Granola review: clean notes with no bot, but no audio kept and 30 days on Basic (2026)

Granola promises notes without a bot in the room.

Granola sums up its approach in one line: "Write down as much or as little as you like." It says Granola "uses meeting context to write clear notes, personal to you," and the tagline is "Effortless notes, enhanced instantly." Nothing joins your call. Granola's transcription page says "There is no meeting bot," and the homepage says it works with "Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and every other meeting app."

I compared Granola's pricing, help center and security pages to see how much of that promise holds up. I'd call it mostly true. The bot-free capture is real and the notes idea is clear. The cost shows up in two places: what Granola does not keep, and how far back the Basic plan reaches.

What holds up: capture without a bot, apps for desktop, iOS, Android and Apple Watch, 31 languages on desktop, SOC 2 Type II on every plan, and MCP on every plan.

The big flaw: Granola does not keep audio. Its transcription page says it "does not record or save audio or video" and that there is "no way to access audio from your meetings." The second flaw is history. Basic lists 30-day history, and unlimited history starts on Business at $14 per user per month, billed monthly.

Quick verdict

Granola is a good pick if you want bot-free notes for yourself and you are happy to keep notes and a transcript instead of a recording. I'd skip it if you need audio or video kept, need to import pre-recorded audio, or want more than 30 days of history without paying.

The notes idea is the reason to look at Granola, and the missing audio is the reason some people will walk away.

Here is my verdict on each category:

Capture and Transcription: strong for staying out of the call, held back by no kept audio and no imports.
Notes and Summaries: a clear idea in Granola's own words, with no audio behind it.
Integrations and Automation: useful on Business, thin on Basic.
Security and Privacy: a solid baseline with plain wording, but US-only storage and HIPAA only on Enterprise.
Pricing and Value: fair for notes-first use, with the 30-day Basic history as the catch.

1. Capture and Transcription

What's good

There is no bot to admit. The transcription page says "There is no meeting bot," and the pricing table lists bot-free device-audio capture.
It works with "Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and every other meeting app," and with huddles.
The apps cover desktop (macOS and Windows), iOS, Android and Apple Watch.
Granola supports 31 languages on desktop (macOS and Windows) and 17 languages on mobile (iOS and Android).

What's missing

Transcription needs the desktop or mobile app. The web interface at notes.granola.ai is "for viewing and editing existing notes only."
Granola "does not support importing or uploading pre-recorded audio files."
No audio is kept. Granola "does not record or save audio or video," there is "no way to access audio from your meetings," and its data FAQ says "We do not retain audio recordings."

Verdict: strong for staying invisible in the call, weak for anyone who wants the recording. If a meeting matters enough to replay, Granola has nothing to replay.

2. Notes and Summaries

What's good

The idea is clear: "Write down as much or as little as you like," and Granola "uses meeting context to write clear notes, personal to you."
The homepage promises "Effortless notes, enhanced instantly."
Because the notes are described as personal to you, I read Granola as a tool for your own record rather than a team archive.

What's missing

There is no audio behind the notes. When a note looks wrong, the transcript is the only record to check against, because there is "no way to access audio from your meetings."
The web interface cannot capture a meeting. It is for viewing and editing existing notes only.

Verdict: a clear idea that I'd keep. It would be stronger with audio behind it, because the notes and the transcript are the only record Granola leaves you.

3. Integrations and Automation

What's good

Slack works on all plans.
On Business, Granola lists Attio, Notion, HubSpot, Affinity and Zapier. Salesforce is on Enterprise.
MCP is on every plan. On Basic it reaches the last 30 days of personal notes, without transcripts.

What's missing

MCP transcript access starts on Business, and so does the API.
Beyond Slack and a limited MCP, every integration named above sits on a paid plan.

Verdict: fine for sending notes to Slack or Notion once you pay for Business. On Basic, the connections are thin.

4. Security and Privacy

What's good

SOC 2 Type II applies on all plans. Granola writes, "We've shown independent auditors that our security practices meet SOC 2 Type 2 standards."
Data is encrypted at rest and in transit.
Granola says it is GDPR compliant, and its data processing agreement "incorporates EU and UK Standard Contractual Clauses."
Granola writes, "We do not allow third parties (like OpenAI or Anthropic) to use your data to train their AI models."
Notes and transcripts are retained indefinitely unless you set a transcript auto-deletion period under Settings, then Preferences, then Data & sharing. Enterprise workspaces use a workspace-wide retention policy arranged with Granola.
On consent, Granola writes, "You are responsible for obtaining consent from participants." It offers an automated chat message and the Granola Watermark as transparency features. Individuals can enable them "on Free and Business plans," and admins can require them.

