All three tools turn a call into notes you can search later. The biggest difference is how they get the audio. Granola records on your own device and never sends a bot into the meeting. tl;dv sends a recorder into the call and keeps the video. Otter.ai began as a live transcription app and now calls itself a meeting agent, with CRM sync and modes for sales and recruiting teams.
How each tool captures audio decides a lot. It affects who on the call knows they are being recorded and whether you can replay a moment later. It also shapes speaker labels and price. This comparison uses each vendor's pricing pages and docs, along with what independent reviews report. scored.tools does not test tools hands-on, so every claim about quality below names its source.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Granola | Otter.ai | tl;dv |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capture method | On-device, no bot joins the call | Bot via Chrome extension and calendar, plus bot-free recording in the desktop app (per Otter's homepage) | Recorder joins the call |
| Supported call platforms | Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams | Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams | Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams |
| Apps | macOS, Windows, iOS, Android | Mac and Windows desktop, mobile apps, Chrome extension | Web app and integrations |
| Live transcript during the call | Not a headline feature | Yes, real-time display | Not a headline feature |
| Recording playback | Independent reviews report no audio playback | Yes | Yes, video recordings |
| Audio/video file imports | No | 3 lifetime on Free, 10/month on Pro, unlimited on Business | Not the main use case |
| Languages | About 10, per independent reviews | Not listed on the pricing page | 30+ for transcription, per tl;dv |
| CRM integrations | HubSpot, Attio, Affinity (Business); Salesforce (Enterprise) | Salesforce, HubSpot | CRM logging and outcomes, native and via Zapier |
| API | Business and above | Enterprise only, per the pricing page | Yes, plus webhooks |
| MCP server | Yes | Yes, including Free | Yes |
| Follow-up emails | Yes, Business and above | Action items and summaries | Yes, drafted from the call |
| Compliance | SOC 2 Type 2; HIPAA workspaces on Enterprise | SSO and HIPAA add-on on Enterprise | GDPR and SOC 2, per the vendor |
| scored.tools rating | 7.6 | 6.8 | 8.2 |
How the scores break down
| Criterion | Granola | Otter.ai | tl;dv |
|---|---|---|---|
| Output quality | 7 | 6 | 8 |
| Ease of use | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Pricing value | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| API and integrations | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| Problem fit | 6 | 5 | 8 |
| Overall | 7.6 | 6.8 | 8.2 |
Ease of use is a tie, since all three let you start free with little setup. Problem fit is where they split. Granola loses points because independent reviews on anarlog.so report no audio playback, mangled names and weak speaker ID once a call has three or more people. Otter scores lowest on fit and output quality. Lindy's review reports 92 to 95% accuracy on clear audio, dropping to 70 to 75% with cross-talk, and points to privacy problems that include a federal lawsuit. tl;dv's 97.3% accuracy figure comes from tl;dv itself, so treat it as marketing. G2 reviewers do praise its transcripts, though some report trouble with accents and jargon.
Pricing comparison
| Plan | Granola | Otter.ai | tl;dv |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, meeting history limited to the last 30 days, Slack integration only | $0, 300 minutes/month, 30-minute cap per conversation, 25 most recent conversations kept | $0, unlimited recordings and transcription, 10 meetings with AI notes, 10 Ask AI queries |
| Entry paid | Business $14/user/month | Pro $16.99/user/month list, 1,200 minutes, 90-minute cap | Pro $18/seat/month billed annually |
| Team | Business $14/user/month | Business $30/user/month, or $19.99 billed annually; unlimited meetings, 4-hour cap | Business $29/seat/month billed annually, no usage-based AI fees |
| Enterprise | $35/user/month, published | Custom | Custom |
Granola has the simplest pricing. One paid tier at $14 per user covers unlimited history, the CRM and Notion integrations, and the API. A 10-person team pays $140 a month. The same team on Otter Business pays about $200 a month on annual billing, and on tl;dv Business $290 a month on annual billing.
Otter's pricing page needs reading closely. It shows struck-through list prices next to lower discounted ones, and the Business discount on monthly billing lasts three months. The free tier's 30-minute limit per conversation cuts most real meetings short. tl;dv's EU pricing page lists monthly billing at €29 for Pro and €39 for Business, so paying annually saves real money there.
tl;dv has the most generous free plan for recording. Unlimited recordings and transcripts with no card make it the cheapest way to build a searchable call archive. The catch is the AI layer. Summaries and Ask AI stop at 10 each, which is a trial allowance more than a working plan.
When to pick each
Pick Granola if a bot in the call would be awkward
Founders, investors, consultants and anyone taking external calls all day will like that nothing visible joins the meeting. Granola writes its notes from your own jottings and the transcript, adds pre-meeting briefs and follow-up emails on Business, and pushes notes into Notion, HubSpot or Attio. It also has the cheapest published Enterprise tier with HIPAA workspaces and SSO at $35 per user. Skip it if you need to replay what someone said, or if your calls regularly have more than two people and you need clean speaker labels. Independent reviews flag both as weak spots.
Pick tl;dv for sales teams and anyone starting free
tl;dv is the best fit for sales and small customer-facing teams. It keeps the video, logs call notes and outcomes to your CRM, drafts follow-ups, and offers an API, webhooks and an MCP server for wiring calls into your own tools. Transcription in 30+ languages helps teams selling outside English-speaking markets. Run a trial on your hardest calls first if your team has strong accents or heavy jargon, or runs large meetings, because independent users report problems in those cases.
Pick Otter if you need the transcript while the meeting is happening
Otter's real-time transcript is its clearest edge. It suits people who follow along in text during a call, plus journalists and researchers who want to search a live record. It also handles imported audio and video files, which the other two don't focus on, and Business includes unlimited meetings with a 4-hour cap per conversation. The weak points are accuracy with crosstalk, which Lindy's review measured dropping to 70 to 75%, and API access only on custom-priced Enterprise.
Pick by budget
On $0, tl;dv gives you the most, provided you mainly want recordings and transcripts. Granola's free tier works if 30 days of history is enough. Otter Free, with its 30-minute cap, fits short check-ins only. For a paid team plan, Granola at $14 per user is the cheapest by a clear margin.
Verdict
tl;dv takes the top overall score here at 8.2, and it is the best pick for sales teams and anyone who wants recordings, CRM logging and developer hooks in one place, with a free plan that covers unlimited recording. Granola at 7.6 wins for bot-free note-taking and on price per seat, and it is the one to choose if you sit in back-to-back external meetings and care most about discretion. Otter.ai at 6.8 fits a narrower case. Choose it when a live transcript during the call or bulk file imports matter more than accuracy in messy, multi-speaker meetings.
Your first decision is whether you can put a visible recorder in your meetings. If you can't, go with Granola. If you can, start with tl;dv's free plan and move to a paid tier once the 10 AI-note limit starts to pinch.
