Otter vs Granola (2026): Which AI Note Taker Should You Use?

Pick Granola when you will sit in the meeting and a bot on the guest list is the problem. Business is $14/user/mo, monthly only, and it does not keep a recording. Pick Otter Pro at $8.33/user/mo billed annually when you need playback, a live transcript, or a notetaker that joins a meeting you are invited to, because a sixth Otter user cannot stay on Pro.

The Granola link above is an affiliate link, and the Otter links on this page are not. An AI note taker turns a live meeting into a transcript and a recap, and this pair splits on two facts: whether another participant joins the call, and whether any audio is left to replay. A room that will not accept an extra guest is a Granola job, and a colleague who needs the tape afterward is an Otter job.

Toolradar data: the transcription ranking we publish evaluated 169 tools, as of 17 October 2026. The median cheapest paid plan among the 63 that publish a price is $12/mo. Otter's annual Pro rate sits under that median, and Granola's Business seat sits above it. Otter.ai is listed as an alternative to 91 other tools in that catalog. The product records are Otter.ai and Granola, and the single-product write-up is our Granola review.

Prices below were read on 17 October 2026 on Otter's pricing page, Granola's pricing page, Granola's billing guide, and Granola's transcription guide.

At a glance

Question	Otter	Granola	Who wins
Job this page is buying	A transcript you can replay, from a bot or from your own mic	Notes from device audio, with the audio deleted afterward	Split by the recording
First paid plan	Pro, 1,200 shared minutes, 90 minutes per conversation	Business, unlimited history, no daily minute cap	Otter, for one to five people who can live with the cap
What free actually allows	300 shared minutes, 30 minutes per conversation, 25 saved conversations	No daily minute cap, notes visible for 30 days	Granola, once a call runs past half an hour
Sixth billed person	Moves the workspace to Business	Stays on the same Business seat	Granola
Audio after the meeting	Playback on every plan, including Basic	Deleted after transcription on every plan	Otter
HubSpot and an API	HubSpot for 1 user on Pro; the API is Enterprise, which does not publish a price	HubSpot and the API on Business	Granola, if the API is the reason to pay
SSO	Enterprise, and the license minimum is 100 users	Enterprise, and the billing guide sets SSO at 50 or more users	Granola, and only after the headcount clears 50

A wider field, including tools that are neither of these two, is in best AI meeting assistants and best AI note-taking apps. Open those when the shortlist is bigger than these two.

What Otter and Granola cost a working team

Plan	Price	What the cap allows
Otter Basic	Free	300 shared minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 lifetime file imports, 25 saved conversations
Otter Pro	$16.99/user/mo monthly, or $8.33/user/mo billed annually	1,200 shared minutes, 90 minutes per conversation, 10 file imports a month, up to 5 billed users
Otter Business	$30/user/mo monthly, or $19.99/user/mo billed annually	Unlimited meeting minutes, 4 hours per conversation, up to 25 billed users, 6,000 import minutes per user
Otter Enterprise	Does not publish a price	SSO and SCIM at a 100-user minimum, video replay, API and webhooks, HIPAA as an add-on
Granola Basic	Free	AI notes, 30 days of visible history, Slack, no daily transcription cap
Granola Business	$14/user/mo, billed monthly	Unlimited history, HubSpot, Notion, Zapier, Attio, Affinity, API, pre-meeting briefs
Granola Enterprise	$35/user/mo on the pricing page	SSO, SCIM, HIPAA workspaces, Salesforce, org-wide training opt-out

Pro and Business in the table are annual rates. Month to month, Otter Business lists $30/user/mo, and that card labels an offer of 20% off for 3 months at $24/user/mo, so a team that wants one rate for the whole year should take the annual Business price. Granola does not offer an annual discount on Business, so a buyer who wants a yearly invoice has no cheaper checkout on that plan.

The billing guide says annual contracts exist on Enterprise only, through sales, and it describes that plan as starting at the price in the table. Pending invitations are not seats, because a person is billed when they accept and every member of a workspace shares one tier, so a mixed free-and-paid team means two workspaces. Someone who should stay free cannot sit in the paid workspace without pulling the whole group onto that tier.

One person who can stay inside Pro's minute cap pays $99.96 for a year of annual Pro, against $168 for twelve months of Granola Business. The $68.04 gap is what playback and a bot cost against a plan with no daily minute cap: the cheaper annual seat is Otter, and it is the one that keeps a recording. Paying Otter Pro month to month is $203.88 for the year, which costs more than a year of Granola Business, so only the annual Otter checkout stays cheaper for one person.

