Granola is an AI notepad that captures meeting audio directly from your computer's system audio and transcribes it locally on your device. You type your own notes during meetings, and afterward Granola's AI combines your notes with the transcription to create better meeting summaries. The tool works with any video conferencing platform since it captures audio at the system level rather than using a meeting bot.

The app offers customizable note templates for different meeting types and supports automatic language detection for multilingual conversations. After meetings end, you can use an AI chat feature to ask questions about the meeting content. Granola processes transcription locally on Mac and Windows desktop apps, then sends only text to the cloud for AI improvement while keeping the original audio on your device.

You get 25 free meetings as a trial, then pricing starts at $18 monthly for individuals or $14 per user monthly for business teams. The service requires a Google Workspace email to sign up and currently has no integrations with other apps, so you must manually copy or export notes to external systems. Mobile apps are planned but not yet available.

Users look for alternatives to Granola because...

No video recording or audio playback - Granola only captures and transcribes audio without storing the raw audio files. This means if you miss something during a meeting, you can only rely on the AI-generated transcript rather than re-listening to what was actually said. This can be a real problem when you need to verify exact quotes or clarify nuanced conversations.

Limited access and no free plan - The service requires a Google Workspace email to sign up (excluding personal Gmail users) and only offers 25 free meetings as a trial before requiring a paid subscription starting at $18/month. This creates barriers for individual users who want to test the product long-term or those without enterprise email accounts.

Lack of integrations and automation - Granola works more like a standalone note-taking app without native integrations to popular tools like CRMs or Slack. Users have to manually copy and export notes to other platforms. There's no automation engine to automatically create tasks or update other systems based on meeting content.

How Circleback can help

People choose Circleback because it fixes many of the basic problems that users face with other meeting AI tools like Granola, while delivering a more complete and user-friendly experience.

Why People Love Circleback:

Circleback offers the complete package that busy professionals need. Unlike tools that force you to choose between convenience and functionality, Circleback gives you both seamless meeting integration and strong post-meeting features. Users love that they can access their meetings through multiple channels - whether they prefer the convenience of a meeting bot or want to dial in directly. The platform's smart AI doesn't just transcribe; it understands context, spots key decisions, and automatically organizes information in ways that actually help you follow through on commitments.

How Circleback Solves Granola's Key Problems:

Complete Meeting Capture & Playback: While Granola forces users to rely only on transcripts when they miss something important, Circleback gives you both high-quality audio recording and video capture. This means you can actually go back and re-listen to crucial moments, verify exact quotes, or catch subtle details that might be lost in text transcription. For sales teams reviewing client objections or managers clarifying complex decisions, this playback feature is invaluable.

Universal Access & Generous Free Tier: Granola's restrictive Google Workspace requirement and limited 25-meeting trial create unnecessary barriers. Circleback welcomes users with any email address and offers a more substantial free tier that lets individuals and small teams truly test the platform's value over time. This accessibility means teams can start benefiting right away without bureaucratic hurdles or premature payment pressure.

Native Integrations & Smart Automation: Perhaps most importantly, Circleback gets rid of the manual busywork that plagues Granola users. Instead of copying and pasting notes between systems, Circleback seamlessly pushes insights directly into your CRM, automatically creates follow-up tasks in your project management tool, and can even trigger custom workflows based on meeting content. This automation transforms meeting notes from static documents into actionable business intelligence that actually drives results.

The result is a platform that doesn't just record meetings - it amplifies your team's ability to act on them effectively.

Circleback provides best-in-class AI meeting notes and automations

Circleback provides best-in-class AI-powered meeting notes and automations. We support over 100 languages and automatic participant identification in both in-person and online meetings.

• Automatically-identified and assigned action items

• AI-enabled search across all meetings

• Automations with 100+ app integrations

• Industry-leading security with SOC 2 Type II, EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and HIPAA compliance

• Ability to capture both online and in-person meetings with desktop and mobile apps