Fathom alternative for the whole desktop.

Fathom stops at the meeting; Jarvis (getjarvis.eu) is a desktop AI assistant that helps across the whole desktop.

How we put this list together: Jarvis is our product — this site is getjarvis.eu — so treat the #1 spot as an editorial opinion with an obvious interest, and check the sourced facts yourself. Every price and tier name on this page was checked in July 2026 against the vendors' own public pricing pages (fathom.ai/pricing, otter.ai/pricing, fireflies.ai/pricing, granola.ai/pricing). tl;dv was excluded from this pack rather than guessed at: tldv.io/pricing returned a 404 at the time of this check. Where a vendor does not publicly disclose something — such as whether its underlying transcription or summarization model is proprietary or licensed from a third party — we describe it generically rather than inventing a name. Each named limitation is drawn from the same vendor pricing pages, not from third-party reviews.

1. Jarvis — An on-demand, screen-aware desktop assistant. Press Cmd+/ on macOS or Ctrl+/ on Windows and a floating bar screenshots the active window, answers questions about it, and acts in your apps through 30+ OAuth connectors (Gmail, Slack, Notion, Linear, GitHub, Figma, Microsoft 365). Inference runs on cloud models routed through Jarvis's GDPR-aligned backend, with persistent memory across sessions — there is no meeting-bot recording of any kind. Pricing: Free: $0 — 40 requests/week. Pro: $16/month ($144/year billed annually). Unlimited: $32/month. Checked July 2026. Platforms: macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows 10+, Linux. Known limitation: Cloud-only inference — Jarvis needs an internet connection and has no offline mode, and because it does not join or record calls, it has no meeting-transcription feature at all. Pick Jarvis if: you want one shortcut that makes AI screen-aware across email, docs, code, and dashboards — not just meetings — with EU data residency and a real free tier. 2. Fathom — An AI meeting recorder and notetaker that joins Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams calls, transcribes them, and generates instant summaries and action items through its "Ask Fathom" conversational assistant. The closest match for anyone who mainly wants a fast, free-friendly call recorder. Pricing: Free (forever): unlimited recordings, transcripts, and clips, limited Ask Fathom usage. Premium (individual): $20/month, $16/month billed annually. Team: $19/month/user, $15/month/user annually (2-seat minimum). Business: $34/month/user, $25/month/user annually — adds CRM field sync, Deal View, and coaching metrics. Enterprise: custom pricing. Checked July 2026. Platforms: Desktop meeting bot for Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams; iOS app; web dashboard. Known limitation: The free tier restricts the Ask Fathom assistant to single-call lookback ("limited use"), and team folders, global search, and collaboration features such as comments and keyword alerts require the Team plan, which has a 2-seat minimum. Source: fathom.ai/pricing. Pick Fathom if: you mainly need a fast, generous free meeting recorder and summarizer and don't need cross-app assistance outside of calls. 3. Otter.ai — A transcription-first meeting assistant focused on searchable transcripts, live captions, and automated meeting notes across Zoom, Teams, and Meet. The pick if a verbatim, searchable archive matters more than a concise recap. Pricing: Basic (free): 300 transcription minutes/month, 3 lifetime file imports, 1 concurrent meeting. Pro: $16.99/month or $8.33/month billed annually — 1,200 minutes/month, 10 file imports/month, 90-minute/meeting cap, 2 concurrent meetings. Business: $30/month or $19.99/month billed annually — unlimited meetings, recordings, and imports, 4-hour/meeting cap, 3 concurrent meetings. Enterprise: custom, includes SSO/SCIM/Domain Capture and a HIPAA add-on. Checked July 2026. Platforms: Web, iOS, Android, Chrome extension, Zoom/Teams/Meet meeting bot. Known limitation: The free Basic plan caps transcription at 300 minutes/month and allows only 1 concurrent meeting, and even paid Pro caps each meeting at 90 minutes — long calls get cut off. Source: otter.ai/pricing. Pick Otter.ai if: your priority is a searchable transcript archive across a team, not action-item and summary depth. 4. Fireflies.ai — A meeting recorder and summarizer built around CRM automation and voice-agent/skills add-ons for sales teams, with an AI-credit system gating summary and skill usage. Strong if the job is CRM-connected meeting intelligence rather than a general desktop assistant. Pricing: Free: $0/month, 400 minutes of storage shared per team, 20 AI credits, unlimited transcription and summaries. Pro: $10/month/seat billed annually (regular $18/month) — 8,000 minutes/seat storage. Business: $19/month/seat annually (regular $29/month) — unlimited storage, conversation intelligence, team analytics. Enterprise: $39/month/seat, annual billing only — SSO/SCIM, audit logs, HIPAA, custom retention. Checked July 2026. Platforms: Web, Chrome extension, Zoom/Teams/Meet/Slack meeting bot, mobile app. Known limitation: The free plan's 400 storage minutes are pooled per team, not per seat — a small team burns through the cap fast — and every plan gates advanced summaries and skills behind a monthly AI-credit allowance (20-50 credits) rather than unlimited use. Source: fireflies.ai/pricing. Pick Fireflies.ai if: you need CRM-connected meeting intelligence (deal notes, coaching) and can budget for the credit system. 5. Granola — A bot-free, Mac- and Windows-native meeting notes app — no recorder joins the call; notes are built from local audio capture plus your own typed notes, then processed by AI for structured summaries. The pick if you want notes without a visible bot in the call. Pricing: Basic: free — AI meeting notes with limited history, AI chat within and across meetings, shared folders, templates. Business: $14/user/month — unlimited meeting notes and history, advanced AI models, integrations (Notion, Slack, HubSpot, Zapier), API/MCP access. Enterprise: $35/user/month — SSO, priority support, usage analytics, org-wide admin, model-training opt-out. Checked July 2026. Platforms: Native macOS and Windows desktop app (no bot joins the meeting; no web or mobile client). Known limitation: The free Basic plan keeps only "limited history" of past meeting notes — unlimited notes and history requires upgrading to the $14/user/month Business plan. Source: granola.ai/pricing. Pick Granola if: you want notes without a visible bot in the call and are fine working only from a Mac or Windows desktop.

