What it is
Granola captures device audio directly, no bot joins your call, no recording announcement plays, and enhances the rough notes you type during a meeting with context from the transcript. It works across Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack huddles, and in-person sessions on Mac, Windows, and iOS. Popular with VCs, consultants, and sales teams who need accurate notes without a visible third-party participant. The free plan covers core note-taking, but meeting history is capped at 30 days until you upgrade.
Key features
- ●Bot-free device audio capture for online and in-person meetings
- ●Real-time transcription with AI note enhancement after the meeting ends
- ●In-meeting AI chat: ask what you missed or get a live recap mid-call
- ●29 built-in meeting note templates covering project kick-offs, pipeline reviews, and more
- ●Recipes: saved expert prompts for recurring post-meeting actions like follow-up emails or PRDs
- ●Spaces and shared folders with granular access controls for team collaboration
- ●Personal and enterprise APIs plus an MCP server for integrating notes into AI workflows
- ●Integrations with Slack, Notion, HubSpot, Attio, Affinity, Salesforce, and Zapier (paid plans)
Pros and cons
Pros
- +No bot joins your call, so there is no recording announcement and no visible participant in the list
- +Audio is transcribed in real time then deleted, no audio files stored anywhere
- +Human-in-the-loop design: your typed notes shape the AI summary rather than being replaced by it
- +Business plan at $14/user/month has no minute caps and undercuts most comparable tools
- +MCP server connects meeting notes to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and other AI tools
- +Spaces and shared folders let teams query across months of meetings in one place
- +SOC 2 Type 2 certified and GDPR compliant
Cons
- –Free plan has limited meeting history, a predictable reason to upgrade
- –Speaker attribution is inconsistent in fast-paced group calls
- –Windows version is newer and some features are still catching up to the Mac experience
- –No audio playback after meetings, since audio is deleted post-transcription
- –Integrations with Slack, Notion, HubSpot, and Zapier are locked to paid plans
- –Free plan limitations are not clearly documented on the pricing page
Who it's for
- ●Client-facing professionals who need notes without a bot appearing in sensitive calls
- ●VCs and investors building a queryable archive of deal notes and founder conversations
- ●Sales teams auto-syncing call summaries to HubSpot or Salesforce after each meeting
- ●Product teams capturing user research interviews and tagging feature requests across sessions
- ●Remote teams sharing meeting context via Spaces and querying across weeks of discussions
- ●Individuals using MCP to pipe meeting context into Claude or ChatGPT for downstream tasks
Categories
Good for
Podcasters, Course creators
Frequently asked questions
What does Granola's free plan actually include?
The free Basic plan includes AI-enhanced notes, custom templates, shared folders, and multi-language support with no meeting count limit. The key restriction with a limited history window is notes older than that become inaccessible until you upgrade.
Why is the Business plan cheaper than the Individual plan?
Business is priced at $14/user/month while Individual sits at $18/user/month. Granola appears to price the team plan lower to encourage group adoption, with Business adding shared folders, team admin controls, CRM integrations, and advanced AI models that the Individual plan lacks.
Does Granola work on Windows, or is it Mac-only?
Granola natively supports both Mac and Windows, and it also features an iOS mobile app. However, due to Apple’s strict app privacy restrictions, the iOS app cannot capture system audio from other applications. This means it only supports in-person recordings and outbound phone calls, making it impossible to record virtual meetings like Zoom or Google Meet on your iPhone.
Can I use Granola without telling meeting participants?
Technically yes, since no bot joins the call, but you are responsible for compliance with local recording consent laws. Granola offers a Chrome extension overlay badge and an enterprise Heads Up feature to notify participants that transcription is active.
How does Granola's MCP server work?
The MCP server, launched in February 2026, connects your Granola meeting notes to AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor so they can reference your meeting context. Full transcript access via MCP requires a paid plan; the free plan limits MCP queries to notes you own and excludes meetings older than 30 days.
How does Granola compare to Otter or Fathom?
Granola's main differentiator is the bot-free architecture — no participant joins your call and no audio is stored after transcription. Fathom and Otter both send a visible bot into meetings and retain audio. Granola's Business plan at $14/user/month also prices below most comparable tools, though it lacks audio playback, which some compliance workflows require.