embral vs Granola
Granola records the way embral does: from your computer's audio, no bot in the call. The overlap roughly ends there.
Granola's transcription runs on cloud providers (its security page names Deepgram and Assembly), and notes are stored on its US servers. The desktop app can read and edit existing notes offline; new meetings need a connection. Free covers your last 30 days of notes, older ones unlock at $14 per user per month. Apps: macOS, Windows, iPhone, Android.
embral transcribes and summarizes on your machine. Notes are Markdown plus SQLite in a folder you set, meetings work offline, and there's no per-seat plan. Free locally; cloud hours optional at $7/month for 10 hours. No phone app. Linux, yes (alpha).
| embral | Granola | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux (alpha) | macOS, Windows, iOS, Android |
| How it records | No bot. Captures mic and app audio on your computer | No bot. Captures computer audio |
| Where audio is processed | On your device by default; optional metered cloud | Their cloud (Deepgram, Assembly, OpenAI, Anthropic) |
| Works offline | Yes, after a one-time model download | Read and edit existing notes only |
| Where your data lives | Markdown and SQLite in a folder you choose | Granola's US cloud; CSV export once a day |
| Dictation into any app | Yes, one global hotkey with AI cleanup | No. Voice questions in its chat only |
| AI assistant access | Built-in read-only MCP server | Hosted MCP; full access needs Business |
| Open source | Open core (embral-core on GitHub) | No |
| Pricing | Local app free; cloud from $7/mo for 10 hours | Free shows 30 days of notes; $14/user/mo |
| Account required | No, unless you use the cloud tier | Yes, Google or Microsoft calendar sign-in |
Where Granola fits
Granola suits people in back-to-back scheduled calls on a Mac or iPhone: polished, zero setup. embral has no phone app to counter with. The trade is where processing happens and who holds the archive.
Try embral
Choose "More info", then "Run anyway" on the SmartScreen warning
Free, no account required.
Sources
Granola details last checked 2026-08-02. Out of date? Write to [email protected].