Granola vs Otter for interviews: an AI notepad against an auto-join note-taker

Granola and Otter.ai both write notes from interviews, but they work differently. Granola is an AI notepad that transcribes your computer's audio on Mac or Windows, so nothing joins the call, and it does not keep recordings; its Business plan is $14 per user per month as of October 2026. Otter sends a Notetaker into Zoom, Teams and Meet calls (or records Zoom and Meet from its desktop app without a bot), keeps transcripts with playback, and costs from $8.33 per user per month billed yearly. Granola suits interviewers who want no visible note-taker; Otter suits people who want every call captured automatically.

Vendor facts below come from Granola's and Otter's own sites and help centers, checked in October 2026 and linked. Our single-product reviews go further on setup: Granola for interviews and Otter.ai for recruiting.

How do Granola and Otter compare for interviews?

Sources: granola.ai, Granola pricing, Granola security FAQ, Granola phone calls; Otter pricing, Otter desktop, Otter integrations, Otter dialers. All as of October 2026.

How does each one get into the interview?

Granola's homepage says it "uses your computer audio, so doesn't invite a bot," and works "with Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and every other meeting app." That covers the cases that trip up bot-based tools: a candidate who sends their own link, a client-hosted call, a meeting with a locked lobby. The candidate sees nothing in the participant list, which is exactly why you need to tell them yourself.

Otter's pricing page says its Notetaker joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet to write and share notes. Its desktop app records "without a bot across Slack Huddles, Zoom, Google Meet, and in-person." Teams is not on that list, so Teams interviews with Otter mean a visible Notetaker. Otter's help center documents a "Default audience for shared notes" setting; set it to "Don't Share" before candidate calls (Otter help).

What kind of notes does each produce?

The two products start from opposite ends. Granola describes itself as "the AI notepad for back-to-back meetings": you type rough notes during the call and it writes them up from the transcript afterward. Its phone call announcement says it "cleans up any notes you typed during the call." Your notes steer the output, which suits a structured interview if you type each question as a heading before the call, using something like our interview guide template.

Otter starts from the transcript. Its Recruiting Agent page describes résumé and LinkedIn summaries before the interview, suggested questions, real-time transcription with key phrases marked, and a summary of strengths, weaknesses and concerns afterward, with notes syncing to Greenhouse. The same page says it analyzes the candidate's "emotional tone and sentiment," which has no place in a scorecard; keep it out.

Whichever you use, be careful what ends up in writing. A tidy AI summary can carry an offhand remark about family or health into a permanent record; our guide on what not to write in interview notes lists what to delete.

Which handles phone and in-person interviews?

Granola's September 2025 announcement added phone call notes to the iPhone app: tap the phone icon, hold the phone to your ear or use speaker, and it transcribes in the background. The announcement names iPhone only. Its homepage says the iPhone and Android apps work for in-person meetings.

Otter's dialer integrations for Zoom Phone and RingCentral are sold through its sales team, and its desktop page lists in-person recording. Its integrations page also lists iOS and Android apps. For a hiring manager who takes the occasional phone screen on an iPhone, Granola is the simpler route of the two.

What does each keep, and who can train on it?

Granola's security FAQ says audio "is temporarily cached during the meeting for transcription only" and then deleted, that data is stored on AWS servers in the United States, that notes and transcripts are kept indefinitely unless you set an auto-deletion period, and that Granola holds SOC 2 Type II. On training: on Basic and Business, anonymised data may be used to improve Granola's own models unless each user turns off "Use my data to improve models for everyone"; Enterprise can opt out for the whole workspace. Granola says third parties such as OpenAI and Anthropic are never allowed to train on your data.

Otter's pricing page lists "Advanced search, export & playback" on Pro, which indicates recordings can be replayed, and puts SSO and SCIM on Enterprise with a 100-user minimum. Check Otter's current privacy terms on training before recording candidates.

The practical difference for interviews: with Granola you cannot replay a disputed answer, only read the transcript; with Otter you can, but you are also storing candidates' voices, which needs a retention rule.

What do they cost?

From each pricing page, as of October 2026:

• Granola: Basic $0 with limited meeting history (30 days in the comparison table) and customized note templates; Business $14 per user per month with unlimited history and integrations; Enterprise $35 per user per month with SSO, SCIM and org-wide auto-deletion. Only monthly prices are shown.
• Otter: Basic free with 300 minutes per month and 30 minutes per conversation; Pro $16.99 monthly or $8.33 billed yearly, up to 90 minutes per meeting and 5 billed users; Business $30 monthly or $19.99 yearly, up to 4 hours per meeting.

As an example, a hiring manager doing six 45-minute interviews a month fits within Otter Pro's 1,200 minutes, and would pay $8.33 a month billed yearly against $14 for Granola Business. On the free plans, Otter Basic cuts each interview at 30 minutes, while Granola Basic lists no per-conversation cap but limits history to 30 days, which is short if a hiring process runs longer than a month.

What should you set before the first candidate call?

Ten minutes of settings prevent most of the problems we hear about. For Granola, per its security FAQ and pricing page:

1. Turn off "Use my data to improve models for everyone" under Settings, Preferences, Data & sharing. Opting out does not reverse earlier use, so do it before the first interview.
2. Set a transcript auto-deletion period that matches your interview retention schedule. Granola says non-Enterprise users can set one in settings, with a one-week cooldown before it applies.
3. Look at the "Let people know you're using Granola" option on the pricing page's comparison table; it is per user on Basic and Business and admin-enforceable on Enterprise.

For Otter, per its help center:

1. Set "Default audience for shared notes" to "Don't Share," then check calendar events you configured one by one, which keep their own setting.
2. Decide whether you want the "Send pre-recording emails" setting on for meetings where the Notetaker auto-joins.
3. Use a paid plan for interviews longer than 30 minutes, or the transcript will stop partway.

Which one should you choose?

• Granola, best for: hiring managers and recruiters who interview on Teams or candidate-hosted links, want no visible note-taker, and like to type their own notes.
• Otter, best for: people who want every call transcribed automatically with playback, interview prep from the résumé, and a Greenhouse sync.
• Either way: ask for consent before you start (our consent script has wording), and score from the transcript rather than the summary, as described in taking interview notes as a hiring manager. This is general information, not legal advice.

If you want a bot-free tool shaped around the interview itself, with a question guide that ticks off must-ask questions and a scorecard quoting the candidate, we make Interview Signal, a Windows and macOS app with no mobile version and no ATS integration; everything about Granola and Otter on this page comes from their own sites, linked and dated. For a related pairing, see Otter vs Fathom for interviews.