Granola turns meetings into clean notes. LUCI does that — and indexes your screen, builds long-term memory, and lets your AI agents query it all over MCP. One tool for the whole loop, not just the recap.
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Life memory for every AI agent: your whole day on the computer — meetings, screen, docs — searchable in plain language. Stored on your device, encrypted at rest.
Meeting note-taker. Polished, narrow scope, cloud-based.
Granola is the best-known bot-free notetaker — clean notes, smart templates, and after its March 2026 Series C ($125M at a $1.5B valuation) a push from notetaker to enterprise 'context layer.' It earned the traction. But two details in Granola's own documentation matter if you chose it for privacy: audio is passed to a cloud transcription provider and transcripts are stored on US-hosted AWS, and on non-Enterprise plans Granola trains on anonymized customer data unless you opt out. It also, by its own docs, has no live speaker diarization on desktop — everyone is 'Me' or 'Them.' LUCI captures meetings the same bot-free way but processes them on your device, tells speakers apart, and extends the memory across your whole work surface — screens, docs, threads — searchable by you and by your AI agents over MCP.
LUCI leads on 9 of 12 rows.
| Feature | LUCI | Granola |
|---|---|---|
| Bot-free capture (no bot joins the call) | Yes | Yes |
| Audio processed on your device | Yes | NoSent to cloud transcription provider |
| Transcripts stored only on your machine | Yes | NoUS-hosted AWS cloud |
| Never trains on your data | YesStored on your device | PartialAnonymized training unless you opt out; Enterprise off |
| Live speaker identification (desktop) | Yes | NoPer its docs: "Me"/"Them" only |
| Captures screen activity (not just meetings) | Yes | No |
| Persistent cross-meeting memory | Yes | PartialCloud-side AI chat across notes |
| Memory accessible to AI agents (MCP) | Yes | No |
| Chinese support on desktop | Yes | NoMandarin on mobile only; 10 desktop languages |
| Works fully offline | Yes | NoCloud transcription requires internet |
| HIPAA / BAA available | N/A — PHI stays on your device | NoCannot sign BAAs (its own docs) |
| Pricing | Free — 100% local | Free (limited history); $14–$35/user/mo |
Unlimited recall, screen memory, 100% local storage. Free forever.
Unlimited notes + integrations. Free tier keeps a limited note history. Enterprise $35.
Download your existing meeting notes from Granola. LUCI imports transcripts and notes as searchable memory so your history carries over.
Download the Mac or Windows app and grant meeting + screen capture permissions. LUCI captures Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams locally from your machine — no bot joins the call.
Granola templates map to LUCI skill files. Set up your weekly review, standup, or deal-update formats once and reuse them.
Beyond notes, expose your meeting memory to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-capable agent — context Granola keeps locked in its own app.
Capture every Zoom, Meet & Teams call locally on your device — no bot joins the call — and turn it into searchable notes and action items.
Granola keeps each meeting's notes searchable. LUCI weaves meetings, screen activity, and threads into one memory you can query — 'what did the customer say about pricing across the last three calls?'
After Granola gives you the recap, that recap is stranded in a doc. LUCI keeps every meeting in a memory you can question — and your AI agents can query over MCP — so the context is there when you actually need it.
Most context lives outside meetings — in PRs, docs, Slack, design tools. LUCI watches the screen too, so the AI knows about the deck you reviewed, not just what was said about it.
Granola's own transcription docs say it 'passes audio directly from your microphone and system audio to our transcription provider,' with transcripts kept in a US-hosted AWS cloud, and non-Enterprise accounts train its models on anonymized data unless you opt out. If the reason you chose a no-bot tool was keeping client conversations away from third parties, that's the fine print to read. LUCI processes and stores everything on your device — there is no provider to pass audio to.
Granola's desktop app has no live speaker diarization — its docs label speech only as 'Me' or 'Them,' with real speaker ID limited to in-person meetings on iPhone. LUCI diarizes on-device, so 'what did the CFO push back on?' is answerable from the transcript.
Yes — LUCI handles meeting transcription, summaries, and action items. The trade-off is that LUCI ships more capabilities (screen memory, cross-meeting recall, MCP access), so it may be more than you need if meetings are your only use case.
Yes. LUCI captures from your meeting tools, and its memory is available over MCP — so agents and tools you already use, like Claude or Cursor, can pull meeting context from it.
Yes. LUCI stores meeting recordings and transcripts entirely on your device — nothing is uploaded to the cloud — which is useful for legal, healthcare, and finance teams.
Granola is a meeting note-taker. LUCI is a personal AI memory — it does meeting notes, plus screen-wide memory and searchable recall your AI agents can reach over MCP.
Yes — LUCI lets you configure note formats and skill files for repeatable workflows (weekly reviews, standup summaries, deal updates).
Free on Mac and Windows. Fully local.