Granola AI review 2026: meeting notes, pricing and what users say

Granola AI is an AI notepad for meetings. It listens to your calls through your computer's audio, with no bot joining the call, and turns your rough notes into a clean summary with action items. The basic plan is free, and paid plans start at $14 per user per month, according to Granola's own pricing guide.

The London-based company raised a $125 million Series C at a $1.5 billion valuation in March 2026, The Next Web reported. That makes it one of the best-funded meeting tools on the market. It also means the product is shifting toward teams and enterprise buyers.

This review is researched, not hands-on. Nobody at The AI Future tested Granola for this piece. We compared Granola AI using its official docs and blog, independent reviews, G2 and App Store feedback, as of late October 2026. Where someone else ran a test, we say who.

Our take: Granola is one of the most pleasant ways to take meeting notes in 2026. The free plan's 30-day history limit and weak speaker labels are the main catches.

What is Granola AI?

Granola is a desktop and mobile app that combines a notepad with live transcription. You open a note when a meeting starts and type whatever you like. Granola transcribes the conversation in the background. When the call ends, it merges your notes with the transcript to produce what it calls enhanced notes.

The approach differs from tools that send a bot into Zoom or Teams. Granola captures device audio, so it works with Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and other platforms, according to the company. Reviewer Dave Kline of SkillScouter notes that no bot joins the call and participants are not notified by default.

Granola was founded in 2023 by Chris Pedregal and Sam Stephenson, per The Next Web. Named customers include Vanta, Gusto, Asana, Cursor, Lovable and Mistral AI. The company has not disclosed current user numbers or revenue.

Platform support has grown fast. Granola now lists macOS, Windows, iOS, Android and Apple Watch, according to its October 2026 Android post. The Android app launched on July 1, 2026. There is no full web app, so the desktop app must run on the device where the meeting audio plays, SkillScouter reports.

Key features

Granola AI meeting notes: the notepad

The core idea is simple. Your notes come first, and the AI fills the gaps. A few bullet points like "pricing concerns" or "follow up Tuesday" become full sentences with context from the transcript.

Kline wrote in his July 2026 review that his first meeting with rough bullets produced a summary with action items. He also built a template for coaching sessions. His verdict: "Granola does one thing extremely well."

In April 2026 Granola added a focus mode, Createwith reported. When you start typing, the window controls fade away and return when you stop.

Recipes and templates

Granola lets you set templates for repeat meetings, such as sales calls, one-on-ones or interviews. SkillScouter lists Recipes (templates) among the paid-plan features. G2 reviewers also praise the customizable templates.

Granola Chat

Granola Chat lets you ask questions across your meeting history. You can query past conversations using models from Anthropic, OpenAI or Google, The Next Web reported. Typical questions include "what did the client say about budget?" or "list every action item from this week."

If you use other assistants, our Claude AI review covers one of the models Granola can call.

Spaces, team folders and sharing

Spaces lets teams organize, share and search notes across meetings and channels, according to The Next Web. Team folders and Slack integration are available on every plan, including the free one, per Granola's pricing guide.

Sharing defaults have drawn criticism. Hedy, a rival note-taker, wrote that The Verge reported in May 2026 that shared notes were viewable by anyone with the link by default. Treat this as competitor coverage, and check your own sharing settings.

MCP server and APIs

Granola launched an MCP server in early 2026. It connects your meeting context to other AI tools. The company also released two APIs, one personal and one for enterprises with SSO, SCIM and consent-based data controls, according to The Next Web.

On the free plan, MCP covers only notes from the last 30 days. Business adds personal and shared notes, Granola says. For background on how assistants use tools like this, see our explainer on agentic AI.

Integrations

Paid plans connect to Notion, HubSpot, Attio, Affinity and Zapier, per Granola. Slack works on all plans. G2 reviewers in October 2026 asked for deeper two-way sync with task tools.

Privacy and transparency

On Mac and Windows, Granola transcribes audio in real time and then deletes it, according to the company. On iOS and Android, audio is cached briefly during transcription and then deleted. That means there is no audio playback.

Granola says it holds SOC 2 Type 2 certification and is GDPR compliant. It says third-party AI providers are contractually barred from training on customer data. Optional features can post an automated chat message when transcription starts, or add a watermark to your camera feed.

Recording without telling people raises legal and ethical issues. Consent laws vary by country and state. Tell participants you are using an AI note-taker.

Language support is broad. The desktop app supports 31 languages and Android supports 17, Granola says.

Granola AI pricing and plans

Granola has three plans. Prices below come from Granola's pricing guide, checked October 2026. Activepieces listed the same $0, $14 and $35 tiers on October 20, 2026.

