A Granola AI alternative that works on Windows and Mac, with live answers
Granola is the AI notepad for back-to-back meetings: you type during the call, it listens to your computer's audio without sending a bot, and afterwards it turns your rough notes and the transcript into finished notes. It runs on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android and Apple Watch, so a Granola alternative is rarely about platforms. People look for one because they want help during the call rather than after it, because they want to pick the AI model themselves or run one locally, because they would rather pay once than per user per month, or because they want to read the source of the app that listens to their meetings.
This page puts Granola and Natively side by side on those points, says plainly where Granola is the better choice, and answers the questions people type into the search box: does Granola work on Windows, is there a free Granola alternative, and how do you switch.
We make Natively. Every Granola fact below was read from granola.ai in October 2026, and where its pages do not say, the cell says so.
What Granola does well
Granola made the notepad shape popular, and much of it is good.
- No bot: Granola captures the meeting audio on your device, so nothing joins the call and no participant sees a recorder.
- Platforms: desktop apps for macOS and Windows, mobile apps for iOS and Android, and an Apple Watch app, per its site in October 2026. Its Windows app exists; an older review that calls Granola a Mac app is out of date.
- Templates: custom note templates on every plan, and a Recipes feature for reusable prompts.
- Shared workspace: shared folders on the free plan, and on Business the integrations teams ask for (Notion, HubSpot, Attio, Affinity, Zapier), MCP in all its apps and API access.
- Languages: 32, per its update post.
- Compliance: SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR with a DPA, and HIPAA-compliant workspaces on Enterprise.
What Natively does differently
- Help during the call, not after it: Natively shows a live transcript and answer suggestions while you talk (the “What should I say?” button) and writes the notes as the meeting runs. Granola is a notepad during the call and enhances it afterwards; its pages describe no live answer suggestions.
- Your choice of model: bring your own key for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenRouter and others, run a local model through Ollama, or take a Natively API plan. Granola's security page names the providers it uses (Deepgram and Assembly for transcription, OpenAI and Anthropic for AI) and offers no way to bring your own.
- Where the data goes: transcripts, notes and screen content are processed by the AI provider you chose and stored on your device. Natively's servers receive product-usage events (which features were used, linked to the device), not transcripts or answers. With Ollama the prompts stay on the machine. Granola stores notes in its US-hosted AWS cloud, deletes audio after transcription, and lists an opt-out from model training on its plans.
- Price shape: free for personal use with your own keys or Ollama; Natively Pro is $39 a year or $79 once; Natively API plans run $8 to $35 a month. Granola is $0 on Basic with limited meeting history, then $14 per user per month on Business.
- Source-available: the app's source is published under the Natively Personal Use Source License, free for personal use. Granola publishes no source.
- Overlay: Natively's overlay stays out of screen shares and recordings on the supported apps. Granola is a normal app window; its pages do not describe screen-share behaviour.
- Modes: nine built-in modes (General, Sales, Recruiting, Team Meet, Looking for work, Technical Interview, Lecture, Seminar, Call Center), so the same app covers interviews and lectures as well as meetings.
- No account needed to start with your own keys or Ollama.
Granola and Natively side by side
Rows are the questions people ask before switching. Where a vendor does not say, the cell says so.
| What matters | Natively | Granola |
|---|---|---|
| How it hears the call | Listens to the meeting audio on your machine; no bot joins | Captures your computer audio on your device; no bot joins |
| Platforms | macOS and Windows; phone calls through the Phone Mirror companion | macOS, Windows, iOS, Android and Apple Watch |
| Meeting apps | Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack huddles, Webex, Discord and any app that plays audio | Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and “every other meeting app”, plus huddles and in-person |
| During the call | Live transcript, answer suggestions, notes written as you talk | A notepad you type in; no live answer suggestions described |
| After the call | Summary, action items, notes with templates, Markdown export | AI-enhanced notes, AI chat within and across meetings, templates, shared folders |
| AI models | Your own keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenRouter and others), Ollama locally, or Natively API plans | Granola's cloud; its security page names OpenAI and Anthropic; no bring-your-own-key |
| Time to the first word of an answer | 0.9 s median, measured in the app | Not stated |
| Price | Free with your own keys or Ollama; Pro $39 a year or $79 once; API plans $8 to $35 a month | Basic $0 with limited meeting history; Business $14; Enterprise $35; each per user per month, billing period not stated |
| Licence | Source-available (Natively Personal Use Source License), free for personal use | No source published |
| Compliance claims | None | SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR with a DPA; HIPAA-compliant workspaces on Enterprise |
| Screen shares | The overlay stays out of screen shares and recordings on the supported apps | Not stated |
As of October 2026, from each vendor's website: Granola's home, pricing, security and AI meeting assistant pages, linked under Sources; Natively's pricing, privacy, supported apps and benchmark pages. Prices change; check each site before you pay.
