Granola and Fireflies.ai both turn meetings into notes, but they take opposite approaches to getting there. Granola captures audio locally on your device — no bot ever joins your call, and nobody knows you're recording. Fireflies.ai sends a bot into the meeting that records, transcribes, and analyzes everything.
The tradeoff is privacy and discretion versus depth and team features. This page compares them on the dimensions that actually matter for choosing, using current pricing and documented features.
| Granola | Fireflies.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | Granola | Fireflies.ai |
| Recording method | Local audio capture on your device | Meeting bot joins the call (desktop app option too) |
| Bot visible to participants | No — nobody knows you're recording | Yes, by default |
| Starting price (paid) | Business $14/user/mo | Pro $10/user/mo (annual) |
| Free tier | Basic $0 — unlimited notes, 30-day history | Free $0 — 800 min storage, 3 AI summaries/mo |
| Timestamped transcripts | No | Yes — jump to any moment |
| Audio kept after meeting | No — deleted after transcription | Yes — replay and shareable clips |
| CRM integrations | No CRM auto-population | Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive |
| Call analytics | No | Yes — talk-time, sentiment analysis |
| Platforms | Mac, Windows, iOS | Web, Chrome, mobile — cross-platform |
The bot-free AI notepad: enhance your own meeting notes without a robot joining the call.
Free (Basic, limited history); Business $14/user/mo; Enterprise $35/us
Try Granola →AI meeting assistant that records, transcribes, and searches every call — plus email and CRM automation.
Free; Pro from $10/user/mo (annual, $18 monthly); Business from $19/us
Try Fireflies.ai →Pick Granola if discretion matters: no bot, local capture, and structured notes make it the best fit for consultants, executives, and anyone in trust-sensitive conversations. Pick Fireflies.ai if you need the full record: timestamped transcripts, replayable audio, CRM integrations, and call analytics make it the stronger team tool. Solo users lean Granola; sales-heavy teams lean Fireflies.
Laws vary by jurisdiction — many places require one-party or all-party consent for recording. Granola's discretion doesn't change your legal obligations; check your local rules.
Speaker identification is limited compared to bot-based tools — it can't always tell speakers apart. Fireflies.ai handles multi-speaker transcription better.
Granola's free tier gives unlimited notes with a 30-day history window; Fireflies.ai's free tier gives 800 minutes of storage and 3 AI summaries per month. Pick based on whether you value history depth or transcript features.