TLDR If you like bot-free notes but need a decision-ready interview report, Tracy AI Interviewer runs the first round by two-way video, with no bot and no call to join, and writes an assessment per question beside the recording and a timestamped transcript.
$1 per credit, the first 3 results free, no seats.
Granola is the better pick when you run the interviews yourself and want a private notepad.
Next: create one interview for the workflow your current tool misses.
We make Tracy AI Interviewer.
People looking for Granola alternatives usually like what it does: quiet notes on a call, with no bot. The question is what produces a report a team can decide from. Granola keeps notes for the person who ran the call. Running the first round for every applicant is a different job, and Tracy AI Interviewer is the first tool to try for it. The list puts Tracy first, then four tools for other needs.
Why do teams look for Granola alternatives?
These reasons come from Granola's own pages.
The notes are personal. They are private by default and shared only if you choose, which suits an individual.
Hiring features are not stated. Its home and pricing pages describe meeting notes, templates, AI chat and integrations with Attio, Notion, HubSpot, Affinity and Zapier; interview scorecards and ATS sync are not stated.
The call is not kept. Granola deletes audio after transcription, so a reviewer gets notes and a transcript but no recording to replay.
Spend follows users. Business lists $14 per user per month and Enterprise $35, so cost tracks the number of interviewers.
Some teams should stay. If your interviewers run the calls and want to stay present with no bot, Granola does that well, and an AI interviewer does not replace it.
Which Granola alternative suits which team?
- Tracy AI Interviewer: roles where the first round must show depth for every applicant, at a published price per result.
- Otter.ai: teams that want live transcription of meetings, bot or bot-free.
- Fireflies.ai: hiring teams that want notes, scorecards and ATS sync on their own interviews.
- Metaview: teams that want interview notes mapped into ATS scorecards.
- BrightHire: teams that want a notetaker and an AI interviewer from one vendor, and accept a quote.
The sections below give the detail and the limits of each.
Tracy AI Interviewer: the first round, run and evidenced
Tracy needs no bot in the room, because there is no meeting to join. The applicant opens a browser link at any hour, with no account and no scheduling, and Tracy interviews them by two-way video. She asks about what was said, in the person's own field, and waits for the answer. Roy Junyoung Jang, Director, Residency & Investment at Antler Korea, said Tracy "sometimes brings up exactly those questions I might have forgotten to ask." Each result comes with a recording of both sides, a timestamped transcript, a written assessment per question with its reasoning and integrity signals for a human reviewer. A person decides, and the record can be shared by link or PDF.
Bring your own questions or describe the role and let Tracy draft them. Tracy connects through API and MCP (ChatGPT, Claude, Mistral, Gemini, Copilot Studio), Slack, WhatsApp, Workable, Breezy HR, Zapier and Power Automate. The price is $1 per credit, one credit per started 20 minutes, the first 3 results free, no seats. See Tracy's pricing.
Where Granola is better: invisible capture on calls you run yourself, kept private to you. Tracy is not a notetaker for your calls.
Tracy asks the next question from the candidate's answer. A recording and a timestamped transcript sit behind every result, plus a written assessment per question.
Otter.ai: live transcripts for any meeting
Otter joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, or records bot-free from a Mac or Windows desktop, Chrome or a phone. It offers live transcription in multiple languages with speaker recognition and summaries with action items, and lists an MCP server on every plan. Its listed use cases are Sales, Education and Media. Pro lists $16.99 and Business $24 per user per month on monthly billing ($8.33 and $19.99 on annual billing). Pick it for live transcripts across a wide mix of meetings.
Fireflies.ai: a notetaker with a recruiting page
Fireflies sends a note taker bot to the call, with a Chrome extension option on paid plans. Its recruiting page covers interview notes, scorecards and ATS sync, and notes can go to Greenhouse and Lever. It transcribes in 100+ languages and lists SOC 2 Type II. Pro lists $10 and Business $19 per seat per month billed annually ($18 and $29 on monthly billing). Pick it when hiring-specific notes and ATS sync matter more than staying bot-free.
