Granola Alternatives (2026): 7 AI Note Takers Compared by Price and Use Case

If you are weighing cost, jump to the Granola alternatives price comparison. If you record in person or on the phone, skip to the recorder alternatives and Comu.

Why people look for Granola AI alternatives

People look for Granola alternatives for four reasons:

• The free plan keeps 30 days of history. Granola's Basic plan lets you take notes freely and requires an upgrade to view and work with notes older than 30 days.
• Business costs $14 per user per month. That is $168 a year per user, and the subscription repeats.
• Briefs, follow-up emails and integrations start on Business. Pre-meeting briefs, follow-up emails, Notion, Zapier, HubSpot and API access are not on the free plan.
• It captures what your computer hears. If your meetings are in a room, on a call or in the field, a device that records the room is a more direct tool.

Granola alternatives compared by price

Monthly paid entry prices run from $8 (Krisp Core, billed yearly) to $19.99 (Pocket Pro, billed yearly), and Comu Note Pro costs €139.99 with the free plan that comes with the device. Comu prices are euro prices from the EU store (Nov 6, 2026); competitor prices are US dollar prices from each company's own site. Granola's own plans are broken down in Granola pricing, and its features in the Granola AI review.

Competitor prices are from each company's website on Nov 2, 2026. Yearly prices are the yearly total divided by 12.

Fathom: the Granola alternative with a free plan

Fathom's Free plan costs $0 and has no end date. It gives unlimited recordings, call storage and transcription, and an instant AI summary of each call. It offers a choice between a bot that joins the call and a bot-free capture mode that is in beta for Mac. It works with Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

The paid step is Premium at $20 a month, or $16 billed yearly. Premium adds advanced summaries, AI-generated action items, AI follow-up emails and unlimited Ask Fathom inside a call. Team ($15 a seat billed yearly) and Business ($25 a seat billed yearly) have a two-user minimum.

Choose Fathom if your meetings are online and you want unlimited free recording with no 30-day history window.

Otter: more transcription minutes

Otter Pro gives 1,200 transcription minutes a month, four times the 300 minutes on Otter's free Basic plan, for $16.99 a month or $8.33 a month billed yearly. Basic has a 30-minute limit per conversation and three imported files in total, and Pro raises the conversation limit to 90 minutes and imports to 10 files a month. Business is $30 a month, or $19.99 billed yearly.

Choose Otter if you want a transcript-first app with live captions in online meetings and a lower yearly price than Granola Business. Our Otter AI pricing guide lists what each plan includes.

Fireflies: meeting search and integrations

Fireflies has meeting search on every plan, unlimited integrations from Pro and team analytics on Business. Fireflies Free is $0, with unlimited transcription, limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of storage per team and 20 AI credits. Pro is $18 a month, or $10 billed yearly, with unlimited AI summaries, 8,000 minutes of storage per seat and video recording. Business is $29 a month, or $19 billed yearly, and Enterprise is $39 billed yearly.

AI credits power the advanced tools, and extra packs start at $5 a month for 50 credits. Choose Fireflies if you want searchable meeting libraries, unlimited integrations on Pro and team analytics on Business.

Krisp: noise cancellation and notes in one subscription

Krisp Core includes unlimited noise cancellation and an AI note taker without a bot in one subscription. Krisp offers a 7-day free trial that includes all premium features and needs no credit card. After that, Core costs $16 a month, or $8 billed yearly, and Advanced costs $30 a month, or $15 billed yearly. Core includes an AI note taker without a bot, in-person meeting notes on the mobile app, unlimited noise cancellation, AI Chat and 10 GB of storage.

Choose Krisp if background noise on your calls is the problem you want to solve along with the notes.

Granola alternative for in-person meetings: Comu AI

For in-person meetings and phone calls, the Granola alternative is a pocket recorder, which captures a conference room, a client's office, a walk or a call without opening a laptop. Plaud, Pocket and Comu are three of them.

Plaud. Plaud Note costs $159 and Plaud Note Pro costs $189. Each comes with a free Starter plan of 300 transcription minutes a month, and paid plans start at $8.33 a month billed yearly. Plaud's Ask Plaud work modes run on credits sold separately in the Plaud app.

