Alternatives

10 Best Granola AI Alternatives

Ruud CarisEditor-in-Chief

Updated: 22 January 2026About Granola AI →

Granola AI stands out through local processing and a bot-free experience. Most alternatives operate in the cloud and often send a visible bot to the meeting, but as a result offer more advanced team features and video analysis.

136+ toolscompared

✓No sponsored rankings

My recommendations

Best Overall

Fireflies

★ 4.2/5

Most powerful analysis and integrations for teams

View Fireflies →

Best Free

Fathom

★ 4.2/5

Unlimited free recording and transcription

View Fathom →

Most Similar

Krisp

Local processing and privacy focus without bot

View Krisp →

Best Budget

Tactiq

★ 4.2/5

Affordable paid plan for frequent users

View Tactiq →

At a glance

ToolScoreBest for

Krisp

Privacy and local processingView →

Fathom

★4.2/5

Free unlimited useView →

Tactiq

★4.2/5

Discreet note-taking via browserView →

Fireflies

★4.2/5

Teams and deep analysisView →

Otter

English transcription accuracyView →

Grain

Share video clipsView →

tl;dv

Multilingual teams and researchView →

Fellow

★4.1/5

Meeting structure and agendasView →

Bluedot

Google Meet usersView →

Supernormal

Automatic formattingView →

All Granola AI alternatives at a glance

Krisp

Privacy and local processing

Krisp started as noise cancellation but has evolved into a privacy-focused AI note-taker. Unlike cloud bots, Krisp processes audio and transcripts locally on the device, similar to Granola. It works as an audio layer between the microphone and meeting software, making it compatible with any app (Zoom, Teams, Meet) without a bot being visible to other participants. The notes are concise and focus on action items.

Difference: Processes audio locally on device

Choose this if: privacy and audio quality are priorities

✓ What we like

✓Excellent noise cancellation
✓Bot-free transcription (privacy)
✓Works with all apps (Zoom/Teams)
✓Local processing (no cloud)

✗ What we don't like

✗Free version limited (60 min/day)
✗Sometimes robotic voice distortion
✗High CPU load on older PCs
✗Support sometimes slow to respond

View Krisp →More details →

Fathom

Free unlimited use

★ 4.2/5 · Free / from 15 dollar

Fathom is a popular choice due to its very generous free model. It sends a bot to the meeting that records and transcribes. The tool excels at directly syncing notes to CRM systems like HubSpot and Salesforce. While it feels less 'local' than Granola, the speed and ease of use for individual users is unmatched. The interface is simple and focuses on highlighting important moments during the conversation.

Difference: Fully free version without limits

Choose this if: budget is the most important factor

✓ What we like

✓Generous free version (unlimited recording)
✓High transcription accuracy
✓Seamless Zoom/Teams/Meet integration
✓Automatic action items & summary

✗ What we don't like

✗No full-featured mobile app
✗Advanced AI features are paid
✗Bot visible in meetings
✗Summaries sometimes too formal

View Fathom →More details →

Tactiq

Discreet note-taking via browser

★ 4.2/5 · Free / from 8 dollar

Tactiq works via a browser extension and reads the captions from Google Meet, Zoom, or Teams directly. This means no bot is needed to 'join' the conversation, making it a more discreet alternative than Fathom or Otter. It saves the text and uses AI to generate summaries. Because it doesn't record an audio file but 'scrapes' text, it's very lightweight, but it lacks the ability to play back audio.