Why people switch: You want more than call recaps; Jarvis acts, not just summarizes; You care about EU data residency; Persistent memory beats per-meeting notes.

Pick a competitor instead if: You want a hands-off recorder that joins every call — Jarvis deliberately does not join or record meetings. Fathom (free forever, Premium from $16/month annual) is purpose-built for exactly this: it joins Zoom, Meet, and Teams calls and auto-generates summaries and action items. You need a searchable transcript archive across a team — If verbatim, searchable transcripts matter more than a concise recap, Otter.ai (free 300 min/month, Pro from $8.33/user/month annual) is built specifically for that. You need CRM-connected meeting intelligence — Fireflies.ai (free tier, Pro from $10/user/month annual) logs calls straight into HubSpot or Salesforce and adds coaching and conversation-intelligence features Jarvis does not offer. You want notes without a visible bot in the call, Mac or Windows only — Granola (free Basic, $14/user/month Business) builds notes from local audio capture and your own typed notes with no recorder joining the meeting, but there is no web client.

What is the best Fathom alternative in 2026? Jarvis for on-demand, screen-aware help across all your apps, not just meetings. If you specifically need meeting transcription like Fathom, Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai are purpose-built alternatives, and Granola is the pick if you want notes without a bot joining the call.

Can Jarvis replace Fathom for meeting notes? No — Jarvis does not join or record calls by design. It can read a transcript or notes window already on your screen and summarize or extract actions from it, but if you need a hands-off bot that automatically records every Zoom or Meet call, Fathom, Otter.ai, or Fireflies.ai do that; Jarvis covers the work around your meetings instead.

Is there a free Fathom alternative? Yes — every tool on this list has a free tier: Jarvis (40 requests/week), Fathom (unlimited recordings with limited Ask Fathom usage), Otter.ai (300 minutes/month), Fireflies.ai (400 minutes/month pooled per team, 20 AI credits), and Granola (Basic, limited history).

Which Fathom alternatives work on Windows? Jarvis runs on Windows 10+ (plus macOS on Apple Silicon and Intel, and Linux). Granola ships a native Windows desktop app. Fathom, Otter.ai, and Fireflies.ai are accessible from any OS as meeting bots plus web or mobile clients.

Does Jarvis work during Zoom or Google Meet calls? Jarvis works over any app including a meeting window — press Cmd+/ or Ctrl+/ and ask about what is on screen. It does not join calls or transcribe audio continuously by design; use Fathom, Otter.ai, or Fireflies.ai for live call recording and transcription.

Is Jarvis better for privacy than Fathom? Jarvis states a GDPR-aligned backend with AES-256-GCM token encryption and GDPR compliance. Fathom's public pricing page does not state a data-hosting region — check its own policies against your requirements before deciding; the two products have different data-residency profiles.

Alternatives · Fathom alternatives · Last updated July 28, 2026