Best Granola AI Alternatives in 2026

Why you might be looking for Granola AI alternatives

Granola AI has been one of the most popular AI note-takers available on Mac and iOS since its launch. Many people like it because you can take your own notes at the same time as transcribing a meeting, which honestly feels like the best of both worlds.

The other thing that draws people in is how you can transcribe a meeting without plugging in a background bot, Chrome extension, or anything like that. It uses system audio to do those recordings, which feels way less invasive than the alternatives.

Here's what makes Granola stand out:

No Need for Bots: One of the most appealing things about Granola is that you don't have to join the meeting with one of those awkward bots that pop up on the call. This means you can explain you're using AI without that weird interaction where your bot has already joined and is taking notes. Honestly? This makes people way more comfortable, especially in client calls or therapy sessions.

Take Your Own Notes: You can take your own notes while the AI transcribes, which a lot of people love because AI transcription lacks context sometimes. It doesn't get the inside jokes, the client history, or the unspoken vibes. Adding your own notes helps fill those gaps.

Good Mobile App: Granola can be used offline and online on mobile, which means you can use it for IRL appointments in coffee shops or at therapy sessions. I've seen therapists, consultants, and sales reps using this for in-person meetings where pulling out a laptop would be weird.

But here's the thing: Granola might not be for everyone. Maybe you're on Windows or Android and feel left out. Maybe the pricing didn't work for you, or you found the interface too minimal. Maybe you just want more features like AI summaries or deeper integrations.

We've decided to put together a list of the best Granola AI alternatives. All of these tools will help you seek out something different based on what you actually need, whether that's cross-platform support, better pricing, or more powerful features.

Why consider Granola AI alternatives?

Common pain points people experience

Look, Granola AI is solid, but it's not perfect for everyone. Here are the most common reasons people come looking for alternatives:

Platform Limitations: This is the big one. Granola only works on Mac and iOS as of 2026, which means if you're on Windows, Android, or Linux, you're out of luck. That's a huge chunk of potential users who can't even try it.

Pricing Concerns: While Granola's pricing is reasonable compared to some enterprise tools, it's still a subscription. Some people want a free tier with more features, or they're already paying for too many productivity subscriptions and need to consolidate.

Feature Gaps: Granola focuses on simplicity, which is great, but some users want more. Things like advanced AI summaries, automatic action item extraction, CRM integrations, or team collaboration features just aren't there yet.

Team Needs: Granola feels very individual-focused. If you're part of a team that needs to share meeting notes, collaborate on agendas, or have a centralized repository of all team meetings, Granola might feel limited.

The Bot Issue: Wait, didn't I just say no bots is a good thing? Well, some people actually prefer bots because it means they don't have to remember to start recording. The bot joins automatically and handles everything. For chronic forgetters, this is actually better.

Accuracy Needs: While Granola's transcription is decent, some industries (legal, medical, research) need extremely high accuracy. System audio recording can miss things if there's background noise or poor audio quality. Dedicated bots with direct audio access sometimes perform better.

Integration Requirements: If you live in Notion, ClickUp, or other project management tools, you might want something that syncs automatically. Granola's integration game isn't as strong as some competitors.

The point is, there are valid reasons to explore alternatives. Let's dig into what actually makes a good Granola replacement.

What makes a good Granola AI alternative?

Key features to look for

So what should you actually look for in a Granola alternative? Here's the breakdown based on what real users care about:

Cross-Platform Availability: If you're bouncing between devices or work on Windows/Android, you need something that works everywhere. The best alternatives offer web, desktop (Mac + Windows), and mobile (iOS + Android) apps that actually sync properly.

Note-Taking Flexibility: One of Granola's best features is letting you take your own notes. Look for alternatives that either let you do the same, or have such good AI that you don't need to. Some tools like Notion Meet and Fellow let you add your own context, which is clutch.

No-Bot vs Bot Recording: Decide what matters more to you. No-bot recording (like Granola) feels less invasive but requires you to start it manually. Bot-based recording is automatic but announces itself to everyone. Neither is objectively better, just different trade-offs.

AI Quality: Not all AI transcription is equal. Look for tools that handle accents, multiple speakers, and background noise well. Some tools let you edit transcripts easily when the AI gets things wrong, which matters more than you'd think.

Pricing That Makes Sense: Be realistic about what you'll actually use. If you only have 3-4 meetings a week, paying $30/month might be overkill. Look for free tiers or usage-based pricing.

Integrations: Think about where your meeting notes need to end up. Slack? Notion? Your CRM? Note-taking apps? The best alternatives connect to the tools you already use so you're not copy-pasting everywhere.

Team Features: If you work with others, look for shared workspaces, comment threads, and collaborative editing. Solo users can ignore this entirely.

