FinderAtlas
Sign in

Granola vs Shortwave

Features, pricing, ratings, and pros and cons, side by side.

Shortwave logo

Shortwave

AI email client for Gmail that searches, organizes, drafts and schedules from plain-language prompts

Freemium
Visit websiteView details

Verdict

Granola is listed under Audio & Speech AI and Shortwave under AI Assistants. Both have a free plan or trial. Only Granola offers an API.

Best overall

Granola

  • Sales teams
  • product managers
  • founders
  • customer success teams

Choose Granola if

  • You want a tool built for professionals in back-to-back meetings who want notes without a visible recording bot.
  • No bot joins calls, which keeps meetings less intrusive.
  • Notes are private by default with granular sharing controls.

Choose Shortwave if

  • You want a tool built for heavy Gmail users who want AI search, drafting and inbox triage inside the email client itself.
  • AI search covers up to five years of email on Business and unlimited history on Premier and Max.
  • Native apps on iOS, Android, Mac and Windows, with a 4.7 average rating on the App Store.
Best for beginners
Granola
Best for business
Granola

Features

20 features compared.

  • Bot-free capture
    Granola
    Available
    Shortwave
    Not available
  • Notepad with AI enhancement
    Granola
    Available
    Shortwave
    Not available
  • Chat across meetings
    Granola
    Available
    Shortwave
    Not available
  • Pre-meeting briefs
    Granola
    Available
    Shortwave
    Not available
  • Follow-ups and action items
    Granola
    Available
    Shortwave
    Not available
  • Templates and recipes
    Granola
    Available
    Shortwave
    Not available
  • MCP connector
    Granola
    Available
    Shortwave
    Not available
  • Mobile and watch apps
    Granola
    Available
    Shortwave
    Not available
  • Multi-language support
    Granola
    Available
    Shortwave
    Not available
  • Shared folders and sharing controls
    Granola
    Available
    Shortwave
    Not available
  • AI Assistant
    Granola
    Not available
    Shortwave
    Available
  • AI Search
    Granola
    Not available
    Shortwave
    Available
  • Write in Your Voice
    Granola
    Not available
    Shortwave
    Available
  • AI Filters
    Granola
    Not available
    Shortwave
    Available
  • Bundles and Split Inboxes
    Granola
    Not available
    Shortwave
    Available
  • AI Scheduling
    Granola
    Not available
    Shortwave
    Available
  • Team Collaboration
    Granola
    Not available
    Shortwave
    Available
  • Tracking and Reminders
    Granola
    Not available
    Shortwave
    Available
  • App Connections and MCP
    Granola
    Not available
    Shortwave
    Available
  • Privacy Controls
    Granola
    Not available
    Shortwave
    Available

Pricing

Plans as listed by each vendor. Check their sites for current prices.

  • Pricing model
    Granola
    Freemium
    Shortwave
    Freemium
  • Free plan
    Granola
    Yes
    Shortwave
    Yes
  • Starting price
    Granola
    $0
    Shortwave
    $0
  • Plans
    Granola
    3 plans
    Shortwave
    5 plans

Granola plans

  • Basic

    $0

    Free tier with 30 days of meeting history

    • AI meeting notes
    • Custom templates
    • Multi-language support
    • Recipes
    • Shared folders
    • Slack integration
    • Auto model selection for chat

  • Business

    $14/user/mo

    For individuals or small teams

    • Unlimited meeting notes and history
    • Model selection in AI chat
    • Pre-meeting briefs
    • Follow-up emails
    • Workspace dictionary
    • Notion/Zapier/HubSpot/Attio/Affinity integrations
    • API access
    • MCP integration
    • Centralized billing

  • Enterprise

    $35/user/mo

    For larger companies

    • Everything in Business
    • SSO and SCIM
    • HIPAA-compliant workspaces
    • Audit API and usage analytics
    • Salesforce integration
    • Admin controls for MCP/API/integrations
    • Retention policies
    • Dedicated support

Shortwave plans

  • Free

    $0

    Individual tier with basic AI and limited daily AI quota

    • Basic intelligence
    • limited daily AI quota
    • 90 days of search history
    • Sent with Shortwave signature

  • Pro

    $18/user/mo

    Individual plan for personal users

    • AI assistant
    • paid AI features for individuals

  • Business

    Most popular

    $30/user/mo

    Everyday AI productivity for teams

    • Standard intelligence
    • 5 years AI search history
    • max 50 threads per AI search
    • 3 AI filters
    • AI integrations and web browsing

  • Premier

    $45/user/mo

    Everything in Business with more AI capacity

    • Advanced intelligence
    • 2x AI usage
    • 100 threads per AI search
    • 10 AI filters
    • unlimited AI search history

  • Max

    $120/user/mo

    Highest AI capacity per seat

    • Expert intelligence
    • 6x AI usage
    • 150 threads per AI search
    • 50 AI filters
    • unlimited AI search history

Our ratings

Scored out of 10 by the Finder Atlas editorial team. Last reviewed October 2026.

