Granola takes the notes. Read AI captures the meeting, right from your desktop.
A native macOS and Windows app that captures meetings as you join them, with no bot in the room. Where Granola stores notes only, Read AI keeps the recording, tells you who said what, and has it waiting on web and mobile too.
Free for macOS and Windows. Also on web and mobile when you're away from your desk.
Built for the way you actually work at your desk
The desktop app runs quietly alongside whatever you're doing, capturing from your computer's own audio.
Bot-free capture from your machine
The app captures through your computer's audio, so nothing joins the call as a guest. Works across Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and more, including calls that never came from a calendar invite.
The room counts too
Hit start for a hallway conversation, a desk-side chat, or a whiteboard session. In-person capture is built into the desktop app, not bolted on.
Hear it back, and know who said it
Recording and playback with speaker-attributed transcripts, so every quote, decision, and action item ties back to an owner, and to the moment it was said.
A native app you install once and stop thinking about.
Read AI sits on your desktop, captures what happens in front of you, and turns it into a recap you can search, share, and act on.
Install it and capture your next meeting
Download on desktop →macOS and Windows · Free, no credit card
Your desktop is the front door, not the ceiling
Start on the desktop app. When you're on someone else's laptop or walking into a room with just your phone, everything is still there.
Where you'll spend your day
The full capture experience: bot-free meeting capture, in-person recording, quick notes, live transcript, and your recaps the moment a call ends.
- Captures meetings as you join them
- In-person and ad-hoc capture
- Recording, playback, and speaker attribution
When you're not on your own machine
Open any recap in the browser, search across everything with Ask Read, and share with your team. Plus a Chrome and Edge extension.
- Every recap, from any browser
- Ask Read across meetings, email, messages, and documents
- Permission-based team sharing
For the meetings that aren't at a desk
Capture an in-person conversation on the way out of the building, then read the recap before your next one starts.
- In-person capture on iPhone and Android
- Recaps and search on the go
Read AI vs Granola, side by side
How the two desktop apps line up on the things Granola users ask about most.
Granola claims sourced from granola.ai, including their security, pricing, and enterprise pages (reviewed 2026-05-22). See the full feature-by-feature comparison →
Which one is right for you?
Both are desktop apps. They're built for different jobs.
Choose Read AI if you want…
- A desktop app that captures video calls, in-person conversations, and quick notes from the same place
- Recording and playback with speaker attribution, so you can verify what was actually said
- Your notes waiting for you on web and mobile, not only on the machine that recorded them
- Search that reaches past meeting notes into email, messages, and documents
- Team sharing with permission-based access controls
- SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance out of the box
Choose Granola if you want…
- A simple, template-driven notetaker for one meeting at a time
- Notes shaped by what you type during the call
- A desktop-only workflow with minimal setup
- A personal capture tool focused on the meeting itself, not what happens after
- MCP and API connectors
Three steps to your first captured meeting
No bot to configure, no meeting link to paste.
Download and install
Grab the installer for macOS or Windows and open it. Sign in with Google or Microsoft.
Allow microphone and system audio
Two permission prompts, in plain language, so the app can hear both sides of a call. Connect your calendar and Read AI captures meetings as you join them.
Start your next meeting
Join a call or hit start for an in-person conversation. Your recap is ready when the meeting ends, on your desktop and everywhere else you sign in.
Put Read AI on your desktop. Capture your next meeting.
Free to download. 5 free meetings every month, no credit card.
macOS · Windows · also on web, iPhone, and Android