Metaview: notes mapped into ATS scorecards
For a Granola user who wants a bot-free option built for hiring, Metaview's Notetaker does not need a bot in the call and maps answers into ATS scorecards. Notetaker Pro lists $60 per user per month, monthly; Screening price is not stated.
BrightHire: notes and an AI interviewer from one vendor
BrightHire lists AI notes and a two-way AI interviewer; whether its notes work without a bot is not stated on the pages read. Its pricing page lists no dollar amounts (9 Nov snapshot).
Granola and its alternatives compared on four pillars and price
Source: each vendor's own pages and approved Tracy product records, Nov 2026. Prices are list prices; billing basis is shown per cell.
| Tool | Depth | Volume | Stack | Evidence | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tracy AI Interviewer | Two-way video, follow-ups in the person's field, coding task inside | Starts on click, any hour, no scheduling | API, MCP, Slack, WhatsApp, Workable, Zapier | Recording, timestamped transcript, assessment per question | $1 per credit, first 3 free |
| Granola | Private notes on calls you run; hiring features not stated | No bot; uses your computer audio | Zapier, Attio, Notion, HubSpot, MCP, API | Transcript and notes; audio deleted after transcription | Free; Business $14 per user per month (billing basis not stated) |
| Otter.ai | Notes and summaries of calls your team runs | Joins Zoom, Teams and Meet, or records bot-free | Salesforce, HubSpot, Zapier, MCP; ATS not stated | Live transcript, speaker recognition, summaries | Pro $16.99 and Business $24 per user per month on monthly billing; $8.33 and $19.99 on annual |
| Fireflies.ai | Notes, scorecards and candidate-scoring skills on recorded calls | Bot on the call, or Chrome extension without it | Greenhouse, Lever, CRMs, Slack, MCP | Transcript in 100+ languages, summaries | Pro $18 and Business $29 per seat per month on monthly billing; $10 and $19 on annual |
| Metaview | Notetaker on human interviews; Screening is a separate agent | Notetaker can work without a bot in the call | Greenhouse, Ashby, Lever, Workday and more | Notes mapped into ATS scorecards | Notetaker Pro $60 per user per month, monthly; Screening price not stated |
| BrightHire | AI notes on live interviews; AI interviewer, two-way | Candidates can interview 24/7 | Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, Workday, Slack | Auto-filled scorecards; rubric scoring | No dollar amounts on its pricing page (9 Nov snapshot) |
Two jobs, two tools: a notepad when you run the call, Tracy when the first round has to be run for you.
How do you choose a Granola alternative?
Start with who runs the interview. If your recruiters run it and you want quiet notes, stay with Granola or look at Otter, Fireflies.ai and Metaview. If you want it run for every applicant, shortlist Tracy and BrightHire's AI interviewer.
Then decide what a reviewer needs. A private notepad serves the person who took the call. A shared record of the interview, with the recording, a transcript and an assessment per question, serves a panel that has to compare many candidates and agree.
Finally, compare the price model. Users scale with interviewers; credits scale with interviews. 100 interviews of 20 minutes is $100 in Tracy. Create one interview for your role, and read what an AI interview report contains and the best AI interview software for the wider list.
Which path fits you?
- Technical hiring: technical interviews covers role-specific interviews with follow-ups.
- High-volume hiring: volume hiring covers applicant waves.
- Applicant experience: participant experience shows what the person interviewed sees.
Questions
What are the best Granola alternatives for interviews?
Is there a Granola alternative that does not use a bot?
Are there open source Granola alternatives?
Is Tracy a notepad like Granola?
Create one interview for the workflow your current tool misses: send us one role and we will build the interview plan, with a recording and report you can check. Book a demo · Try it free
Sources
- Granola, Pricing, retrieved 9 Nov 2026.
- Tracy AI Interviewer, Pricing, retrieved 9 Nov 2026.
- Tracy AI Interviewer, Connect, retrieved 9 Nov 2026.