Granola vs Wave AI
We give Granola a 3.0 GPA and Wave AI a 3.6, out of 4.0. Granola grades higher on the free plan. Wave AI grades higher on value for money, features and platforms. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Granola
AI notepad that transcribes meetings from device audio, no bot
Wave AI
AI note taker and recorder for meetings, calls and lectures
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAGranolaVery good | 3.6GPAWave AIExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$14 a person a month is fair for how good the notes are. But it's monthly only, so there's no cheaper yearly price like most apps offer. | APro is $80 a year on the web. That's $6.67 a month for unlimited recording, transcripts and summaries on every device, when Fireflies asks $10 a month for its Pro. Just don't buy it in the app stores, where it's $100. |
| Free plan and trial | BNo daily limit on transcription, which is generous. But you only get to see the last 30 days of notes. | C30 minutes a month, and recordings, imports, phone calls and bot meetings all come out of it. That's one short meeting. Fathom's free plan lists unlimited recordings. At least nothing you've made gets locked. |
| Features | BNo bot, notes built around what you typed, and you can ask questions across all your meetings. The app hook-ups and the API sit on the paid plan. | AIt records from a phone, a watch, a browser or a desktop app, with a bot or without one, and gets both sides of a phone call. Speaker names, 76 languages, your own summary templates and a chat that searches every recording. |
| Ease of use | A4.96 from about 14,000 App Store ratings. Sign in with Google or Microsoft, connect your calendar and it just starts working. | A4.9 from about 12,100 App Store ratings. You press one red button and talk. One reviewer, a self-confessed horrible note taker, calls it a job saver. |
| Platforms and integrations | CMac, Windows, iPhone, Android and Apple Watch. But no web app, no Linux, and the Mac app needs macOS 14 or later. | AiPhone, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux (in beta), the web, a Chrome extension, Apple Watch and Wear OS. It sends notes to Notion, Google Docs and OneNote, and there's an API, Zapier and a connector for Claude and ChatGPT. |
| Best for | meeting notes without a bot in the call | recording in-person chats and phone calls |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Granola and Wave AI. How we grade
Where they differ
- Granola starts at $14 per user / month, billed monthly. Wave AI starts at $6.67 per month, billed annually ($80 per year); $15 billed monthly.
- Only Wave AI lists a web app.
- Only Wave AI lists a Linux app.
- Only Wave AI lists a browser extension.
At a glance
| Granola | Wave AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $14 per user / month, billed monthly | $6.67 per month, billed annually ($80 per year); $15 billed monthly |
| Free plan | Basic plan: AI meeting notes with no daily transcription limit, chat, shared folders and templates. Only the last 30 days of notes are viewable in the app, and Slack is the only integration. | 30 minutes of audio per calendar month across recordings, imports, phone calls and bot meetings, with AI transcription and summaries. Unused minutes do not roll over. |
| Free trial | None listed | Free trial of Pro offered on the pricing page; its length is not stated |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Granola, Inc. | Mohrer Associates LLC |
| Price read from | granola.ai | wave.co |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Wave AI
- Recording in-person conversations and meetings from a phone or watch
- Phone calls that need both sides transcribed and summarized
- Households sharing one App Store subscription through Family Sharing
Worth knowing
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.
Wave AI
- The Free plan is a pool of 30 minutes a month, and imported files, phone calls and bot-recorded meetings all count toward it.
- Prices depend on where you buy: Pro is $80 a year on the web but $100 through the App Store or Google Play, and the vendor says prices vary by country.
- Teams needs at least 5 seats, and the $7.50 rate applies only from 20 seats; smaller teams pay $8 to $8.33 per user a month.
- Browser recording is microphone-only and capped at 3 hours a session, and offline recordings are transcribed only once the device is back online.
Key features
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.
Wave AI
- Recording on every device
- Record from a phone, an Apple Watch or Wear OS watch, the desktop app, a browser or the Chrome extension. Phone recording continues in the background and with the screen locked.
- Meeting bot or bot-free capture
- A bot can join Zoom, Google Meet and Teams calls from a connected calendar or a pasted link. The desktop app instead records the microphone and system audio with no bot in the call.
- Phone call recording
- Calls dialed from Wave's keypad, or bridged in while already in progress, are recorded on both sides, transcribed and summarized, with your own number shown as caller ID.
- Transcripts and custom summaries
- Transcripts carry speaker labels in 76 languages, and Voice ID remembers a named speaker for later recordings. Summaries use built-in templates or ones you save yourself.
- Wave Assistant
- The assistant searches and chats across the whole recording history, answering questions such as what was decided in a series of meetings from the relevant sessions.
- Sharing, exports and API
- Sessions export to Notion, Google Docs, OneNote, Evernote, PDF or DOCX, or go out as a public link. A developer API, an MCP server for Claude and ChatGPT, and Zapier are available.
Plans
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.
Wave AI
Free$0
30 minutes of recording a month with AI transcription and summaries, on iOS, Android and the web. Earlier recordings stay in the library.
Pro$6.67
per month, billed annually ($80); $15 billed monthly
Unlimited recording, transcription, summaries and action items on every device, with exports to PDF, OneNote and email. $100 a year if bought in the app stores.
Teams$7.50
per user / month, billed annually ($90), at 20+ seats
5-seat minimum: $8.33 per user a month for 5 to 9 seats and $8 for 10 to 19. Everything in Pro, plus centralized billing and an admin dashboard.
Ways to pay less
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.
Wave AI
- Annual discount
$80 a year instead of $15 a month
On the web, Pro costs $80 billed annually, which the pricing page shows as $6.67 a month, against $15 a month on monthly billing.
- Other savings
20% less on the web than in app stores
The pricing page lists annual Pro at $80 on the web and $100 through the App Store or Google Play, and labels the web price 20% less.
- Other savings
Family Sharing on App Store subscriptions
A Wave Pro subscription bought through the App Store extends to everyone in an Apple Family Sharing group at no extra cost, each with a private account.
