now recording vs granola

The structural difference: on-device app vs. cloud service

The most important difference between now recording and Granola is not a feature — it is the architecture. now recording does the actual work of transcription on your hardware: Whisper runs inside your browser tab — ready in about 2 seconds in any current Chrome or Edge, including managed work profiles, no GPU needed (or inside the iOS app) — and the resulting transcript stays on your device. The same is true for imported files: drop an existing MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG, or MP4 recording on the recorder page and it is transcribed on-device with timestamps, free and unlimited — the file never uploads. The only data that ever leaves your machine is transcript text, and only if you explicitly request an AI summary or turn on the optional text-only cloud backup for signed-in accounts. Audio never uploads, full stop.

Granola is a cloud service with local capture. Its desktop app records system audio on your Mac or Windows machine — no bot joins the call — but the audio is then sent to cloud transcription providers. Granola's security page names Deepgram and AssemblyAI for transcription and OpenAI and Anthropic for AI processing, and states that notes are stored in a US-hosted AWS Virtual Private Cloud. That architecture is what enables Granola's strengths: shared folders, team workspaces, and AI processing that does not depend on your laptop.

Neither approach is wrong. Cloud processing trades data exposure for convenience and team features; on-device processing trades some of those features for verifiable privacy and an unlimited free tier. The rest of this page details that trade.

Privacy: where does your audio actually go?

With now recording, meeting audio goes nowhere. Recording, live transcription, speaker identification and per-speaker stats, and the opt-in high-accuracy re-transcribe pass all execute locally — for live meetings and for files you import. You can confirm this yourself: open your browser's DevTools network tab during a recording and observe that no audio data is transmitted. The one network-touching feature is AI summaries, which send transcript text (never audio) to an LLM API when you ask for one. There is no audio storage on any server, ever, no calendar access is required, and the published pledges at nowrecording.com/pricing-promise include never training on your data.

With Granola, your audio is captured on your computer but processed in the cloud. Granola's security page states that it "doesn't store the audio from meetings" and that it transcribes "in real time on macOS/Windows, or after your meeting using temporarily cached audio on iOS." That is a reasonable policy, but it means your raw meeting audio transits Granola's infrastructure and its third-party transcription providers, and your transcripts and notes are retained in Granola's AWS cloud. Granola says it does not allow third parties to train AI models on your data, and lets you delete your notes or request full data deletion — but note that Granola itself trains on anonymized user data by default — you can opt out in settings, and Enterprise accounts have training off by default.

The practical question to ask: does your situation allow meeting audio and transcripts to be handled by a chain of cloud vendors under contractual promises, or do you need a setup where the data physically cannot leave the room? Lawyers, clinicians, journalists, HR teams, and anyone under NDA or strict data-residency rules often need the second. If contractual cloud handling is acceptable — as it is for most general business use — Granola's policy is in line with industry norms.

Pricing compared (as of July 2026)

now recording is currently free for everyone in early access, with no recording or transcription limits: unlimited recording, unlimited live transcription in 29 languages, unlimited file import (drop an existing MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG, or MP4 recording and it becomes a full meeting), on-device speaker identification with per-speaker stats, an opt-in high-accuracy re-transcribe pass, seven note templates plus custom instructions, evidence-cited AI summaries, and full exports — Markdown notes, plain-text transcript, .srt/.vtt subtitles, JSON, and the original audio. Signing in (also free right now) adds text-only cloud backup and sync, cross-device access, full-text search across meetings, cross-meeting "Ask your meetings" Q&A, and public share links. A paid Pro plan is planned at $8/month ($5/month billed annually) but is not purchasable today.

Granola's free Basic plan includes AI meeting notes, AI chat, shared folders, templates, and multi-language support, but limits meeting history to roughly your 25 most recent notes. Granola Business costs $14 per user/month and removes the history limit while adding advanced AI models, integrations, MCP support, and API access. Enterprise is $35 per user/month with SSO and admin controls. Prices verified on granola.ai/pricing, July 2026.

The arithmetic for an individual: now recording currently costs $0 — and even its planned Pro plan would be $60 a year on annual billing; a year of Granola Business is $168. If you only need transcripts and summaries, now recording costs nothing today, while Granola's free plan will start expiring your older notes. now recording has published the opposite commitment at nowrecording.com/pricing-promise: never meter minutes, never paywall your meeting history — and every meeting is fully exportable at any time.

Where Granola is better

Granola's signature feature is its note-blending editor: you type rough notes during the meeting, and Granola enhances them into polished notes using the transcript. Users consistently praise this UX, and now recording has no equivalent — it gives you a transcript and a summary, not an AI-enhanced version of your own notes.

