Is Fathom or Modal better?

Neither clearly leads. Fathom starts at Free and Modal at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Fathom or Modal?

Fathom starts at Free and Modal at Free.

Does Fathom or Modal run on more platforms?

Fathom runs on Web, Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams. Modal runs on Cloud, Api.

Can I use Fathom for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Fathom best used for?

Fathom is most often used for ai-powered meeting transcription and automatic note-taking for sales teams and professionals, meeting analysis with ai scorecards and action item generation that syncs to crms. Of those, ai-powered meeting transcription and automatic note-taking for sales teams and professionals and meeting analysis with ai scorecards and action item generation that syncs to crms are not what Modal is typically brought in for.

What can Fathom do that Modal cannot?

Fathom covers Auto-recording, AI summaries, Transcription, Highlight clips. Modal covers Serverless GPUs, Python functions, Auto-scaling, Fast cold starts.

AI · head to head

Fathom vs Modal

Fathom

Free AI meeting assistant

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Modal

Cloud functions for AI and ML

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Fathom team plan requires minimum 2 users; cannot purchase single seat at team pricing; Modal the Team plan carries a $250 monthly base fee and returns only $100 of that as free credits, so $150 is a flat charge before any compute
They diverge on capability: Fathom covers Auto-recording, Modal covers Serverless GPUs.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fathom and Modal actually diverge.

Attributes where Fathom and Modal differ
Attribute	Fathom	Modal
Pricing model	Unknown	usage-based
Platforms	Web, Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams	Cloud, Api
Founded	2020	2021

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (AI).

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 Fathom

Auto-recording
AI summaries
Transcription
Highlight clips
Zoom
Google Meet
HubSpot
Salesforce

Only in Modal

Serverless GPUs
Python functions
Auto-scaling
Fast cold starts
Python SDK
GitHub Actions
Cloud storage
Cloud support

What people use each for

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

Fathom

AI-powered meeting transcription and automatic note-taking for sales teams and professionalsnot Modal
Meeting analysis with AI scorecards and action item generation that syncs to CRMsnot Modal

Modal

Running serverless GPU workloads for model inference and trainingnot Fathom
Executing Python functions on cloud compute without managing serversnot Fathom

Where each one falls short

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

Fathom

Team plan requires minimum 2 users; cannot purchase single seat at team pricing
CRM field sync and deal view summaries available only on Business plan ($34/user/month) and above

Modal

The Team plan carries a $250 monthly base fee and returns only $100 of that as free credits, so $150 is a flat charge before any compute
Compute is billed per second across separate GPU and CPU meters, so total cost depends on execution time rather than any fixed rate
The Starter plan's $30 monthly free credit is the only allowance below the paid base fee
Enterprise volume discounts are custom and unpublished

Pricing, plan by plan

Fathom

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Fathom review.

Modal

Free

StarterFree
- 3 seats
- 100 containers
- 10 GPU concurrency
Team$250/month
- Unlimited seats
- 5,000 containers
- 50 GPU concurrency
Enterprise$null/custom
- Custom seats, containers, and GPU concurrency

Which should you pick?

Choose Fathom if

You need auto-recording.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams.
You also want ai summaries.

Fathom review

Choose Modal if

You need serverless gpus.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Cloud, Api.
You also want python functions.

Modal review

Questions people ask

Is Fathom or Modal better?: Neither clearly leads. Fathom starts at Free and Modal at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fathom or Modal?: Fathom starts at Free and Modal at Free.
Does Fathom or Modal run on more platforms?: Fathom runs on Web, Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams. Modal runs on Cloud, Api.
Can I use Fathom for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Fathom best used for?: Fathom is most often used for ai-powered meeting transcription and automatic note-taking for sales teams and professionals, meeting analysis with ai scorecards and action item generation that syncs to crms. Of those, ai-powered meeting transcription and automatic note-taking for sales teams and professionals and meeting analysis with ai scorecards and action item generation that syncs to crms are not what Modal is typically brought in for.
What can Fathom do that Modal cannot?: Fathom covers Auto-recording, AI summaries, Transcription, Highlight clips. Modal covers Serverless GPUs, Python functions, Auto-scaling, Fast cold starts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Fathom: What is the most affordable paid plan for individuals, and what does it include?

Fathom Premium costs $20 per month (or $16 per month billed annually). It includes advanced summaries, action items, and a conversational AI assistant, in addition to the features in the free plan.

Source

Modal: How much does Modal cost?

Modal uses pay-as-you-go pricing with Team plan at 250 USD/month base. Starter includes 30 USD/month free credits; Team includes 100 USD/month free credits. Compute charges per second for CPU cores, memory, and GPU instances.

Source

Fathom: What is included in Fathom's free plan?

The free plan includes unlimited recordings, transcriptions, AI summaries, clips, and playlists at no cost forever.

Source

Modal: Is there a free tier?

Yes, Starter plan is free plus 30 USD/month in compute credits included monthly for new users.

Source

Fathom: How much does the Team plan cost per user, and what features does it add?

The Team plan costs $19 per month per user (minimum 2 users, or $15 per month annually). It includes everything from Premium plus global search, collaboration features, and team playlists.

Source

Modal: What are the seat limits?

Starter plan includes 3 seats; Team plan provides unlimited seats; Enterprise tier has custom seat allocations.

Source

Fathom: What trial or guarantee is available before committing to a paid plan?

All paid plans offer a 90-day guarantee to test features risk-free.

Source

Fathom: Does Fathom offer free or discounted plans for startups or nonprofits?

Yes, qualified portfolio companies get up to 2 years free, and nonprofits can apply for 10 free seats.

Source

Fathom vs Modal

Fathom

Modal

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Fathom

Only in Modal

What people use each for

Fathom

Modal

Where each one falls short

Fathom

Modal

Pricing, plan by plan

Fathom

Modal

Which should you pick?

Choose Fathom if

Choose Modal if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Fathom

More on Modal

Keep looking

Other head to heads