The local-first Fathom alternative
Fathom is a well-liked notetaker with a generous free plan, which makes it an easy tool to start with. The catch is the same as the rest of the category: a bot joins the call, and the recordings live in Fathom's cloud. Autorec gives you a free tier too, but the recording happens on your desktop and the files stay there.
People rarely leave a meeting notetaker because it stopped working. They leave for three reasons, and Autorec was built to fix all of them.
A bot in the call is awkward
Fathom's recorder joins the meeting as a participant. On internal calls that's fine. On calls with clients or candidates it raises a question every time. Autorec captures the meeting window from your desktop, so nothing extra appears in the call.
Every call ends up in someone else's cloud
Fathom keeps your recordings and transcripts in its cloud. Even on the free plan, that means your calls are sitting on a vendor's servers. Autorec writes everything to your own disk, with no upload and no telemetry.
The per-seat bill keeps climbing
Fathom's free plan is real, but the paid plan is $19 per user per month and the limits on the free tier push teams toward it. Autorec is €20 once. Its free tier (3 recordings per 24 hours, 40 minutes each) has no per-seat math behind it.
Side by side
| How it works | Autorec | Fathom |
|---|---|---|
| Recording method | Records the meeting window from your desktop. No bot joins the call. | A bot joins the call as a visible participant. |
| Where recordings live | On your disk. Nothing is uploaded. | Uploaded to the vendor's cloud. |
| Transcription | On-device with whisper.cpp. Writes .txt and .srt, plus an AI summary. | Processed in the vendor's cloud. |
| Pricing | €20 once per major version. Free tier: 3 recordings / 24h, 40 min each. | $19/user/mo (free plan available) |
| Works offline | Yes. Recording and transcription run with no internet connection. | No, needs an internet connection. |
Where Autorec is the wrong choice
Autorec is single-user. There is no team admin, no shared library, and no analytics dashboard. It has no mobile app and no CRM integrations, and it doesn't do anything live during the call. macOS is in development and not shipped yet. If your team needs a shared searchable archive or CRM sync, a cloud tool is the better fit, and this page is not trying to talk you out of it.
Common questions
Fathom has a free plan already. Why switch?
If the free plan covers you and you're comfortable with the bot and the cloud storage, there may be no reason to. People switch when a bot in the call becomes awkward, or when they want the recordings on their own disk instead of a vendor's servers.
Does Autorec generate summaries like Fathom?
Yes. After a recording finishes, Autorec transcribes it on-device and writes an AI summary, along with a .txt transcript and an .srt subtitle file. All of it stays local.
Does Autorec work on calls Fathom doesn't support?
Autorec records the meeting window itself, so it isn't limited to platforms with a special integration. It auto-detects Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet, and you can record any window manually.
Can I use Autorec on Linux?
Yes. Autorec ships for Linux and Windows. macOS is in development and not released yet.
See for yourself
Download the free tier and record your next call. 3 recordings every 24 hours, 40 minutes each, no account needed. The full version is €20, paid once.
Download Autorec