Bubbles vs Granola (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Bubbles if

• Fits if you're on a Mac and want to look back over the last two hours
• Works for small teams that want a notetaker and shareable replay clips

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you stay free: 5 recordings a week, 30 minutes each, locked after 2 weeks
• Pricey if you're alone: $18 a month while the workspace has 1 or 2 members
• Watch out: on the free plan the Notetaker joins all meetings with 2 or more invitees, and everyone gets the recording
• Not for you if you don't use a Mac and want a no-bot mode, which needs macOS 13 or later
• Watch out: the homepage says no bots join calls, but the notetaker is a bot

Pick Granola if

• Fits if you don't want a bot showing up in your meetings
• Works for people in back-to-back calls on Zoom, Meet and Teams who jot their own points

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want to look back at old notes without paying, since the free plan only shows the last 30 days
• Not for you if you want it in a browser or on Linux, since there's no web app, extension or Linux app
• Pricey if you need Notion, HubSpot or Zapier, which start on Business at $14, or SSO and Salesforce at $35 a head
• Watch out: billing is monthly only below Enterprise, and you must sign in with a Google or Microsoft account
• Not for you if your Mac can't run macOS 14, or if you need to edit the raw notes yourself

Bubbles

• The homepage says no bots join your calls, while the Notetaker and pricing pages describe a bot that joins meetings; the two modes work differently.
• The download listed is for macOS 13 or later; the Notetaker is the route for other computers.
• On the free plan the Notetaker joins all meetings with 2 or more invitees and every invitee gets the recording.
• Pro pricing is $18 per member a month for 1 or 2 members and $12 at 3 or more.

Granola

• The free Basic plan shows only the last 30 days of notes; older notes need a Business subscription to view.
• Notion, HubSpot, Attio, Affinity and Zapier integrations start on Business; Salesforce, SSO and SCIM are Enterprise only.
• Basic and Business are billed monthly only; annual billing is offered on Enterprise contracts.
• There is no web app or browser extension, and the Mac app needs macOS 14 or later.

Bubbles

Two-hour rolling replay

The Mac app keeps the last two hours of screen and audio, encrypted on your computer, and erases the oldest minute as new ones arrive.

Notes from jotted fragments

During a call you can type a few fragments; on save, AI turns the transcript and your fragments into a summary, action items and a full transcript.

AI Notetaker for calendar meetings

After you connect a calendar, the Notetaker joins meetings on Zoom, Google Meet and Teams and emails a summary and action items.

Trim and share

Scroll back through the replay, trim a moment and share a link. The site says only the trimmed part is uploaded.

Chat with your meetings

The site shows ChatGPT and Claude among the places where you can chat with your meeting content, and it publishes a Bubbles API.

Controls on who gets recordings

On Pro you choose which meetings the Notetaker joins and who receives recordings. On the free plan all invitees receive them.

Granola

Bot-free capture

Transcribes from your device's microphone and system audio, so it works with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or other call software without adding a participant to the meeting.

Notes built on what you type

Type rough notes during the call and Granola expands them into a full write-up using the transcript. Custom templates control the structure of the result.

Chat across meetings

Ask questions about one meeting or your whole history, such as what you agreed to do this week. Basic uses automatic model choice; paid plans let you pick the model.

Shared folders

Notes are private until you share them. Shared folders give a team a common place for meeting notes and are included on every plan.

MCP and API access

An MCP connection lets assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT read your meeting notes. Basic exposes personal notes from the last 30 days; API access starts on Business.

Phone apps for in-person meetings

The iPhone and Android apps take notes away from the desk, for walking meetings, conferences or coffee catch-ups, and there is an Apple Watch app.

Bubbles

• BasicFree

  5 meeting recordings a week of up to 30 minutes, unlimited screen recordings; Bubbles lock after 2 weeks and the Notetaker joins all meetings.

• Pro Teams$12

  per member / month, billed yearly ($15 billed monthly)

  For workspaces of 3 or more: unlimited length and recordings, AI transcripts, choose which meetings the Notetaker joins, custom branding.

• Pro Personal$18

  per member / month, billed yearly ($22 billed monthly)

  Same features as Pro Teams for workspaces of 1 or 2 members; switches to Pro Teams pricing when the workspace reaches 3.

Granola

• Basic$0

  AI meeting notes, chat across meetings, shared folders and note templates, with 30 days of meeting history.

• Business$14

  per user / month, billed monthly

  Unlimited history, model selection in chat, pre-meeting briefs, API access and integrations such as Notion, HubSpot and Zapier.

• Enterprise$35

  per user / month, monthly or annual contract

  Starting price. Adds SSO, SCIM, workspace-wide admin policies, usage analytics, HIPAA-compliant workspaces and Salesforce.

Bubbles

• Annual discount

  Yearly billing lowers the member price

  Pro Teams is $12 a member billed yearly against $15 billed monthly. Pro Personal is $18 against $22.

Granola

• Startups

  1 year of Business free for startups

  Granola's startup program gives accepted companies 12 months of the Business plan at no cost. It is open to startups with fewer than 30 employees that have raised a pre-seed or seed round.

• Education

  12 months free for students

  Currently enrolled students at accredited universities in the US, UK and Canada can apply for 12 months of Granola Business free.

• Nonprofit

  50% off Business for nonprofits

  Registered nonprofits get 50% off the Business plan after verifying their status through Goodstack. Approval is at Granola's discretion.