Granola alternatives: what to look at and why
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Why look past Granola? Usually one of four reasons: the free plan only shows 30 days of history, you want something cheaper than $14 a month, you need a BAA without buying Enterprise, or you mostly meet in person. Here's what fits each.
Granola in one line (as of 2026-10-23)
Bot-free AI notepad on desktop, iOS, Android and Apple Watch. Basic is free and shows the last 30 days of notes (Granola says older notes are kept, not deleted). Business is $14/user/mo, billed monthly, with unlimited history and integrations like Notion, HubSpot and Zapier. HIPAA-compliant workspaces and a BAA only on Enterprise (from $35/user/mo), and Granola says its BAA covers desktop and laptop apps only (Granola help). Audio deleted after transcription on all plans, per Granola's pricing page. Granola says anonymised data from Basic (free) and Business may be used for its own models by default, with a per-user opt-out; Enterprise is opted out by default (Granola help).
Alternatives by reason
| If your reason is... | Look at | Why (per vendor pages) |
|---|---|---|
| "I want a free archive, not 30 days" | Fathom | Free plan lists unlimited recordings, transcription and storage. Bot by default, bot-free in beta |
| "I want free transcripts of every call" | tl;dv | Free plan has unlimited recordings and transcripts. Catch: full AI notes only on your first 10 meetings ever, and recordings kept 3 months. Its desktop app can also record without a bot (audio only, Mac and Windows) |
| "I want it cheaper than $14" | Fireflies | Pro $10/seat/mo annual. Bot, or Chrome extension without the bot |
| "I want it cheaper and I don't need video" | Otter or Notta | Otter Pro $8.33/mo annual; Notta Pro $97.99/yr (1,800 min/mo). Both join calls |
| "I want to stay bot-free" | Bluedot | Bot-free via Chrome extension, desktop and mobile. 5 free meetings lifetime, then $14/mo annual (audio only, 1 hr cap) or $20 Pro with video |
| "I meet in person, not on calls" | Pocket (the AI recorder sold at heypocket.com, made by Open Vision Engineering, Inc.) or Plaud Note | Phone-back devices for in-person talks and phone calls. See Plaud vs Pocket |
| "I need a BAA" | Granola, Fireflies or Otter on Enterprise, or a clinical tool like Upheal or Mentalyc | Granola, Fireflies and Otter each say a BAA comes only on Enterprise (Granola's covers desktop and laptop apps only, and Otter says a signed BAA is required first). Upheal and Mentalyc say they offer one at signup. |
Comparison table (as of 2026-10-23)
| Tool | Free plan | Paid from (annual billing where the vendor offers it) | Bot-free? | History on free |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granola | Basic (free): AI notes, all core features | $14/user/mo, billed monthly only (Granola offers annual billing on Enterprise only) | Yes | Last 30 days shown |
| Bluedot | 5 meetings lifetime | $14/user/mo (audio only) | Yes | n/a (5 meetings total) |
| Fathom | Unlimited recordings and transcription | $16/mo | Beta option | Unlimited storage listed |
| Fireflies | Unlimited transcription of auto-joined meetings, limited AI summaries | $10/seat/mo | Chrome extension option | Until 400 min of storage fills |
| tl;dv | Unlimited recordings and transcripts, AI notes on 10 meetings for life | $18/seat/mo annual | Desktop app can record without a bot (audio only, Mac and Windows) | Recordings kept 3 months |
| Otter | 300 min/mo, 30 min per conversation | $8.33/mo | No (joins calls) | 25 most recent conversations |
| Notta | 120 min/mo, 3 min per recording | about $8.17/mo ($97.99/yr), or $13.49 monthly | Joins calls; Notta also lists a bot-free desktop recorder for Mac and Windows | Not checked |
Two-year cost math
Arithmetic on annual prices listed above (Granola Business is monthly only), one user, before tax. Not a measured result.
| Plan | 2-year total |
|---|---|
| Granola Basic or Fathom Free | $0 |
| Notta Pro | $195.98 |
| Otter Pro | $199.92 |
| Fireflies Pro | $240 |
| Granola Business (billed monthly) | $336 |
| Bluedot Basic | $336 |
| Fathom Premium | $384 |
| tl;dv Pro | $432 |
| Bluedot Pro | $480 |
So switching from Granola Business to Fireflies Pro saves about $96 over two years on paper, and to Otter or Notta about $136 to $140. Whether that's worth giving up bot-free capture is the real question.
Switching from Granola: export first
Granola documents its own export, so do this before you cancel or move. Per Granola's export help (checked 2026-10-24):
- In Granola, click your workspace name in the bottom-left corner, then Settings > Profile, then Generate CSV, and pick the workspaces to include.
- Granola emails you a CSV "within a few hours". It includes each note's title, summary, transcript and other basic details.
- Open the link while signed in to the same Granola account. The link works for 24 hours, and you can only make one export every 24 hours.
What the export does and doesn't include, per Granola:
- Your full history, including notes older than 30 days that the free Basic plan hides in the app.
- Only notes you own in the workspaces you picked, and only notes that have a summary. Deleted notes and notes without a summary are left out, so the count can be lower than what the app shows.
- No admin export. Workspace admins can't export other members' notes. Each person exports their own.
- Enterprise: export is off by default, and only a workspace admin can turn on "Allow exporting data". On Business and Basic it's on by default.
If you're cancelling Business: Granola says your subscription runs to the end of the current billing cycle, then the workspace moves to the free Basic plan (Granola's cancellation help).
