Granola vs Fathom for interviews: bot-free capture, recordings and price compared

Granola and Fathom are both popular with hiring managers who want to listen in interviews instead of typing, but they make opposite trade-offs. As of October 2026, Granola never sends a bot, works on Windows and Mac, and deletes audio after transcription, so you keep notes and a transcript but no recording; Business is $14 per user per month. Fathom's free plan gives unlimited recordings and transcription you can replay and clip, but its bot-free capture is a Mac-only beta, so on Windows a Fathom bot joins the interview. Neither lists an ATS integration.

Every vendor fact below comes from Granola's and Fathom's own sites, checked in October 2026 and linked. Single-product reviews: Granola for recruiting and Fathom for recruiting.

How do Granola and Fathom compare at a glance?

Sources, as of October 2026: Granola pricing, Granola phone calls; Fathom pricing, Fathom what's new, Fathom bot-free note taker, Fathom integrations.

Which one keeps the interview bot-free?

Granola, on Windows or Mac. Its pricing page lists bot-free, device-audio capture and desktop, iOS, Android and Apple Watch apps on every plan, including the free one, and the site offers a Windows download alongside Mac.

Fathom only on a Mac. Its pricing page marks the choice of bot-free or bot capture as a beta feature for Mac, and the what's new page says bot-free audio-plus-transcript and transcript-only modes are live on Mac, bot-free video is in limited beta, and "Windows users, you're up next," with no date. A hiring manager on a company Windows laptop gets the Fathom bot in every interview. Fathom's own guide notes that a bot needs to be admitted to the meeting and triggers a notification for everyone, which in a meeting a recruiter or client hosts means someone else lets it in.

Does either keep a recording of the candidate?

This is the real difference. Granola's pricing page lists "audio deleted after transcription" on every plan: you keep your notes and a transcript, but you cannot replay how the candidate answered. Fathom's free plan includes unlimited recordings, clips, playlists and search across calls, so you can rewatch an answer or send a hiring manager a short clip.

Which is better depends on how your team works:

• No recording means less candidate data to protect, fewer awkward questions from candidates, and no audio file to delete later. Accuracy rests on the transcript.
• A recording lets you check tone and exact wording and share evidence with people who were not there. It also means storing candidates' voices, and often video, for as long as your retention allows.

If your company has a policy on recording candidates, it probably decides this row for you. Fathom's Enterprise plan lists custom data retention programs; Granola lists per-user transcript retention and auto-deletion on Basic and Business, and workspace-wide policies on Enterprise.

Can either handle a phone interview?

Granola can on iPhone, with conditions. Its phone calls guide says calls are iOS only, outbound only (iOS limits stop it transcribing inbound calls), and available in a listed set of countries including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and much of Western Europe. You register and verify your number, place the call from the Granola app, and the candidate sees your registered number as the caller ID. Notes arrive a few minutes after the call ends.

Fathom's pages describe Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Slack Huddles, and an iOS app for in-person conversations that the what's new page calls almost here. We found no phone call capture. For a structure to use on screening calls with either tool, see our recruiter phone screen template.

How is the candidate told?

Granola's pricing page lists a "Let people know you're using Granola" setting, controlled per user on Basic and Business and enforceable by admins on Enterprise, where an org-wide notification is listed as a pilot. Fathom's bot-free guide is direct about the gap: bot-free tools remove the bot's notification, not the host's duty to disclose.

With either tool, put one line in the invite and ask again at the start of the call. A notice is not consent: wait for a yes, and take notes by hand if the candidate declines. Recording rules differ by state and country; this is general information, not legal advice.

What do they cost for interviewers?

Per user per month, from each pricing page as of October 2026:

• Granola: Basic $0 (30 days of meeting history); Business $14 (unlimited notes and history, integrations, API); Enterprise $35 (SSO, org-wide deletion periods, workspace-wide training opt-out).
• Fathom: Free $0 (unlimited recordings and transcription); Premium $16 billed yearly or $20 monthly; Team $15 or $19 and Business $25 or $34, both with a two-user minimum; Enterprise through sales.

For an occasional interviewer, Fathom Free is hard to beat on price. Granola's free Basic plan works for trying it, but 30 days of history is shorter than many hiring processes; a manager who wants to reread a first interview at offer stage needs Business.

Which gives you better notes to write feedback from?

Interview feedback needs two things from a note taker: words attributed to the right person, and notes organized by what you were assessing.

• Who said what. Granola's help center has speaker tag guides for Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams on macOS and Windows, to put names on the transcript. Fathom says its Mac bot-free mode keeps speaker attribution and mute acknowledgment.
• Structure. Granola includes customized note templates on every plan, so you can set up headings for each competency before the interview and type short cues under them as you listen. Fathom includes instant summaries on Free, advanced summaries from Premium and custom summaries on Business.
• AI scoring. Fathom's Business plan lists coaching metrics and AI scorecards next to CRM field sync and Deal View, which points to sales coaching rather than candidate assessment. Score candidates yourself against the job's criteria.

Whichever you use, open the transcript rather than the summary when you write feedback, and copy one quote for each competency you rate. Our guide to taking interview notes as a hiring manager walks through it.

What about training on your interview data?

Granola's pricing page lists a model training opt-out on every plan, set per user on Basic and Business and workspace-wide on Enterprise. Turn it off before interviewing candidates. On the Fathom pages we checked we did not find an equivalent statement, so ask Fathom directly, along with the other questions in our AI note taker security questions.

Which should you pick?

• Granola, best for: interviewers on Windows or Mac who want nothing joining the call and no recording kept, and recruiters who place screening calls from an iPhone.
• Fathom, best for: hiring managers on a Mac who want free, unlimited recordings to replay and clip, and teams that want to share interview moments with people who were not on the call.
• Neither, if: you need notes posted to an ATS automatically or a client submittal; both are general meeting tools.

We make Interview Signal, a recruiting-specific alternative: a Windows and macOS app with no bot that keeps transcripts on your computer and writes a scorecard and submittal, with no ATS integration and no video recording; everything about Granola and Fathom on this page comes from their own sites, linked and dated. For a third general tool, see Granola vs Otter for interviews.