MeetInk vs Fathom: on-device meeting notes for Mac

Fathom became popular by making meeting recording easy and offering a generous free plan. It is a cloud service; MeetInk is an on-device Mac app. If you are choosing between them, the question is less about features and more about where your meetings should live.

How Fathom works

Fathom records your video calls through its integrations with the major meeting platforms. Depending on the platform, its recorder can appear in the meeting — check their site for current details. Recordings and transcripts are processed and stored in Fathom's cloud, you sign in with an account, and clips and summaries can be shared with your team or pushed to a CRM.

It is quick to set up and works well for people who want a video library of their calls.

How MeetInk works

• Nothing joins the call. MeetInk records your microphone and the meeting app's audio directly on your Mac.
• Audio never leaves your Mac. Transcription and speaker separation run locally.
• Only the meeting is recorded. Music or a video in another app is left out by default, and echo cancellation keeps the call out of your microphone on speakers.
• Your choice of AI. Google Gemini's free tier (recommended), a local model through Ollama, or your own Claude or OpenAI key. Cloud engines receive only the transcript text.
• No account. Your meetings are stored on your Mac.

MeetInk records audio, not video. If you need screen recordings of your calls, that is a real difference.

Notes for engineering, sales and client work

Sixteen meeting types are detected automatically, each with its own structure. Among them:

• Standups by person, sprint planning with tickets and estimates, design reviews as decision records, incident reviews with timeline and root cause.
• Sales discovery with a MEDDIC scorecard, objections, competitors and deal risks; sales demos with buying signals and next steps.
• Client calls with requirements, scope changes and commitments from both sides.
• Interviews and 1:1s.

Each point in the notes links to the moment it was said.

What happens after the call

• Every action item gathered in one Action items list, and any of them a prefilled Linear issue in one click.
• Ask AI about one meeting, a folder or every meeting, with citations to the meeting and the moment.
• Speaker names from the calendar invite and the conversation, with a one-click confirm when the AI isn't sure.
• Calendars from every account in macOS: today's meetings with a Record button, a Take notes notification when one starts, and recordings named after the event with the invitees added.
• Integrations: Slack, a synced folder, Zapier / Make / n8n, and a local connector for Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor.

Pricing

Fathom offers a free plan and paid plans for more features and teams — check their site for current details.

MeetInk is a one-time purchase: $29 with 12 months of updates. The 14-day trial includes everything, and it stays free for 5 meetings a month afterwards.

Side by side

	Fathom	MeetInk
Visible recorder in the call	Depends on platform — check their site	No
Where audio is processed	Fathom's cloud	Your Mac
Records video	Yes	No, audio only
Where notes live	Fathom's cloud	Your Mac
Account required	Yes	No
Notes by meeting type	Templates	16 types, incl. MEDDIC and decision records
Action items to tickets	Via integrations	Linear in one click
Choose your AI model	No	Gemini (free tier), local Ollama, Claude or OpenAI, with your own key
Pricing	Free plan + paid plans	One-time license + free tier

Where Fathom is the better choice

• You want video. Clips of what was on screen are useful for demos and training, and MeetInk does not record video.
• You use Windows or several devices. MeetInk is Mac-only.
• You need languages other than English.
• Your team shares a library of calls in one place.

Why choose MeetInk instead

If your calls should stay private — client work, pricing, hiring — MeetInk keeps them on your Mac and never adds anything to the meeting. And the notes arrive already shaped as a standup update, a MEDDIC scorecard or a decision record.

The bottom line

Fathom is a friendly cloud recorder with video and a strong free plan. MeetInk is for Mac users who want private, audio-only notes that never leave their machine, written for the meeting they actually had.

Frequently asked questions

Does MeetInk need a Zoom or Google account connection?

No. It records the audio on your Mac, so it works with Zoom, Google Meet in any browser, Teams, Slack huddles, Webex and FaceTime without connecting to them.

Can I use it offline?

Yes. Recording and transcription work offline, and notes can be written offline with a local Ollama model.

Is it really free after the trial?

Yes — 5 new meetings a month, forever, and everything you recorded stays readable and searchable.

Try MeetInk

Download it for your next call. No account, no card, 14 days of every feature.