Granola Review
Reviewed by Carlos Gil · Founder & Editor, The Best Network
Updated 5 min readEditorially reviewed
Quick facts
- Starting price
- Free (Basic); Business $14/user/mo
- Free plan
- Yes
- Best for
- Founders, investors and executives who want AI meeting notes without a bot joining the call
- Platforms
- macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps; web app for viewing notes
BestStacked Score
Weighted average of 5 categories. Methodology below.
Quick answer
Is Granola worth it in 2026?
Granola is an AI notepad for meetings. It transcribes from your device's microphone and system audio, so no bot joins Zoom, Meet or Teams, and it combines your own jotted notes with the transcript into structured notes you can chat with. It's worth it for people who run many meetings and don't want a visible note-taker. The free Basic plan shows only the last 30 days of notes; Business costs $14 per user a month, billed monthly, and adds unlimited history, HubSpot, Attio, Notion, Zapier and the API. Granola doesn't keep the audio, so there's no recording to replay. Prices were checked on Granola's pricing page on October 13, 2026.
- Best for
- Founders, investors and executives with back-to-back calls who want notes without a bot in the participant list.
- Skip it if
- You need recordings to replay or share; Granola doesn't store audio or video.
- Strongest capability
- Bot-free capture on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, including in-person meetings, with your own notes shaping the AI summary.
- Biggest limitation
- No recording, and team controls such as Salesforce, SSO and org-wide retention need Enterprise ($35 a user).
The Verdict
Granola is one of the most discreet AI note-takers on the market: it runs on your own computer or phone, transcribes system audio and your microphone, and never sends a bot into the call. Its notes start from what you type, which suits people who want a summary shaped by their own priorities. Basic is free, with notes from the last 30 days visible and MCP access to them; Business at $14 a user a month adds unlimited history, CRM and Notion integrations, Zapier and the API. The trade-offs are real: Granola doesn't keep audio, so there's nothing to replay; Salesforce, SSO and workspace-wide retention need Enterprise; data is stored only in the US; and Granola may use anonymised data to train its models unless you opt out. We score Granola 8.5/10.
Best for
People who run many meetings and want accurate notes without a bot or a recording.
Skip if
You need replayable recordings, EU data residency, or Salesforce sync on a small-team budget.
AlternativesFathom, Otter, Fireflies.ai
The Background
What Is Granola?
Granola is made by Granola, Inc., a Delaware company, with a UK entity, Granola Labs Ltd; its careers page lists London and San Francisco offices. It announced a $43 million Series B in May 2025 and a $125 million Series C at a $1.5 billion valuation in March 2026, led by Index Ventures with Kleiner Perkins. Granola started on the Mac, added Windows in June 2025, iPhone in April 2025 and Android in July 2026. It works with any meeting software, including Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, as well as in-person meetings and, on iPhone, phone calls.
The Product
Granola Features: What You Actually Get
Bot-free capture
Granola transcribes from your device's system audio and microphone while a note is open; nothing joins the call. It works with any meeting app and in person on Mac and Windows, and with phone calls on iPhone. It can't import pre-recorded files, and the web app only views and edits notes. Speaker labels are available for Meet, Zoom and Teams.
A VC takes notes in a founder pitch on Zoom without a bot appearing in the participant list.
AI-enhanced notes and templates
You type rough notes during the meeting; Granola combines them with the transcript into structured notes using templates. Recipes are saved prompts you can rerun. Granola's help center lists 31 transcription languages on desktop and 17 on mobile.
A product manager uses a customer-interview template so every call ends with pains, quotes and next steps in the same format.
Chat across meetings and Spaces
Chat answers questions about one meeting or many. On Basic it uses an automatic model and sees the last 30 days; Business adds manual model choice and full history. Spaces and shared folders let teams group notes, and pre-meeting briefs and follow-up email drafts are on Business.
A sales lead asks what a prospect said about pricing across five calls before a renewal meeting.
Integrations, API and MCP
Slack works on every plan. Notion, HubSpot, Attio, Affinity, Zapier, the API and webhooks need Business; Salesforce needs Enterprise. Granola's MCP server works on every plan: Basic covers personal notes from the last 30 days without transcript tools, while Business covers personal and shared notes.
An account executive sends meeting notes to the matching HubSpot deal and asks Claude, through MCP, to draft a proposal from them.
