Granola alternative
Meeting notes on Mac with no bot, free.
Lipik records your side and the other side of a call on your Mac, then writes the transcript and summary on your Mac too, so no bot joins and your notes stay with you. Like Granola, it listens to your computer's audio; unlike Granola, it is free and open source.
Free and open source. Meeting notes need macOS 14.2 or later.
Lipik and Granola
Granola facts come from its own site, granola.ai, including its pricing and security pages (checked 29 Oct 2026).
| Question | Lipik | Granola |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Basic is free; Business is $14 and Enterprise $35 per user a month |
| Older notes | Kept on your Mac with no time limit | On the free plan, notes older than 30 days need an upgrade |
| Bot joins the call | No | No, it uses your computer's audio |
| Where the transcript is made | On your Mac | By transcription providers such as Deepgram and Assembly |
| Where notes are kept | On your Mac | In Granola's US-hosted AWS cloud |
| Meeting audio | Kept on your Mac | Not stored by Granola |
| Platforms | macOS 14.2 or later, Apple silicon | macOS, Windows, iOS and Android |
How Lipik takes notes
Lipik records two things, kept apart: your microphone and your Mac's sound. Your microphone is you. The other side is split into Speaker 1, Speaker 2 and so on, or names when the meeting makes it clear, such as someone being called on by name. Lipik then writes a short summary with the decisions and next steps.
- Meetings in Hinglish are noticed by themselves and written in Roman letters. The first time, Lipik downloads its Hinglish speech model (about 2 GB).
- AI apps such as Claude, Cursor and Codex can read your notes on your Mac, read-only.
- Without headphones, Lipik removes the call's sound from your mic before writing the transcript.
More on the meeting notes page.
When Granola may suit you better
If you take notes on Windows or a phone, or want notes shared with your team in the cloud, Granola does that. Lipik keeps everything on one Mac.
Tell people you're recording
Because no bot joins, nobody is told about the recording automatically. Ask before you record; in many places the law requires it.
Granola is a trademark of its owner. Lipik is not connected to it.
Questions
Does a bot join the call?
No. Lipik records on your Mac, from your microphone and your Mac's sound. Nobody new joins the meeting.
Is Lipik free?
Yes. Meeting notes, summaries and every other feature are free, with no account.
Where are my notes kept?
On your Mac. The transcript, summary and recordings are made and saved on your Mac, and never leave it.
Does it work for meetings in Hinglish?
Yes. Lipik notices when a meeting mixes Hindi and English and writes the transcript in Roman letters. The first time, it downloads its Hinglish speech model, about 2 GB, and redoes that meeting.
Which macOS version do I need?
macOS 14.2 or later, on a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later).
Get Lipik for Mac.
Free, for Macs with Apple silicon. Open the download, drag Lipik into Applications, and hold fn to start.
curl -fsSL
https://lipik.pages.dev/install.sh | sh
Pasting the line above into Terminal installs Lipik with no security warning. If you use the download instead, macOS asks you to confirm the first time: go to System Settings, then Privacy & Security, and click Open Anyway. Install help