Looking for a Granola alternative that goes beyond basic meeting notes? Discover why Hedy's proactive AI coaching approach delivers transformational results that passive note-taking tools simply can't match.
Looking for a Granola alternative that goes beyond basic meeting notes? While Granola offers solid AI note-taking capabilities, it lacks the proactive intelligence that modern professionals need to truly excel in their conversations. If you've found yourself wanting more than just post-meeting summaries—if you want real-time coaching that makes you the most insightful person in every meeting—Hedy might be exactly what you're looking for.
Granola has carved out a niche in the AI meeting assistant space with its clean interface and cross-meeting chat capabilities. But as users dive deeper into the tool, several limitations become apparent:
No Audio Recording or Transcription: Unlike comprehensive meeting assistants, Granola doesn't record or transcribe your meetings. It focuses exclusively on AI-generated notes, which means you're missing the full conversation context and can't review what was actually said.
Limited Meeting History on Free Plan: The free tier stores only 14 days of meeting history, forcing users to export or lose their notes regularly—or upgrade to paid plans.
Reactive, Not Proactive: Granola creates notes after meetings happen. It doesn't provide real-time insights when you need them most—during the actual conversation when a brilliant question or response could change the outcome.
No Automatic Suggestions: You have to actively query Granola's AI. It won't proactively identify opportunities, blindspots, or suggest questions you should be asking in the moment.
If these limitations resonate with you, you're not alone. Thousands of professionals have discovered that Hedy's proactive AI coaching approach delivers transformational results that passive note-taking tools simply can't match.
Hedy isn't just another meeting transcription tool—it's your personal AI coach that makes you brilliant in every conversation. Here's what makes Hedy fundamentally different:
While Granola waits for you to ask questions after your meeting ends, Hedy's Automatic Suggestions feature actively monitors your conversations and delivers intelligent guidance at exactly the right moments—without you having to do anything.
Imagine you're in a client meeting and the client mentions budget constraints twice but hasn't specified an actual number. Hedy notices this gap and suggests: "The client mentioned budget constraints but hasn't specified the range. Consider asking: 'What budget parameters should we work within to ensure this project's success?'"
This is ambient intelligence—AI that understands context, identifies opportunities, and helps you lead conversations rather than just document them.
Unlike Granola's notes-only approach, Hedy provides:
You get both the AI intelligence AND the complete conversation record—no trade-offs required.
Hedy's Topics feature lets you organize related sessions together and chat across multiple meetings at once. Have all your client meetings in one topic? Ask Hedy "What commitments did we make in Q1?" and it will search across every related conversation, citing specific sessions.
Granola offers cross-meeting chat, but without audio recording and with only 14 days of free storage, you're working with incomplete data.
Hedy runs seamlessly across:
One consistent experience across all your devices, with cloud sync keeping everything in perfect harmony.
Let's look at how Hedy's proactive intelligence creates tangible advantages across different professional contexts:
The Scenario: You're in a quarterly business review with a major client. The discussion is moving fast, covering multiple topics from deliverables to future opportunities.
With Granola: You take notes manually or let Granola generate a summary afterward. You miss subtle opportunities during the meeting because you're focused on documenting rather than engaging.
With Hedy:
Result: You win the expanded contract because you demonstrated insight and leadership during the conversation—not just after it.
The Scenario: You're conducting a discovery call with a prospective client who's explaining their business challenges.
With Granola: You document their challenges and create notes to review later. Your questions are good but generic.
With Hedy:
Result: The client sees you as exceptionally insightful and strategic—because you were asking questions that got to the heart of their situation.
The Scenario: You're in a complex lecture on quantum mechanics. The professor is explaining Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.
With Granola: You get notes after class summarizing what was discussed. Helpful for review, but you missed the chance to demonstrate engagement during the lecture.
With Hedy:
Result: You become known as an engaged, curious student, and you actually understand the material better because you explored it during the lecture.
The Scenario: You're interviewing for your dream job. The interviewer asks about your experience with team leadership.
With Granola: You answer the question based on your preparation. Afterward, you get notes about what was discussed.
With Hedy (Job Interview mode):
Result: You land the job because you demonstrated both competence and cultural fit through strategically crafted responses.
The Value Proposition: Hedy costs $4 less per month than Granola's Business plan while delivering significantly more value through automatic suggestions, full transcription, audio recording, and proactive intelligence.
"90% of my job involves sitting in corporate meetings that are a little over my head, so sometimes I lack the confidence to contribute my ideas to these meetings, which I feel is holding me back from being a director or higher level. By chance, I stumbled on Hedy and was in TOTAL shock how amazing it was. I used it to validate my ideas and also come up with new ideas to share. I can tell this is going to be game changing for my career." — Valentino, Corporate Professional
"I'm constantly context switching between situations and clients. I essentially need a backstop for my notes and my memory. I used Hedy for the first time yesterday and was blown away by really how much it could do for me in my day to day." — Graham K., Director of Marketing
"Unlike traditional note-taking tools, Hedy actively listens to conversations and delivers tailored insights, prompts, and recommendations to ensure users are always well-prepared and focused. Hedy lets you be more engaged and actively participate in the conversation during the meeting, prompting you to ask not just 'a question' but the right question." — Andy Abramson, CEO and Founder, Comunicano, Inc.
