Minutes vs Fathom: when is free the wrong price?
By the makers of Minutes · updated 18 September 2026 · full disclosure
Minutes needs macOS 26 on a Mac with Apple silicon. 7-day trial, no card.
| Minutes | Fathom | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the audio goes | Nowhere. It stays on your Mac | Fathom's cloud |
| Works offline | Entirely | |
| A bot in the call | Never. You are in the meeting yourself | A bot joins, or bot-free capture in beta |
| Where notes live | Plain Markdown in a folder you own | Fathom's workspace |
Why Minutes is better
- Nothing is uploaded. Recording, transcription and the summary run on your Mac.
- No cloud account to lose. Your notes are Markdown files in a folder you choose.
- Both sides, kept apart. Your microphone and your Mac's audio are recorded as separate channels.
- Catches you confirm. Nothing goes to Calendar or Reminders until you tap Add.
Download Minutes freeBuy Minutes, $9.99
Minutes needs macOS 26 on a Mac with Apple silicon · 7-day refund
Full comparison and details
Free meeting notes have a price, and it is where the recordings are kept. Fathom's free plan records, transcribes and summarizes your calls on its own servers. We built Minutes as a native Mac app that does the same job on your own Mac, where the recording never leaves, and it is $9.99 once. This page compares the two.
Last updated: 18 September 2026
Full disclosure: this page is published by the makers of Minutes. Fathom's prices and limits below are taken from Fathom's own pages, checked on 18 September 2026.
The short version
Pick Minutes if what gets said in your meetings should not be on somebody else's server, whether that is salaries, health, clients, legal work or anything under an NDA, or if you simply want the notes to be files you own, forever, with no account behind them.
Side by side
The comparison table is at the top of this page.
Where Minutes is better
- Nothing is uploaded. Recording, transcription and the summary all run on your Mac with the models that ship inside macOS. Your audio is not encrypted in transit and stored carefully somewhere else, it is simply never sent, and if you disconnect the network mid meeting Minutes keeps working.
- There is no cloud account to lose. Your notes are Markdown files in a folder you choose, so if you stop using Minutes every note still opens in any editor. Nothing sits behind a login that can expire, change its terms or be acquired.
- Both sides, kept apart by channel. Your microphone and the audio your Mac plays are recorded as separate channels, so who said what is a fact rather than a guess from voice matching.
- Catches you confirm. Decisions and action items come out with an Add button for Calendar and Reminders, and nothing is written anywhere until you tap it.
The pricing math
Fathom is free for unlimited recordings and summaries. Premium is $20 per user per month, or $16 billed annually. Team is $19 and $15, and Business is $34 and $25. Minutes is $9.99 once.
What free costs you is that your meetings live on a server you do not control, under terms that can change, and that is the part we were not willing to accept. Minutes asks for one payment so that nothing about your calls has to leave your Mac, ever.
FAQ
Is Fathom really free?
Its free plan records, transcribes and summarizes at no charge, and every recording is processed and kept on Fathom's servers. Paid plans start at $16 per user per month billed annually for one person on Premium, or $15 a user on the two-user Team plan, and add advanced summaries, global search and CRM features. Prices from fathom.ai/pricing, checked 18 September 2026.
Is there an AI note taker that does not upload anything?
Yes. Minutes records, transcribes and summarizes entirely on your Mac using the models inside macOS, so there is no server to send audio to.
Can Minutes join a meeting without me?
No. It captures what your Mac plays and what your microphone hears while you are in the call, so nothing joins the meeting but you and no bot ever shows up in the participant list.
What happens to my notes if I stop paying?
Nothing happens to the notes: they are Markdown files already on your disk. Buy Minutes once and there is nothing to stop paying, and if you subscribe and later stop, the files stay exactly where they are.
Which Macs does Minutes run on?
macOS 26 or later on Apple Silicon. That floor is the reason there is nothing to download and nothing to upload.
Keep the meeting on your Mac
Most meeting notetakers either send a bot into your call or send your audio to a server. Minutes does neither: it transcribes both sides of the call on your Mac, writes the summary on device, and pulls out the promises people made with an Add button beside each one, all in plain Markdown in a folder you own. It is $9.99 once.
Buy Minutes, $9.99 Try free for 7 daysMinutes needs macOS 26 on a Mac with Apple silicon. Nothing is uploaded, ever, and the 7-day trial needs no card up front.
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