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Kajo vs Granola

Granola listens to your meetings through the system audio and streams the audio to cloud transcription providers; notes are summarised by cloud models, and by default Granola may train on anonymised data unless you opt out. Kajo is for recordings you already have: import them on Mac, Windows, or Linux, transcribe and summarise on your machine, and ask a folder — or, with a confirm, the whole library — with cited answers. One $49 purchase unlocks unlimited imports and Lifetime convenience (watch folders, batch export) — one payment, no subscription.

Granola takes notes in your meetings through the cloud. Kajo keeps the recordings you already have on your own machine — Mac, Windows, or Linux — and answers with citations.

Kajo Voice cited chat over local recordings, as a Granola alternative
Recordings kept on your own machine, with cited answers — no Granola cloud notebook.

Why people choose Kajo over Granola

  • Audio never leaves your machine

  • Linux, as well as Mac and Windows

  • Any recording, not just meetings

  • Cited answers, not just notes

  • One purchase, no seats

  • Your installed version keeps working

Kajo vs Granola: side by side

Feature Kajo Granola
Where audio is processed On your machine Audio is streamed to cloud transcription providers (Deepgram, AssemblyAI) and not stored; notes are summarised by OpenAI and Anthropic models
Capture Import recordings you already have System audio during the call (no bot)
Platforms macOS, Windows, Linux macOS 14+, Windows, iOS, and Android — no Linux
Plans Free, then $49 launch / $99 standard Basic $0; Business $14/user/month; Enterprise $35/user/month
Works offline Yes No

Three reasons Kajo exists

  1. Local-first / private by default

    Your audio never leaves your laptop.

    Audio is transcribed on-device — there is no cloud-processing path. Private by architecture.

  2. Cross-platform, including Linux

    Mac, Windows, and Linux — one product, three operating systems.

    Native installers for all three. Linux is a first-class target, not a port — the only local audio knowledge base that takes it seriously.

  3. Cited chat

    Ask questions across your archive — get cited answers.

    Chat with your entire library using a local model. Every answer links back to the exact moment in the recording — no copy/paste.

Frequently asked questions

Does Kajo join meetings like Granola?

No. Kajo has no live capture at all — it works on recordings and files you import. Granola listens to the call through your computer's audio and sends it to cloud transcription providers.

Can I use Kajo on Linux?

Yes. Kajo ships .deb, .rpm, AppImage, and tar.gz for x86_64 and ARM64. Granola runs on macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android — there is no Linux build.

Can I move my Granola notes into Kajo?

Not directly. Granola exports notes as CSV and does not keep your audio; Kajo imports audio and video files and transcribes them itself. If you kept your own recordings, import those.

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