The Best Granola Alternatives in 2026
- type
- Alternatives
- published
- reading
- 3 min
- by
- BVR Editorial Team
- method
- how we evaluate ↗
Granola is the best bot-free notepad around. Switch if you need a longer free history, a bot that attends for you, team analytics — or recordings from rooms and phone calls.
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Fathom for free history. Otter to cover meetings you miss. Plaud for the real world.
Granola's free plan keeps only 30 days, it can't send a bot to meetings you miss, and phone calls are limited to outbound calls on iOS. Each alternative fixes one of those.
- 01
Free–$34/user/mocheck price - 02
best bot + live transcriptOtter.ai
OtterPilot can attend meetings for you; a bot-free desktop app is there when you can't.
Free–$30/mocheck price - 03
best for rooms & callsPlaud Note Pro
Dedicated recorder for in-person meetings and both sides of phone calls.
$189check price
contents (8)
Why look beyond Granola?
Granola gets a lot right: no bot, any meeting platform, and summaries built around your own notes. The common reasons to switch:
- The free plan keeps only 30 days of meeting history.
- You have to be there: with no bot, Granola can’t cover a meeting you skip.
- Team features like conversation analytics are limited.
- Phone calls are supported only for outbound calls on iOS, and long in-person sessions rely on your phone’s mic.
Granola vs the alternatives
| spec | granolaGranola | fathomFathom | otterOtter.ai | firefliesFireflies.ai | plaudPlaud Note Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| online meetings | Any platform, no bot (desktop) | Bot for Zoom, Meet, Teams; bot-free on Mac | Bot joins Zoom, Meet, Teams; bot-free desktop app | Bot for Zoom, Meet, Teams, Webex; bot-free desktop app | Via Plaud Desktop app |
| phone-call recording | iOS outbound calls only | Not supported | No native call capture | No native call capture | ▲Yes — switches automatically |
| free tier | No stated meeting cap, 30-day history | ▲Unlimited recordings, transcripts & summaries | 300 min / month, 30 min per conversation | Unlimited transcription, 400 min storage | 300 min / month |
| paid plan from | $14/user/mo (Business) | $16/mo (Premium, billed yearly) | $8.33/mo (Pro, billed yearly) | $10/mo (Pro, billed yearly) | $8.33/mo (Pro, billed yearly) |
| languages | 31 desktop · 17 mobile | 38 | 6 (German & Chinese in beta) | English + 100+ in beta | ▲112+ |
| security & compliance | SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR; HIPAA on Enterprise | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, HIPAA (BAA on Enterprise) | SOC 2 Type II, AES-256; HIPAA (Enterprise add-on) | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, ISO 42001; HIPAA BAA on Enterprise | SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, ISO 27001/27701 (per Plaud) |
Best free alternative: Fathom
Fathom’s free plan includes unlimited recordings, transcripts and AI summaries, so you never lose old meetings. It uses a bot on Zoom, Meet and Teams, with bot-free capture available on Mac. It transcribes 38 languages, slightly more than Granola’s 31.
- Unlimited free history
- Bot-free option on Mac
- CRM sync on paid tiers
- Bot by default
- No phone calls
Best for meetings you can’t attend: Otter.ai
Otter’s OtterPilot can join meetings from your calendar even when you’re not there, and its live transcript is its signature feature. When you’d rather not send a bot, its desktop app records without one. Pro is $8.33/month billed yearly — cheaper than Granola Business.
- Bot can attend for you
- Bot-free desktop app too
- Cheaper paid plan
- 30-minute cap per conversation on free
- Six languages
Best for teams: Fireflies.ai
Fireflies adds topic trackers, sentiment and talk-time analytics across a team’s calls, with unlimited transcription on every plan. It has a bot-free desktop app too.
Best for in-person meetings and calls: Plaud Note Pro
Granola is built for the computer. If many of your meetings happen in rooms — or on the phone — a dedicated recorder is more reliable than a phone on the table. Plaud Note Pro has four microphones, records both sides of phone calls through a vibration sensor, and lasts up to 50 hours. Plaud’s desktop app can also capture online meetings without a bot.
- Records rooms and phone calls
- Up to 50 h battery
- 112+ languages
- $189 device
- Not a typing notepad like Granola
Should you switch?
Keep Granola if you type notes during meetings and like its rewrite — nothing else does that as well. Switch when history, meeting coverage, team analytics or offline conversations matter more. For the full field, see our best AI meeting note takers.
Questions
q.01Is there a free alternative to Granola without a 30-day limit?
Fathom's free plan includes unlimited recordings, transcripts and AI summaries with no stated history limit.
q.02Which Granola alternatives also work without a bot?
Otter and Fireflies both have bot-free desktop apps, and Fathom offers bot-free capture on Mac.
q.03What's the best Granola alternative for in-person meetings?
A dedicated recorder such as Plaud Note Pro, which records rooms with four microphones and phone calls through a vibration sensor.
- First published.
sources
- granola.ai/pricing
- granola.ai/security
- docs.granola.ai/help-center/customising-granola/multi-language
- fathom.ai/pricing
- help.fathom.video/en/articles/296576
- help.fathom.video/en/articles/296192
- otter.ai/pricing
- otter.ai/apps
- otter.ai/privacy-security
- businesswire.com/news/home/20250710027730/en/Otter.ai-Achieves-HIPAA-Compliance
- fireflies.ai/blog/fireflies-pricing-which-plan-is-right-for-you
- guide.fireflies.ai/articles/2631950139-learn-about-transcription-credits-storage-and-rate-limits-for-meetings
- fireflies.ai/security
- plaud.ai/pages/plaud-device-comparison
- plaud.ai/pages/plaud-ai-plan-pricing
specs and prices above were checked against these pages on 2026-10-29.
BVR Editorial Team. We compare recorders and AI note takers using makers' official spec sheets and pricing pages, cross-checked against independent reviews. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.