Granola vs Otter.ai (2026)
By Noahlast updated
Granola
GranolaBot-free AI notepad for people in back-to-back meetings that transcribes from the computer's own audio and turns rough notes into structured summaries, free or $14 per user per month.
- Pricing
- Free tier · paid from $14/mo
- License
- Freemium
Best for people in back-to-back video calls who want AI-polished versions of their own notes without a recording bot joining the meeting
Otter.ai
Otter.aiAn AI meeting notetaker for teams that transcribes Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls into searchable transcripts, summaries and action items, free for 300 minutes a month.
- Pricing
- Free tier · paid from $8.33/mo
- License
- Freemium
Best for transcribing English-language Zoom, Google Meet and Teams calls into searchable notes with automatic summaries and action items
Which should you choose?
Choose Granola if…
wins 3/6 use cases
- You do not want a bot in your meetings; Granola captures the computer's microphone and system audio, and nothing joins the call
- You want a free plan with no transcription limit or meeting cap, and can live with only the last 30 days of notes visible
- You take your own notes and want the AI summary built around them, with each line traceable to the transcript
- You hold meetings in languages beyond Otter.ai's six; Granola transcribes 31 languages on desktop and can switch mid-meeting
- You want an API without an Enterprise contract; Granola Business includes a personal API at $14 per user per month
Choose Otter.ai if…
wins 3/6 use cases
- You need the meeting audio recorded, which Granola never keeps
- You transcribe uploaded audio or video files, which Granola cannot do; Otter.ai Business includes 6,000 imported-file minutes per user
- You want speakers identified automatically in real time; Granola splits speech into Me and Them unless set up per app
- You want a web app and Chrome extension alongside desktop and mobile apps; Granola's listed platforms are macOS, Windows, iOS and Android
- You want the lowest annual price: Otter.ai Pro costs $8.33 per user per month billed annually, while Granola Business is $14 billed monthly with no annual option
Granola vs Otter.ai: feature comparison
| Feature | Granola | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Yesfree plan; Business $14/user/month, billed monthly only | Yesfree plan; Pro from $8.33/user/month, billed annually ($16.99 monthly) |
| Free tier | Yesno transcription limit or meeting cap; only the last 30 days of notes visible | Yes300 minutes/month, 30 minutes per conversation, 25 most recent conversations kept |
| Annual billing discount | NoBusiness is monthly only | YesPro $8.33 vs $16.99 monthly; Business $19.99 vs $30 monthly |
| Platforms | PartialmacOS, Windows, iOS, Android; no web app listed | Yesweb, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome extension |
| License | Noclosed-source, freemium | Noclosed-source, freemium |
| Capture method | Yesbot-free only, from the device's microphone and system audio | Yesnotetaker bot for Zoom, Meet and Teams, or bot-free desktop and mobile apps |
| Saved audio recordings | Nokeeps transcripts, never audio | Yesrecords meetings; unlimited in-app recordings on Business |
| Uploaded file transcription | No | Yes3 lifetime imports on Free, 10/month on Pro, 6,000 minutes/user on Business |
| Transcription languages | Yes31 on desktop, 17 on mobile; switches mid-meeting | Partial6: English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese |
| Speaker identification | Partialnamed speakers need per-app setup; otherwise Me and Them | Yesreal-time speaker identification |
| Meeting length cap | Yesno meeting cap, even on Free | Partial30 minutes on Free, 90 on Pro, 4 hours on Business |
| AI chat across meetings | YesGranola Chat across all meetings or a team Space; model selection on Business | YesAI Chat; 20 queries on Free, 200 on Business |
| Integrations | YesSlack on Free; Notion, HubSpot, Attio, Affinity, Zapier from $14/user/month (Business) | YesZapier, Slack, Notion, Jira, Asana; Salesforce or HubSpot sync for 1 user on Pro |
| API and MCP | Yespersonal API from $14/user/month (Business); MCP connector in Claude and ChatGPT | PartialMCP server for ChatGPT and Claude; API and webhooks on Enterprise only |
| SSO and SCIM | Yesfrom $35/user/month (Enterprise); SSO for 50+ users | PartialEnterprise only (custom pricing); 100-user license minimum |
| HIPAA | YesHIPAA-compliant workspaces on Enterprise (from $35/user/month) | Yesadd-on on Enterprise (custom pricing) |
| Track record | Partiallaunched May 2024 | Yeslaunched February 2018; 40 million+ users; 4.8/5 from 86K ratings (App Store) |
Granola vs Otter.ai: pricing
Every tier both tools publish, as we last checked them — not just the entry price.
