Granola vs Read AI
Granola and Read AI are both meeting notes & transcription tools. Granola is aimed at freelancers and small businesses, while Read AI is aimed at small businesses and enterprise. Granola costs less, from $14/mo versus $19.75/mo for Read AI. Both have a free plan.
AI notepad that works without a bot
AI meeting assistant that summarizes meetings, email and chat
| Pricing | Freemium · $14 | Freemium · $20 |
| Starting price | $14/mo | $19.75/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Freelancers, Small businesses | Small businesses, Enterprise, Freelancers |
| Platforms | macos, windows, ios | web, macos, windows, ios, android |
| Country | GB · 2023 | US · 2021 |
| 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 Read AI if
Professionals and teams on Zoom, Teams and Meet who want one AI assistant across meetings, email and chat.
- Covers meetings, email and chat in one searchable assistant
- Works across Zoom, Teams and Meet without switching tools
- Useful free plan for occasional meetings
Look elsewhere if: Teams that dislike meeting bots or need deep sales conversation analytics (Granola, Gong).
Granola vs Read AI 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
Read AI
- Free$05 meetings per month, 1-hour max meeting length
- Pro$19.75/user/mo$15 billed annually; unlimited reports, 4-hour meetings
- Enterprise$29.75/user/mo$22.50 billed annually; 5+ licenses, playback, highlights
- Enterprise+$39.75/user/mo$29.75 billed annually; HIPAA, SAML, SCIM, 8-hour meetings
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
Read AI · Key features
- Automatic notes, transcripts and action items for Zoom, Teams and Meet
- Ask Read search across meetings, email and Slack with citations
- Speaker Coach metrics for talk time, pace and engagement
- Mobile apps that record and summarize in-person meetings
- Summaries synced to Salesforce, HubSpot, Notion, Jira and Confluence
- Transcription and summaries in more than 20 languages
Cons
- Meeting bot and engagement scores can make guests uneasy
- Video playback requires Enterprise with a five-license minimum
- Free plan limited to 5 meetings and one-hour calls
Granola vs Read AI: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Granola or Read AI?
Granola starts at $14/mo and Read AI at $19.75/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Granola and Read AI have a free plan?
Yes, both Granola and Read AI have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.