An open-source alternative to Fathom
Fathom is a cloud meeting assistant: your meetings are recorded and processed on its servers, under an account. Echo does the same core job (recording, transcription, speaker labels and notes) entirely on your own Mac.
How they differ
- Where it runs. Fathom is a cloud service. Echo runs on your Mac and listens only on its loopback address.
- In the call. Fathom: yes, by default; bot-free capture is in beta on Mac. Echo never joins as a participant; its extension records your own meeting tab.
- Your data. Fathom stores meetings in Fathom’s cloud. Echo keeps them in an encrypted library on your disk, with the key in the macOS Keychain.
- Price. Fathom: free plan; paid Premium, Team and Business plans. Echo is free and open source under the MIT licence.
When Fathom is the better fit
If you need team workspaces, sharing, mobile apps, CRM integrations, or don’t want to run software yourself, a hosted service like Fathom is the simpler choice. Echo is for one person on an Apple Silicon Mac who wants their meetings to stay on that Mac.
Try Echo
Follow the install guide (about ten minutes from a fresh Mac), or read the full comparison. The source is on GitHub.
Details about Fathom come from fathom.ai/pricing, checked on 1 November 2026. Plans change; check Fathom for current details. Fathom is a trademark of its owner; Echo is not affiliated with it.