ctrlhqctrlhq vs GranolaMeeting notes that never leave your Mac.
ctrlhq vs Granola: private meeting notes for Mac. On-device transcription and summaries for Zoom, Meet and Teams calls, no bot, no cloud, no monthly fee.
14-day money-back guaranteeAlready bought? Download
- ctrlhq
- Productivity app in the notch
- $19 launch price (then $49) · macOS 26 Tahoe+ · native, about 12 MB
- Granola
- AI meeting notes app
- Free (30 days of history), Business $14/user/month
Granola is a great AI notepad for meetings, with shared notes, chat over your meetings and integrations with Notion and CRMs. It runs in the cloud and, past the free tier, costs a monthly fee per person.
ctrlhq takes meeting notes entirely on your Mac. Apple's on-device speech engine transcribes you and the other side separately, Apple Intelligence writes the summary and action items, and none of the audio or text leaves your laptop. Action items go straight to your task list. You pay once.
ctrlhq vs Granola, side by side
| Feature | ctrlhq | Granola |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19 once (launch price, then $49) | Free tier, then $14 per user a month |
| No bot joins the call | ||
| Transcription | On your Mac | In the cloud |
| Summary and action items | On-device (Apple Intelligence) | Cloud AI |
| Audio and transcripts leave your Mac | ||
| Unlimited history | Paid plans | |
| Action items to your task list | ||
| Team sharing and CRM integrations | ||
| Markdown export |
Granola details from its website, checked September 2026. Spot something out of date? Tell us.
Choose Granola if
- You share meeting notes with a team or push them into a CRM.
- You want to chat with an AI across months of meetings.
Choose ctrlhq if
- Your calls are confidential and shouldn't go to anyone's server.
- You want notes without a monthly bill.
- You want action items to land in your task list.
Lightweight by design
ctrlhq is a native Swift app, about 12 MB to download, with no background daemons or helper apps. One app that's already in your notch replaces a shelf of single-purpose ones, and every menu bar icon that came with them.
Questions
Does audio leave my Mac?
No. Transcription and summaries run on-device.
Which call apps work?
Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack huddles, FaceTime, Webex, Discord and calls in the browser.
Do I need Apple Intelligence?
For the summary and action items, yes. The transcript works without it.
Run it next to Granola.
Every feature for $19 launch price (then $49), no subscription. Not for you? Full refund within 14 days.
14-day money-back guaranteeAlready bought? Download
Granola is a trademark of its owner. ctrlhq isn't affiliated with it.