We didn't check whether any alternative can import Granola's CSV. Keep the file as your own archive either way.
Should you just stay on Granola?
Maybe. If you like typing your own notes and having AI fill in the gaps, you don't want a bot, and 30 days of history is enough, Granola Basic costs nothing. If you need unlimited history, $14 a month is in line with Bluedot and below Fathom Premium. Switching only clearly pays if you want something free with a longer archive (Fathom) or cheaper and you don't mind a bot (Fireflies, Otter, Notta).
Privacy and consent
Recording laws: tell people first. Federal law and most states let you record a conversation you're part of. About 11 states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Washington, generally require everyone's consent, and a few states mix the rules. Oregon, for example, requires that everyone in an in-person conversation be told it's being recorded, while phone calls need one person's consent (RCFP guide, ORS 165.540). If people are in different states, the stricter law may apply. Rules outside the US differ too, and many employers, schools and clinics have their own policies. A meeting bot showing up in the participant list is a notice, not consent. The same goes for a "this call may be recorded" greeting: it may not tell people that an AI service is transcribing or summarizing the call, so name the AI note taker when you ask. This is general information, not legal advice. If you're unsure, ask a lawyer where you live.
- Bot-free means no automatic notice. Granola, Bluedot and tl;dv's desktop recorder don't show up in the participant list, so say you're using a note taker.
- Bots are visible but not consent. Still ask, especially with outside guests.
- Training and storage (vendor claims): Granola deletes audio after transcription. On Basic (free) and Business it may use anonymised data for its own models unless you opt out. Bluedot says customer data is never used to train AI models. Fireflies' pages give different answers on training: its pricing page says "Your data is never used for AI training", while its security page also says "We don't train on it by default" (checked 2026-10-25). Check before uploading sensitive calls. Check others before you record anything sensitive.
What we did and didn't do
We read the vendor pages below on 2026-10-23. We didn't use Granola or any alternative, so nothing here is about summary quality or accuracy.
Sources (checked 2026-10-23)
- Granola pricing: https://www.granola.ai/pricing
- Granola HIPAA help: https://docs.granola.ai/help-center/consent-security-privacy/is-granola-hipaa-compliant
- Granola security, privacy and data FAQ (BAA scope): https://docs.granola.ai/help-center/consent-security-privacy/security-privacy-data-faqs
- Bluedot pricing: https://www.bluedothq.com/pricing
- Bluedot security: https://www.bluedothq.com/security
- Fathom pricing: https://www.fathom.ai/pricing
- Fireflies pricing: https://fireflies.ai/pricing
- Fireflies security (training statements, checked 2026-10-25): https://fireflies.ai/security
- tl;dv pricing (US dollars, checked 2026-10-27): https://tldv.io/pricing/
- tl;dv free plan limits help (article dated November 24, 2025, still live 2026-10-27; its 10 meetings with AI notes, 3-month retention, 5 uploads and 3-hour limit match tl;dv's pricing page on 2026-10-27): https://intercom.help/tldv/en/articles/8919450-what-are-the-limits-of-the-free-plan
- Otter pricing: https://otter.ai/pricing
- Otter HIPAA help article: https://help.otter.ai/hc/en-us/articles/33975072019991-HIPAA-Otter-ai
- Upheal BAA: https://www.upheal.io/privacy-and-compliance/business-associate-agreement
- Mentalyc security page: https://www.mentalyc.com/security
- Notta pricing: https://www.notta.ai/en/pricing
- Pocket: https://heypocket.com/
- Plaud Note: https://www.plaud.ai/products/plaud-note
- RCFP recording guide: https://www.rcfp.org/introduction-to-reporters-recording-guide/
- Oregon ORS 165.540: https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_165.540
- Granola model training help (checked 2026-10-24): https://docs.granola.ai/help-center/consent-security-privacy/model-training
- Granola subscriptions and billing (checked 2026-10-24): https://docs.granola.ai/help-center/managing-your-account/subscriptions-and-billing
- tl;dv bot-free recording help (checked 2026-10-24): https://intercom.help/tldv/en/articles/14433337-recording-without-a-bot
- Granola exporting notes help (checked 2026-10-24): https://docs.granola.ai/help-center/sharing/exporting-notes
- Granola cancellation help (checked 2026-10-24): https://docs.granola.ai/help-center/understanding-granolas-subscription-cancellation-terms
Changes
- 2026-10-23: prices, plans and policies checked on the vendor pages in Sources.
- 2026-10-24: Review fixes. Granola training default, Granola Business billed monthly and Enterprise "from $35", Granola free history wording, tl;dv bot-free desktop recorder, Fireflies Free scoped to auto-joined meetings, Otter free history filled in (25 most recent conversations).
- 2026-10-24: added "Switching from Granola: export first" from Granola's export and cancellation help pages.
- 2026-10-25: Fireflies training line now shows both of Fireflies' statements.
- 2026-10-25: tl;dv prices now in US dollars as shown to a US reader (Pro $18/seat/mo annual or $29 monthly; Business $29 or $39), checked on tl;dv's pricing page.
- 2026-10-26: standard consent block now adds that a "this call may be recorded" greeting may not tell people an AI service is transcribing or summarizing the call.
- 2026-10-27: Granola's paid price no longer sits under annual billing (Business is billed monthly only; annual billing is Enterprise only), and its free plan is named Basic as on Granola's pricing page. tl;dv free limits re-checked on tl;dv's pricing page.