared with Private Notetaker? +
Fathom stores recordings and transcripts on its servers. Private Notetaker stores recordings, transcripts, and notes as files on your own disk. Nothing is uploaded to any Private Notetaker server.
Is Fathom HIPAA compliant? +
Fathom publishes SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA programs. Its pricing page lists a standard HIPAA BAA on the Team and Business plans and a custom BAA for Enterprise; the free and Premium plans do not include one. Private Notetaker does not claim HIPAA certification. Audio is processed on your device and notes stay on your disk. That is an architecture fact, not a compliance badge. Check the requirements for your profession.
Further reading
Your meetings are nobody else's business.
Download the AI note taker that keeps everything on your device. Free for 7 days. No card, no account, just your email.
Windows & Mac.