Granola
- BasicFree; unlimited AI meeting notes with no transcription limit, but only the last 30 days of notes visible in the app; Slack integration, shared folders, templates and recipes; Chat on the automatic model only.Free
- BusinessPer user, billed monthly with no annual option; unlimited note history, Chat model selection, pre-meeting briefs, follow-up emails, Notion, HubSpot, Attio, Affinity and Zapier integrations, MCP for workspace notes and a personal API.$14/mo
- EnterpriseFrom $35 per user per month, monthly or annual contracts; SSO (for 50+ users) and SCIM, HIPAA-compliant workspaces, Salesforce integration, workspace-wide retention and sharing policies, usage analytics, audit API, model training off by default.$35/mo
Otter.ai
- Basic300 transcription minutes per month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 lifetime audio/video file imports, 25 most recent conversations kept, 20 AI Chat queries per user.Free
- ProPer user, billed annually ($16.99 billed monthly); 1,200 minutes per user per month, 90 minutes per meeting, 10 file imports per month, unlimited storage, Zapier plus Salesforce or HubSpot sync for 1 user, up to 5 billed users.$8.33/mo
- BusinessPer user, billed annually ($30 billed monthly); unlimited meetings and in-app recordings, 6,000 imported-file minutes per user, 4 hours per meeting, 3 concurrent meetings, 200 AI Chat queries, usage analytics and activity logs, up to 25 billed users.$19.99/mo
- EnterpriseCustom pricing; SSO and SCIM (100-user license minimum), Otter API and webhooks, Sales Notetaker, custom CRM and dialer integrations, HIPAA compliance add-on.Custom
Granola vs Otter.ai pricing: which costs less?
Otter.ai Pro is cheaper on annual billing at $8.33 per user per month, while Granola Business, at $14 per user per month billed monthly, undercuts Otter.ai Pro's $16.99 monthly rate.
Granola Business has no annual option. The free plans meter different things: Granola Basic has no transcription limit or meeting cap but shows only the last 30 days of notes, while Otter.ai Basic gives 300 minutes a month with a 30-minute cap per conversation and keeps the 25 most recent conversations. Otter.ai Pro caps usage at 1,200 minutes per user per month and 90 minutes per meeting. Otter.ai Business costs $19.99 per user per month billed annually. At the top, Granola Enterprise starts at $35 per user per month, while Otter.ai Enterprise is custom-priced.
Does Granola use a bot like Otter.ai?
No, Granola never sends a bot into the call and transcribes from the computer's microphone and system audio instead, while Otter.ai's notetaker joins scheduled Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls from a connected calendar.
Otter.ai can also record without a bot from its Mac and Windows desktop apps and its mobile apps. The Otter.ai calendar notetaker can join meetings automatically unless auto-join settings are changed, a common complaint from attendees who did not invite it. Granola works with Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Slack huddles and in-person meetings on the phone app, but it captures only audio that reaches the device it runs on.
Can Granola record and replay meetings like Otter.ai?
No, Granola keeps transcripts but never audio or video, so there is nothing to replay and no way to upload recorded files, while Otter.ai records meetings and imports audio and video files.
Otter.ai's free plan allows 3 lifetime file imports, Pro allows 10 a month, and Business includes 6,000 imported-file minutes per user at $19.99 per user per month billed annually. Granola focuses on the notes instead, merging the live transcript, the user's typed notes and the calendar event into structured notes, keeping the user's own words highlighted, and letting each line be traced back to the transcript.
Which supports more languages, Granola or Otter.ai?
Granola supports more languages, transcribing 31 on desktop and 17 on mobile with mid-meeting switching, while Otter.ai transcribes six: English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese.
Speaker labels cut the other way. Otter.ai identifies speakers in real time with speech recognition it builds in-house. Granola needs per-app setup for Google Meet, Zoom or Teams to label speakers by name; without it, Granola transcripts only split speech into Me and Them. Granola and Otter.ai both carry a low learning-curve rating.
Strengths and weaknesses
Granola
Pros
- No bot joins the call: capture runs from the computer's microphone and system audio and works with Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Slack huddles and in-person meetings on the phone app.
- The free plan has no transcription limit or meeting cap.
- Summaries are built around the user's own typed notes, and each line can be traced back to the transcript.
- An MCP connector and official connectors in Claude and ChatGPT let other AI tools query meeting notes; Business adds an API.
