Granola vs Shadow (2026)

Granola

by Granola, Inc.

Shadow

by Taper Labs

Pros

• ✓Captures audio from the device instead of sending a bot into the call, so it works with any meeting app, with apps for Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and Apple Watch.
• ✓The free Basic plan includes unlimited AI meeting notes, AI chat, Recipes, templates, shared folders and the Slack integration, and its MCP server reaches Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other AI tools on every plan.
• ✓Enterprise adds HIPAA-compliant workspaces with a Business Associate Agreement, SCIM and an audit API at a published $35 per user per month, bought in the app.

Limitations

• ⚠Recording must be started manually for each meeting because Granola does not auto-join or auto-record calls, so a meeting nobody starts is not captured.
• ⚠Audio is deleted after transcription, so there is no recording to play back, and the free Basic plan shows only the last 30 days of notes in the app.
• ⚠HIPAA coverage, SSO, SCIM and a workspace-wide training opt-out require Enterprise, SSO is offered to teams of 50 or more users, and Business allows only a per-user opt-out.

Pros

• ✓Bot-free architecture means no visible participant joins meetings, which suits client-facing sales calls, regulated industries and confidential conversations where a vendor bot can create friction.
• ✓Captures both audio and on-screen content through smart screenshots, useful for design reviews, product demos and slide-driven presentations where screen context changes meaning.
• ✓Shadow 2.0 Skills run post-meeting actions (PDF creation, slide generation, CRM updates, follow-up emails, scheduling) automatically with no manual button press.

Limitations

• ⚠Mac-only, with no Windows or mobile support, so teams with mixed Mac and Windows environments cannot standardize on Shadow.
• ⚠No first-party SOC 2 certification and no public security or trust page. Shadow's privacy posture relies on on-device transcription plus OpenAI's enterprise privacy terms for AI features.
• ⚠Integration depth is Zapier-dependent rather than native. Connecting Shadow outputs to Salesforce, HubSpot, Notion or Linear requires a separate Zapier subscription and webhook configuration, which adds cost and setup steps.