What is the Granola AI app?
Granola is an AI notepad: you start it for a meeting, it transcribes audio from your own computer or phone, and when the call ends it writes notes from the transcript, your own rough notes and the calendar event. No bot joins the call. Granola's security page says you have to start it manually for a meeting, and that it then reads your microphone and meeting audio on your computer and does not add a bot to your video call. Every Granola fact below comes from Granola's own pages, checked 5 November 2026.
The same page names its providers: transcription from companies like Deepgram and Assembly, and summaries from AI providers like OpenAI and Anthropic. The notes are editable. Granola's enhanced notes help says each point in the enhanced notes has a magnifying glass that shows where in the transcript or your raw notes it came from, which is the quickest way to check a number before you send it to a client.
Which platforms and devices does Granola work on?
Desktop on macOS and Windows for video calls, phones for in-person meetings and outbound phone calls, and the web for viewing and editing notes only. From the setup guide and transcription help:
| Where | What it captures | Limits the help pages state |
|---|---|---|
| macOS (14 or later) | Mic plus system audio: any meeting app, in-person meetings, voice memos, any computer audio | You allow microphone and system audio when prompted |
| Windows | Same as macOS | Audio permissions are granted automatically |
| iPhone and Android | The phone's active mic: in-person talk, outbound phone calls in the countries the help lists | Can't capture audio from virtual meeting apps; inbound calls not supported |
| Web (notes.granola.ai) | Nothing | For viewing and editing existing notes only |
Two edge cases matter for sales calls. Granola can't isolate one app's audio, so music playing during a call ends up in the transcript. And speaker tags, which label people by display name, work only for Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams on macOS and Windows; otherwise the transcript shows Me and Them, though the help says the AI usually infers speakers from context. On mobile, the phone calls page says the person you call sees your own registered number as caller ID.
How do you take meeting notes with Granola?
Install the desktop app, sign in with Google or Microsoft, allow calendar and audio access, then open the meeting's note when the call starts. The steps below are from Granola's help pages for macOS and Windows desktop, checked 5 November 2026; the live app may differ.
Install and sign in
On macOS, open Granola.dmg and drag the icon into Applications; on Windows, run Granola.exe. Sign-in supports Google and Microsoft only, through your browser. Pick the work account whose calendar holds your meetings, and choose Select all on the calendar permissions screen.
Start transcribing
Click the meeting notification, open the meeting from the home screen after its start time, or click New Note for a call that isn't on your calendar. If you open an upcoming meeting's note early, transcription starts at the scheduled time. Green bars at the bottom show it is capturing.
Pick a template
During the call, type / in your notes and choose a template. After the notes are generated, switch with the dropdown on the Enhanced tab, which regenerates them. The templates page says templates are on desktop only, and you can write your own with a purpose, a style and sections such as decisions made and action items.
Stop it yourself
Click the stop button when the call ends. Granola also stops after 15 minutes without new audio, when your computer sleeps, or when it detects the call has ended. Between back-to-back calls, stop it by hand, or two meetings can merge into one transcript.
A template only shapes the summary. Turning decisions into owned tasks is still on you, as covered in our guide to meeting notes that turn into action items.
How much does Granola cost?
Basic is free, Business is $14 per user per month and Enterprise is $35 per user per month on Granola's pricing page; the billing help lists Enterprise as from $35. The billing help adds the basis: billing is per workspace, every active member is a paid seat (admins too), Basic and Business are billed monthly, and annual billing is for Enterprise contracts only.
| Plan | Price shown | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $0 | 30 days of meeting history in the app; Slack is the only integration |
| Business | $14 per user per month | Unlimited history, Notion, HubSpot, Attio, Affinity and Zapier, API, pre-meeting briefs, follow-up emails |
| Enterprise | $35 per user per month | SSO (50+ users), org-wide auto-deletion, admin-enforced notice and training opt-out, HIPAA workspaces |
The help also says no plan has a daily transcription limit, mobile apps are free, and notes older than 30 days on Basic are hidden, not deleted.
Startups and students can apply for 12 months of Business free, per the same billing page.
Does Granola require consent, and are others told?
Granola's own guide on when to use AI notetaking has a section headed Always get consent when transcribing others. Because no bot joins, the ways Granola offers to tell other people are notices you switch on; otherwise, tell them yourself. The guide says it is not legal advice and that laws vary by region. Neither is this post: check the rules where you and your guests are, and see our comparison of how AI note takers handle consent.
