Granola vs Kai
Granola and Kai are both meeting notes & transcription tools aimed at freelancers and small businesses. Granola costs less, from $14/mo versus $20/mo for Kai. Both have a free plan.
AI notepad that works without a bot
AI executive assistant for email, meetings, calendar and tasks
| Pricing | Freemium · $14 | Paid · $20 |
| Starting price | $14/mo | $20/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Freelancers, Small businesses | Freelancers, Small businesses, Enterprise |
| Platforms | macos, windows, ios | web, macos, android |
| Country | GB · 2023 | CH |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Granola if
Professionals who take many calls and want excellent notes without a bot in the room.
- No bot; participants are not disrupted
- Notes reflect what you cared about
- Clean, fast app
Look elsewhere if: Teams needing live transcripts, multilingual support or compliance recording.
Choose Kai if
Founders, executives and consultants who want one assistant across email, meetings, calendar and tasks with approval before every action.
- Never sends or deletes without your confirmation
- No meeting bot joins your calls
- Free trial with no card and no time limit
Look elsewhere if: People who only need a fast email client or a meeting notepad (Superhuman, Granola).
Granola vs Kai pricing
Granola
- Basic$0AI meeting notes, limited meeting history
- Business$14/user/moUnlimited notes and history, integrations, API, MCP
- Enterprise$35/user/moSSO, enterprise security and admin controls
Kai
- Free trial$0One-time allowance, all features, no card, no time limit
- Base$20/moPer seat; base monthly allowance
- Pro$50/moPer seat; 5x Base allowance, includes Morgen Pro
- Ultra$100/moPer seat; 10x Base allowance, includes Morgen Pro
Granola · Key features
- Bot-free capture of system audio on Mac, Windows and iOS
- Your notes enhanced with transcript context after the call
- Templates for different meeting types
- AI chat across all meetings
- Calendar integration and auto-start
- Sharing to Notion, Slack, HubSpot and Linear
Cons
- Limited free tier
- No live transcript view
- Depends on local audio capture setup
Kai · Key features
- Botless meeting capture with live transcripts
- Meeting summaries with owners, action items and drafted recap emails
- Email triage into needs reply, FYI and waiting for reply
- Reply drafts in your own writing style and follow-up nudges
- Unified Google and Outlook calendar timeline with a daily brief
- AI-ranked task list filled from meetings and email
Cons
- Usage allowances are not published in absolute terms
- Hitting the monthly allowance pauses work until you upgrade
- Full two-sided call capture needs the Mac app
Granola vs Kai: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Granola or Kai?
Granola starts at $14/mo and Kai at $20/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Granola and Kai have a free plan?
Yes, both Granola and Kai have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.