COMPARISONEvery claim sourced · verified Jun 2026

Granola vs Superwhisper: the honest comparison.

Choose Granola if meetings are the job. Choose Superwhisper if private system-wide dictation is the job. Ottex sits between them with dictation, meetings, files, and finished work on Mac and iOS.

Ottex

Mac, iOS · Free tier · $14/mo · PAYG

Ottex is unusually broad for a young Mac/iOS-first tool: it turns dictation and meetings into emails, tickets, CRM updates, notes, and docs, but it is not the pick if you need Windows, Android, web, browser extension, or compliance paperwork.

Choose if

You want one tool for system-wide dictation, meeting recording, and finished written outcomes like follow-up emails, Linear tickets, CRM updates, PRDs, and docs
You want a real free path: unlimited local dictation, file transcription, and meetings on Mac with Whisper/Parakeet, or BYOK instead of a forced subscription
You need multilingual dictation with 100+ languages, auto-detection, mixed-language speech, personal vocabulary, and per-app output rules

Look elsewhere if

You need Windows, Android, Linux, web access, or a browser extension
You need mature team infrastructure such as a shared workspace, API/webhooks, third-party note destinations, or assistant chat over transcripts today.

Granola

Mac, Windows, iOS, Android · Limited free · $18/mo

Granola is a strong bot-free meeting notes tool with polished AI summaries and team memory, but it is not a general dictation or file-transcription app.

Choose if

You want bot-free meeting capture that records from your mic and computer audio without joining calls.
You want AI meeting notes shaped by your own notes, with action items, decisions, follow-up emails, and reusable prompts.
You want a team meeting memory with shared workspaces, folders, cross-meeting Q&A, and Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar support.

Look elsewhere if

You need system-wide dictation, hotkeys, voice commands, auto-formatting, snippets, or text insertion into other apps.
You need imported audio or video file transcription, batch processing, timestamps, or export controls with public vendor claims behind them.

Superwhisper

Mac, Windows, iOS · Limited free · $7/mo · $249.99 one-time

Superwhisper is a strong pick if you want private, system-wide dictation with local processing, 100+ languages, and a reasonably priced Pro plan, but it is less convincing as a full meeting-workflow system because calendar capture, shared w

Choose if

You want system-wide voice-to-text in native macOS, Windows, or iOS apps rather than a browser-first workflow.
You care about privacy: local transcription, no Superwhisper server retention, no AI training on user data, and BYO API keys are all publicly claimed.
You want dictation plus basic meeting recording in one personal tool, with Pro at $8.49/month, $84.99/year, or $249.99 once.

Look elsewhere if

You need a mature team meeting hub with calendar integration, shared workspaces, cross-meeting search, CRM updates, or automatic follow-up drafts.
You need Android, Linux, or a browser extension as a primary platform; those are not publicly claimed in the dossier.

The evidence

What actually differs, claim by claim.

Each section opens with the takeaway. The table underneath is the receipt — every cell carries its source and the date we checked it.

Pricing

Superwhisper is the cheapest paid path: $8.49/month, $84.99/year, or $249.99 once for unlimited Cloud and Local AI models, while Granola jumps from 25 free meetings/month to $18/seat/month for unlimited meetings. Ottex has the strongest free and usage-based story with free local AI, free BYOK, $0.2/hour PAYG, $14/month Pro, and $24/seat/month Team, but Superwhisper wins if you want a low fixed personal subscription.

See the evidence — 13 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026

	Ottex	Granola	Superwhisper
Free tier	YesWhisper & Parakeet run on your Mac. Dictation and meetings, $0.	Partial25 meetings/month	PartialPro features for 15 minutes of recording for free; free tier available forever
Subscription	$14/mo$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.	$18/moBusiness is $18 per member/month or $14 per member/month billed annually.	$7/moAnnual Pro is listed as $84.99/year.
Pay-as-you-go / one-timeEscape the flat subscription	$0.2/hourHosted models at cost: dictation ~$0.2/h, meetings ~$0.5/h (~$3/mo average).	NoSubscription only	$249.99 one-timeAll Pro billing options include the same features and work on all platforms.
Bring your own keyPay the model provider, not the middleman	YesOpenRouter, Google AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, and compatible providers.	No public claim	YesPro includes use of your own AI API keys.
Education discount	NoSame pricing for everyone.	No public claim	YesThe pricing section advertises 40% off for students.