Here's the core distinction that makes Hedy the superior choice:
Granola is reactive: It creates notes based on what already happened. You query it after meetings end. It's a documentation tool.
Hedy is proactive: It actively guides you during conversations, identifying opportunities and suggesting insights at the perfect moments. It's a coaching tool that makes you better in real-time.
This isn't just a feature difference—it's a fundamental philosophical difference in how AI should support professionals:
Hedy automatically identifies action items from your conversations and creates a manageable task list. Edit, complete, or export to your favorite task management tool via Zapier.
Share individual sessions or entire Topics with colleagues via email or secure links. Perfect for team collaboration and keeping stakeholders informed.
Create multiple custom contexts for different meeting scenarios—client projects, team meetings, lectures—and Hedy tailors its insights to each unique situation.
Tap the star button to capture key moments during meetings. Hedy automatically analyzes each highlight and generates clear, structured notes in Zettelkasten style for long-term knowledge retention.
Start recording on your iPhone and follow the live transcript and AI suggestions on your Mac or iPad. Your insights are available in real-time wherever you need them most.
Transform any YouTube video into a complete Hedy session with full transcripts, AI-generated summaries, and organized insights. Learn from industry experts and create study materials from educational content.
Hedy takes privacy seriously:
Unlike some enterprise tools that record everything for team surveillance, Hedy empowers individuals while respecting privacy.
Hedy connects to your workflow through:
Connect Hedy to your CRM, project management tools, note-taking apps, and communication platforms to create seamless workflows.
Transitioning from Granola to Hedy is straightforward:
Many users report that Hedy's automatic suggestions alone justify the switch—it's a capability that fundamentally transforms how they show up in conversations.
✅ Want to be more insightful and strategic during actual conversations, not just afterward
✅ Need full conversation transcripts and audio recording, not just AI-generated notes
✅ Value proactive coaching over reactive documentation
✅ Attend client meetings, negotiations, or high-stakes conversations where real-time intelligence matters
✅ Want to learn and improve from every interaction, with AI guidance in the moment
✅ Need longer than 14 days of meeting history without paying for premium
✅ Prefer spending $9.99/month instead of $14/month for more comprehensive features
Granola is a capable AI notepad for generating meeting summaries. But if you want to actually become better at conversations—if you want AI that makes you the most insightful person in the room rather than just documenting what everyone else said—Hedy is the clear choice.
The difference isn't subtle:
For professionals who want to lead conversations, demonstrate expertise, and make better decisions in real-time, the choice is clear.
Q: Can I use Hedy offline?
A: Hedy requires an internet connection for AI analysis, but speech recognition happens on-device for privacy. Offline mode improvements are in development.
Q: How accurate is Hedy's transcription?
A: Hedy uses advanced on-device speech recognition with high accuracy across 30+ languages. You can also enable custom vocabulary to improve accuracy for industry-specific terms.
Q: Will people know I'm using Hedy?
A: Hedy runs discreetly on your device. For in-person meetings, your phone simply sits on the table. For virtual meetings, Hedy captures system audio on desktop or listens through your phone's microphone—no bot joins the call.
Q: Can I import my existing Granola notes?
A: Yes! Hedy's transcript import feature lets you bring in text from other tools to analyze with Hedy's AI capabilities.
Q: How does the automatic suggestions feature work?
A: Hedy continuously monitors your conversations and uses sophisticated AI to identify moments where specific insights, questions, or guidance would be valuable. Suggestions appear in your chat interface at the perfect moments—no action required from you.
Q: What happens to my data?
A: On the free plan, all data stays on your device. Pro users can enable cloud sync, which encrypts data in transit and at rest. Hedy never sells your data, and AI analysis happens in real-time without storing conversations on third-party servers.
The gap between reactive note-taking and proactive AI coaching is enormous. While Granola documents your meetings, Hedy transforms them.
See Hedy in action: Download the free version today and experience automatic suggestions in your next meeting. You'll immediately understand why thousands of professionals call Hedy "game-changing for their careers."
Start with confidence: The free plan includes up to 5 hours per month with full access to Hedy's core features including automatic suggestions. No credit card required.
Upgrade when ready: Pro users get unlimited sessions, cross-device sync, Topics, and advanced integrations for just $9.99/month—less than Granola Business while delivering far more value.
Don't just document your conversations. Dominate them.
Be the brightest person in the room. With Hedy.
