Granola vs Read.ai – Feature and product comparison

Here's what you should look for in an AI meeting automation tool:

• Transcripts that create a word-for-word record of the meeting. For example, a one-hour product development meeting generates a searchable document containing every feature discussion, technical requirement, and team decision.

• Action items are pulled directly from the conversation. When someone says "John will update the wireframes by Friday," the AI automatically creates a tracked task with the assignee and deadline.

• Meeting summaries distill hour-long conversations into 2-3 paragraphs. A 45-minute sprint planning meeting becomes a concise overview of sprint goals, resource allocation, and key decisions.

• Topic segmentation breaks discussions into labeled sections. A client call covering multiple projects is automatically divided into sections like "Website Redesign," "Q1 Marketing Campaign," and "Budget Review."

Other key features

In addition to the quality of these deliverables, we'll want to look at a number of other key factors:

• Ease-of-use: does it have a simple, intuitive setup that works for non-technical users?

• In-person meeting support: can it transcribe audio from live recordings or uploaded files, not just virtual calls?

• Security and privacy: how is customer data handled on the platform?

• Integrations: can it connect with your existing stack, like HubSpot, Notion, or Slack?

• Functionality: does it go beyond transcriptions and actually help you take action?

• Languages: can it transcribe and summarize meetings in different languages?

• Desktop and mobile apps: can you access it on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android for on-the-go meetings?

Understanding Granola and Read.ai

Granola is an AI notepad that runs directly on Mac computers to capture and enhance meeting notes. It works by listening to system audio from any meeting platform without requiring a bot in the call. Users can type brief notes during meetings, and afterward Granola combines these with the audio recording to generate structured notes with sections like key takeaways and next steps. It offers customizable templates for different meeting types and an AI assistant for follow-up content generation.

The tool works offline, recording and transcribing locally on Mac devices. After a free trial of 25 meetings, pricing starts at $18/month for individuals and $14/user/month for business teams. Current limitations include Mac-only support (Windows version pending), no mobile apps yet, and limited integrations beyond calendar sync and Notion export. It supports approximately 16 languages, though users must manually set the meeting and summary language.

Read.ai is a meeting "copilot" that provides real-time transcription and summarization for virtual meetings on Zoom, Teams, and Meet platforms. It captures not only the content but analyzes engagement metrics like speaking time, sentiment, and attention scores. After meetings, it generates reports with key points and action items, while offering search functionality across meeting transcripts. Additional features include Slack thread and email summarization, support for 16+ languages with real-time translation, and integrations with tools like Notion, Confluence, HubSpot, and Salesforce.

The service offers three pricing tiers: a free plan with 5 meeting transcripts monthly, a Pro plan at $19.75/user/month (annual) for unlimited meetings and team collaboration, and Enterprise at $29.75/user/month with video playback and highlight reels. It works through web apps and browser extensions rather than a desktop client, though it offers an iOS mobile app for in-person meeting capture. Read.ai functions without requiring meeting bots, using cloud recording or extensions for virtual meetings and the mobile app for offline audio.

Comparing Granola and Read.ai

Granola

• Granola functions as a Mac-only AI notepad that captures meeting audio locally and generates summaries with minimal note-taking effort. It works across meeting platforms without requiring a bot, offering templates for different meeting types, but remains limited by its lack of Windows support and mobile apps.

• While Granola provides local recording and offline functionality, its integration capabilities are quite limited with only basic calendar sync and Notion export. The tool falls short on workflow automation and lacks the depth of integrations needed to fit into complex business processes.

Read.ai

• Read.ai serves as a meeting analytics tool that transcribes conversations while measuring engagement and sentiment metrics. It integrates with major platforms like Zoom and Teams, offering real-time transcription and post-meeting reports, but users find the interface cluttered and the free tier restrictive.

• Despite supporting numerous integrations with business tools like HubSpot and Salesforce, Read.ai offers only partial automation capabilities without a true workflow engine. The tool provides extensive data but struggles to translate insights into actionable improvements for meeting effectiveness.

Granola suits individual Mac users who value simplicity and privacy in their note-taking process. Its local processing approach appeals to privacy-conscious professionals who need clean, structured notes without the complexity of analytics. The minimal interface works well for those who get distracted by feature-heavy tools and prefer a focused experience.

Read.ai better serves teams that need deeper meeting analytics and extensive integrations with business tools. Organizations looking to analyze communication patterns and improve meeting effectiveness will benefit from its metrics on engagement and speaking time. Despite more complexity, its broader platform support and robust integration ecosystem make it suitable for enterprise environments where meeting insights need to flow into other systems.

Another alternative: Circleback

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