A Granola alternative where the audio never leaves your device (2026)

At a glance

What Granola and Nib agree on

Granola's founding insight was that nobody wants a bot in their meeting. It listens to your machine's audio instead — the same approach Nib takes on the Mac, where the other side of a Zoom or Meet call lands in the transcript without anything joining the call. If you've used Granola, that part of Nib will feel familiar.

Both also send text to large AI models to turn a transcript into structured notes, and neither pretends otherwise. The difference between the two is what happens before that step — to your voice.

"We don't store your audio" is not the same as "your audio stays here"

Granola's security page says, accurately: "Granola doesn't store the audio from meetings." That's true, and it's better than storing it.

But not storing is not the same as not sending. To become text, your meeting audio is streamed to what Granola describes as "best-in-class transcription providers (like Deepgram and Assembly)." Your voice does leave your machine — it passes through cloud infrastructure on its way to becoming a transcript. Granola chooses not to keep it. It still had to hear it.

There's a second default worth knowing about, from the same page: "Granola trains on your anonymized data... You can opt out of this in your Settings." Training on by default, opt-out buried in Settings, is a choice — and on the Enterprise plan the default flips to off, which tells you Granola knows which default its most careful customers prefer.

Nib's answer to both questions is structural rather than contractual. Transcription runs on the device, using Apple's speech engine. The audio file is never uploaded anywhere — it isn't even synced to iCloud. There's no provider to stream to, no anonymization step to trust, and no setting to find, because there is nothing to opt out of. Nib doesn't train on your data, full stop.

The other differences that matter day to day

Nib works offline. Recording, transcription and search all run on the device, so a flight, a dead spot, or a client site with guest Wi-Fi changes nothing. Granola needs a connection to produce a transcript at all.

Nib doesn't ask who you are. No account, no Google sign-in, no email. Download, press record. Granola requires a Google or Microsoft account to start.

Nib is a notepad, not just a meeting tool. The transcript lands inside a note you can write in — Markdown, sketches, photos with OCR search, semantic search across everything. Meetings are one thing you capture, not the only thing.

And the free tier has no monthly meter. Transcription, notes and search are unlimited, because they run on your hardware and cost nothing to serve. Free recordings top out at 30 minutes each (Pro removes the cap), with no limit on how many you make. Nib charges for cloud AI (minutes, chat, co-writing) — ¥800/month, or one-time credit packs from ¥300 if you'd rather not subscribe.

When Granola is the better choice

• Your team is on Windows. Granola ships a Windows app; Nib is Apple-only.
• You want calendar-driven meeting workflows — templates per meeting type, notes organized around your schedule, team sharing on the Business plan. Granola is built around the meeting as the unit of work; Nib is built around the note.
• You want your meeting notes shared with your team by default. Nib is a personal notepad that syncs across your devices, not a team workspace.

If your week is wall-to-wall meetings and your company lives in the calendar, Granola fits that shape. If you want one quiet place where meetings, ideas and notes end up together — and you'd rather your voice never left the machine — that's Nib.

FAQ

Does Nib send my audio to the cloud like Granola does?

No. Transcription runs on the device with Apple's speech engine. The audio file stays where it was recorded — it isn't streamed to a transcription provider, uploaded to a server, or synced to iCloud.

Does Nib train on my data?

No. There's also no setting to check, because there's nothing to opt out of. The AI providers behind Nib's summaries operate under no-retention terms.

Does Nib capture the other side of a call without a bot?

Yes — on the Mac, Nib captures system audio, so both sides of a Zoom or Meet call land in the transcript. Like Granola, no bot ever joins the call.

Does Nib work offline?

Recording, transcription and search work with no connection at all. The AI features (minutes, chat, co-writing) need one, because those models run on a server — same as Granola's.

Do I need an account?

No. There's no sign-up and no email. Granola requires a Google or Microsoft account.

What does Nib cost?

Transcription, notes and search are free with no limits; free recordings run up to 30 minutes each with no monthly cap. Cloud AI (and unlimited-length recordings) is ¥800/month (or ¥6,500/year), or one-time credit packs from ¥300 with no subscription. Prices show in your local currency on the App Store.