Platforms

Granola has the broadest platform coverage with Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android. Superwhisper covers Mac, Windows, and iOS and is the one described as native, while Ottex is limited to Mac and iOS. Pick Granola for Android, Superwhisper for Windows dictation, and Ottex only if Mac and iOS are enough.

See the evidence — 5 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026

	Ottex	Granola	Superwhisper
Platforms	Mac, iOS	Mac, Windows, iOS, Android	Mac, Windows, iOS
Native app footprintLight on memory, instant to invoke	YesNative Swift app, ~50MB RAM.	No public claim	YesVendor distributes platform-specific macOS, Windows, and iOS apps.

Meetings & team memory

Granola wins meeting capture because it is built around bot-free meeting recording from your mic and computer audio, 25 free meetings/month, unlimited meetings on Business, and team memory with shared workspaces and folders. Superwhisper includes basic meeting recording but lacks the mature meeting hub claims, while Ottex covers meetings on Mac with local or BYOK paths but does not yet match Granola's team workspace.

See the evidence — 14 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026

	Ottex	Granola	Superwhisper
Meeting recordingThe call is captured at all	YesWith speaker separation.	YesGranola records and transcribes meetings without joining as a bot.	YesMeeting Mode records meeting audio and produces summaries with action items.
Bot-free captureNo "recording bot" joins your call	YesSystem-audio capture, no bot joins the call.	YesGranola does not send a bot to meetings.	YesDocs describe local recording by starting Superwhisper rather than adding a meeting bot.
Speaker separation	Yes	No public claim	YesSpeaker separation can be enabled in Advanced Settings.
Calendar detection	YesCalendar-based meeting detection.	YesGranola surfaces calendar events and can start notes from upcoming meetings.	No public claim
Cross-meeting search	Yes	YesAsk Granola can answer across past meetings.	No public claim
Shared team memory	PartialPublic share links, not a full team workspace.	YesBusiness workspaces include shared notes and folders for teams.	No public claim

From meeting to finished work

Granola wins meeting notes and team memory with AI summaries, action items, decisions, follow-up emails, reusable prompts, calendar support, shared workspaces, folders, and cross-meeting Q&A. Ottex wins when the desired output is finished work such as follow-up emails, Linear tickets, CRM updates, PRDs, and docs. Superwhisper is weaker here because its notes workflow does not claim calendar capture, shared workspaces

See the evidence — 9 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026

	Ottex	Granola	Superwhisper
Decisions, owners, action itemsLeave the meeting with next steps clear	YesDecisions with owners extracted.	YesGranola can extract decisions from meetings through templates and AI notes.	YesMeeting Mode highlights key decisions.
Follow-up email draftedThe outcome is sent, not summarized	YesDrafted from templates or your own.	YesRecipes can generate follow-up emails from meetings.	No public claim
CRM update / ticket draft	YesStructured for the target app.	YesGranola lists Attio as an integration for sending meeting notes to CRM records.	No public claim
Your rough notes steer the result	YesRough notes and instructions steer the result.	YesUser notes are used to guide the generated meeting notes.	No public claim

Dictation & transcription AI

Superwhisper wins dictation against Granola because it has system-wide voice-to-text, local processing, BYOK, file transcription, and 100+ languages, while Granola has no dictation or file transcription claims. Ottex matches the broad AI dictation shape with local models, BYOK, file transcription, 100+ languages, personal vocabulary, mixed-language speech, and per-app output rules, but it only runs on Mac and iOS. If

