Granola vs Shadow

Granola

• People who do not want a recording bot visible in their calls
• Note-takers who like to type their own points and have them filled out afterwards
• Back-to-back meeting schedules across Zoom, Google Meet and Teams

Shadow

• Mac users who want meeting notes without a bot in the call
• People who want to write their own prompts for notes and follow-ups
• Keeping transcripts as Markdown files on their own disk
• Using one app for meeting notes and voice typing

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.

Shadow

• Mac only: it requires Apple Silicon and macOS 14.2 or later. Windows and other devices are on a waitlist.
• Data is stored only on the one Mac. Sync across devices is on the roadmap but not available.
• The Free plan lists transcription, recording and screenshots; unlimited AI meeting notes, Skills and AI chat need Plus.
• Skills, Ask and automatic titles send transcripts or screen context to OpenAI, Google or Anthropic. Capture, transcription and storage stay on the Mac.

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.

Shadow

Bot-free capture with Autopilot

Shadow records the microphone and system audio from the Mac, so nothing joins the call. Autopilot detects supported meetings and starts and stops listening on its own.

On-device transcription

Transcription and speaker labeling run on the Mac, and raw audio is not sent to an outside provider. The vendor lists around 100 languages and says English works best.

Smart Screenshots

Shadow finds the meeting window and captures it as the visuals change, so questions asked afterwards can cover what was shown as well as what was said.

Meeting Skills

Each Skill is an editable prompt that produces notes, action items, a follow-up email or a BANT breakdown. A Skill can run automatically after a meeting and send its result to a webhook.

Action Skills and voice typing

A keyboard shortcut in any app runs a Skill on what you say, what is on screen or the text you selected, then pastes the result at the cursor.

Local Markdown vault

Transcripts and Skill outputs are saved as Markdown files, with media, in a vault folder you choose on the Mac. You can keep or discard meeting audio.

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.

Shadow

• Free$0

  Unlimited transcription, unlimited audio recording and unlimited Smart Screenshots, described as free forever.

• Plus$8

  per month, billed annually; $12 billed monthly

  Everything in Free, plus unlimited AI meeting notes, Meeting Skills, Action Skills and AI chat.

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.

Shadow

• Annual discount

  Annual billing lowers Plus to $8 a month

  The pricing page's billing toggle shows Plus at $8 a month on annual billing and $12 a month on monthly billing, about a third less.