Pocket. The Pocket recorder costs $129. Its free plan includes unlimited transcription at standard accuracy. Automatic speaker names, full live transcription and 80+ templates are on Pocket Pro at $19.99 a month billed yearly.

Comu. Comu is a pocket recorder with an app. Comu Note Pro is €139.99 and Comu Action Pro is €179.99 (Nov 6, 2026). The plan that comes with the device includes unlimited transcription, unlimited real-time transcription, speaker identification, AI summaries, action items, and Comu AI for questions across your recordings. It includes 30+ built-in templates and unlimited custom templates, supports 113 languages, imports external audio files, and exports text as TXT, Markdown, Word and PDF and audio as MP3 and WAV. Comu is GDPR, HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant.

Choose Comu if you record in person or on calls. Comu's included plan transcribes without a minute limit, where Plaud Starter gives 300 minutes a month. It also includes speaker identification, unlimited real-time transcription and custom templates, which Pocket places on its Pro plan at $19.99 a month billed yearly. Our Plaud vs Pocket guide sets two of these recorders side by side with Comu.

Granola competitors and Granola AI competitors by team size

One person can start on a free plan, two to five people compare per-seat prices, and ten or more people need admin features such as SSO.

One person. The free plans are the place to start. Fathom Free has no history window, Otter Basic gives 300 minutes a month, and Fireflies Free gives unlimited transcription with 400 minutes of storage shared by the team. If you outgrow them, Krisp Core at $8 a month billed yearly and Otter Pro at $8.33 a month billed yearly are the lowest yearly app prices in the table above. Comu Note Pro costs €139.99 and its included plan transcribes without a minute limit.

Two to five people. Per-seat pricing starts to add up. Fathom Team and Business have a two-user minimum, so the smallest paid team plan costs $30 a month billed yearly on Team. Five Fireflies Pro seats on yearly billing are $600 a year. Five Comu Note Pro devices with the included plan cost €699.95, and each person carries their own.

Ten or more people. Admin features matter: centralized billing, user management, SSO and a security review. Fireflies Enterprise ($39 a seat billed yearly), Krisp Enterprise (custom pricing) and Granola Enterprise ($35 a seat a month) cover SSO and SCIM. Fathom, Fireflies and Krisp are SOC 2 Type II compliant, and Comu is GDPR, HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant.

Granola alternatives: what each costs over three years

By year 3, one person has paid €139.99 for Comu Note Pro with its included plan and €179.99 for Comu Action Pro. For every other tool in the table, the three-year total is $288 or more. The table uses yearly billing where the company offers it.

The Comu rows use only what the free plan that comes with the device includes: unlimited transcription, unlimited real-time transcription, speaker identification, summaries, action items and templates. Fathom Free has no AI action items, Fireflies Free limits AI summaries and stores 400 minutes per team, Otter Basic stops at 300 minutes a month, and Granola Basic keeps 30 days of history. Plaud Starter stops at 300 minutes a month, and Pocket Free leaves speaker labels to you, covers the first 2 segments of live transcription and has no custom templates. Krisp has no free plan, only a 7-day trial. The table therefore prices the paid plan of each tool.

Fathom Free gives unlimited recording, call storage and transcription with an instant AI summary. Comu's included plan transcribes without a minute limit, adds real-time transcription, speaker identification, AI summaries and action items, exports Word, PDF, Markdown and text, and records the room and phone calls from a pocket device.

What to look for in a Granola replacement

Compare nine points before you commit to a Granola replacement: where you meet, history, minutes and imports, speaker labels, summaries and action items, exports, languages, privacy and total cost.

• Where you meet. Online meetings suit app-based tools. Rooms, client visits and calls suit a recorder.
• History. Check how long notes stay available on the free plan. Granola Basic keeps 30 days.
• Minutes and imports. Otter's free plan has a monthly minute cap and a limited number of imported files. Fathom Free has unlimited recording.
• Speaker labels. Interviews and group meetings are hard to read without them.
• Summaries and action items. Check which plan includes them and whether advanced tools use credits, as Fireflies and Plaud do.
• Exports. Look for Word, PDF and text, so notes move into your own documents.
• Languages. Check the list for the language you record in. Comu supports 113.
• Privacy. Look for a clear compliance statement and a plain description of how recordings are stored. Fathom, Fireflies and Krisp are SOC 2 Type II compliant, and Comu is GDPR, HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant.
• Total cost. Compare the three-year total, not the monthly price.

