Softwr

Productivity · head to head

Circleback vs Fastmail

Circleback logo

Circleback

Productivity

AI meeting notes that join calls from your calendar and push action items into other tools

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fastmail logo

Fastmail

Productivity

Paid email hosting with custom domains, calendar and contacts, run without ad-based revenue

From
$3/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Circleback has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Circleback the free plan keeps 30 days of history, so it serves immediate follow-up and fails as a record, and the tier that made it look free has to be paid for the first time anyone needs a conversation from last quarter.; Fastmail it does not provide end-to-end encryption by default, so users specifically wanting zero-knowledge mail should compare it against Proton Mail or Tuta rather than assume parity.
  • They diverge on capability: Circleback covers Calendar-driven recording, Fastmail covers Custom domain hosting.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Circleback and Fastmail actually diverge.

Attributes where Circleback and Fastmail differ
AttributeCirclebackFastmail
Starting priceFree$3/month
Pricing modelfreemiumPer user per month
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Productivity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Circleback

  • Calendar-driven recording
  • Speaker-labelled transcripts
  • Action item extraction
  • Search across meetings
  • In-person meetings
  • Integrations
  • Programmatic access
  • Unlimited meetings on free

Only in Fastmail

  • Custom domain hosting
  • Masked email
  • Unlimited aliases
  • Integrated calendar and contacts
  • Migration tools
  • JMAP support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Circleback

  • Sales or recruiting calls where the follow-up has to land in the CRM or applicant system without anybody retyping it.not Fastmail
  • Consultancies that need an accurate record of what a client asked for and when they asked for it.not Fastmail
  • Distributed teams where people who missed a call need the substance rather than an hour of recording to sit through.not Fastmail
  • Managers and founders running many short calls where the action items are the only output that matters.not Fastmail

Fastmail

  • Someone who wants their email address tied to a domain they own rather than a free provider they do notnot Circleback
  • A small business wanting hosted mail on its own domain without running mail server infrastructurenot Circleback
  • A person leaving Gmail specifically to stop an ad-funded provider processing their mailnot Circleback
  • A household migrating several accounts to one paid provider with shared billingnot Circleback

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Circleback

  • The free plan keeps 30 days of history, so it serves immediate follow-up and fails as a record, and the tier that made it look free has to be paid for the first time anyone needs a conversation from last quarter.
  • Custom retention and admin roles are on the Business tier and single sign-on and HIPAA on Enterprise, which is the familiar pattern of an organisation discovering the real price only after individuals have adopted the tool and filled it with client conversations.
  • Pricing is per user and a note taker spreads to everyone who attends meetings rather than staying with one team, so the seat count tracks headcount, and free viewer accounts only arrive at the Business tier.
  • Transcription errors persist on accents, crosstalk and domain jargon, and because the output becomes the official record people stop checking it against what was actually said, so a mistranscribed commitment can outlive everyone's memory of the meeting.
  • Recording consent rules differ by jurisdiction and some require every participant's agreement, and the obligation rests with you rather than the vendor, so a bot joining calls automatically from a calendar can create a compliance problem nobody consciously chose.

Fastmail

  • It does not provide end-to-end encryption by default, so users specifically wanting zero-knowledge mail should compare it against Proton Mail or Tuta rather than assume parity.
  • Moving to Fastmail is a real migration with DNS changes for a custom domain, unlike installing a client such as Spark or Bluemail over an existing account.
  • There is no free tier at all, so a user just wanting to try it commits to a paid trial rather than a permanently free option.
  • Storage limits on the entry Basic plan are modest next to the free allowance Gmail gives, and heavy attachment users will need Standard or above.
  • Being based in Australia means it falls under Australian data access law, which some privacy-focused buyers weigh differently from Swiss or German jurisdictions used by Proton Mail and Tuta.

Pricing, plan by plan

Circleback

Free
  • Individual$20.83/month
    • AI notes
    • Auto-assigned action items
    • Transcription
  • Team$25/month
    • All Individual features
    • Shared meetings
    • Free viewer seats
  • Enterprise$null/month
    • All Team features
    • Invoice/PO billing
    • Priority support

Fastmail

$3/month
  • Basic$3/month
    • 6GB storage
    • No custom domain support
    • Core mail, calendar and contacts
  • Standard$5/month
    • 60GB storage
    • Custom domain support
    • Masked email and aliases
  • Professional$9/month
    • 150GB storage
    • Multiple custom domains
    • Priority support

Which should you pick?

Choose Circleback if

  • You need calendar-driven recording.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want speaker-labelled transcripts.
Circleback review

Choose Fastmail if

  • You need custom domain hosting.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want masked email.
Fastmail review

Questions people ask

Is Circleback or Fastmail better?
Neither clearly leads. Circleback starts at Free and Fastmail at $3/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Circleback or Fastmail?
Circleback has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Circleback and $3/month for Fastmail.
Does Circleback or Fastmail run on more platforms?
Circleback runs on Web. Fastmail runs on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Circleback for free?
Yes. Circleback has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Fastmail starts at $3/month.
What is Circleback best used for?
Circleback is most often used for sales or recruiting calls where the follow-up has to land in the crm or applicant system without anybody retyping it., consultancies that need an accurate record of what a client asked for and when they asked for it., distributed teams where people who missed a call need the substance rather than an hour of recording to sit through., managers and founders running many short calls where the action items are the only output that matters.. Of those, sales or recruiting calls where the follow-up has to land in the crm or applicant system without anybody retyping it. and consultancies that need an accurate record of what a client asked for and when they asked for it. are not what Fastmail is typically brought in for.
What can Circleback do that Fastmail cannot?
Circleback covers Calendar-driven recording, Speaker-labelled transcripts, Action item extraction, Search across meetings. Fastmail covers Custom domain hosting, Masked email, Unlimited aliases, Integrated calendar and contacts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Circleback: What does the free plan include?

Unlimited meetings, notes and action items, speaker-labelled transcripts, in-person recording, and Slack and Linear integrations, with history limited to 30 days. Longer history and the wider integrations are the paid line.

Fastmail: Is Fastmail a client like Spark, or does it host my email?

It hosts the mailbox itself; there is no separate provider underneath it the way Spark sits over Gmail.

Circleback: How accurate are the notes?

Good on clear audio and worse with heavy accents, crosstalk and specialist jargon. Because the notes become the record, spot-check anything consequential rather than assuming somebody else will.

Fastmail: Does Fastmail offer end-to-end encryption?

Not by default in the way Proton Mail or Tuta do; its privacy position rests on being subscription-funded rather than ad-funded.

Circleback: Do we need everyone's consent to record?

It depends on jurisdiction, and some require all-party consent. The obligation sits with the meeting organiser, not with the vendor, so set a policy before enabling automatic joining.

Fastmail: Can I use my own domain?

Yes, from the Standard plan up, with full alias and masked email support.

Circleback: Can we control how long recordings are kept?

Custom retention is a Business-tier feature. On the lower tiers you accept the defaults, which is worth knowing before client conversations start accumulating.

Share

Related pages

More on Circleback

More on Fastmail

Keep looking

Other head to heads