Fireflies.ai vs Granola

Both scored against the same 13 criteria, from the same hands-on testing. Here is where each one actually wins.

Last updated August 2026 · 28 tools ranked

Fireflies.ai rates higher overall, 3.7 out of 5 against Granola's 3.5, across our 13 weighted criteria. Fireflies.ai leads on transcription accuracy, ai analysis quality, data retention & training transparency. Granola still wins on recording consent & compliance, recording method, ease of use.

Fireflies.ai

#7 of 28

AI meeting assistant with CRM integration and conversation intelligence

3.7
Pricing
Free tier available; paid from $10/mo
Platforms
Web, Chrome extension, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
Read the full Fireflies.ai review →

Granola

#15 of 28

The AI notepad for people in back-to-back meetings

3.5
Pricing
Free tier available; paid from $14/mo
Platforms
macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
Read the full Granola review →

All 13 Criteria, Side by Side

Criterion Weight Fireflies.ai Granola Winner
Privacy & Data Security High 3 3 Tie
Transcription Accuracy High 5 4 Fireflies.ai
AI Analysis Quality High 5 4 Fireflies.ai
Recording Consent & Compliance Med 2 4 Granola
Data Retention & Training Transparency Med 3 2 Fireflies.ai
Real-Time / Live Capability Med 4 3 Fireflies.ai
Recording Method Med 3 4 Granola
Ease of Use Med 4 5 Granola
Platform Support Med 4 4 Tie
Offline Capability Med 1 1 Tie
Integration Ecosystem Med 5 4 Fireflies.ai
Knowledge Connection Low 5 5 Tie
Pricing & Value Low 4 3 Fireflies.ai
Overall (weighted) 3.7 3.5 Fireflies.ai

Overall is a weighted average, not a mean: high-weight criteria count triple and low-weight criteria count once. See the formula.

Choose Fireflies.ai if…

  • Transcription Accuracy matters to you. Fireflies.ai scores 5/5 here against 4/5.
  • AI Analysis Quality matters to you. Fireflies.ai scores 5/5 here against 4/5.
  • Data Retention & Training Transparency matters to you. Fireflies.ai scores 3/5 here against 2/5.
  • Real-Time / Live Capability matters to you. Fireflies.ai scores 4/5 here against 3/5.

Best for sales teams who need deep CRM integration and conversation analytics, now with real-time meeting features layered on top.

Choose Granola if…

  • Recording Consent & Compliance matters to you. Granola scores 4/5 here against 2/5.

A beautifully built, bot-free notetaker that has grown into an enterprise AI context platform, though it still leans on the cloud and trains on your meetings unless you turn that off.

Fireflies.ai at a glance

Strengths

  • +Excellent CRM integrations
  • +Strong conversation analytics
  • +Good search across meetings
  • +Real-time features now built in (live notes, voice-activated web search)

Limitations

  • Cloud-only processing
  • Bot joins calls visibly
  • Advanced AI features metered by a credit system on top of seat pricing
  • Can be expensive at scale

Granola at a glance

Strengths

  • +Beautiful native design
  • +No bot required
  • +Blends your notes with AI
  • +AI chat across past meetings, even on free

Limitations

  • No browser-based web app
  • No web app
  • No true offline mode
  • Free tier capped at 25 lifetime notes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Fireflies.ai or Granola better? +
Fireflies.ai scores higher overall — 3.7 out of 5 against Granola's 3.5 — on our 13-criteria weighted scoring. That is a 0.2-point gap, so it is a real but not overwhelming difference. Fireflies.ai is the better default choice; Granola is the better choice if you specifically need recording consent & compliance or recording method.
How much do Fireflies.ai and Granola cost? +
Fireflies.ai: Free tier available; paid from $10/mo. Granola: Free tier available; paid from $14/mo. On our pricing and value criterion, which weighs cost against what you get for it, Fireflies.ai scores 4/5 and Granola scores 3/5.
Which platforms do Fireflies.ai and Granola support? +
Fireflies.ai runs on Web, Chrome extension, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android. Granola runs on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android. They score the same on platform support.
Which is better for privacy, Fireflies.ai or Granola? +
On privacy and data security Fireflies.ai scores 3/5 and Granola scores 3/5. Two related criteria matter as much: recording consent and compliance (Fireflies.ai 2/5, Granola 4/5) and data retention and training transparency (Fireflies.ai 3/5, Granola 2/5). Tools that train on customer data by default or record without clear all-party consent score low on those two regardless of their encryption claims.