Five people who only need one CRM login can stay on Otter Pro, at $499.80 a year, because Pro syncs Salesforce or HubSpot for one user and the rest of that seat does not. Five people who each need HubSpot cannot stay on Pro. Five Otter Business seats, billed annually, are $1,199.40 a year, and five Granola Business seats are $840 a year, with HubSpot on the plan rather than on a five-user sync cap. The five-person CRM bill is lower on Granola. Six people cannot buy Otter Pro at all. Six annual Otter Business seats are $1,439.28, and six Granola seats are $1,008. The sixth Otter colleague still does not get the CRM sync, because Business stops at five synced users, so the extra seat buys a transcript and not another HubSpot login.

Both of those first paid plans sit under the $20 median entry on our AI subscription prices page, from 37 tools read on 10 October 2026. AIpresso is the short morning brief on AI tools and what they cost. Join at aipresso.com.

Who has to be in the meeting for notes to exist?

Otter's recommended path is a Notetaker that joins Zoom as a participant, including meetings you host and meetings you are invited to, on every plan. That suits someone who cannot open a laptop for every call, and it rules out a room that will not tolerate an extra name on the guest list. The help article, updated 6 February 2026, also documents a desktop app for Zoom that records without that bot, so a host who keeps Zoom open on their own computer can skip the guest and stay on Otter. Live Notes and Zoom cloud sync, the other two paths in that article, start on Business and still depend on Zoom.

Concurrent Notetakers are 1 on Basic, 2 on Pro, and 3 on Business and Enterprise, so two overlapping calls fit on Pro and a third overlapping call does not. A double-booked hour can stay on Pro, and a third call at the same time is the moment that workspace has to move up.

Granola does not put a bot in the room. It transcribes system audio and the microphone after you open that meeting's note, on the Mac or Windows desktop app or on the iPhone or Android app, so you have to be in the meeting. The web app can edit notes and cannot capture a call, so a browser-only workstation never records. If the note is already open, transcription can start at the scheduled time, and if you never open it, nothing is captured, including a meeting you skipped. It also cannot upload an MP3, so a recording that already exists is an Otter import, not a Granola job.

That device rule has sharp edges worth knowing before you rely on it. Granola captures the whole system mix, so music playing on the laptop lands in the transcript. On Windows, a meeting app Granola has not added yet can drop the other participants and leave your own voice, so an unsupported app does not produce a usable transcript. Virtual desktops, including Citrix and Azure Virtual Desktop, are not supported, and the Teams desktop app there does not pass other people's audio, so a remote-desktop laptop should skip Granola. Back-to-back calls can merge into one note if the microphone stays open and you do not press stop, which means a packed afternoon needs a manual stop between meetings.

Otter's bot avoids that class of problem because it joins the meeting itself, and it creates the opposite problem: the guest sees another attendee. You still tell the room on a small plan. Granola's pricing table lets each user show that Granola is in use, and Enterprise can enforce that notice, so a required disclosure means the Enterprise seat. Otter's recording-disclaimer email is an Enterprise row, so a smaller Otter workspace has to warn the room itself.

How much recording time do you actually get?

Otter meters time, and that meter is what knocks a busy week off the cheaper paid plan. Basic and Pro share one pool across live meetings and imported files, marked on the pricing table, and unused minutes do not roll over, so a quiet month does not bank time for a heavy one. A 45-minute one-on-one does not fit on Basic, because the free conversation cap is half an hour, which makes the free plan a short test rather than a week of real calls. Ten conversations at that free cap spend the whole free pool.

Pro's monthly pool is 20 hours, so four weeks of one-hour weekday meetings spend the month and the 21st hour waits for the reset. A two-hour workshop does not fit on Pro either, because the conversation cap is 90 minutes, which is when the length, not the headcount, pushes you to Otter Business. Business raises that cap to 4 hours and removes the meeting-minute pool, while imported files on Business and Enterprise stay capped at 6,000 minutes per user even though the file count is unlimited. Old recordings can still hit a wall after the live-meeting line is gone.

History is a second Otter wall, and it bites faster than the minute pool if you meet every day. Basic keeps the 25 most recent conversations, so five meetings a day fill that history in five days and later meetings push the earliest notes out. Pro and above keep unlimited history, which is why a daily user outgrows the free plan even when the minutes would have lasted.

