Grain

Overview

Grain turns meetings into searchable notes and shared material, with capture options for bot-free audio or bot-recorded video. It is best suited to sales, customer success, and product teams that need call context to move between people and tools. Its breadth is compelling, but the free plan’s meeting and history caps make it better for evaluation than sustained use.

Key features

Grain works with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Slack Huddles, and in-person meetings. It can transcribe computer audio without adding a bot to the meeting, or record video with a bot present. That choice accommodates different meeting preferences, though users should note that video recording uses the bot-based mode.

AI notes include next steps and automatic recaps. Users can also ask questions across their meeting library and get cited answers, a useful way to find decisions without replaying calls. Transcription supports 130 languages, and calendar integrations are available.

Sharing extends beyond notes: teams can distribute clips, projects, and full recordings, and configure automatic group sharing. Grain’s integration page names Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, HubSpot, Salesforce, Aircall, Slack, Productboard, and Zapier. Meeting data can also be exported or connected to Claude, ChatGPT, and other AI tools through an MCP server and API.

For organizations with stricter requirements, Grain states that it is SOC 2 Type II certified, hosts software on AWS in the USA, and encrypts customer data at rest and in transit. It says neither it nor its subprocessors use customer data to train AI models. Enterprise customers can require organizational SSO.

Pricing

Grain uses a freemium model, with paid plans starting at $15/user/mo and a 14-day trial. The Free plan costs free and is billed annually; it includes one free Notetaker seat, meetings up to 45 minutes, and 20 bot-recorded meetings for personal email users. Meeting history lasts 90 days. The short meeting cap and finite bot-recorded allowance make Free a constrained fit for regular team use.

Starter costs $15 a month and includes 10 uploads per month. That is the published entry paid option, but the upload quota may be limiting for teams processing meetings frequently. Business has custom pricing and includes everything in Starter plus AI coaching, custom follow-up emails, trackers, CRM and dialer integrations, and an advanced MCP server. It suits teams seeking structured coaching and sales-system connections, though the price requires a quote.

Enterprise also has custom pricing. It includes Business features, enhanced security controls, SSO, dedicated account management, and custom invoicing, making it the tier aimed at organizations that need centralized access control and account support. Grain directs customers to its support team for help with its 30-day money-back guarantee.

Platforms

Grain offers desktop apps for macOS and Windows, plus browser access. Its platform listings also include an API, which supports integrations and AI connections for teams building workflows around meeting data.

Who it's for

Grain is a strong fit for small to mid-market and enterprise sales, customer success, and product teams that need searchable conversation records, reusable clips, and shared follow-up. Teams that depend on coaching or CRM and dialer integrations should weigh Business; organizations prioritizing SSO and enhanced controls should consider Enterprise. Individuals or teams with short, occasional meetings may find the free plan useful, but frequent or longer meetings will run into its caps.

Pros and cons

• Flexible capture: Bot-free computer-audio transcription and bot-based video recording accommodate different meeting preferences.
• Useful retrieval: Cited answers across the meeting library help users locate context without searching recordings manually.
• Team sharing: Clips, projects, full recordings, and automatic group sharing can carry meeting outcomes to colleagues.
• Restricted free use: The 45-minute meeting cap, 90-day history, and 20 bot-recorded meetings for personal email users limit ongoing use.
• Paid-plan uncertainty: Business and Enterprise have custom pricing, while Starter’s 10 monthly uploads may not cover high-volume teams.

Alternatives

Consider Fathom if unlimited free recordings and transcriptions, bot-free or bot capture, and instant AI summaries matter more than Grain’s stated team coaching and enterprise controls. Notta may suit someone seeking a free plan with 120 transcription minutes per month across one seat. Choose MeetGeek if a free allowance of three transcription hours per month and three months of transcript storage better match your needs.

Fellow offers five lifetime AI notes per user on its free plan, which may suit a starter who only needs a small number of notes. Circleback is another freemium option for AI meeting notes, action items, and limited automations. Laxis offers 300 transcription minutes per month and 30 days of conversation history on its Basic plan. tl;dv provides unlimited recordings and transcriptions on its free plan. Granola offers 30 days of meeting history on its Basic plan.

For broader comparisons, browse Meeting Notes Software, Meeting Recording Software, Audio Transcription Software, AI Meeting Assistants, Meeting Transcription Software, and Meeting Assistant Software.

Verdict

Grain is a good choice for sales, customer success, and product teams that want searchable meeting intelligence, cited library answers, and practical sharing across their workflow. Its capture flexibility and integrations are the main reasons to choose it; the free caps and custom-priced upper tiers are reasons to look elsewhere if usage is heavy or costs need to be predictable. For occasional use, start with Free; for team-wide coaching or enterprise controls, compare the relevant paid tier against your budget.