Source availability
- Screenpipe
- Source available; personal use is free and commercial use requires a license
- Granola
- Not available
VS
Product comparison · reviewed August 1, 2026
Screenpipe vs Granola: which is right for your workflow?
Meeting notes that also know what happened outside the meeting. A side-by-side look at scope, data control, platform support, and extensibility—without pretending one product is best for everyone.
Same criteria
Both products are evaluated against the same feature and deployment questions.
Trade-offs included
Granola's strengths are shown alongside Screenpipe's.
No winner score
The right choice depends on the job, risk model, and operating environment.
The practical differences
Where the products differ
Start with the criteria that can actually change your decision. Marketing category labels are less useful than concrete operating constraints.
Platform Support
- Screenpipe
- Mac, Windows, Linux
- Granola
- Mac, Windows, iOS
Capture Scope
- Screenpipe
- Screen + audio, 24/7
- Granola
- Meetings only
No Bot in the Call
Both screenpipe and Granola listen via your own mic. No Zoom/Meet bot joining your calls.
- Screenpipe
- Available
- Granola
- Available
Meeting Notes
- Screenpipe
- Scheduled task: summary + action items on meeting end
- Granola
- Template-driven notes + summary
Non-Meeting Capture
- Screenpipe
- Everything: docs, code, Slack, Figma, browsing
- Granola
- Not available
Side by side
Screenpipe vs Granola
Capabilities can change. Treat this as an evaluation starting point and verify purchase-critical requirements with each vendor.
| Criterion | Screenpipe | Granola |
|---|---|---|
| Source availability | Source available; personal use is free and commercial use requires a license | Not available |
| Platform Support | Mac, Windows, Linux | Mac, Windows, iOS |
| Capture Scope | Screen + audio, 24/7 | Meetings only |
| No Bot in the CallBoth screenpipe and Granola listen via your own mic. No Zoom/Meet bot joining your calls. | Available | Available |
| Meeting Notes | Scheduled task: summary + action items on meeting end | Template-driven notes + summary |
| Non-Meeting Capture | Everything: docs, code, Slack, Figma, browsing | Not available |
| Data Storage | Local by default | Cloud |
| Developer API | REST + MCP server for agents | Not available |
| Automation / Scheduled tasks | Scheduled tasks on events (meeting-ended, daily, PR-merged) | Not available |
| Local AI Support | Ollama + Apple Intelligence + Windows AI | Cloud AI only |
| PricingGranola pricing scales per seat. Business tier ($14/user/mo) unlocks unlimited meeting history. | Paid plans from $25/month | Basic $0/user/mo (limited history) → Business $14/user/mo → Enterprise $35/user/mo |
Decision guide
Choose based on the job
Choose Granola if
- Excellent meeting notes and summaries
- No bot joins your calls: just listens from your mic
- Clean, template-driven interface
- Good calendar integration (Google, Outlook, Apple)
- Team sharing + search across shared notes
Choose Screenpipe if
- You need continuous screen and audio context, not only meeting notes or active-window context.
- You want local-only capture and search as a supported operating mode.
- Your team uses a mix of macOS, Windows, and Linux.
- You need an auditable, source-available capture engine and an API for agents or internal workflows.
Context
Key trade-offs in detail
screenpipe is Granola for your screen
If you like how Granola works (it sits quietly on your Mac, listens to your mic, writes good notes after the call), screenpipe is the same idea extended to everything on your computer. Screen + audio, recorded continuously, summarised on-demand, never sending a bot anywhere. Same ethos: a background recorder, not a meeting assistant that joins calls.
Meeting notes still work, plus everything else
Our meeting-notes scheduled task gives you the Granola shape (summary, action items per person, decisions, next steps) triggered the moment a call ends, written to your notes folder or to Notion. The difference is you also get the rest of your day: the doc you were reading before the call, the Slack thread that kicked it off, the code change you made afterwards. One memory, all of it searchable.
What users notice: screen context
One Screenpipe user who had used Plaud for in-person meetings and meeting-recorder apps for online calls said the difference was immediate: because Screenpipe can see the screen, the output was "way better than any other" tool they had tried. That is the core difference versus meeting-only notes: the model is not guessing from audio alone; it has the document, app, browser tab, and visual context around the conversation.
Local by default
Granola transcribes and stores notes in their cloud. screenpipe keeps everything on your device by default: transcription runs locally, indexing runs locally, AI chat against your memory can run entirely local via Ollama or Apple Intelligence. Cloud AI is an explicit opt-in.
Build on top with scheduled tasks
Granola is a finished product. screenpipe is a recorder + a developer platform: scheduled tasks are tiny markdown files that run on events (meeting ended, PR merged, daily at 6pm) and call any tool you already use. You don't need to code to install one; the store has meeting-notes, daily-digest, CRM updater, Linear updater, and a lot more. If you do code, the REST API and MCP server let you build whatever fits your workflow.
Granola pricing vs screenpipe pricing
Granola pricing has three tiers: Basic is free per user with limited meeting history, Business is $14/user/month with unlimited notes and history, and Enterprise is $35/user/month. All tiers are billed per seat. screenpipe paid plans start at $25/month. Both tools have no meeting bot, so there's no per-seat bot fee. The key difference: Granola pricing covers meeting notes only; screenpipe pricing covers your entire screen and audio: every app, every call, every document.
FAQ
Questions worth asking
Disclosure: this comparison is written and maintained by Screenpipe, not an independent review publication.
Are Screenpipe and Granola direct substitutes?+
Granola is an AI meeting notepad for people in back-to-back calls. It listens to your mic during meetings, turns template-driven notes into clean summaries and action items after. Unlike most competitors, it doesn't send a bot into your call. The overlap depends on the job you are buying for: Screenpipe focuses on continuous, searchable screen and audio context, while Granola may be a better fit for the narrower workflows described above.
Where is Granola stronger?+
Granola is a credible choice for teams that value excellent meeting notes and summaries, no bot joins your calls: just listens from your mic, clean, template-driven interface. Those strengths should be weighed against the deployment, data-control, platform, and extensibility differences in the table.
Where is Screenpipe stronger?+
Screenpipe is designed for continuous screen and audio capture, local-only capture and search, cross-platform deployment, and programmatic access through its local API and MCP integrations. Those advantages matter most when privacy, broad work context, or custom automation is the buying criterion.
Is this an independent comparison?+
No. Screenpipe publishes this page. We include Granola's strengths, avoid a numeric winner score, and state the criteria so readers can verify the claims that matter to them. Product capabilities change, so confirm critical details with each vendor before purchasing.
Evaluate with your own data
Try Screenpipe before you decide.
Install it, test the workflows that matter, and compare the result against your real requirements—not a vendor scorecard.