Offline Capabilities: If you do in-person meetings in places with spotty wifi (coffee shops, client offices, conferences), offline recording is non-negotiable. Check this before committing.

Here's the thing though: you probably won't find one tool that checks every box. Figure out your top 3 must-haves and optimize for those. The perfect tool doesn't exist, but the right tool for your specific situation probably does.

1. Fellow

Best for All Round Meeting Management

Fellow is an AI note-taker for meetings that helps you plan all three parts of a meeting: the agenda before, the meeting itself, and the follow-up analysis after. It's basically a meeting co-pilot rather than just a transcription tool.

Here's how it works: before your meeting, Fellow helps you build an agenda (or pulls one from previous meetings if it's recurring). During the meeting, it transcribes and lets you add your own notes inline, kind of like Granola. After the meeting, it creates summaries and helps you automate follow-up actions.

The automation piece is where Fellow really shines. You can set it up to automatically send recap emails, create tasks in your project management tool, or update your CRM. For busy teams, this saves hours every week.

Fellow feels more approachable than enterprise tools but more powerful than simple transcription apps. It's really designed for teams, whether you're a 5-person startup or a 50-person department. The interface is clean and familiar, not overwhelming.

One thing people love: the agenda templates. If you run weekly 1-on-1s or recurring team standups, you can save the structure and reuse it. Sounds simple but it's stupidly helpful for consistency.

Compared to Granola:

Fellow is available on way more devices (web, Mac, Windows, mobile), so you're not locked into the Apple ecosystem. The agenda-building features save time on meeting prep that Granola doesn't really address. You can take your own notes during meetings, similar to Granola's approach. It's more suitable for teams with shared workspaces and collaborative features. The post-meeting automation is more developed than what Granola offers.

The downsides? It might feel like overkill if you just want simple transcription. The agenda and follow-up features are powerful but add complexity you might not need. Also, it typically joins as a bot, which some people find awkward (though it is less invasive than others).

Pricing starts around $7-10 per user per month depending on your plan, which is reasonable for what you get. There's a free tier but it's pretty limited.

Verdict: Fellow works if you want a more complete meeting solution, not just transcription. It's especially good for managers running regular 1-on-1s or teams with recurring meetings that need structure.

2. Fireflies AI

Best for Budget-Conscious Users

Fireflies AI is one of the most popular meeting AI tools on the market, and for good reason. It's been working hard on improving the agents and automations that let you do things in the background, something that Granola AI is working on but hasn't fully nailed yet (or just launched, depending on when you're reading this).

Fireflies is honestly the all-rounder of meeting tools. It doesn't specialize in any one thing, but it does everything pretty well. The transcription is solid, the AI summaries are useful, and the integrations are extensive.

One of the biggest draws is the price. Fireflies has a generous free tier that actually gives you enough credits to be useful, unlike some tools where the free plan is basically a demo. The paid plans are also more affordable than many alternatives, starting around $10-18 per month.

The interface is clean and easy to navigate. You're not drowning in features, but you have access to speaker identification, sentiment analysis, topic detection, and searchable transcripts. You can also create custom topic trackers, which is great for sales teams tracking objections or product teams tracking feature requests.

Fireflies also has multilingual support for 30+ languages, which is huge if you work with international teams or clients. Not many tools handle this well.

The integration list is impressive: Slack, Notion, ClickUp, Salesforce, HubSpot, Zapier, and more. They're also building deeper integrations with AI tools like Perplexity, which could be interesting for research-heavy roles.

Compared to Granola:

Fireflies works across all meeting platforms (Zoom, Meet, Teams, etc.) and all devices. The price is very competitive, especially for the features you get. Integration ecosystem is much more developed. Automated workflows and AI agents are more mature.

The downsides? It's not the most attractive app compared to Granola's sleek interface. It also joins as a bot, which announces your AI to everyone in the meeting. And it doesn't have that Granola feature where you take your own notes alongside the AI transcription, which some people really value.

Free tier available, paid plans from $10/month. Good value for money.

Verdict: Go with Fireflies if you want a reliable, affordable all-rounder with strong integrations. It's not flashy, but it works well and won't break the bank.

3. Notion "Meet"

Best for Notion Users

Notion added an AI meeting feature that lets you take AI-powered notes directly in your workspace. This is perfect if you're already living in Notion for your docs, tasks, and projects.

Here's how it works: during a meeting, you just type /meet in any Notion page, and it starts using system audio to record and transcribe. The benefit? You can get participant consent verbally in the meeting without needing to explain a separate app or bot joining. It's built right into your workflow.

If you're already using Notion, Notion Calendar, and the broader Notion AI platform, this is honestly a no-brainer. You won't need to download another app or manage another subscription. Everything stays in your Notion workspace where you're already working.

The system audio approach is very similar to Granola, which means no awkward bot announcements. You just tell people you're taking AI notes and start recording. Much more natural.