What's missing

On training, Granola writes, "Granola trains on your anonymized data so we can keep making Granola better." It adds, "Enterprise users have model training turned off by default," and "We cannot guarantee that anonymised data wasn't used before you changed the setting."
Asked whether data can be stored in the EU, UK, Canada or Australia, Granola answers, "Currently, all data is stored on AWS in the US."
On HIPAA, Granola writes, "Granola is HIPAA compliant for Enterprise customers and can sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA)," and says it is "not available on Free, Personal, or Business plans."
SSO is "available on Enterprise plans for organisations with 50+ seats," and SCIM is on Enterprise too.

Verdict: a solid baseline with plain wording. With no bot on the call, the consent step falls to you, and I'd want training off by default beyond Enterprise and a storage option outside the US.

5. Pricing and Value

What's good

Basic is $0, Business is $14 per user per month and Enterprise is $35 per user per month.
Business adds unlimited history, integrations, the API and MCP transcript access.

What's missing

Basic has 30-day history.
Business is billed monthly. Granola's help center says annual billing is "available on Enterprise contracts only."
HIPAA, SSO and SCIM all sit on Enterprise at $35.

Verdict: a fair price for notes-first use. The 30-day Basic history is the catch, and it pushes anyone who needs older notes to Business.

Who Granola is for

You want notes without a bot in the call and do not need audio or video kept.
You capture on a laptop, a phone or an Apple Watch.
You are on Business and send notes to Slack, Notion, Attio, HubSpot, Affinity or Zapier.
You need many transcription languages, with 31 on desktop.
You want the security basics covered on every plan: SOC 2 Type II and encryption at rest and in transit.

Who should skip it

You need audio or video kept.
You need to import pre-recorded audio.
You need data stored outside the US.
You need HIPAA, SSO or SCIM without moving to Enterprise at $35 per user per month.
You want more than 30 days of history on a free plan.

What I'd want fixed

Keep audio as an option. Even if it stays off by default, saved audio would give the notes something to check against.
Let people import pre-recorded audio. Granola "does not support importing or uploading pre-recorded audio files," so a call recorded elsewhere cannot be brought in.
Give Basic more than 30 days. Thirty days of history, and MCP limited to the last 30 days of personal notes without transcripts, is a short window.
Turn model training off by default on every plan. Enterprise already has "model training turned off by default."
Offer storage outside the US. Granola says "Currently, all data is stored on AWS in the US."

Also consider

Circleback turns conversations into speaker-labeled transcripts, notes and assigned action items, and it is the first tool I'd look at if missing audio and no imports are your sticking points. It captures with a bot on Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex, with a bot-free desktop app on macOS and Windows (no bot and no visible participant in the call), and in person on mobile and Apple Watch, so everyone can capture meetings the way they prefer. It saves audio and video recordings, though desktop window video is saved by default only for recordings started from a detected-meeting notification, and any plan can import an audio or video file up to 2 GB.

Fathom is the other name I'd check. It captures meetings on Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Slack Huddles, not phone calls, and its pricing page lists a choice of bot-free and bot capture types, with bot-free a beta feature for Mac. Free is $0 with unlimited recordings and transcriptions, and Premium is $16 per user per month billed annually or $20 monthly. Like Granola, Fathom takes no file imports: it says "we do not support uploaded calls."

FAQ

Is Granola worth it?

Yes, if you want bot-free notes and do not need audio or imports. Basic is $0 and Business is $14 per user per month, billed monthly, and Business adds unlimited history, integrations, the API and MCP transcript access. If you need recordings, imports or more than 30 days of history on a free plan, I'd look elsewhere.

Does Granola record audio?

No. Granola captures device audio for transcription but "does not record or save audio or video," and its data FAQ says "We do not retain audio recordings." Notes and transcripts are kept, and the audio is not.

Does Granola have a free plan?

Yes. Basic costs $0 and has 30-day history. Slack works on all plans, and MCP on Basic reaches only the last 30 days of personal notes, without transcripts. Business at $14 per user per month, billed monthly, adds unlimited history.

Can Granola import recordings?

No. Granola "does not support importing or uploading pre-recorded audio files," and the web interface at notes.granola.ai is for viewing and editing existing notes only.

Does Granola use a meeting bot?

No. Granola's transcription page says "There is no meeting bot." Transcription needs the desktop app on macOS or Windows, or the mobile app on iPhone or Android.

Does Granola train on my data?

Yes. Granola writes, "Granola trains on your anonymized data so we can keep making Granola better." It also writes, "Enterprise users have model training turned off by default," and "We do not allow third parties (like OpenAI or Anthropic) to use your data to train their AI models."

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