Granola's billing guide says there is no daily transcription limit on any plan, which is why a long free meeting fits here and breaks Otter's free conversation cap. The free wall is age, not minutes: Basic shows the last 30 days, older notes stay stored and disappear from the app until you upgrade, and a call from before that window means paying or losing it from view. A CSV from settings exports titles and summaries, not the full transcript, so the export is not a backup of what was said. Business and Enterprise keep unlimited history and add model choice in chat.

Playback is the clean split, and it decides the product more than the seat price does. Otter lists audio playback on Basic, paid plans add slower and faster speeds, and Enterprise adds video replay for Zoom and Google Meet, the only Otter plan that keeps the picture. Granola's pricing table says audio is deleted after transcription on every plan, and the transcription guide says it does not save audio or video, so there is no tape to send a colleague who missed the call. A shareable recording is an Otter job at any price on this page.

Speaker tags on Granola cover Meet, Zoom, and Teams on Mac and Windows, plus face-to-face on the phone, and where tags are off the transcript falls back to you versus everyone else. That split separates your voice from the room and does not name the other people. Otter includes speaker identification on every plan, and paid plans share speakers across the workspace, so a team that reuses the same guests does not relabel them on every meeting.

File import follows the same split: Otter Basic allows 3 imports ever, Pro allows 10 a month, and those imports spend the shared minute pool, so a folder of old recordings can exhaust the month before a live meeting happens. Granola does not transcribe a file you already have, so an archive of recordings is an Otter job. A stack of documents, rather than a live call or a recording, is a different product, covered in best AI summarizers. The free-plan version of this choice is best free AI note takers and best free AI transcription tools.

Which plan connects notes to a CRM or an API?

Otter Pro is a one-person CRM. Salesforce or HubSpot sync is off on Basic, limited to 1 user on Pro, limited to 5 users on Business, and unlimited on Enterprise, so anyone besides that one user is already off Pro. Zapier starts on Pro, and the API, webhooks, AI Chat with Salesforce, and centralized customer calls sit on Enterprise. A five-person sales team that all need HubSpot is already on Business, at the annual rate in the table, before anyone asks for an API.

Granola puts Slack on every plan, including Basic, so a free user can drop a recap into a channel without a paid seat. Notion, Zapier, HubSpot, Attio, and Affinity start on Business, with the API on that same plan, which is why a team that wants HubSpot and an API without a sales call buys Granola's monthly seat. Salesforce is the Enterprise row, next to SSO, SCIM, HIPAA workspaces, and an org-wide training opt-out. A team that wants Salesforce is buying Granola Enterprise or the Otter Enterprise quote.

SSO will not rescue a small company on either side. Otter requires a 100-user license for SSO and for SCIM, so a company under that minimum cannot buy Otter SSO by paying more. Granola's billing guide offers SSO for teams of 50 or more, on Enterprise, and you can check out in the app or ask sales for an annual contract. A 40-person company gets SSO from neither product. HIPAA is included on Granola Enterprise and is an add-on on Otter Enterprise, with no add-on price on the pricing page, so a team that needs HIPAA can see it on the Granola seat and cannot price the Otter add-on from the page.

The mobile apps are not a way around the seat. Granola's billing guide says the phone apps do not require a paid subscription to take notes, and a Basic workspace still hides notes older than the free history window, so the phone still hides the older calls. Otter's phone apps are on every plan and still draw down the shared minutes, so a phone recording spends the same pool as the desktop. The rest of a small company's stack is best AI tools for business, and the transcription category beyond these two is best AI transcription tools.

Who should pick Otter, and who should pick Granola?

Pick Granola Basic if you are in the meeting, you will not send a bot, and the free history window is enough. That is the right free plan for a long call, and the wrong one if you need older notes or a recording you can forward. Move to Granola Business when you need older notes, HubSpot or Notion, follow-up emails, pre-meeting briefs, or the API, and you can accept a monthly seat. You are paying for integrations and history, not for a tape.

Pick Otter Pro, billed annually, if the team is five billed users or fewer, meetings stay under the Pro conversation cap, 20 hours a month is enough, and only one person needs HubSpot or Salesforce. The reason to pay is the recording and the Notetaker, not a cheaper CRM, and anyone besides that one CRM user has already outgrown the plan.

Pick Otter Business if calls run past that conversation cap, a sixth person needs a seat, or more than one person must sync the CRM, and you still want playback. Pick Otter Enterprise only when you can take a quote for SSO at the license minimum in the table, the API, or video replay. Pick Granola Enterprise when Salesforce, HIPAA, or SSO at the Enterprise minimum in the table is the requirement, and you will pay the seat printed there.