Granola
8.1overall
Shortwave
8.1overall

Granola leads in 3 categories and Shortwave in 2.

  • Ease of Use

    Granola leads by 0.3
    Granola
    8.8
    Shortwave
    8.5

  • Feature Depth

    Shortwave leads by 0.4
    Granola
    8.0
    Shortwave
    8.4

  • Value for Money

    Granola leads by 0.2
    Granola
    7.5
    Shortwave
    7.3

  • Performance & Speed

    Shortwave leads by 0.3
    Granola
    8.0
    Shortwave
    8.3

  • Documentation & Support

    Granola leads by 0.2
    Granola
    8.0
    Shortwave
    7.8

Scores weigh documented features, plan value, platform coverage, integrations and user feedback. A missing score means we have not rated that area yet.

Pros and cons

Granola

Pros

  • No bot joins calls, which keeps meetings less intrusive
  • Notes are private by default with granular sharing controls
  • Broad integration set including HubSpot, Attio, Notion, Salesforce and Zapier
  • MCP connector and REST API make notes usable in AI assistants and custom workflows
  • Documented SOC 2 Type 2 compliance and an Enterprise tier with SSO, SCIM and HIPAA workspaces
  • Desktop, mobile and Apple Watch apps cover in-person meetings

Cons

  • Free plan limits viewing to 30 days of meeting history and excludes pre-meeting briefs, follow-up emails and API access
  • API and most integrations require the $14 Business plan or higher
  • Reviewers report AI summaries can compress nuance or overstate decisions, so notes need review
  • Relies on device audio, so some meeting-room hardware setups may not work well
  • Granola trains its own models on anonymized user data unless users opt out in Settings

Shortwave

Pros

  • AI search covers up to five years of email on Business and unlimited history on Premier and Max.
  • Native apps on iOS, Android, Mac and Windows, with a 4.7 average rating on the App Store.
  • Team features such as shared threads, comments and assignments sit inside the inbox.
  • AI connects to outside tools including Notion, HubSpot, GitHub and MCP servers.
  • Per-plan model tiers let users pay for stronger models only when needed.

Cons

  • Paid plans are priced per seat from $30 (Business) to $120 (Max), higher than many email clients.
  • Built around Gmail; support for other providers is limited or unclear.
  • AI usage is capped by plan, with Business allowing roughly 150-300 Standard requests per day.
  • The free tier is not clearly documented on the official pricing page.

Platforms

  • Web
    Granola
    Not supported
    Shortwave
    Not supported
  • Windows
    Granola
    Supported
    Shortwave
    Supported
  • macOS
    Granola
    Supported
    Shortwave
    Supported
  • iOS
    Granola
    Supported
    Shortwave
    Supported
  • Android
    Granola
    Supported
    Shortwave
    Supported
  • API
    Granola
    Supported
    Shortwave
    Not supported
  • Browser Extension
    Granola
    Not supported
    Shortwave
    Not supported

Integrations

Granola

15 integrations
  • Slack
  • Notion
  • HubSpot
  • Attio
  • Affinity
  • Salesforce
  • Zapier
  • Google Calendar
  • Outlook
  • Gmail
  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Gemini
  • Microsoft 365 Copilot
  • Cursor

Shortwave

10 integrations
  • Gmail
  • Google Calendar
  • Slack
  • Notion
  • HubSpot
  • Asana
  • GitHub
  • Linear
  • Zapier
  • Tasklet

Company

  • Company
    Granola
    Granola
    Shortwave
    Shortwave Communications, Inc.
  • Founded
    Granola
    2023
    Shortwave
    2020
  • Headquarters
    Granola
    London, United Kingdom
    Shortwave
    San Francisco, CA
  • Listing
    Granola
    Claimed
    Shortwave
    Claimed

Frequently asked questions

Is Granola better than Shortwave?

It depends on your workflow. Granola is built for professionals in back-to-back meetings who want notes without a visible recording bot. Shortwave is built for heavy Gmail users who want AI search, drafting and inbox triage inside the email client itself.

What are the key feature differences between Granola and Shortwave?

Granola: AI notepad that turns your own meeting notes into polished summaries without a bot. Shortwave: AI email client for Gmail that searches, organizes, drafts and schedules from plain-language prompts.

Does Granola or Shortwave have a free plan?

Yes, both do. Granola is freemium and Shortwave is freemium, and each has a free plan or trial.

Which is cheaper, Granola or Shortwave?

Both can be used for free. Paid plans differ in limits and features, so compare the tiers in the pricing table above.