Difference: Reads captions instead of audio

Choose this if: a visible bot is undesirable

✓ What we like

✓Bot-free Chrome extension
✓Real-time transcription during calls
✓Free plan for individuals (10/month)
✓Integrations with Slack, Notion, Drive

✗ What we don't like

✗No video or audio recording
✗Accuracy lower with accents
✗Free limit of 10 meetings per month
✗No full-featured mobile app

View Tactiq →More details →

Fireflies

Teams and deep analysis

★ 4.2/5 · Free / from 10 dollar

Fireflies is a heavyweight in this category, focused on teams and businesses. It offers in-depth analytics, such as speaker sentiment and topic tracking. Where Granola is a personal notepad, Fireflies is a searchable knowledge base for all company conversations. The AI summaries are highly detailed and can be customized to specific goals. It does require a bot to join the meeting, which makes the privacy experience different from Granola.

Difference: Focus on team knowledge base and data

Choose this if: collaboration and analysis are central

✓ What we like

✓Automatic meeting attendance
✓Strong integrations (Slack, CRM)
✓Good AI summaries
✓Searchable transcripts

✗ What we don't like

✗Struggles with accents/jargon
✗Speaker recognition inaccurate
✗Video recording is pricey

View Fireflies →More details →

Otter

English transcription accuracy

Otter is one of the pioneers in AI transcription. It's known for highly accurate English transcriptions and the ability to read along live. The 'OtterPilot' can automatically join and summarize meetings. It's less focused on 'enriching' manual notes like Granola, and more on fully automating the record. The interface is functional and text-focused, with audio running in sync for verification.

Difference: Focus on raw text transcription

Choose this if: a verbatim record is required

✓ What we like

✓High transcription accuracy
✓OtterPilot automates note-taking
✓Convenient AI summaries
✓Integration with Zoom/Teams/Meet

✗ What we don't like

✗Very limited free plan
✗Only 3 imports in free version
✗No video recording (audio only)
✗Supports few languages

View Otter →More details →

Grain

Share video clips

Grain focuses heavily on the visual aspect of meetings. It makes it easy to cut and share short video clips, ideal for user research or sales calls. Where Granola enhances text notes, Grain helps share the 'voice of the customer' through video. The AI notes are structured and directly linked to the video timeline. It's a tool for teams that want to share evidence from conversations rather than just text.

Difference: Video-first approach

Choose this if: visual context is important

✓ What we like

✓Automated notes & recordings
✓High audio quality & transcription
✓Clip & share video highlights
✓Integrations (Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot)

✗ What we don't like

✗Free plan limited to 20 meetings
✗Advanced features are paid
✗Lacks deep sales analytics (vs Gong)
✗Pricing transparency could be better

View Grain →More details →

tl;dv

Multilingual teams and research

tl;dv is a versatile recorder that works with Google Meet, Zoom, and Teams. It stands out for its strong multilingual support and automatic speaker recognition. The tool is especially popular with product and user research teams because of the ability to mark timestamps during the conversation. It offers a free version that allows unlimited recording, although advanced AI features are behind a paywall. It's a cloud-based tool with a bot.

Difference: Strong multilingual support

Choose this if: meetings are in various languages

✓ What we like

✓Unlimited recording (free version)
✓Accurate transcription (English)
✓Handy 'Ask tl;dv' search feature
✓Easy clip creation and sharing

✗ What we don't like

✗Bot sometimes doesn't join or joins late
✗Struggles with accents/dialects
✗Sales coaching very expensive ($98/m)
✗Bugs when loading videos

View tl;dv →More details →

Fellow

Meeting structure and agendas

★ 4.1/5 · Free / from 7 dollar

Fellow is primarily a tool for meeting agendas and management that recently added AI recording and transcription. It's the best choice if the goal is to improve the entire meeting culture, not just the minutes. It enforces structure with agendas beforehand and action items afterward. The AI notes are placed directly in the agenda interface. This is a broader solution than Granola's pure 'notepad' function.