Pricing checked October 2026. No plan has a seat minimum. Annual Enterprise contracts go through sales.

What the free plan really includes

The free Basic plan has no meeting cap, according to Granola. The catch is history. You can only see the last 30 days of notes in the app. Older notes are not deleted, and they return when you upgrade.

That limit arrived with Granola's February 2026 rebrand and new tiers, Hedy reported. Users with months of notes lost access unless they paid. For occasional meetings, the free plan works. For anyone who needs to look back at last quarter's calls, it is effectively a trial.

Free users also miss the advanced AI models and most integrations. AI training opt-out is set per user on Basic and Business. Enterprise admins can set it org-wide.

Performance and independent testing

No public benchmark compares meeting note-takers on accuracy. Evidence comes from reviewers and users.

SkillScouter's Kline ran Granola across coaching calls, sales conversations and internal syncs. He listed notes that "read like the user's own writing", no bot and near-zero setup as strengths. He flagged no reliable speaker labels, audio-only capture and thin team features compared with Otter or Fireflies.

G2 users point the same way. Granola holds 4.6 out of 5 from 191 reviews on G2, with no one- or two-star ratings, checked October 2026. One reviewer, Prandy Rafael P., estimated saving 30 to 45 minutes a day.

The complaints are consistent. Prateek M. wrote on G2 that "sometimes the AI mixes up who said what when multiple people are talking." Other reviewers reported trouble with strong accents, technical jargon and overlapping speakers.

Output can also shift when Granola changes models. G2 reviewer Ed W. said "changes to the underlying models can make the output considerably different." That matters if your team relies on a consistent summary format.

Mobile lags desktop. Several G2 reviewers called the phone app weaker. One said Android does not capture the other side of calls over Bluetooth headsets. Granola itself says Android does not capture phone or video calls, only in-person conversations.

On the App Store, one reviewer called the app "overall helpful but often still frustrating", citing summaries that sometimes change meaning. Another praised transcription in noisy settings.

Who it's for

Granola suits people who run many video calls and want notes that sound like them. Founders, sales reps, investors, recruiters and consultants fit the profile. Its customer list leans heavily toward tech startups.

It also suits teams that dislike bots in meetings. Clients see no extra participant, though you should still tell them you are taking AI notes.

It is a weaker fit for students recording lectures, teams that need verbatim transcripts with reliable speaker names, and anyone who needs audio playback for compliance. Heavy Android users should note the limits on call capture.

For a wider view of tools in this space, see our list of the best AI tools for productivity.

Granola AI alternatives worth considering

• Otter.ai: A long-running transcription service with live captions and team features. SkillScouter rates its team features stronger than Granola's. Read our Otter AI review.
• Fireflies.ai: A bot-based note-taker with broad integrations and search across calls. Choose it if a visible recorder is fine and you want richer team workflows.
• Notion AI: Worth a look if your team already lives in Notion and wants meeting notes next to its docs. See our Notion AI review.

Verdict

Granola AI earns a 4 out of 5. It is fast, unobtrusive and produces notes users like. Its Business plan, at $14 a month, is reasonably priced for a daily work tool.

The trade-offs are real. The free plan hides everything older than 30 days. Speaker labels are unreliable in busy calls. There is no audio playback, and mobile capture is limited.

Our take: Use Granola if you live on video calls and value clean, readable notes over perfect transcripts. Skip it if you need speaker-accurate records, audio archives or a free tool with full history.

What happens next: With $125 million raised in March, Granola is pushing into enterprise features like Spaces, APIs and admin controls. Expect more team tooling. Individual users should watch how pricing and free-plan limits change.

FAQ

What is Granola AI?

Granola AI is an AI notepad for meetings made by a London-based startup. It captures your computer's audio without sending a bot into the call, transcribes the conversation, and combines the transcript with your own notes to create a summary with action items. It runs on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android.

Is Granola AI good?

For most users, yes. Granola holds 4.6 out of 5 from 191 reviews on G2, with praise for its clean summaries, easy setup and lack of a meeting bot. Common complaints are unreliable speaker labels, a weaker mobile app and a free plan limited to 30 days of history.

How much does Granola AI cost?

Granola's Basic plan is free with unlimited meetings and 30 days of history. Business costs $14 per user per month and adds unlimited history, integrations and API access. Enterprise costs $35 per user per month and adds SSO, SCIM and admin controls, according to Granola's pricing guide.

Does Granola record audio?

Granola transcribes audio but does not keep recordings. On Mac and Windows, audio is transcribed in real time and deleted. On mobile, it is cached briefly and then deleted. Transcripts and notes are kept, but you cannot play back the audio later.