A Granola alternative that transcribes on your device
Updated
MeetMi is an AI meeting assistant for Mac and iPhone, and like Granola it never sends a bot into the call. The differences are where the speech becomes text and when you get help: MeetMi transcribes on your device and gives you suggestions while people are still talking, with no account; Granola sends the audio to its transcription provider and turns your own jottings into finished notes. Granola is the better pick if you need speaker names, Windows or Android, or shared folders for a team.
Facts about Granola come from its website and help center, read on 21 October 2026 and listed under the table. We make MeetMi and haven’t tested Granola.
How MeetMi differs from Granola
Does anything join the call?
No, in either case. MeetMi hears whatever the Mac plays plus your microphone, or your iPhone’s microphone; Granola also captures your system audio and microphone, and has no meeting bot.
More detail: what MeetMi hears, and telling people
On a Mac, MeetMi hears the Mac’s whole audio mix, whichever app it comes from, so other sounds playing at the same time are transcribed too. macOS asks for its Screen & System Audio Recording permission for this; you can decline and use the microphone alone. On iPhone, from version 1.0.1 on iOS 27, you can switch MeetMi to system audio to transcribe what the phone itself plays; system audio can’t hear calls.
Since nothing joins the call, neither app appears in the participant list. Rules on recording and transcription differ by place and workplace, so tell people you’re using MeetMi when they require it. Granola can show a watermark on your camera or post a message in the meeting chat to let people know.
Where is the speech turned into text?
MeetMi transcribes on your device with Apple’s speech recognition, so the audio never leaves it; cloud AI works on the text only, after you accept the data notice. Granola passes the audio from your microphone and system audio to its transcription provider.
More detail: offline use, translation and the cloud
If a language’s speech model isn’t on the device yet, MeetMi downloads it once, and after that transcription works without an internet connection. When the meeting is in a different language from the one MeetMi writes in, MeetMi can also translate each line on the device with Apple’s translation, for language pairs Apple can translate.
On-device transcription doesn’t mean everything stays on the device. The text cloud AI works on includes the transcript, your questions and passages from your folder. Nothing goes to cloud AI until you accept the data notice, and you can choose “Local Transcription Only” instead. The privacy policy lists what goes where.
Is the audio kept?
No, in either case. MeetMi keeps only the text, on Mac and iPhone. Granola doesn’t store meeting audio on macOS or Windows; its iPhone app caches audio during the meeting and deletes it once transcription is done.
When do you get help: during the meeting or after it?
MeetMi helps during the meeting: with AI credits, it posts short suggestions as people talk, keeps a running analysis and answers questions you type, then writes the notes when you end the meeting. Granola is built around your own notes: you write down as much or as little as you like, and it uses the meeting’s context to write clear notes, ready when the meeting ends.
More detail: cards, analysis and notes
MeetMi posts at most one card every 20 seconds by default, each with one to four points tagged Fact, Advice, Risk or Action. The analysis keeps track of the people named, the numbers and the commitments, and is revised every 3 minutes by default. If you point MeetMi at a folder of briefs, contracts or your own notes from earlier meetings, the analysis, the notes and most answers check that material.
MeetMi’s notes start with a one-line title, then Overview, Discussion, Decisions and Action Items, and you can export them as Markdown or plain text. Granola’s AI chat answers questions within and across meetings.
Do you need an account?
No. MeetMi has no sign-in: the free AI credits come with the download, and the optional App Store subscription is the only thing you buy. Granola supports only Google and Microsoft sign-in, and works best connected to the calendar you use for meetings. The trade-off: MeetMi keeps meeting history on each device, with no sync between Mac and iPhone and no shared folders.
Does it name the speakers?
No. Each MeetMi transcript line is tagged Mic or System, by where the sound came from. Granola tags speakers by display name in Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams calls on Mac and Windows, its mobile app tells speakers apart in face-to-face meetings, and elsewhere its transcript shows Me and Them.
What does it cost?
MeetMi is free to download and transcribes on your device without using credits; from version 1.1, every Apple Account gets 250 free AI credits a week for suggestions, analysis, answers and notes. Granola’s free Basic plan includes AI meeting notes and 30 days of meeting history.
More detail: paid plans
MeetMi’s subscription adds 4,500 credits a month and web search: $9.99 a month in the United States (the App Store shows your local price), with a one-week free trial for new subscribers. One subscription covers your Mac and iPhone on the same Apple Account.
Granola Business is $14 a user a month, and Enterprise is $35.
MeetMi and Granola side by side
| Question | MeetMi | Granola |
|---|---|---|
| Does a bot join the call? | No | No |
| Where is speech transcribed? | On your device | By Granola’s transcription provider |
| Is the audio kept? | No, only the text | No; the iPhone app caches it until transcription is done |
| When the AI helps | During the meeting: suggestions as people talk, a running analysis and answers to typed questions; notes when it ends | Notes written from your jottings, ready when the meeting ends; AI chat within and across meetings |
| Speaker names | No; lines say Mic or System | By display name in Google Meet, Zoom and Teams calls on Mac and Windows; Me and Them elsewhere |
| Account | None | Google or Microsoft sign-in |
| Where it runs | Mac with Apple silicon (macOS 26 or later) and iPhone (iOS 26 or later) | Mac, Windows, iOS and Android |
| Free plan | 250 AI credits a week from version 1.1, plus on-device transcription, translation, history and export | Basic: AI meeting notes, 30 days of meeting history |
From Granola’s website and help center, read on 21 October 2026; products change, so check their pages for current details:
- granola.ai: how notes are written, platforms
- Pricing: plans, meeting history, AI chat, shared folders
- Help center: transcription, consent and audio storage, setting up Granola
When Granola is the better pick
- You like typing your own notes and having them filled in. That is how Granola works.
- You need speaker names. Granola tags them in Google Meet, Zoom and Teams calls on Mac and Windows.
- You use Windows or Android. MeetMi runs only on Mac and iPhone.
- You share notes with a team. Granola has shared folders; MeetMi keeps history on each device.
- You want other AI apps to read your meeting notes. Granola offers a connector for that.
When MeetMi fits better
- You want suggestions during the meeting, not only notes when it ends.
- You’d rather the audio never leave your device. MeetMi transcribes on it.
- You don’t want an account or a calendar connection.
- You prepare with a folder of material. It feeds the analysis, the answers and the notes.
- You listen in one language and want to read in another. MeetMi can translate each line on your device and writes in any of 10 languages.
- You follow lectures, talks or videos. The Video / Lecture / Podcast meeting type adds a fact check and an adversarial review.
Your Granola notes stay in Granola, and MeetMi starts with an empty history. To try it, download MeetMi and press Start Meeting when your next meeting begins.
How MeetMi compares puts MeetMi, Otter, Fireflies and Granola side by side; there are also pages on switching from Otter and Fireflies.