Granola is also further along for teams and power users. It ships AI chat within and across meetings, plus shared folders, customizable note templates, calendar integration that auto-detects meetings, MCP integration, API access on Business, and SSO with admin controls on Enterprise. now recording shipped its own cross-meeting Q&A ("Ask your meetings", with cited sources) in July 2026, but Granola pairs its chat with team workspaces and integrations that now recording does not have. Its Mac, Windows, and iOS apps are mature, and its iOS app is well regarded.

If your team wants a shared meeting-notes system with centralized billing and integrations into your existing tools, Granola is the stronger choice.

Where now recording is better

now recording wins on privacy architecture, free-tier limits, and zero friction. There is nothing to install for the web app and no account needed to start — open the site, record, and get a live transcript in any of 29 languages. Because capture is local, it works identically with Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, phone calls on speaker, or an in-person conversation; there is nothing to integrate and no calendar permission to grant. Existing recordings work the same way: drop an MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG, or MP4 audio file on the recorder page and it becomes a full meeting — transcript with timestamps, summary, speaker stats, exports — without the file ever uploading.

The free tier is materially more generous: unlimited recording, transcription, and file import versus Granola's ~25-note history window. Speaker identification with per-speaker talk-time stats, the opt-in high-accuracy re-transcribe pass, seven note templates, and full exports — Markdown, plain-text transcript, .srt/.vtt subtitles, JSON, and the original audio, or "Everything" in one click — are all free. And AI summaries are evidence-anchored: every action item and decision cites the exact transcript turns it came from, and the citations are clickable even on public share pages, so you can check what the AI claims against what was actually said.

The privacy claim is falsifiable rather than contractual — you can watch the network tab and see that no audio leaves — and the anti-lock-in pledge is published at nowrecording.com/your-data: your data outlives your subscription. The remaining trade-offs are real: the web app needs a current Chrome or Edge (though no GPU — the model is ready in about 2 seconds even on managed work profiles), there is no Windows/Mac native desktop app, no note-blending editor, no calendar integration, no API, and team features are limited to public share links.

frequently asked questions

Does Granola upload my meeting audio to the cloud?

Yes, in transit. Granola captures audio locally (no bot), then sends it to cloud transcription providers — its security page names Deepgram and AssemblyAI — and uses OpenAI and Anthropic for AI features. Granola states it does not store meeting audio afterward, and your transcripts and notes are kept in its US-hosted AWS cloud. now recording, by contrast, transcribes on your device and never uploads audio at all.

Does either tool send a bot into my meetings?

No. Both are botless. Granola records system audio through its desktop app; now recording records through your browser or the iOS app. In both cases, nothing visible joins the call, though you should still follow local consent laws when recording meetings — now recording shows a visible recording indicator and can copy a one-line "I'm recording this meeting" disclosure into the meeting chat with one click.

Can I really use now recording without installing anything or creating an account?

Yes. The web app runs entirely in your browser — any current Chrome or Edge, including managed work profiles, no GPU needed — with no install and no account required: unlimited recording, transcription, file import, and AI summaries are currently free for everyone in early access, and there is even an on-device search over your local meetings for users who never sign in. Granola requires a Mac or Windows desktop app install and an account.

Can I import existing recordings?

With now recording, yes: drop an MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG, or the audio of an MP4 onto the recorder page and it is transcribed on-device with timestamps, free and unlimited — the file never uploads, and the result is a full meeting with an AI summary, speaker stats, search, and exports. Granola's apps are built around capturing live meeting audio on your Mac, Windows, or iOS device.

What are the limits on Granola's free plan?

As of July 2026, Granola's free Basic plan limits your meeting history to approximately your 25 most recent notes. Older notes become inaccessible unless you upgrade to Business at $14 per user/month. now recording's published pricing promise is the opposite: never meter minutes, never paywall your meeting history.

How can I verify that now recording doesn't upload my audio?

Open your browser's DevTools, switch to the Network tab, and record a meeting. You will see no audio data leaving your machine. The only network request tied to your content happens if you explicitly request an AI summary, which sends transcript text only — never audio.

Can I get my data out?

From now recording, completely: every meeting page (including public share pages) has an Export menu with Markdown notes, a plain-text transcript, .srt/.vtt subtitles with speaker-labeled cues, full-fidelity JSON, and the original audio — or "Everything" in one click — backed by the pledge at nowrecording.com/your-data that your data outlives your subscription. Granola lets you delete your notes or request full data deletion, but its free Basic plan makes notes beyond roughly your 25 most recent inaccessible unless you upgrade.

Which one is better for teams?

Granola, today. It offers shared folders, customizable templates, AI chat across meetings, centralized billing and user management on Business, and SSO with admin controls on Enterprise. now recording is built for individuals: signing in adds cross-device text sync, full-text search, cross-meeting "Ask your meetings" Q&A with cited sources, and public read-only share links (all currently free in early access), but it has no team workspaces or admin tooling as of July 2026.