Keen Bean vs Granola
Both listen from your computer's own audio, so neither puts a bot in the call. The difference is what you have when the call ends, and where it lives.
The short version. Granola writes you clean notes after the meeting, syncs them to its cloud, works on Mac, Windows and phones, and has a free plan. Keen Bean is Mac only, costs more, and does one thing Granola doesn't: it starts the work during the call, drafting the spec, the diagram or the rough screen you're describing, and leaves all of it on your Mac as Markdown and JSON in folders you choose. If you run meetings that produce a document, that's the choice. If you want tidy notes across every device, Granola is the easier answer.
Side by side
| Keen Bean | Granola | |
|---|---|---|
| Bot in the call | No. Listens from your Mac's audio. | No. "Uses your computer audio, so doesn't invite a bot." |
| What you get | Live cards for tasks, decisions, risks and blockers while people speak, plus drafts started on the call: specs, research notes, diagrams, rough prototypes. | Structured notes after the meeting, with summaries and next steps, plus AI chat across your meetings. |
| Where it lives | Markdown and JSON on your Mac, in folders you pick. Opens in Obsidian or any editor. Stays yours if you cancel. | Granola's cloud: "Notes are stored in our US-hosted AWS Virtual Private Cloud," encrypted at rest and in transit. |
| Who sees the meeting | Audio goes from your Mac to the transcription service, and the transcript to the model. No server of ours is in that path, so meeting content never reaches us. | Transcription and AI providers ("like Deepgram and Assembly," "like OpenAI and Anthropic"), and Granola's own cloud. Audio isn't stored. Granola trains on anonymised data unless you opt out. |
| Platforms | Mac only (Apple Silicon and Intel), deliberately. | macOS, Windows, iOS, Android. |
| AI usage | Included in the subscription. No provider accounts, no API keys. A capped monthly allowance you can see in the app. | Included. Advanced models on paid plans. |
| Team features | None. Single user, no shared workspace, no SSO. | Shared folders, integrations (Notion, Slack, HubSpot and others), SSO and admin controls on higher plans. |
| Price | Seed US$19/month or US$189/year. Sprout US$39/month or US$389/year. 14 days free, card required. | Free plan with limited history. Business US$14 per user/month. Enterprise US$35 per user/month. |
Granola details quoted from granola.ai's pricing and security pages, read 6 September 2026. If any of it has changed, tell me and I'll correct it.
Where Granola wins
- You want notes on your phone as well as your laptop. Keen Bean has no mobile app.
- You want a free plan, or the cheapest paid seat. Granola's Business plan is US$14; Keen Bean starts at US$19 and has no free tier.
- Your team shares notes and pushes them into Notion or HubSpot. Keen Bean is built for one person and a folder.
- You're on Windows.
Where Keen Bean wins
- You run the meeting and you write it up afterwards, and the write-up is a document, not a memory. Keen Bean hands you a draft to edit rather than notes to start from.
- You can say "hey Bean, mock that up" mid-call and have a rough screen or diagram waiting before the call ends.
- Client policies or NDAs mean meeting content must not land in a vendor's cloud. Nothing of Keen Bean's sits between your Mac and the transcription and model providers.
- You already live in Markdown and Obsidian, and you want the files to be yours whether or not you keep paying.
Try it on your next call
Every plan starts with 14 days free. If it doesn't leave you with a draft you'd actually edit, cancel before the first charge and keep everything it made.