Both Otter and Fathom let you take your transcripts and recordings with you. The catch: the convenient bulk routes tend to sit behind paid plans, and summaries rarely export as cleanly as transcripts do. Here is what each tool releases, the exact steps, and the order to do it in so nothing lapses mid-export.
What can you export from Otter?
Per conversation, Otter exports the transcript (plain text on lower tiers, with formats like DOCX, PDF, and SRT opening up on paid plans) and lets you download the audio. The route is the export or download option on each conversation page.
Bulk export exists but is positioned as a higher-tier and admin-level feature. If you have hundreds of conversations and no bulk option on your plan, your choices are upgrading for one billing cycle to run the export, or scripting against the per-conversation routes. Plan entitlements change, so check the export menu on your own account before deciding.
The per-conversation flow, which is stable across plans:
- Open the conversation in Otter.
- Find the export or download option in the conversation's menu.
- Export the transcript in your chosen format, then download the audio separately if you need it.
- Repeat, or upgrade for the bulk route if the list is long.
- Spot-check a few files before you close the account: an export you never opened is not a backup.
What can you export from Fathom?
Fathom lets you download call recordings and copy or export the transcript and summary per call. For automated flows, Zapier support and an API can push call data into other systems, with one caveat worth knowing before you switch: automations mainly fire for new calls going forward. They are not a backfill mechanism, so set them up early if you want a continuous archive, and handle history manually.
The per-call flow mirrors Otter's:
- Open the call in Fathom.
- Download the recording from the call's page.
- Copy or export the transcript, and copy the summary separately if you still use it.
- For ongoing capture into another system, connect Zapier or the API before you wind the account down.
- Spot-check the downloads, especially that transcripts kept their speaker labels.
Summaries and action items are the weak spot in both tools: they live in the product's own pages, and getting them out is mostly copy and paste. If your team relies on them, budget time for that.
What leaves cleanly, tool by tool
| Asset | Otter | Fathom |
|---|---|---|
| Transcripts | Yes, formats vary by plan | Yes, per call |
| Audio or video | Audio download | Video download |
| Summaries and action items | Mostly copy and paste | Mostly copy and paste |
| Bulk export | Higher-tier feature | Per call, or automate new calls via Zapier and API |
| Analytics and highlights | No clean path | No clean path |
A five-step export plan before you switch
- Inventory what matters. Calls on open deals, your best-call library, anything referenced in onboarding. Most of the archive will never be opened again.
- Export transcripts for everything. They are small, searchable, and hold most of the lasting value.
- Export recordings only for the shortlist. Video is heavy, and storage you never open is just a bill.
- Capture summaries you still use. Assume copy and paste, and do it before access lapses.
- Read the retention terms, then cancel. Do not assume a grace period exists, however reasonable that assumption feels. Export first, verify the files open, downgrade second.
When should you run the export?
Before you touch the subscription. The tempting order is cancel first, export during the wind-down, and it is wrong twice over: downgrading can shrink your export options mid-task, and retention windows start counting whether or not your script finished. Run the export while everything still works, verify the files, and only then change the plan.
If the team is still actively using the tool, start the archive habit now anyway. Exporting the shortlist quarterly costs an hour and turns a future migration from a project into a formality.
What the exports will not carry
Speaker analytics, highlight structure, comments, sharing settings, and integration configuration stay behind in both tools. What you keep is the conversation itself, which is fine: the words were always the valuable part. The one genuine loss is any workflow your team built inside the tool, like tagging conventions or shared folders. Write those down as a one-page description before access ends, the same way you would document a leaver's undocumented process.
Where do teams go after a notetaker?
If notes were the whole job, the free tiers of these tools remain hard to beat, and staying put is a legitimate answer. Teams usually switch for one of two reasons: they want analytics and coaching on top of the recordings, or they want the knowledge inside those calls to actually help reps during the next conversation rather than sit in an archive. Our Fathom review covers the ceiling in detail, and our guide to AI tools for sales calls maps the categories. Caretta sits in the second camp: past calls become answers that appear on screen live.
Want your call history working on the next call instead of sitting in an export folder? Book a Caretta demo.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you export transcripts from Otter on the free plan?
- Yes, basic transcript export is available on the free plan, with more formats and bulk options on paid tiers. Plan limits change over time, so open one conversation and check the export menu yourself before you rely on any answer, including this one.
- Can you download your recordings from Fathom?
- Yes. Fathom lets you download call recordings and copy or export transcripts per call. For moving data onward automatically, Fathom also offers Zapier and API routes, though these mainly handle new calls rather than backfilling history.
- Do Otter or Fathom delete my data when I cancel?
- Both retain data according to their terms, and retention after cancellation or downgrade is not something to guess about. Export what matters before you cancel, and read the current terms for the specific plan you are on.
- What format should I export transcripts in?
- Plain text or a document format for archiving and search, and SRT only if you need subtitles synced to video. Transcripts are small, so export everything; recordings are large, so export only calls you genuinely expect to rewatch.