- Transcribes 31 languages on desktop and can switch between them mid-meeting.
Cons
- No audio or video is saved, so meetings cannot be replayed, and recorded files cannot be uploaded for transcription.
- The free plan hides notes older than 30 days, and Business is billed monthly only, with no annual discount.
- Speaker names need per-app setup on desktop; otherwise the transcript only separates Me and Them.
- Every active workspace member is a paid seat, mixed plan tiers in one workspace are not allowed, and SSO requires Enterprise with 50+ users.
Otter.ai
Pros
- Free Basic plan includes 300 transcription minutes a month with live transcription, speaker identification and the iOS and Android apps.
- Records three ways: a notetaker that joins Zoom, Meet and Teams from your calendar, a bot-free Mac and Windows desktop app, or mobile apps for in-person meetings.
- AI Chat answers questions across all past meetings, and the MCP server lets ChatGPT and Claude query the same meeting history.
- Pro syncs notes to Salesforce or HubSpot and connects to Zapier, Slack, Notion, Jira and Asana.
- Business covers unlimited meetings of up to 4 hours each for $19.99 per user per month billed annually.
Cons
- Transcription covers only English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese, far fewer languages than Fireflies.ai advertises.
- The free plan stops each recording at 30 minutes and allows only 3 audio or video file imports for the life of the account.
- Once connected to a calendar, the notetaker can join meetings automatically unless auto-join settings are changed, a common complaint from attendees who did not invite it.
- The Otter API, webhooks, SSO and the HIPAA add-on are reserved for custom-priced Enterprise, and SSO requires a 100-user license.
Which fits your use case?
| Use case | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Consultant in back-to-back client calls who does not want a bot joining | Granola | Granola transcribes from the laptop's own audio, so nothing joins the call, and it turns the consultant's rough notes into structured notes and action items. |
| Researcher transcribing recorded interviews from audio files | Otter.ai | Otter.ai imports audio and video files on every plan, up to 6,000 minutes per user on Business; Granola cannot transcribe uploaded files. |
| Team that meets in languages other than English | Granola | Granola transcribes 31 languages on desktop and switches between them mid-meeting, while Otter.ai covers six. |
| Individual who wants the lowest price on an annual plan | Otter.ai | Otter.ai Pro costs $8.33 per user per month billed annually; Granola Business costs $14 per user per month with no annual option. |
| Company of 60 people that needs SSO | Granola | Granola Enterprise, from $35 per user per month, offers SSO for workspaces of 50+ users, while Otter.ai requires a 100-user license for SSO. |
| User who wants to work from a web browser rather than a desktop app | Otter.ai | Otter.ai runs on the web and as a Chrome extension; Granola's listed platforms are macOS, Windows, iOS and Android. |
Neither a match?
Both lists carry verified pricing and honest weaknesses for every option.
Popular comparisons
Granola vs Otter.ai: migration FAQ
Should I use Granola or Otter.ai?
- Use Granola if you want bot-free AI notes built around your own typing, a free plan with no transcription limit and 31 desktop languages; use Otter.ai if you need saved recordings, uploaded-file transcription, automatic speaker names or a web app.
Is Granola cheaper than Otter.ai?
- On monthly billing, yes: Granola Business costs $14 per user per month against $16.99 for Otter.ai Pro and $30 for Otter.ai Business. On annual billing, Otter.ai Pro is cheaper at $8.33 per user per month, and Granola offers no annual option.
Can Otter.ai replace Granola?
- Yes for most meeting notes, since Otter.ai transcribes live, writes summaries and action items, and can record without a bot from its desktop and mobile apps. Otter.ai transcribes 6 languages against Granola's 31 on desktop, and its free plan caps each conversation at 30 minutes where Granola's has no meeting cap.
Is Granola free?
- Yes — Granola Basic is free with no transcription limit or meeting cap, but the app shows only the last 30 days of notes until you upgrade to Business at $14 per user per month. Otter.ai's free Basic plan instead allows 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes per conversation.
Does Granola record audio?
- No — Granola keeps transcripts but never audio or video, so meetings cannot be replayed and recorded files cannot be uploaded for transcription. Otter.ai records meetings and imports audio and video files on every plan.
Does Granola have SSO?
- Yes — Granola Enterprise, from $35 per user per month, includes SSO for workspaces of 50+ users plus SCIM and HIPAA-compliant workspaces. Otter.ai puts SSO on custom-priced Enterprise with a 100-user license minimum.