Granola's transparency features are an automated chat message posted when it starts transcribing, and Granola Watermark, a badge on your video. Free and Business users turn them on for themselves; on Enterprise an admin can enforce them. Setup, per the help pages:
- Zoom and Teams, Windows: Settings, Preferences, Transparency, Automated chat message, then turn on the toggle named Automated chat message in Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Slack huddles (Slack huddles work on macOS only). Steps
- Zoom and Teams, macOS: same setting, click Set up, then Enable accessibility, and allow Granola under System Settings, Privacy and Security, Accessibility.
- Google Meet: click Set up next to Automated chat message in Google Meet, install the Granola browser extension from the Chrome Web Store, and continue once it shows Connected. Chrome or a supported Chromium browser is required. Steps
The message sends only after transcription starts and at least one other person joins, the meeting must allow chat, and on Meet late joiners on mobile or external guests may not see it. With a hesitant buyer, say it out loud as well; our piece on how buyers react to AI on calls covers why.
Who can see your Granola notes?
Only you, until you share. The sharing help says notes are never shared with participants unless you share the link or add the note to a folder in your team space, and Granola doesn't auto-share notes to attendees.
- Copy link shares a note; you can change link access from the dropdown.
- When you invite by email, external people default to Viewer and people from your company domain to Collaborator.
- Viewers can read the note, hover for transcript context and use Granola Chat, but can't read the full transcript. Sharing through a folder can include it.
- Sharing a note doesn't add a workspace member or a billable seat.
Does Granola train AI on your meetings?
By default it may, on anonymised data, and you can switch that off. Granola's models and training page gives the steps: in the desktop app, click your workspace name, then Settings, Preferences, and turn off Use my data to improve models for everyone. The toggle isn't in the Android app yet. Enterprise workspaces are opted out by default. Granola says it doesn't let third parties such as OpenAI or Anthropic train on your data.
The privacy policy (effective 8 September 2026) adds that de-identified data already in models may stay there indefinitely, since removal may not be technically feasible. On storage, the security page says desktop audio isn't stored, transcription happens in real time, and notes sit in a US-hosted AWS cloud; on mobile, the mobile transcription page says audio is cached temporarily and then deleted. Transcripts are kept indefinitely by default unless you delete them, and the auto-deletion setting lets you choose 1 day up to 1 year under Preferences, Data and sharing, after a one-week cooldown. Deleted transcripts can't be recovered or used to regenerate notes.
Siela, which we make, also has meeting notes that record on your own device from its Windows or macOS desktop app, as one of the built-in tools that come with three AI agents for finding customers, rather than a stand-alone notepad; its privacy policy says it doesn't use customer data to train AI models. This week: switch the training toggle to the setting you want, then turn on the chat message before your next external call.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Granola AI app?
Granola is a desktop and mobile notepad that transcribes meetings from your device's own audio and writes structured notes when the call ends. You start it for each meeting yourself, and it doesn't send a bot into Zoom, Meet or Teams. It runs on macOS, Windows, iPhone and Android, with a web view for reading notes.
Does Granola AI require consent?
Granola's help guide says to always get consent when transcribing others, calls telling participants best practice, says laws vary by region, and offers an optional automated chat message and a video watermark you switch on. Whether you need everyone's permission depends on where you and your guests are, so check local recording law. This is general information, not legal advice.
Is Granola free?
Basic costs nothing and includes AI notes, templates, shared folders and Slack, but the app shows only the last 30 days of meeting history. Business costs $14 per user per month, billed monthly, for unlimited history and CRM integrations. Prices were checked on Granola's pricing page on 5 November 2026; the mobile apps are free on every plan.
Can other people tell Granola is running?
Not from the participant list, because Granola doesn't add a bot to the call. Granola's ways to show it are the automated chat message and the watermark on your camera, which you turn on, or you can tell people yourself. Enterprise admins can make the notice compulsory for everyone in the workspace.
How do I use AI to write meeting minutes?
Let the tool draft a summary from the transcript, then check every decision, name and number against what was said before you circulate it. A template with fixed headings such as decisions, owners and open questions keeps each set of notes the same. For formal board minutes, ask your lawyer first, since governance writers urge caution with AI there.
Sources
- Granola pricing (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola security (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola privacy policy (effective 8 Sep 2026, checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola help: Setup guide (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola help: How transcription works (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola help: Customize notes with templates (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola help: Subscriptions and billing (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola help: When to use AI notetaking (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola help: Let people know you're using Granola (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola help: Automated chat message in Zoom, Teams and Slack huddles (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola help: Automated chat message on Google Meet (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola help: Sharing notes (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola help: Models and training (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola help: Transcript auto-deletion (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola help: How transcription works on mobile (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola help: Phone calls (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Granola help: AI-enhanced notes (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- ABA Business Law Today: 10 Tips for Director Conduct in the Boardroom (20 Aug 2025, checked 5 Nov 2026)