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.
Early access. Mac + Windows. Lock launch pricing.
| 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 your calls |
| 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 $249 once, yours forever | Free for individuals, teams from $19/user/mo |
Fathom facts and pricing as published July 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.
Founder pricing: the $149 lifetime license, one payment, through August 15, 2026.
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
- ✓Light and dark mode, Mac + Windows
- ✓No account required to take notes
Lifetime
Founder price · ends August 15, 2026
Pay once, yours forever. Includes updates.
- ✓Unlimited meetings and recording time
- ✓Local transcription and AI summaries
- ✓Full-history search on your device
- ✓Light and dark mode, Mac + Windows
- ✓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 needed. Buying charges right away and is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Your meetings are nobody else's business.
Download the AI note taker that keeps everything on your device. Free for 7 days, no account, no card.