Question 1

Is Shadow a Granola alternative?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Like Granola, Shadow captures meetings on your Mac without a bot. Unlike Granola, it transcribes on your Mac, saves every meeting as Markdown in a folder you own, and costs $8 a month billed annually instead of $14 per user. If you need Windows or a phone app, Granola has those and Shadow does not.

Question 2

Can Claude Code, Codex or another AI agent read my meetings?

Accepted Answer

With Shadow, yes, as plain files. Every meeting is Markdown in a folder on your Mac, with a SHADOW.md guide that explains the layout, so any agent that can open a folder reads every meeting in full. There is no connector to install and no history limit on any plan. Granola offers an MCP connector instead: you add it to each AI app and sign in, it returns what its tools allow, and on the free Basic plan it reaches only your notes from the last 30 days, without transcripts.

Question 3

Does Granola transcribe on device?

Accepted Answer

Not according to Granola's own documentation. Its transcription page says audio is passed from your microphone and system audio to its transcription provider, and its security page names Deepgram and Assembly as examples. Granola says it does not keep the audio. Shadow runs transcription and speaker detection on your Mac and never sends raw audio to a transcription service.

Question 4

Can I move my Granola notes to Shadow?

Accepted Answer

Shadow does not import from Granola. Granola can copy a note's summary as Markdown and export your notes, with transcripts, as one CSV file, so past notes can sit in your vault beside the meetings Shadow saves. New meetings land in your vault from your first call.

Question 5

How much does Granola cost compared with Shadow?

Accepted Answer

Granola Basic is free with 30 days of meeting history. Granola Business is $14 per user per month, billed monthly; Granola offers annual billing only on Enterprise contracts. Shadow's free plan has unlimited recording and transcription. Plus, which adds unlimited AI meeting notes and Skills, is $12 a month or $8 a month billed annually.

Question 6

Does either product join the call as a bot?

Accepted Answer

No. Both capture audio from your computer, so nothing appears in the participant list on Zoom, Google Meet or Teams. With Autopilot enabled, Shadow also starts Listening when it detects a supported meeting, including Slack huddles and Discord calls.

Question 7

What happens to my notes if I stop using Shadow?

Accepted Answer

They stay where they are: Markdown files in your folder, readable in Obsidian or any text editor. With Granola, your notes live in Granola's cloud until you copy or export them.

Question 8

Does Granola train AI on my meetings?

Accepted Answer

Granola's security page says it trains on anonymized user data unless you opt out in Settings, and that training is off by default for Enterprise. Shadow never uses your meeting content or Skill results to train AI models.

What matters	Shadow	Granola
Bot-free capture	Captures system audio and your microphone on your Mac. Nothing joins the call. With Autopilot enabled, Shadow starts Listening when it detects a supported meeting.	Device-audio capture on every plan. Granola does not join the meeting.
Where transcription runs	On your Mac, including speaker detection. Raw audio never goes to a transcription service.	Audio goes from your microphone and system audio to Granola's transcription provider. Granola says it does not keep the audio.
Where your notes live	Markdown in a folder you choose: a dated meeting folder with the transcript, your notes and every Skill result, plus People pages. Open it as an Obsidian vault.	Granola's US-hosted cloud. You can copy a summary as Markdown, share a link, or send notes to Notion, Slack and other integrations.
AI agents can read your meetings	Yes, as files. Every meeting is Markdown in a folder on your Mac, with a SHADOW.md guide that explains the layout. Point Claude Code, Codex or any agent that reads files at it: no connector, no sign-in, no history limit on any plan.	Through Granola's MCP connector, which you add and sign in to from each AI app. On the free Basic plan it reaches your notes from the last 30 days, without transcripts. Business adds an API.
Skills that run on your screen and voice	Meeting Skills run on the transcript when a call ends. Action Skills run on any screen, selected text or your voice from a shortcut, in any app.	Note templates and chat across meetings. Voice Typing, in beta on Mac, dictates into any app and reads on-screen text to spell names. Custom prompts run on meetings, not on your screen.
Free plan	Unlimited recording and transcription, forever.	Basic is $0 with 30 days of meeting history and no API access.
Price for AI notes	Plus is $12 a month, or $8 a month billed annually, for unlimited AI meeting notes and Skills. Two weeks of Plus are included with every download.	Business is $14 per user per month, billed monthly. Annual billing is for Enterprise, from $35 per user per month.
Platforms	Mac with Apple Silicon, macOS 14.2 or later.	macOS, Windows, iPhone, Android and Apple Watch.

Both skip the bot. Only one keeps your meetings on your Mac.

Choose Shadow if

Choose Granola if

Shadow and Granola, feature by feature

Bot-free capture

Where transcription runs

Where your notes live

AI agents can read your meetings

Skills that run on your screen and voice

Free plan

Price for AI notes

Platforms

Questions people ask about Shadow and Granola

Try it on your next call.

Sources