One thing I really like: since it's recording directly into a Notion page, you can structure your notes however you want. Add a table for action items, toggle lists for different discussion topics, or link to other relevant pages. It's way more flexible than tools that dump everything into a proprietary format.

You can also take your own notes before, during, and after the AI transcription, just like Granola. Actually, it's even better because you have all of Notion's formatting options available.

Compared to Granola:

Notion Meet works on all platforms where Notion works (web, Mac, Windows, mobile). It's built into your existing workspace, reducing app switching. The manual note-taking experience is similar to Granola but with more formatting options. If you have Notion AI already, this doesn't add extra subscription cost. You can collect verbal consent easily, perfect for sensitive meetings.

The catch? You need to be a Notion user for this to make sense. If you're not already in the Notion ecosystem, it's probably not worth signing up just for the meeting notes. Also, the AI features require Notion AI subscription, which is an add-on cost if you don't already have it.

Pricing depends on your Notion plan, but Notion AI is around $10/month per user on top of your base plan.

Verdict: If you use Notion already, this is probably your best bet. It keeps everything in one place and uses the same system audio approach as Granola. If you don't use Notion, skip this one.

4. TL:DV

Best for Sales & Call Analysis

TLDV (too long, didn't view) is really popular with sales teams, but honestly it's great for anyone who wants to analyze calls in detail after the fact.

If you like clean interfaces and easy-to-use layouts, TLDV goes way further than Granola in terms of post-meeting analysis. You get detailed speaker insights showing who talked the most, sentiment analysis, and timestamps for key moments. For sales teams, there are specific features for tracking objections, competitor mentions, and next steps.

The collaboration features are solid too. You can assign action items to team members, leave comments at specific timestamps, and share highlight reels of important moments. This is great for sales coaching or when you need to share customer feedback with your product team without making them watch a 45-minute call.

TLDV works in over 30 languages and supports all major meeting providers (Zoom, Google Meet, Teams). The catch is it joins meetings as a bot, which is the opposite of Granola's approach.

One feature I haven't seen elsewhere: TLDV can create highlight reels automatically based on keywords or topics. So if you're tracking how customers react to your new pricing, it can compile every mention into a 3-minute supercut. For product and sales teams, this is incredibly valuable.

Compared to Granola:

The post-call analysis tools are way more powerful. Speaker insights and sentiment tracking are built-in. Great for sales intelligence and team coaching. Works across all platforms and meeting tools.

The downsides? You can't take your own notes during the call like you can with Granola. The bot-based approach might feel intrusive for sensitive conversations. And while it's great for sales and marketing teams, it might feel overpowered if you just need simple meeting notes.

Pricing has a free tier, paid plans around $20-25/month per user for the full feature set.

Verdict: TLDV is the move if you're in sales, customer success, or product management and need to analyze calls deeply. It's overkill for casual meeting notes, but perfect for teams that need intelligence from their calls.

5. Otter AI

Best for Transcription Accuracy

Otter AI is one of the OGs in the meeting transcription space. They've been doing this since way before the current AI boom, which means their transcription technology is really mature and accurate.

A lot of people like Otter if they're looking for a straightforward, no-nonsense solution. It does have sales-focused features now, but at its core, it specializes in transcription accuracy. If you need to capture every word correctly, especially in technical or medical contexts, Otter is one of the best.

The accuracy is noticeably better than many newer tools because they've had years to train their models on real meeting data. They handle multiple speakers well, deal with accents better than average, and can even pick up technical jargon if you teach it your industry's terminology.

One thing that sets Otter apart: the collaborative editing experience. Multiple people can edit the transcript in real-time, leave comments, insert photos or slides, and highlight key moments. It feels more like collaborative document editing than just reading a static transcript.

The mobile app is also really good, which matters if you're recording interviews or meetings on the go. The offline mode works well for in-person conversations.

Otter also has a feature called Otter AI Chat where you can ask questions about your meetings. "What did Sarah say about the budget?" or "List all the action items from yesterday's standup." It works surprisingly well.

Compared to Granola:

Transcription accuracy is probably the best in class, especially for complex conversations. Cross-platform support is solid (web, iOS, Android, desktop). Real-time collaboration on transcripts is more developed. The AI chat feature for querying meeting content is useful.

Downsides? It joins as a bot (called Otter Bot), which some people find awkward. The interface isn't as sleek as Granola's minimalist design. And while you can add your own notes, it's not quite the same seamless experience as Granola's approach.

Free tier with limited monthly transcription, paid plans from $8.33-20/month depending on usage needs.

Verdict: Choose Otter if transcription accuracy is your top priority, especially for technical meetings or when you need searchable archives of everything. The collaborative features are also great for teams that need to work together on meeting notes.