Who should stay on Granola
Stay on Granola if your team lives in its shared workspace: shared folders, notes that colleagues can find and chat with across meetings, and the Business-plan integrations into Notion, HubSpot, Attio, Affinity and Zapier. Stay if you take notes on a phone or a watch: Natively is a desktop app for macOS and Windows, and its Phone Mirror companion covers phone calls rather than replacing a mobile notepad.
Stay if you want a library of note templates maintained by the vendor, or if your buyer requires SOC 2 or HIPAA paperwork, which Natively does not claim. And if you like typing your own notes during the call and letting the AI finish them afterwards, that is the Granola shape. Natively's Notepad has templates too, but the reason to switch is help during the call; if you do not want that, you may not need to.
A free Granola alternative: what free means here
Granola's Basic plan is $0 per user per month and keeps limited meeting history (its pricing table says 30 days). Natively's free is a licence, not a tier: the Natively Personal Use Source License lets you use the app free for personal use, with no time or history limit from Natively.
What you pay for is the AI. Either you bring your own API key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenRouter and others charge per use at their own rates), or you run a model locally through Ollama at no cost beyond your hardware. There is no free Natively API plan: the hosted plans are $8, $15, $25 and $35 a month, and Natively Pro is $39 a year or $79 once. The licence covers personal use; for anything else, see the pricing page.
The plans and the licence are on the pricing page.
Granola alternative for Windows
Granola runs on Windows, so if you are searching for a Granola alternative for Windows the reason is probably not availability. On Windows, Natively adds what Granola's pages do not describe: live answer suggestions during the call, a local model through Ollama, your own API keys, and an overlay that stays out of screen shares and recordings on the supported apps. Both capture the meeting audio on the machine without a bot. Natively on Windows is the same app as on macOS, with the same modes and the same licence.
The list of apps where the overlay stays out of screen shares is on the supported apps page.
How to switch
- Download Natively for macOS or Windows and open it; no account is needed to start.
- Pick how the AI runs: paste your own API key, point it at Ollama for a local model, or take a Natively API plan.
- Choose a mode for the meeting (General or Team Meet for most calls) and join the call in Zoom, Meet, Teams or whichever app you use. Natively listens on the machine; nothing joins the call.
- Your Granola notes stay in Granola. Natively has no Granola import, so there is nothing to migrate: keep Granola for the archive and use Natively for new meetings.
- Going the other way is possible: Natively's notes export as Markdown, so they can be kept or moved to any tool that reads text.
Start on the download page; the Notepad and its templates are described on the Notepad page.
Questions people ask
Does Granola work on Windows?
Yes. Granola's site lists desktop apps for macOS and Windows, plus iOS, Android and Apple Watch, in October 2026. If a review told you Granola is for Mac alone, it is out of date. Natively also runs on Windows and macOS.
Is there a Granola alternative for Windows with live answers?
Natively. On Windows and macOS it shows a live transcript and answer suggestions during the call, writes the notes as you talk, and keeps its overlay out of screen shares and recordings on the supported apps. Granola's pages describe a notepad during the call with AI enhancement afterwards, and no live answer suggestions.
Is there a free Granola alternative?
Natively is free for personal use under the Natively Personal Use Source License, with no meeting-history limit from Natively. You supply the AI: your own API key, billed by that provider, or a local model through Ollama at no cost. There is no free Natively API plan. Granola's own Basic plan is $0 per user per month with limited meeting history, so if a $0 tier is all you need, Granola already has one.
What is the Granola AI notepad?
Granola describes itself as the AI notepad for back-to-back meetings: a notepad you type in during the call, which captures your computer audio without a bot and turns your typed notes and the transcript into finished notes afterwards, with AI chat across meetings. It is a post-call product by design.
Can I import my Granola notes into Natively?
No. Natively has no Granola import. Keep Granola installed for the archive, or copy the notes you still need by hand. Natively's own notes export as Markdown, so moving out of Natively later is straightforward.
Does Natively train on my meetings, and does Granola?
Natively's servers receive product-usage events, not transcripts, notes or answers; those are processed by the AI provider you chose and stored on your device, and with Ollama the prompts stay on your machine. Granola's pricing page lists “Opt out of model training any time” on its plans, and its security page says third parties such as OpenAI and Anthropic are not allowed to train on your data; read both pages for the current wording.
Sources
The pages each fact was read from, in October 2026.
- Granola home page: granola.ai/
- Granola pricing: granola.ai/pricing
- Granola security: granola.ai/security
- Granola AI meeting assistant page: granola.ai/ai-meeting-assistant
- Granola integrations: granola.ai/integrations
- Granola 32 languages update: granola.ai/updates/granola-now-supports-32-languages
- Natively pricing: heynatively.com/pricing
- Natively privacy: heynatively.com/privacy
- Supported apps: heynatively.com/supportedapps
- Answer latency benchmark: heynatively.com/benchmarks/answer-latency
Other notetakers are compared on the Fathom AI Notetaker alternative, Otter alternative and compare pages.