Data handling and consent
Granola says it doesn't store meeting audio. Notes and transcripts are kept until you delete them or set auto-deletion (1 day to 1 year); Enterprise can enforce retention for the whole workspace. Data is stored on AWS in the US with no EU residency option. Granola offers an optional chat message and camera watermark to tell participants they're being transcribed.
A healthcare startup on Enterprise sets a 30-day transcript retention policy and turns on mandatory consent notices.
Feature recap
- No meeting bot: device audio and microphone capture
- Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, plus in-person meetings
- Notes shaped by what you type, with templates and Recipes
- Chat across meetings; 30 days on Basic, unlimited on Business
- HubSpot, Attio, Notion, Zapier and API on Business
- MCP server on every plan
- No stored audio; transcript auto-deletion
The Numbers
Granola Pricing: Every Plan Explained
Granola prices per active user. Basic and Business are billed monthly; annual billing is available only on Enterprise contracts. Prices from Granola's pricing page, checked October 13, 2026, in USD.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Included Features | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $0 | — | Bot-free notes, templates, Recipes, Slack, shared folders, chat over the last 30 days, MCP for personal notes from the last 30 days; older notes stored but locked | Individuals trying Granola |
| BusinessBest value | $14/user | Monthly billing only | Unlimited notes and history, model choice in chat, Notion, HubSpot, Attio, Affinity and Zapier, API and webhooks, pre-meeting briefs, follow-up emails, central billing | Small teams |
| Enterprise | From $35/user | Annual contracts available | SSO and SCIM, Salesforce, audit API, org-wide auto-deletion, HIPAA workspaces, workspace-wide training opt-out, admin controls, usage analytics, dedicated support | Companies with compliance needs |
Granola is inexpensive for what it does: a ten-person team on Business pays $140 a month (our arithmetic), with no annual commitment, though there's also no annual discount. Basic doesn't delete older notes, but you can't open notes older than 30 days until you upgrade. Accepted startups and students can get 12 months of Business free, and registered nonprofits 50% off. Granola's help center says you can cancel any time and keep access until the end of the billing cycle. Its Platform Terms (December 19, 2025), which say they apply to online orders, describe non-refundable payments and one-year automatic renewal unless an order form says otherwise. Trials of Business or Enterprise are time-limited, but Granola doesn't publish their length.
Know before you buy
Granola keeps notes, not recordings
Granola's security page says it doesn't store meeting audio; on iPhone, audio is cached temporarily and then deleted. That makes it more discreet than bot-based tools, but there's no audio or video to replay, clip or share. If you need to review exactly how something was said, Fathom, Otter or tl;dv keep recordings.
Granola sends audio to Deepgram and Assembly for transcription and uses OpenAI and Anthropic models for notes, and says it doesn't let those providers train on your data. Granola itself may use anonymised data to improve its models unless you opt out; Enterprise workspaces are opted out by default.
Read before you buy
Where Granola's own pages differ
Refunds and renewal: the help center says you can cancel any time and Basic and Business are billed monthly, while the Platform Terms describe non-refundable payments and one-year automatic renewal.
SSO: the pricing page lists SSO on Enterprise with no minimum, while Granola's SSO guide and FAQ require at least 50 active workspace members or a 50-seat commitment.
Languages: a September 2026 update is headlined '32 languages' but lists 31; the help center says 31 on desktop and 17 on mobile.
Free plan and retention: a Granola blog post says Basic has no integrations, while the pricing page includes Slack on Basic. The security FAQ presents transcript auto-deletion as an Enterprise feature, while the auto-deletion guide lets any user set it.
The Tradeoffs
Granola Pros and Cons
What we love
- No bot joins the call
- Works in person and on phone calls (iPhone)
- Notes shaped by what you type
- Free Basic plan with MCP access
- Business is $14 a user, billed monthly
- No stored audio; transcript auto-deletion for any user
What could be better
- No recordings to replay or share
- Basic shows only the last 30 days of notes
- Salesforce, SSO and enforced retention need Enterprise
- Data stored only in the US
- Anonymised data may train Granola's models unless you opt out
- Its own pages disagree on refunds, renewal and SSO minimums
The Audience
Who Should Use Granola?
Best for: founders and investors
People with many external calls get clean notes without a bot that some participants dislike, and can chat across months of meetings on Business.
Best for: teams on HubSpot or Attio
Business sends notes to HubSpot, Attio or Affinity and Notion for $14 a user a month, billed monthly with no annual commitment.
Skip if: you need recordings
Sales coaching, training and dispute-heavy work need audio or video to replay. Granola doesn't keep it; Fathom, Otter or tl;dv do.