See the evidence — 10 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026

	Ottex	Granola	Superwhisper
Engines	Cloud: Whisper, Gemini 3 Flash, Voxtral. Local: Whisper, Parakeet v3.Hosted routing, BYOK, or fully local.	No public claim	Local voice models, cloud voice models, Anthropic, OpenAI, Groq, and user-connected API tokensDocs describe local and cloud voice models and cloud language models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Groq.
Local / on-device optionAudio never leaves the machine	YesWhisper and Parakeet v3 run fully on-device.	NoGranola states it requires an internet connection to transcribe and generate notes.	YesVendor says offline speech recognition runs on Mac, Windows, and iOS with no upload.
Model selection per task	YesChoose the model per task and per provider.	No public claim	YesUsers can pick voice models and select cloud or local AI models during setup.
Languages & mixed speechWork that crosses languages mid-sentence	Yes100+ languages · Mid-sentence language switching.	No public claim	No public claim
Per-app output rules	YesPer-app output rules: exact in AI chats, polished in email.	NoNot supported	No public claim

Cost

What a year actually costs at your volume.

Personal or team — switch tabs. Subscriptions are flat; usage-based pricing depends on how much you speak and meet.

You dictate about 3 h a week≈ 23,400 words at ~130 wpm

0 h5 h10 h

and sit in 4 h of meetings a weekhours you'd want captured and turned into follow-ups

0 h7.5 h15 h

Fill the gaps with:

Dictation appadded to meetings-only toolsMeetings appadded to dictation-only tools

OttexOttex Provider — PAYG$135/yrHosted models at cost: dictation ~$0.2/h, meetings ~$0.5/h (~$3/mo average).

OttexPro$168/yr$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.

GranolaBusiness$168/yr$168 + $0Business is $18 per member/month or $14 per member/month billed annually. · Unlimited meetings

Estimates, not quotes. Striped bar segments are the cost of the second app you picked above to cover the gap — rankings use that combined total. PAYG and BYOK usage are estimated at provider at-cost rates ($0.2/h dictation, $0.5/h meetings) — bring-your-own-key plans still pay the model provider per use. One-time licenses are amortized over 2 years. Subscriptions use published pricing, checked Jun 2026.

FAQ

Questions people actually ask.

Granola vs Superwhisper: which should I pick?

Pick Granola if your main problem is meetings: bot-free capture, AI meeting notes, action items, follow-up emails, and team memory. Pick Superwhisper if your main problem is private system-wide dictation with local AI, BYOK, file transcription, and 100+ languages.

Is Granola free?

Granola has a Basic plan with 25 meetings/month for free. For unlimited meetings, Business is $18/seat/month and Enterprise is custom.

Is Superwhisper free?

Superwhisper has a forever free tier, but it only includes 15 minutes of recording with Pro features, so treat it as a trial. For a genuinely free option, consider Ottex, which offers free local AI or free use with your own key.

How much do Granola and Superwhisper cost?

Granola is free for 25 meetings/month, then $18/seat/month for Business with unlimited meetings. Superwhisper is cheaper for a solo user at $8.49/month, $84.99/year, or $249.99 one-time for unlimited Cloud and Local AI models.

Is Granola or Superwhisper better for privacy?

Superwhisper is the stronger privacy pick because it claims local transcription, no Superwhisper server retention, no AI training on user data, and BYO API keys. Granola is better for bot-free meeting capture, but the privacy-focused choice between these two is Superwhisper.

Is it worth switching from Granola to Superwhisper?

Switch from Granola to Superwhisper if you now need system-wide dictation, local processing, BYOK, file transcription, or 100+ languages. Stay with Granola if your team relies on shared meeting memory, folders, cross-meeting Q&A, calendar support, and polished meeting notes.

Does Granola or Superwhisper work on Windows or Android?

Both Granola and Superwhisper work on Windows. Granola also works on Android, while Superwhisper does not publicly claim Android support in this input.

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