Granola

Granola is a macOS, Windows, and iOS application that captures device system audio directly — no bot joins the call — transcribes in real time, and then enhances the user's own typed notes with AI-generated summaries, action items, and structured context. Originally a prosumer tool popular among VCs and founders, it is now expanding into enterprise with team Spaces, admin governance, a personal and enterprise REST API, and an MCP server that surfaces meeting context inside Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and other AI tools.

Real-time transcription via device audio capture (no visible meeting participant); hybrid human-AI note model where the user types rough notes during the meeting and Granola enhances them post-meeting using transcript context; customizable templates (29 built-in including Pipeline Reviews, Customer Discovery, 1:1s); cross-meeting natural-language querying ('Ask Granola') across folders spanning weeks or months of conversations; team Spaces with granular folder-level access controls; shared notes and collaborative folders; people and companies views for relationship tracking; support for multiple languages in the same meeting; in-meeting live catch-up ('summarize the last 5 minutes'); file and image upload for pre-meeting context; transcript deletion for selective redaction. Stores only text — audio is deleted immediately after transcription.

Hybrid human-AI workflow: user notes are woven into AI summaries in a visually distinct layer, preserving personal emphasis rather than producing generic output. Cross-meeting AI chat queries span entire folder archives using advanced reasoning models (Business/Enterprise). File uploads provide pre-meeting context to the AI. MCP server launched February 2026 (GA): connects Granola meeting notes to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Lovable, Figma Make, Replit, Manus, v0, Bolt.new, and others; authenticated via browser OAuth 2.0 per user (no API keys or service accounts for MCP); rate limit approximately 100 requests/minute; admin-controlled toggle, off by default for Enterprise workspaces. Personal REST API (Business and Enterprise) and Enterprise REST API (Enterprise only) launched March 2026 alongside Series C, providing bulk programmatic access to notes and team context for custom integrations and agent workflows. Basic plan MCP and API access limited to 30-day history window.

Four tiers as of June 2026. Free/Basic: unlimited meetings, 30-day rolling history window, AI-enhanced notes, templates, shared folders, multi-language — no integrations, no MCP. Individual: $18/user/month, unlimited history, advanced AI models, no team features or integrations. Business: $14/user/month (counterintuitively cheaper than Individual), unlimited history, advanced AI models, CRM and productivity integrations (Notion, Slack, HubSpot, Attio, Affinity, Zapier), MCP access, personal API, centralized billing, shared folders, admin controls — manual AI training opt-out per user in settings. Enterprise: $35+/user/month, adds SAML SSO (Okta/Google Workspace), org-wide AI training opt-out enforced by default (contractually prevents OpenAI/Anthropic from training on transcripts), usage analytics, priority support, enterprise API, admin link-sharing governance, Spaces with granular access controls, SOC 2 Type 2 coverage. No annual billing discount. Per-seat, no per-meeting or per-minute charges.

Native integrations on Business/Enterprise: Slack, Notion, HubSpot, Attio, Affinity, Zapier (8,000+ downstream apps). Microsoft Teams and Outlook supported for calendar sync and audio capture. Google Calendar and Outlook auto-populate upcoming meetings. MCP server connects to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and a growing list of AI tools. Personal API and Enterprise API for custom workflows. No native Salesforce integration; Salesforce reachable via Zapier or API. No Android app; no web app. Integrations gated to Business tier and above.

SOC 2 Type 2 certified (completed July 2025, achieved in ~3 months due to audio-delete-on-transcription architecture). GDPR compliant with DPA available on all plans. AI model training opt-out available manually on all plans including Free; enforced org-wide by default on Enterprise, contractually binding on OpenAI and Anthropic. No HIPAA compliance. No ISO 27001 referenced. AWS infrastructure; encryption in transit and at rest. Audio deleted immediately post-transcription — only text transcripts stored. Enterprise admins can disable external note link sharing org-wide. A 2025 iOS beta incident exposed a third-party API key affecting 333 beta user transcripts; no malicious access confirmed, macOS users unaffected. MCP disabled by default on Enterprise workspaces; admin-toggled.

Founded 2022, headquartered in London (Shoreditch), UK; San Francisco office opened 2026. Co-founders: Chris Pedregal (CEO) — previously co-founded Socratic (AI tutor acquired by Google 2018) and led Stack at Google Area 120; Sam Stephenson (design, consumer apps background). Funding: $4.25M seed (May 2023, Lightspeed + Betaworks); $20M Series A (October 2024, AI Grant + Lightspeed + Spark); $43M Series B (May 2025, NFDG led by Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross, $250M valuation); $125M Series C (March 25, 2026, Index Ventures led by Danny Rimer, Kleiner Perkins by Mamoon Hamid, plus Lightspeed, Spark, NFDG — $1.5B valuation). Total funding: $192M. Notable customers: Vanta, Gusto, Thumbtack, Asana, Cursor, Lovable, Decagon, Mistral AI, Vercel, Brex. Also listed as an Attio customer.

Strong. Granola was built on organic adoption by VCs and founders and is explicitly marketed to that cohort. The bot-free architecture is a material fit for investor contexts — deal calls, LP conversations, and founder meetings where a visible recording bot is unwelcome or consent friction is high. The Attio and Affinity native integrations (Business tier) enable direct note-to-CRM workflows relevant to a firm's deal flow and relationship tracking. The MCP server and new REST APIs make Granola's meeting corpus available as live context inside Claude and other AI tools, enabling the AI-native workflows a firm prioritizes. Cross-meeting querying across folders supports pattern recognition across portfolio company discussions, sector diligence calls, and LP touchpoints. Enterprise tier's org-wide AI training opt-out and admin link-sharing governance address the sensitivity of deal and LP data. The Spaces feature supports team-level knowledge management across analysts and partners. Key gap: no audio/video playback means errors cannot be verified against the source recording — a consideration for high-stakes diligence calls.

No audio or video stored — transcription errors cannot be verified against source recording. Speaker diarization struggles in larger multi-participant calls. No Android app; no web app (Mac, Windows, iOS only). Free plan is effectively a 25-meeting lifetime trial, not a sustainable free tier. Integrations (including MCP and Attio/Affinity sync) gated to Business tier ($14/user/month minimum). AI training opt-out requires manual action on Free and Business plans; only enforced by default on Enterprise. No HIPAA compliance. No annual billing discount. MCP has no service account or API key auth — each user must individually complete browser OAuth, which complicates automated agent workflows. Enterprise API (bulk programmatic access) is Enterprise-only. 2025 iOS beta security incident (API key exposure) signals security practices still maturing.