The Methodology
How We Reviewed Granola
This is an editorial review, not a documented hands-on test. We didn't use Granola for this review. It's based on Granola's pricing and security pages, help-center articles on capture, platforms, languages, billing, cancellation, model training, auto-deletion, consent, integrations, API, MCP and SSO, its User and Platform Terms, funding posts and product updates, all checked on October 13, 2026. Where Granola's pages differ, we report both statements. No transcription-accuracy or time-saving results are claimed.
Our editorial evaluation considers product information, official documentation, pricing, features and professional experience. It is not a claim of documented hands-on testing.
Our review methodology →What changed
- : First published. Editorial review based on Granola's pricing and security pages, help-center articles, User and Platform Terms, funding posts and product updates, all checked October 13, 2026. Sub-scores are provisional pending editorial approval.
The Field
Granola vs The Competition
Granola competes with bot-based note-takers on discretion and with other bot-free tools on price. Prices below were checked on each vendor's pricing page on October 13, 2026.
| Tool | Starting Price | Free plan | Best Feature | BS Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granola | Free (Basic); Business $14/user/mo | Yes | Bot-free capture | 8.5/10 |
| Fathom | Free; Premium $16/mo billed annually ($20 monthly) | Yes | Free recordings with no cap | 9.2/10 |
| Otter | Free; Pro $8.33/mo billed annually ($16.99 monthly) | Yes | Live transcription and a searchable archive | 8.8/10 |
| Fireflies.ai | Free; Pro $10/seat/mo billed annually ($18 monthly) | Yes | Integrations and conversation intelligence | 8.7/10 |
| tl;dv | Free; Pro $18/seat/mo billed annually ($29 monthly) | Yes | Unlimited free recordings and a bot-free desktop app | 8.5/10 |
Fathom: Fathom keeps recordings and its free plan has no recording cap; bot-free capture is a Mac beta. Granola is bot-free everywhere but keeps no audio.Read our Fathom review →
Otter: Otter transcribes live and keeps recordings, with a 300-minute free allowance. Granola is the quieter choice when you don't want an assistant in the call.Read our Otter review →
Fireflies.ai: Fireflies records through a bot or a Chrome extension and connects to more tools, with Salesforce on lower plans than Granola's Enterprise.Read our Fireflies.ai review →
tl;dv: tl;dv also offers a bot-free desktop recorder, keeps recordings and hosts data in Europe, which Granola doesn't offer.Read our tl;dv review →
In The Wild
How People Actually Use Granola
A founder with 25 external calls a week
Business ($14 a month, billed monthly) keeps full history and lets you chat across every call. Turn on the consent message so participants know they're being transcribed.
A ten-person sales team on HubSpot
Business ($140 a month for ten) sends notes to HubSpot. If you need Salesforce or SSO, Granola requires Enterprise from $35 a user, and SSO needs 50 seats.
Someone trying AI notes for free
Basic covers unlimited meetings, but only the last 30 days stay visible. Export or upgrade before older notes lock.
The Ecosystem
Granola Integrations
Granola connects to CRM, docs and chat tools, plus an API and an MCP server for AI assistants.
- →Slack (all plans)
- →HubSpot, Attio and Affinity (Business)
- →Notion (Business; one note at a time)
- →Zapier (Business, desktop apps)
- →Salesforce (Enterprise)
- →API and webhooks (Business); audit API (Enterprise)
- →MCP server (all plans; 30 days on Basic)
Notion export is one note at a time rather than an automatic sync. The API allows 5 requests a second with bursts of 25.
Common Questions
Granola FAQ
The Final Word
Should You Use Granola?
Granola is the note-taker to pick when discretion matters more than a recording. It captures without a bot on desktop and mobile, builds notes around what you type, and costs $14 a user on Business with no annual lock-in. Teams that need recordings, Salesforce on a small budget or EU data residency should look elsewhere, and everyone should check the training opt-out setting. We score Granola 8.5/10.
Yes, if
You want AI meeting notes without a bot or a stored recording, on desktop and mobile.
No, if
You need recordings to replay, EU data residency, or Salesforce without Enterprise.
About the reviewer
Carlos Gil
Founder & Editor, The Best Network
Carlos Gil is the bestselling author of The End of Marketing, a LinkedIn Top Voice, and founder of The Best Network. He brings 15+ years in marketing to practical reviews of AI, SaaS, email marketing, creator, and ecommerce software.
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