Comparison
Ghosty Notes, a local Granola AI alternative
Granola is a polished, well-funded cloud notepad for meetings, and it is genuinely good at what it does. Ghosty Notes is the local-first, private alternative. Here is the honest difference.
| Ghosty Notes | Granola | |
|---|---|---|
| Records without a bot in the call | Yes | Yes |
| Where transcription happens | On your device | In the cloud |
| Your audio leaves your machine | Never | Yes |
| MCP server for AI apps | Free, every tier, full local history | Free: your own notes, last 30 days. Some folder, search and transcript tools need a paid plan |
| Free tier meeting limit | Unlimited, kept as long as you keep the files | Unlimited meetings, but only the last 30 days of history |
| Notes stored as | Markdown on your disk | Granola's cloud |
| Runs fully offline | Yes (free mode) | No |
| Notes are plain files you own | Yes | No |
| Linux support | On the roadmap | No |
| Entry price | Free, Pro $5.00 / mo | $14 / user / mo |
Figures from public pricing and the 2026 competitive research brief. Granola is a serious, well-funded product; the differences below are about approach, not quality.
When Granola is the better pick
- You want a mature product with mobile apps and a large team behind it.
- You are happy with cloud storage and do not need on-device privacy.
- You do not connect an AI app to your notes, so full-history MCP is not a draw.
When Ghosty Notes is the better pick
- You use Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or Codex and want your meetings queryable there.
- Your audio cannot go to the cloud - legal, healthcare, finance, or plain preference.
- You want to own your notes as plain markdown files, not rent them.
- You want MCP over your whole meeting history, not the last 30 days, without paying.
- You want your whole back catalogue, not a rolling 30-day window of history.
See how Ghosty stacks up against every competitor, or read the Otter, Fireflies, and Fathom comparisons.
Keep the bot-free recording. Lose the cloud.
Try the local-first alternative. Free, on your Mac, no account.
Download free for Mac