Comparison · Fathom
Fathom vs Tessa: meeting notes for you, or follow-through for the whole team
Fathom is a meeting assistant known for how easy it makes recording, transcribing and summarising a call. Tessa takes notes too, but her work continues afterwards: tasks per owner, reminders and the rest of your day in email and Slack.
The summary is perfect. The action items, still undone
Meeting note-takers have solved the first half of the problem: nobody has to type while talking, and the summary arrives on its own. The second half is still there. Someone has to turn action items into tasks, remind each owner the following week and raise a flag when one stalls.
At a company of 30 or 200 people that multiplies: dozens of meetings a week across teams, each with commitments that depend on others. If the summary stays inside the note-taker, follow-through depends on everyone's memory. That's the difference worth looking at when you compare.
How it works with Tessa
- 1
Connect Google and Slack
Each person connects their account in one click. Tessa sees the calendar and knows which meetings to join.
- 2
Tessa joins the meeting
She joins Google Meet as "Tessa (taking notes)", visible to everyone. Zoom and Teams work in beta.
- 3
Notes, tasks and recap
Afterwards, the notes capture decisions, blockers and commitments; each commitment becomes a task with an owner and a date, and the recap goes to attendees in Slack and by email.
- 4
Follow-up until it is done
Tessa reminds each owner of their part and tells whoever asked if something stalls. If the commitment was a customer's, she drafts the reminder for you.
What you get
- From meeting to tasks, no copy and pasteCommitments don't stay in a summary: they land in each owner's inbox with a date.
- Follow-through between meetingsWhat was agreed on Monday gets a reminder on Thursday, and the next meeting starts knowing what's done and what isn't.
- Walk in preparedTen minutes before each meeting: who's coming, what you discussed last time and what's still open with them.
- Meetings in company memoryDecisions from the notes go into the wiki with their source and show up in search, respecting who can see what.
- For the whole team, not just youBeyond meetings, Tessa turns what arrives by email and Slack into tasks and drafts the replies.
What Fathom is
Fathom is an AI meeting assistant that records, transcribes and summarises video calls on Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. It produces notes and action items shortly after the call, lets you jump back to specific moments in the recording and, according to its website, integrates with CRMs and other tools to push notes there.
Its strength is simplicity: it's quick to set up, joins your calls and leaves you a clear summary without you lifting a finger. It's popular with people who spend their day on customer calls, such as sales and customer success teams.
Information about Fathom is based on its public website as of October 2026; it may change.
How Tessa is different
Fathom is centred on the meeting: recording it well, summarising it well and sharing the result. Tessa treats the meeting as one more source of work, alongside email and Slack. What gets agreed on a call lands in the same inbox as what people ask you by email, with the same follow-up.
Who it's built for changes too: Tessa is made for a whole team, or a whole company, to deliver on what it decides, with a weekly pulse per department (no individual metrics) and company memory fed by meeting notes.
- Notes with decisions, blockers and tasks per owner (Meet; Zoom and Teams in beta).
- Commitment tracking, with a heads-up to whoever asked if something stalls.
- A briefing ten minutes before each meeting.
- An inbox of tasks from email and Slack, with one-click replies.
- Meeting recordings on the Business plan.
When to choose Fathom
If what you need is a great note-taker for your own calls, quick to set up and working the same on Zoom, Meet and Teams, Fathom is an excellent option. It also fits if your sales team wants each call's notes in the CRM and already has the rest of its workflow sorted.
If you mostly work in Zoom or Teams, bear in mind that those platforms are in beta in Tessa, while Google Meet is proven with real accounts.
When to choose Tessa
Tessa is the better fit for tech and digital companies on Google Workspace and Slack whose problem isn't getting the summary, but getting things done: tasks nobody writes down, cross-team commitments that get forgotten, customers waiting for a reply someone promised.
Also if you want one tool for meetings, email and Slack, with data in the EU and approval for anything leaving the company.
| Fathom | Tessa | |
|---|---|---|
| Main focus | Recording, transcribing and summarising meetings | An AI assistant for the whole company |
| Meeting notes and summary | ✓ Its specialty | ✓ Notes with decisions and blockers |
| Video platforms | Zoom, Google Meet and Teams | Google Meet; Zoom and Teams in beta |
| Owned tasks and follow-up | Action items in the summary | ✓ Tasks, reminders and alerts |
| Email and Slack as sources | Not its focus | ✓ |
| Recordings | ✓ | On the Business plan |
| Data stored in the EU (Tessa) | Check its data policy | ✓ Encrypted on EU servers |
What Tessa reads for each person stays private, your data is stored in the EU and nothing goes out without your approval.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a Fathom alternative for teams?
Yes. Tessa takes meeting notes and writes minutes and recaps, and also turns each commitment into a task with an owner and follows it up, alongside your email and Slack.
Does Tessa record meetings like Fathom?
Recordings are included on the Business plan. On every paid plan, Tessa captures the conversation and turns it into notes with decisions and tasks; her goal is getting what was agreed done.
Which video platforms does Tessa work with?
Google Meet, where she is proven with real accounts. Zoom and Microsoft Teams work in beta.
Can I use Fathom and Tessa together?
Yes, though two note-takers will show up in the call, so let participants know. Some teams try both for a few weeks and compare which one leads to tasks that actually get done.
Does Tessa tell people she is taking notes?
Yes. She joins under the name "Tessa (taking notes)", visible to all attendees. We also recommend mentioning it at the start, especially with external guests.
Does she send the recap to customers?
To attendees from your company, yes. For external attendees the recap waits for your approval, and you can edit it before sending.
Keep reading
- FeaturesTessa takes the notes, assigns the work and sends the recapTessa takes notes in your meetings, writes the minutes, assigns each action item to its owner and sends the recap to attendees. Try 14 days free.
- FeaturesIf they go quiet, Tessa remembers for youTell Tessa “follow up if they don't reply in 3 days” and she'll have the reminder drafted in the same thread, ready to send. Start for free.
- GuidesHow to write meeting minutes: a guide and a template to copyWrite clear meeting minutes: what to include, how to word decisions and action items, plus a ready-to-copy template you can start using today.
- GuidesHow to reduce meetings (and make the ones you keep worthwhile)How to cut your team’s meetings: a calendar audit, what to move to async and minutes with tasks so the meetings you keep are actually worth having.
- CompareOtter.ai vs Tessa: an Otter alternative that follows throughOtter.ai transcribes meetings. Tessa takes notes too, then handles the email, Slack and follow-ups that come after. Compare them and try Tessa free.
- CompareFireflies.ai vs Tessa: what changes if you switchFireflies.ai records and searches meetings. Tessa takes notes and turns email, Slack and meetings into tasks and follow-ups. Compare and try it free.
What does your team look like?
Same AI for both. Where you start is what changes.
Startups
5 to 30 people
Grow without losing the thread
Tasks from email and Slack, follow-ups, sales and investors, without everything landing on the founders.
Companies
30 to 250 people
What gets decided gets done
Minutes and tasks from every meeting, commitments that get followed up and a pulse per team, without watching anyone.
Connect Google and Slack, let Tessa join your next meeting and see what happens to what you agreed.
Start freeFree plan for teams of up to 3 people. Anything that leaves the company waits for your approval.