Granola Review: Finally, an AI Tool That Doesn't Feel Like a Bot

The Problem with "Meeting Bots"

We've all been there. You join a Zoom call, and suddenly 3 different bots join with you: "OtterPilot," "Fireflies Notetaker," "Read.ai." It's awkward. It feels like being recorded by a surveillance team.

Granola fixes this. It doesn't join the call. It doesn't show up in the participant list. It lives quietly on your computer, capturing system audio like a native app.

How Granola Works

Granola feels like Apple Notes, but with superpowers. You open it during a meeting, and you can jot down a few bullet points if you want. Meanwhile, it's listening.

When the meeting ends, it doesn't just give you a transcript. It combines your messy bullets with its full transcript to generate a perfectly structured summary that reflects what you cared about.

Killer Features

1. No Bots, No Awkwardness

Since it records system audio, you can use it for Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, Slack Huddles, or even in-person meetings. It's completely platform-agnostic.

2. Customized Templates

Granola knows that a "Sales Discovery" note looks different from a "Weekly 1:1" note. You can create custom templates, and Granola will force the AI to format the output exactly how you like it.

3. "Share" that actually looks human

The summaries Granola generates are so good they look hand-written. You can copy-paste them into Slack or Email without looking like a robot wrote them.

Pricing & Value

Granola has a generous free tier (25 meetings/month). The Pro plan unlocks unlimited meetings and advanced AI models (like GPT-4o) for better reasoning.

Considering it saves about 10-15 minutes of typing per meeting, the ROI is instant.

Final Verdict: Is it Worth It?

If you are a Business Analyst, Product Manager, or Founder who lives in meetings, Granola is non-negotiable. It is the single most useful tool in my daily stack.

It brings the focus back to the conversation, not the note-taking.