Callbox vs Granola

Yes. Callbox saves the audio of every call you record as a file in your own Google Drive, with a Google Doc transcript beside it. Granola keeps no recording you can play or download. Its desktop app transcribes without saving the audio, and its phone apps cache the audio during the meeting and delete it after transcription.^[4][5]

Granola does not plan to change this. Its feature requests page says it has no plans to support video or audio recordings, and its pricing page lists "Audio deleted after transcription" on every plan.^[7][2]

The audio matters when the transcript gets something wrong. With Callbox you play the moment back and hear what was said. With Granola the transcript and the AI notes are all that remain. You can edit the notes and delete parts of the transcript, but you cannot correct a word in it, and there is no recording to check what was said.^[7][4]

Keeping the audio also helps when the connection fails. Granola's desktop app transcribes over a live connection to its transcription providers, and its troubleshooting page covers sessions where nothing is transcribed. It keeps no recording you can upload again if that fails. Callbox keeps the recording on your computer while the network is down and uploads it later, so you lose no audio.^[6]

Granola keeps your notes and transcripts on Amazon Web Services servers in the United States, with no EU, UK or other regional data residency. Its integrations page lists Slack, Notion, HubSpot, Attio, Affinity, Zapier, MCP and its API, and no Google Drive. A Zapier template can copy each note to Drive as a markdown file of text, and Zapier needs a paid Granola plan.^{[8][9][11][10]}

Callbox writes straight to your Drive. Each recording is an audio file plus a Google Doc transcript, in a folder per project, and Callbox can see only the files it creates there. The files stay in your Drive if you downgrade, cancel or delete your Callbox account.

Leaving Granola means exporting text. Its export is a CSV of your notes with the title, summary and transcript, sent by email within a few hours, once a day at most, and it covers only notes that have a summary. On Granola's free plan, notes older than 30 days stay hidden in the app until you upgrade, though the export still reaches them. Callbox Free keeps every recording in your Drive, however old.^[12][3]

Granola has certifications that Callbox does not claim. It has had SOC 2 Type II since July 2025, and its Enterprise plan offers HIPAA support with a BAA that covers its desktop and laptop apps.^[13][2][8]

Yes, for calls on a computer. Granola records in its Mac or Windows app or its phone apps, and its web app at notes.granola.ai cannot capture a meeting. Its Chrome extension, Granola Companion, works with the desktop app. Granola's site lists apps for macOS, Windows, iOS and Android. The Callbox extension runs in desktop Chrome on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS.^[4][14][1]

Neither one sends a bot to the call. Granola captures your computer's sound, so it works in Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, desktop apps included, and it records everything the computer plays. Its troubleshooting page warns that on Windows it may miss the other people in some apps, in Phone Link and on virtual desktops. Callbox records the call in your Chrome tab plus your microphone, on Meet, Zoom or Teams on the web or any other site. It does not record the Zoom or Teams desktop apps.^[4][6]

On a phone, both record the meeting in the room. Granola's free iPhone and Android apps cannot capture audio from other apps, so they cover in-person meetings and outbound calls placed through Granola's own dialer. Callbox records the room from the phone's browser, and it imports audio and video files you already have, such as a phone call or a Zoom cloud recording. Granola does not import pre-recorded files.^[15][16][4]

By default, nobody on the call sees either one. Granola can post an optional chat message in Zoom, Meet or Teams, or add a watermark to your video, and an Enterprise admin can make those notices required. Callbox shows the other side nothing, so telling people you record is up to you, as with any recorder.^[17]

Granola transcribes more languages on its own engine. It covers 31 languages on the desktop, including Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Arabic and Hindi, and 17 on its phone apps. Callbox's engine covers 25 European languages, English and Spanish included, and 99 with your own key on a Whisper large-v3 service such as OpenAI or Groq.^[18]

Both name speakers in some calls. On the desktop, Granola shows names in Google Meet and in the Zoom and Teams desktop apps, and labels everything else as "Me" and "Them". Its phone apps label speakers as Speaker A, Speaker B and so on. Callbox tells you apart from the other side on every recording from the extension, and shows each speaker's name in Meet and Teams calls.^[19][5]

Granola has no daily transcription limit on any plan, and its desktop app shows a live transcript on the free plan too. Callbox gives 5 hours a month on Free, subject to availability, 100 on Pro and 500 on Business, and no limit with your own key. Live transcription is on Callbox's paid plans.^[3][4]

Granola writes the notes for you, and in Callbox your own AI agent does. Granola's enhanced notes merge what you type during the meeting with the transcript and the calendar event, and its docs say you cannot bring your own model. It adds note templates and a chat over your meetings, and on Business, briefs before a meeting and drafted follow-up emails.^[20][21][2]

Callbox writes no summaries itself. Its MCP server lets Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Cursor or another MCP client search your calls, read the transcripts and save a summary or action items as a note on the recording, with the model you pick. These tools work on every plan, Free included, and your agent can also move, rename and file calls. Only the webhook tools need a paid plan.

Granola has an MCP server too. On its free plan it reaches your personal and public notes from the last 30 days, without transcripts. Its docs list no tool that creates or renames a note, though an Enterprise switch, on by default, lets AI tools add notes to folders or remove them. It offers no API key for MCP, and its REST API and webhooks need Business.^[22][23][24]

Callbox also files calls for you. It matches the email addresses of the people invited against rules you set per project, remembers the project of a recurring meeting, and puts the rest in an Inbox. Granola organizes notes in spaces and folders, and auto-filing and a default folder are still on its feature requests page.^[25][7]