Tips for switching from Granola AI

Making the transition smooth

Okay, so you've picked an alternative. Now what? Here are some tips for actually making the switch without losing your mind:

Export Your Granola Notes First: Before canceling anything, export all your important meeting notes from Granola. Most alternatives can import plain text or markdown, so save your notes in a universal format. Don't just trust that you'll remember to do this later.

Run Both Tools in Parallel: For the first 2-3 meetings, run both Granola and your new tool simultaneously. Yeah, it feels wasteful, but it lets you compare results and build confidence in the new system. Once you're sure the new tool captures everything you need, you can fully commit.

Reconfigure Your Meeting Workflow: If you're switching from system audio (Granola) to a bot-based tool, you'll need to update how you start meetings. Set calendar reminders or use meeting platform integrations to make sure the bot joins automatically. The first few meetings you'll probably forget.

Update Your Email Signature or Meeting Invites: If you were telling people "I use Granola to take notes" in your invites, update that. Some people add a note like "This meeting will be recorded using [Tool] for note-taking purposes" to meeting descriptions.

Set Up Integrations Early: Don't wait until you have 20 meetings recorded to figure out where notes should go. Connect your new tool to Notion, Slack, your CRM, or wherever notes need to end up. Test it with a dummy meeting first.

Adjust Your Note-Taking Habits: If you're going from a tool where you took manual notes (Granola) to one that's fully automated (like Fireflies), you might feel weird not writing anything. Give yourself a few meetings to adjust. Or if you're going the other way, remember to actually take notes manually.

Check Recording Permissions: Different tools have different requirements for recording consent. Some need you to tell participants, some auto-announce with a bot, some require clicking accept. Know what your new tool does so you don't accidentally violate any privacy policies.

Archive Important Meetings Separately: If you have critical meetings recorded in Granola (client agreements, performance reviews, important decisions), export those and save them somewhere permanent. Don't rely on the app for long-term archival.

The switch isn't that complicated honestly, but give yourself a week or two to adjust to the new workflow. The first few meetings will feel different, but you'll adapt quickly.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about Granola alternatives

Which Granola alternative works on Windows?

Pretty much all of them except Granola itself. Fellow, Fireflies, Otter, and TLDV all have Windows support either through desktop apps or web apps. Notion Meet works anywhere Notion works, including Windows. If you're on Windows, honestly just avoid Granola-specific tools and you'll be fine.

Is there a free alternative to Granola AI?

Yeah, several. Fireflies has a generous free tier that's actually usable for regular meetings. Otter AI has a free plan with limited monthly minutes but it's enough for casual use. Notion Meet is included if you have Notion AI (which admittedly costs money, but if you're already paying for it, the meeting notes are essentially free). Fellow has a free tier too but it's pretty stripped down.

Which tool is best for therapy or coaching sessions?

Honestly? Notion Meet or another system audio tool. The bot-less recording feels way less clinical and intrusive in sensitive 1-on-1 conversations. Granola was good for this, and Notion Meet is probably the closest alternative. Just make sure you're getting proper consent and following whatever professional guidelines apply to your field.

Can I use these tools offline like Granola?

Notion Meet can record offline on mobile if you've downloaded the app. Otter has offline recording capabilities on mobile too. Most of the bot-based tools (Fellow, Fireflies, TLDV) need internet since the bot joins the online meeting. If offline is critical, your options are more limited.

Do these alternatives have better AI than Granola?

Depends what you mean by better. Otter probably has the most accurate transcription. Fireflies has more automation features. TLDV has better analysis tools for sales. Fellow has better meeting structure tools. Granola's AI is good but pretty focused on transcription with manual notes. If you want AI that does more (summaries, action items, insights), yeah, most of these alternatives go further.

Which alternative is closest to Granola's vibe?

Notion Meet is probably the closest in terms of feel, especially the system audio recording and manual note-taking approach. It's not identical, but the philosophy is similar. After that, I'd say Fellow captures some of that clean, approachable design that Granola has, even though the feature set is different.

Final thoughts

Additional Granola AI alternatives to consider:

So there you have it. Granola AI built something really compelling with their offline abilities and bot-free recording, and people found that helpful. But being Mac and iOS only was always going to limit who could use it.

If you're looking for the closest like-for-like replacement, check out Notion Meet (if you use Notion) or Fellow (if you don't). Both give you that combination of AI transcription plus your own notes.

If you care more about accuracy than features, Otter AI is probably your best bet. For sales and analysis, TLDV wins. And if you just want something affordable that works well, Fireflies is hard to beat.

The good news is that the meeting AI space is competitive enough that you have real options now. You're not locked into one tool. Most of these have free trials or free tiers, so test a few and see what actually fits your workflow.

Here are some additional Granola AI alternatives worth exploring if none of the main five clicked for you: