Fathom vs Granola (2026): What ChatGPT, Claude & Gemini Say

AI models name Fathom more often. Fathom appears in 48 of 50 recorded answers and Granola in 39. Granola leads the other count: it is named first in 19 of 50 answers, and Fathom in 8. The models almost always include Fathom. When they open with one of the two, it is more often Granola.

These counts come from 10 AI models in the September 2026 edition. They show what the answers name and say nothing about which product works better.

TL;DR

• Pick Fathom if you want the name the models include almost every time. Eight of the ten models name it in all five of their answers.
• Granola is the name models lead with. Its average position is 2.79 against 3.04 for Fathom.
• Question framing drives much of the split. Founder questions pull Granola to the top of the answer. The sales-and-CRM question is where Granola drops out and Fathom stays in.
• No model names Granola more often than Fathom. Claude Opus 5, Claude Fable 5 and both Gemini models name the two equally, in five of five answers.
• The captured guides put Fathom with sales and CRM users and Granola with writers and consultants.

How often do AI models recommend Fathom and Granola?

Fathom is named in 48 of 50 recorded answers and Granola in 39, so Fathom is the more frequent name. Granola is the more frequent opener, named first in 19 answers to Fathom’s 8.

Fathom is the category leader. It tops the full AI meeting notetaker record, and each of the ten models names it at least as often as any other product. Fireflies sits between the two, named in 47 of 50.

Answer share is the share of the 50 answers that named the product. Named first is the share where it came before every other tracked product. Average position is where the product sits among the tracked names in an answer, so a lower number means earlier.

The gap between the two shares is the useful reading. Fathom’s answer share runs 80 points above its named-first share. Granola’s runs 40 points above. The models treat Fathom as a standard entry on almost every list. Granola appears in fewer answers and leads more of them.

Which models prefer Fathom, and which prefer Granola?

Every model names Fathom at least as often as Granola, so no model leans to Granola on this count. Four models name both in all five answers. The sharpest splits are Sonar Pro, with five for Fathom and two for Granola, and GPT-5.6 Terra, with four and two.

By family, the Google models name both equally, at Fathom 100% and Granola 100% of their answers. The Anthropic models come close, at Fathom 100% and Granola 93.3%. The OpenAI models split at Fathom 93.3% and Granola 66.7%. The Perplexity models show the widest split, at Fathom 90% and Granola 50%.

The per-question record explains most of the gap. Granola’s misses cluster on the last question, about sales calls with CRM sync. GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-5.6 Terra, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Sonnet 5, Sonar Pro and Sonar Reasoning Pro all leave Granola out of that answer. Fathom is missing from that same question for GPT-5.6 Terra and Sonar Reasoning Pro, and it appears in every other answer on the panel.

On the sales question, most models open with a third product. GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-5.6 Terra and GPT-5.6 Luna open with Avoma. Sonar Pro, Sonar Reasoning Pro, Claude Opus 5 and Claude Fable 5 open with Fireflies. Claude Sonnet 5 opens with Gong. The two Gemini models open their sales answers with Fathom.

The Perplexity models also look past Granola on founder questions. Asked which notetaker to recommend to a founder, Sonar Pro and Sonar Reasoning Pro both lead with Jamie. GPT-5.6 Terra swings between the two: it leads with Fathom on the first founder question and with Granola on the next.

What do the answers say about each?

The answers split along the bot. Models reach for Granola when a founder’s calls are sensitive, and for Fathom when the free plan or the sales workflow matters. Four short quotes from the recorded answers show both sides.

GPT-5.6 Sol, asked what a founder should use: “For most founders, Granola offers the best balance of low friction, useful summaries, and discretion.”

Claude Opus 5, asked for the best notetaker for a founder, on Granola: “It doesn’t join calls as a visible bot; it listens via your Mac/iOS audio and merges your own typed shorthand with the transcript into a clean summary.”

Gemini 3.6 Flash, asked about sales calls with CRM sync: “Fathom offers one of the best user experiences for sales calls, auto-generating summaries, next steps, and action items.”

Sonar Pro, asked which notetaker to recommend to a founder: “If your top priority is a free option, Fathom is the strongest budget-friendly pick.”

Granola’s own site feeds some of these answers. granola.ai is among the vendor-owned hosts the models cite, with 16 citations. GPT-5.6 Sol and GPT-5.6 Terra both cite a Granola blog post on Granola, Fireflies, Fathom and Otter pricing when they recommend Granola.

One answer blurs the bot line. GPT-5.6 Terra says Fathom offers a bot-free capture option in beta on Mac. None of the captured guides records that option, so confirm it with Fathom before you rely on it.

How do Fathom and Granola differ?

Fathom records the call through a bot that has to be in the meeting. Granola records the meeting audio on your own machine. That capture choice drives most of the other differences below.

Pricing model

Fathom is free for individual recording and summaries, with team features and CRM sync on paid seats. Vinayak Kapoor’s guide, checked against Fathom’s pricing page in August 2026, says the free plan includes unlimited recordings and transcripts plus AI summaries. The same guide places AI action-item extraction, CRM sync and coaching metrics behind Fathom’s paid tiers.

Granola charges per seat per month, with a free tier limited by how many meetings it will process. Its Business plan adds unlimited note history and integrations with Notion, HubSpot, Slack and Zapier.

Features and pricing in this category change often, so confirm both on each vendor’s page.

Who each is for

Ainanza lists Fathom as best for sales and CRM users. It lists Granola as best for writers and consultants. AppDex puts CRM-heavy sales teams under “Not best for” on Granola. It puts strict no-recording environments under “Not best for” on Fathom.

Platforms

Ainanza records Fathom on Mac, Windows and the browser. Granola’s platform record is less settled. Mamba Labs calls it Mac first. Kapoor’s guide says Granola runs only on Mac or Windows desktop, with no web or mobile capture. Two recorded answers disagree with that. GPT-5.6 Sol says Granola works through desktop and mobile apps, and Claude Opus 5 refers to Mac/iOS audio. Check Granola’s current platform list if your meetings happen on a phone.

What the models name each for

The recorded answers name Fathom for its free plan and for sales calls. They name Granola for bot-free notes in founder meetings.

When should you pick Fathom?

Pick Fathom when you want the product the models include by default, or when your calls feed a CRM.

It is named in 48 of 50 answers. The only answers that leave it out are the sales answers from GPT-5.6 Terra and Sonar Reasoning Pro.

On that sales question, both Gemini models open with Fathom. Ainanza credits Fathom with stronger CRM connections, naming Salesforce and HubSpot. Mamba Labs says Fathom writes into the CRM directly.

On cost, Fathom’s free plan has no published minute cap, per Kapoor’s August 2026 check. On platform, Fathom covers Windows and the browser as well as Mac.

When should you pick Granola?

Pick Granola when a visible bot on the call is the problem, or when your meetings look like a founder’s.

Granola leads more answers than any other product in the category. GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Opus 5 and Claude Fable 5 each open a founder answer with Granola. On the Claude and Gemini models, Granola is named as often as Fathom everywhere except Claude Sonnet 5.

Granola captures system audio from your own device, so no separate bot appears on the call. Mamba Labs says setup is an install and a microphone permission.

Two things cut against it. The models leave Granola out of most answers to the sales-and-CRM question. Kapoor’s guide adds that meetings must happen on the device running Granola’s desktop client.

How this sits against the Fathom vs Granola guides

Five comparison pages were captured from the Australian Google results for “Fathom vs Granola” in September 2026. Each compares the tools on features, fit or plans. None reports what AI models name.

Mamba Labs answers the same seven questions for both tools. It says it has nothing of its own in this category. It calls Fathom the stronger answer for a sales team. For founders and consultants, it points to Granola.

AppDex gives each tool a score and a best-for list. Fathom has the higher AppDex Score. Its verdict: choose Granola for bot-free personal meeting notes and Fathom when recording, highlights and shared call libraries matter more.

Ainanza compares platform, CRM integrations and note editing in one table. It says Granola is often cited for more polished, readable notes. It advises trying both for a week.

Automatesly covers Fathom, Otter, Fireflies and Granola together. It describes Granola as leaning on your own notes augmented by AI. It says Fathom is widely known for recording and summarising calls with a clean, approachable experience.

Vinayak Kapoor also compares four tools, with prices checked against vendor pages in August 2026. He calls Fathom the strongest free option for individuals. He says Granola works best if you don’t want a bot on the call.

None of the five pages is published by Fathom or Granola. The captured text of each page carries no affiliate disclosure. The guides help a buyer choose on features and fit. This page adds a count of what ten AI models name, which of the two they put first, and where each model leans.

How the sample was built

10 models x 5 fixed prompts = 50 recorded answers. Each model answered each question once, with web search on. The full method is on the method page.

The five questions, verbatim:

1. What is the best AI meeting notetaker for a founder? Name specific products.
2. Which AI meeting notetaker would you recommend to a founder in 2026?
3. Compare the top AI meeting notetaker options right now.
4. I’m a founder and I need an AI meeting notetaker. What should I use and why?
5. Best AI meeting notetaker for sales calls with CRM sync?

The models come from four families. OpenAI and Anthropic supply 15 answers each. Google and Perplexity supply 10 each. Every answer and its cited sources sit on the category record.

What these counts cannot tell you

The counts measure presence in answers. They say nothing about quality, uptime, support or fit with your stack, and an answer can name a product only to warn against it. Each model answered each question once, so the record is one dated snapshot from the September 2026 edition. Products are matched by name, as “Fathom” and “Granola”. The answers came through each model’s API, which can differ from its consumer chat app. The prompts are in English.

The question set also shapes this comparison. Every question but the last asks about a founder, and Granola is named least on that last sales question. A buyer choosing for sales calls should weight that question most.

Frequently asked questions

Is Fathom a good AI note taker?

Quality is outside what this panel measures. What it does show is reach: Fathom is named in 48 of 50 answers, and every model names it at least as often as any other product. AppDex lists its strengths as a generous free plan, a clear meeting workflow and useful team search features.

Is Fathom AI note taker free?

Yes, Fathom has a free plan. Kapoor’s guide, checked against Fathom’s pricing page in August 2026, says it includes unlimited recordings and transcripts plus AI summaries. Team features and CRM sync sit on paid seats.

Can Fathom AI record meetings?

Yes. Fathom records and transcribes the call, then writes the summary and the follow-up email from it. It sends a visible recorder into the video call as a named participant.

Is Granola free?

Granola has a free plan. Its free tier is limited by how many meetings it will process. Paid plans are charged per seat per month.

Does Granola send a bot into the meeting?

No. Granola is a desktop app that captures system audio from your own device, so no separate bot appears on the call.

Which of the two do AI models name for sales calls?

Fathom. Every model names it in the sales answer except GPT-5.6 Terra and Sonar Reasoning Pro, and both Gemini models open that answer with Fathom. Most models leave Granola out of that answer and open with Avoma, Fireflies or Gong.