A Fathom Alternative for iPhone and Mac That Keeps Audio on Your Device

Quick answer: If you want a Fathom alternative where recording, transcription and summaries all run on your own iPhone and Mac, Lyonesse is one. If you mostly sit in Zoom, Meet or Teams calls and want a free notetaker that shares recaps with your team, Fathom may be all you need. Everything said about Fathom below comes from fathom.ai and Fathom help pages we read on 10 October 2026.

The short version

• Stay on Fathom if your meetings are online, you want a free plan, or you share recaps and clips with colleagues.
• Look at Lyonesse if you want transcripts, summaries and questions handled on your device, and a one-time purchase option.
• Fathom has changed. Older comparisons say it needs a bot and can't record in a room. Its homepage now says "bot or no bot", and it says an iPhone app for in-person recording is on the way.

What Fathom does well

Fathom's homepage describes an AI notetaker that "summarizes your meetings so you can focus on the conversation". It works with Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, and offers searchable transcripts, summaries, action items and "Ask Fathom" for questions across past meetings. It lists SOC 2 Type II and GDPR, and says it is HIPAA compliant (fathom.ai, checked 10 October 2026).

The free plan is the big draw. Fathom's pricing page calls it "free forever" and lists unlimited recordings and transcriptions, with some features, such as AI action items and Ask Fathom, marked as limited use. Premium is $20 per user per month, or $16 billed annually (fathom.ai/pricing, checked 10 October 2026). Lyonesse has no free plan that compares with that.

In-person meetings and no-bot recording

Fathom's help article on compatible devices says it "is currently able to record meetings on Mac and Windows computers" and that "the new bot-free experience is currently available on Mac only" (help.fathom.video, checked 10 October 2026). Phones and tablets are not listed as supported there. Fathom's What's new page describes its iOS app as "almost here", so we couldn't confirm that it has shipped. The homepage labels bot-free capture "now available", and the pricing page calls it a beta.

If in-person recording on iPhone matters to you today, check Fathom's current status before deciding. The gap that remains is where the work happens, which is the next section.

Where the audio goes

Fathom's privacy policy says it will "receive the personal information contained in the content of those meetings" and share meeting content with "a limited number of service providers and vendors solely to help us provide and deliver the Service". It says Fathom does not sell meeting content, and that it may use de-identified data from meetings to train its own AI models, which you can opt out of in account settings (fathom.ai/privacy, checked 10 October 2026).

That is a normal, clearly written cloud policy. Lyonesse works differently: transcription, summaries, speaker labels and questions run on your device, and Lyonesse has no servers of its own that store your recordings. If the audio carries client details or anything you'd rather not hand to a vendor, you don't need to read a policy or tick a setting to know where it is processed. There is one exception. For a few languages, Apple's own speech service is the only option, and it can send audio to Apple's servers if you opt in. The privacy policy has the detail.

Fathom cells: fathom.ai, fathom.ai/pricing and help.fathom.video, checked 10 October 2026. Lyonesse prices checked 7 October 2026.

What Lyonesse does

You press record, and the words appear as people speak, with speaker labels. Afterwards you can ask a question about what was said, read a summary in seconds, and search for any moment later. The same library is on iPhone and Mac. For a meeting in a room, our guide to recording an in-person meeting on iPhone covers the setup, and offline meeting notes explains what works without a connection.

What you give up

• A free plan like Fathom's.
• Recaps that post themselves after a call, and share links for colleagues.
• CRM and workspace integrations, and the team plans that go with them.
• A Windows version. Lyonesse only runs on Apple devices.
• A very new OS. Lyonesse needs iOS 26 or macOS 26.

Recording people

Whichever app you use, tell people they are being recorded. Rules differ by country and state, and a quick "I'm recording this so I can write it up" costs nothing.

Moving over

Keep your Fathom account until you've tried Lyonesse on one real meeting. Lyonesse can transcribe audio files you already have, but there is no importer for Fathom recordings. For the wider field, see private transcription apps, and if you're also weighing other cloud tools, our Otter.ai, Fireflies and Granola comparisons work the same way.

Frequently asked questions

Does Lyonesse join Zoom, Meet or Teams calls?

No. There is no bot. On a Mac it captures the audio your computer plays, and on iPhone it records the room through the microphone. Our guide to transcribing an online meeting on a Mac has the steps. Tell people they are being recorded where the law or good manners ask for it.

Does Lyonesse work offline?

Recording works offline. Transcription runs on your device for the languages Apple and Lyonesse process locally, such as English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Chinese. The first time you use a language, the app may need to download a model. A few other languages need Apple's speech service, which can send audio to Apple's servers if you opt in, so check the privacy page before relying on offline for those.

Does Lyonesse label speakers?

Yes, speaker labels are part of the transcript and are worked out on your device. Check them on a real recording before you rely on them, because overlapping voices and a noisy room make labels less reliable in any app.

Is Fathom free?

Fathom's pricing page lists a Free plan described as "free forever", with Premium at $20 per user per month or $16 on annual billing (fathom.ai/pricing, checked 10 October 2026). Lyonesse costs $7.99 a month, $29.99 a year, or $59.99 once for lifetime access (checked 7 October 2026).

Related: record an in-person meeting · online meetings on Mac · Notta alternative · privacy policy