Pick both only when the jobs differ: Granola for the customer call where a bot would be unwelcome, and Otter for the workshop you need to replay or the file you already recorded. Two paid plans for one weekly staff meeting is two invoices.

How we compared

We read Otter's pricing page and its Zoom recording article, plus Granola's pricing page, billing guide, transcription guide, and transcription troubleshooting, on 17 October 2026. Yearly totals such as $99.96 and $1,199.40 are the seat price times 12, then times the headcount. They are not a second price list. The 169-tool count, the 91-tool cross-shop count, and the $12 median are Toolradar's transcription catalog as of 17 October 2026. The $20 median is AIpresso's subscription-price snapshot from 10 October 2026.

AIpresso data: the audience file refreshed October 18, 2026 shows 25,000+ subscribers and a 31% average open rate. Louis Corneloup, founder of Toolradar and Dupple, edited the comparison for readers who have to pick one note taker. How Toolradar sets ranks is on its editorial policy, and how this site publishes is on the AIpresso about page.

FAQ

Which is better in 2026, Otter or Granola?

Granola is the better buy when you will be in the meeting, you do not want a bot on the guest list, and you do not need a recording afterward. Business is $14/user/mo, billed monthly, with unlimited history, so the seat buys older notes and a quiet guest list rather than a tape. Otter is the better buy when you need playback, a live transcript, a Notetaker that joins a meeting you are invited to, or a file you already recorded. Pro is $8.33/user/mo billed annually for up to five billed users, and a longer meeting or a sixth person moves you to Business.

How much do Otter and Granola cost in 2026?

Otter Pro is $16.99/user/mo month to month, or $8.33/user/mo billed annually, for the Pro minute pool and a 90-minute conversation cap. Otter Business is $30/user/mo monthly, or $19.99/user/mo billed annually, and the monthly card discounts the first three months to $24/user/mo. Otter Enterprise does not publish a price. Granola Basic is free, Business is $14/user/mo with no annual discount, and Enterprise is $35/user/mo on the pricing page. One year of annual Otter Pro is $99.96. One year of Granola Business is $168. Prices were read on 17 October 2026.

Is there a free Otter plan or a free Granola plan?

Yes. Otter Basic includes 300 shared minutes a month, stops a conversation at 30 minutes, keeps 25 conversations, and allows 3 file imports ever, so a one-on-one past that cap never fits free Otter. Granola Basic includes AI notes with no daily minute cap, shows the history window in the table, and includes Slack. It does not keep audio, and it does not include HubSpot, Notion, or Zapier, so free Granola is a long meeting with a short memory.

Can Otter or Granola join a meeting without you?

Otter's Notetaker joins Zoom as a participant for meetings you host and meetings you are invited to, on every plan, so a meeting on your calendar can be transcribed without you opening a note. Granola has no bot and transcribes only after you open a note on a Mac, Windows PC, iPhone, or Android phone that can hear the audio, and it cannot upload a recording later. Otter also has a desktop app that records Zoom without a bot, which still requires that computer to be in the call, so leaving the room works for Otter's bot and not for either desktop app.

Which one keeps a recording you can play back?

Otter does, on every plan, and Enterprise adds video replay for Zoom and Google Meet, so a missed call can be heard on the free plan and watched only on the Enterprise quote. Granola deletes audio after transcription on every plan and does not save a recording you can scrub, clip, or forward. If the point of the tool is a tape for someone who missed the call, Otter is the one that keeps it, and Granola leaves a recap with nothing to press play on.

Which plan includes HubSpot, Salesforce, and an API?

Granola Business includes HubSpot, Notion, Zapier, Attio, Affinity, and the API, so those connections do not wait for an Enterprise conversation. Salesforce waits for Granola Enterprise at $35/user/mo. Otter Pro syncs Salesforce or HubSpot for one user, Business syncs five users, and the API is the Enterprise quote. SSO needs 100 Otter users or 50 Granola users, so a small team does not get it on either product.

Do unused Otter minutes roll over, and does Granola have a minute cap?

Otter minutes do not roll over, so a light month does not save time for a heavy one. Basic and Pro share one pool across meetings and imports, 300 minutes and 1,200 minutes, and Business removes the meeting cap while imported files stay at 6,000 minutes per user. Granola publishes no daily transcription cap. Its free limit is 30 days of visible history, not a minute balance, which means a free Granola user loses the view of old notes rather than running out of minutes.

Cite this: AIpresso, "Otter vs Granola (2026): Which AI Note Taker Should You Use?", October 2026.

AIpresso covers the AI note takers worth paying for, and the caps that show up after the first invoice. Join at aipresso.com.

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