Granola AI and Krisp seem similar: both transcribe meetings without a bot. But that’s where the comparison ends. Granola AI is a polished notepad that combines your own notes with AI. Krisp is an audio tool that filters background noise and transcribes. The question is: what do you need more?
Granola AI in brief
Granola AI is an AI notepad that runs locally on your device. It transcribes meetings via your system audio, without a bot joining the meeting. What sets it apart: you take notes yourself during the conversation, and Granola enhances them with context from the transcription. Think: adding structure, highlighting action items, generating summaries. Available for MacOS, Windows, and iOS. Integrations with Slack, Notion, and HubSpot.
Krisp in brief
Krisp started as a noise cancellation tool and grew into a full-fledged meeting assistant. It removes background noise and echo from your conversations in real-time, across all platforms where you make calls: Zoom, Teams, Google Meet. Recently, it also transcribes meetings and creates AI summaries. Processing happens locally on your device. Available for MacOS, Windows, Android, iOS, and as a web app. An accent conversion feature makes accents easier to understand.
Granola AI vs Krisp: the differences
The biggest difference lies in the focus. Granola AI is built for people who want to actively take notes. You type during the meeting, and Granola fills in details from the transcription. The result: notes that follow your structure but are complete. Krisp, on the other hand, is a passive tool. It runs in the background, filters sound, and transcribes automatically. You don’t have to do anything.
You see that philosophy reflected in the interface. Granola has a minimalist editor that looks like Notion: calm, clear, inviting to type in. Krisp is a system tool with a small dashboard. You see statistics on how much sound has been filtered, and you can find transcriptions. But it’s not a place where you spend hours.
A crucial difference: audio storage. Krisp stores audio recordings so you can listen back to conversations. Granola deliberately doesn’t do that. It only saves text. Privacy-friendly, but inconvenient if you want to hear a specific snippet again. For legal or medical conversations, that could be a dealbreaker.
Then there’s noise cancellation. Krisp is famous for that. It filters real-time background noise, echo, and even typing sounds. Working from a busy café or with kids in the background? Krisp makes you understandable. Granola has no noise cancellation. It records what your microphone hears. If you’re in a noisy environment, that noise appears in the transcription.
Platform support also differs. Krisp works on Android, Granola doesn’t. For Windows users: both tools are available, but Granola’s Windows version is still limited according to users. Krisp has been running stably on Windows for years.
Finally, the knowledge management side. Granola 2.0 introduced shared team folders and ‘chat with folders’: you ask questions across multiple meetings at once. Useful for teams who want to discover patterns or track decisions. Krisp doesn’t offer that. It does collect action items from meetings, but you can’t search across meetings.
Pricing compared
Granola AI has a free plan, but it’s really a trial: maximum 25 meetings total. After that, you pay $1 per month for the Business plan, or $1 for Enterprise. Monthly subscriptions are the only option, there’s no annual discount.
Krisp is cheaper and more flexible. The free plan gives you 60 minutes of noise cancellation per day, unlimited transcriptions, and 2 AI summaries per day. Enough for light users. The Pro plan costs $1 per month with annual payment, or $1 monthly. That’s half of Granola’s entry price.
For a solo entrepreneur who has 2-3 meetings per day, Krisp’s free plan is often sufficient. For a team that wants to build structural knowledge from meetings, Granola’s costs are easier to justify. But then you’re talking about $1 per person per month.
Conclusion
Krisp wins on price and versatility. For $1 you get noise cancellation, transcription, and summaries. The free plan is usable for daily use. Granola AI wins on note quality and knowledge management. The summaries are more structured, the interface invites active engagement, and the team features are stronger.
Choose Krisp if you primarily need clear audio in noisy environments, or if budget is a factor. Choose Granola AI if you want to turn meetings into structured knowledge and are willing to pay significantly for it. For teams that are serious about investing in knowledge sharing, Granola is the better choice. For individual users who want to be pragmatic: Krisp.