Difference: Complete meeting management suite

Choose this if: structure beforehand is also needed

✓ What we like

✓Accurate AI transcription (99 languages)
✓Central hub for meeting notes
✓Seamless integration (Slack, Jira, Asana)
✓Collaborative agendas and templates

✗ What we don't like

✗Android app is slow and buggy
✗Free version very limited (5 notes)
✗Pricey for small teams/individuals
✗Can be overwhelming (many features)

View Fellow →More details →

Bluedot

Google Meet users

Bluedot is a Chrome extension that records meetings via the browser tab, without a bot being added to the conversation. This approaches Granola's 'local' experience, but within the browser. It generates AI notes and syncs them with platforms like Notion or Slack. It's particularly popular with Google Meet users who want an invisible recorder. However, the free version is very limited in number of recordings.

Difference: Browser-based recording without bot

Choose this if: an extension is preferred

✓ What we like

✓Bot-free recording via Chrome extension
✓Automatic summary & action items
✓Seamless CRM integration (HubSpot/Slack)
✓Includes screen and video recording

✗ What we don't like

✗Free plan limited to 5 meetings/month
✗Full features require Chrome
✗Mobile app less comprehensive
✗Transcription sometimes difficult with accents

View Bluedot →More details →

Supernormal

Automatic formatting

Supernormal is a widely used AI note-taker that works via a browser extension and bots. It's known for very clean, readable summaries that seem almost human-written. It automatically formats notes into sections like 'decisions' and 'action items'. It's less focused on typing along yourself (like Granola) and more on 'set and forget'. It integrates smoothly with Google Docs and Notion for storing records.

Difference: Quality of the summary

Choose this if: readability is crucial

✓ What we like

✓Bot-free recording option (Google Meet)
✓Automatic, structured notes
✓Good action item extraction
✓Supports 60+ languages

✗ What we don't like

✗Free version recently heavily limited
✗No offline transcription available
✗Transcription struggles with accents
✗No 'click-on-text' video navigation

View Supernormal →More details →

When is Granola AI still the best choice?

Granola AI is built for Mac users who want to take notes during meetings without being completely dependent on automatic transcription. The tool combines your own notes with AI enhancements, giving you control over what gets captured. This hybrid system works well if you want to quickly jot down key points and have AI fill in the details later.

The tool runs locally on your Mac and works with all video calling apps without requiring you to add a bot to conversations. This makes it suitable for sensitive conversations where you don’t want to involve external services. Granola costs €10 per month after a free trial of 25 meetings, which is reasonable if you meet regularly and value the Mac-native experience.

When is a Granola AI alternative better?

If you work on Windows or need a browser-based tool, you can’t use Granola. Tactiq works as a Chrome extension and runs on any operating system, while Fireflies and Otter are web apps you can open anywhere. For teams that don’t all work on Mac, a cross-platform tool is more practical.

If you want to keep video recordings and share clips with colleagues, tools like Fathom and Fireflies offer more capabilities. These services store complete recordings and let you create clips of important moments, something Granola doesn’t do because it focuses on text summaries. For onboarding, training, or legal documentation, video storage is often essential.

Fathom offers unlimited free use for individual users, which is attractive if budget is a concern. Otter gives you 300 free minutes per month and Tactiq has a free tier for up to 10 transcriptions. If you don’t meet every day or are just getting started with meeting automation, you can get quite far with these free options before you need to pay.

In conclusion

Choose Granola if you work on Mac and appreciate the combination of manual and automatic notes. Go for Krisp if privacy is paramount, Fathom if you want to start free with video storage, Tactiq for discreet browser-based note-taking, Fireflies for team analytics, or Otter for accurate English transcription. Test the free versions of multiple tools to see which best fits your workflow and platform preference.

Frequently asked questions

Which alternative offers the best privacy compared to Granola?

Krisp is the best alternative for privacy because it processes audio and transcription locally on your device, just like Granola. This means no data is sent to the cloud for processing and no bot joins your meeting.

Are there free alternatives without limits on recording duration?

Yes, Fathom and tl;dv both offer free plans that let you record and transcribe unlimited meetings. Granola, on the other hand, often has limits in the free version or is fully paid for advanced features.

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All alternatives →