Which Granola AI alternative should you choose?

Choose Comu, Plaud or Pocket for in-person meetings and calls, Fathom for free online recording, Otter for more transcription minutes at a low yearly price, Fireflies for integrations and Krisp for noise cancellation.

What a Granola alternative should do after the meeting

A Granola alternative should give you an editable summary, action items with owners, search across recordings, a follow-up email and an export you control.

1. A summary you can edit. Fix names and decisions in the first draft before you send it.
2. Action items with owners. A list of next steps is more useful when it says who does what.
3. Search across recordings. Questions such as "what did the client say about pricing last month" need an assistant that looks across meetings, not inside one.
4. A follow-up email. Granola puts follow-up emails on Business, and Fathom puts them on Premium. Comu AI generates follow-up emails as part of the plan that comes with the device.
5. An export you control. Word, PDF, Markdown and plain text keep your notes usable outside any one app.

Run one real meeting through each tool you are considering and check these five steps before you pay for a plan.

Granola replacement checklist: how to switch without losing your notes

To switch without losing your notes, export what you need from Granola, run the new tool next to it for a week, check its limits, rebuild your templates and tell the people you record.

1. Copy or export the notes you need. Granola keeps only 30 days of history on Basic, so export what matters before it ages out.
2. Start the new tool on its free plan or free trial. Run it alongside Granola for a week.
3. Check the limits. Look at minutes, history, imports and seats before you commit.
4. Move your templates. Rebuild the two or three note formats you use most.
5. Tell the people you record. Tell the other person you are recording. Laws on recording calls differ by country, and you are responsible for following them.

Common questions about Granola alternatives

What is the best free alternative to Granola?

For online meetings, Fathom Free offers unlimited recording, call storage and transcription plus an instant AI summary. Otter Basic gives 300 minutes a month, and Fireflies Free gives unlimited transcription with 400 minutes of storage per team. Comu's included plan transcribes without a minute limit and also records in-person meetings and phone calls.

Is there a Granola alternative without a subscription?

Yes. A pocket recorder comes with its own plan. Comu Note Pro costs €139.99 and its free plan includes unlimited transcription, speaker identification and AI summaries.

Is there a Granola alternative that records in person meetings?

Yes. Plaud, Pocket and Comu are pocket recorders that capture in-person conversations and phone calls without a computer. Krisp's mobile app also takes notes for in-person meetings.

What is a Granola alternative that does not join the call as a bot?

Fathom offers a bot-free capture mode in beta for Mac, and Krisp's Core plan includes a bot-free AI note taker. Recorders such as Comu do not use a bot because they record the room.

How much does Granola cost?

Granola costs $0 on Basic, $14 per user per month on Business and $35 per user per month on Enterprise. Basic keeps 30 days of history. Students can get Granola free for 12 months.

Which Granola competitors are cheaper?

Otter Pro at $8.33 a month billed yearly, Krisp Core at $8 a month billed yearly and Fireflies Pro at $10 a month billed yearly cost less per month than Granola Business at $14.

Can I replace Granola with a recorder?

Yes, if your meetings happen in person or on the phone. A pocket recorder captures the room and the call, and the app produces the transcript, summary and action items.

Do Granola alternatives work with Zoom, Google Meet and Teams?

Fathom, Otter, Fireflies and Krisp work with Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. Recorders such as Comu capture in-person audio and calls from a device, and import online recordings as audio files.

Related reading

• Otter AI Pricing (2026): Free Plan, Paid Plans and What Each Includes
• Plaud vs Pocket: Which AI Voice Recorder Should You Buy in 2026?
• Meeting Minutes Template: Free Word Downloads and Examples
• Granola Pricing (2026): Free Plan, Business at $14 and Enterprise at $35
• Granola AI Review (2026): Features, Pricing, Privacy and Who It Fits

Sources

Pages were checked on Nov 2, 2026.

1. Granola, Pricing and student program
2. Fathom, Pricing; Fireflies, Pricing; Krisp, Pricing; Otter, Pricing
3. Plaud, plans and pricing; Pocket, heypocket.com
4. Comu, Comu Action Pro, Comu Note Pro, and app downloads