> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Zoom AI Companion vs Granola for Australian Meetings in 2026: Built-In or No-Bot? - URL: https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/zoom-ai-companion-vs-granola-australia-2026/ - Published: 2026-06-25T23:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-09T06:43:47.000Z - Description: Two very different privacy stories. Zoom keeps your data onshore and includes the AI free; Granola never stores audio and never sends a bot. Which suits you? - Author: Adam - Tags: AI Meeting Notetakers, AI Comparisons, AI Reviews, #comparison Head-to-head verdict [**22**/25Zoom AI CompanionWinner](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/review-zoom-ai-companion-australia-2026/)[**18**/25Granola](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/granola-review-australia-2026/) **Our pick: Zoom AI Companion.** The verdict below says who should buy the other. *Pricing figures updated 6 September 2026: USD prices are converted at the current rate (1 USD ≈ 1.40 AUD, verified 5 September 2026) and shown ex-GST, replacing the retired 1.55 + GST basis. A GST-registered Australian business that supplies its ABN is not charged GST on an imported digital service; other buyers should allow \~10% on top (*[*Methodology*](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/methodology/)*).* > **Winner: Zoom AI Companion** if you're on a paid Zoom plan — it's free, agentic, and offers genuine Australian data residency. Pick **Granola** if you take your own calls across mixed platforms and want a no-bot notetaker that never stores the audio. > > *Last reviewed: 26 June 2026 by Adam.* ## Quick comparison | Price (AUD) | Included with paid Zoom (\~A$21/mo Workplace Pro) | US$14/user/mo (\~A$20 ex-GST) | | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | Price (AUD) | Included with paid Zoom (\~A$20/mo Workplace Pro) | US$14/user/mo (\~A$20 before GST) | | Free option | With any paid Zoom plan | Free tier (last 30 days of notes) | | Bot in the call? | No separate bot; built into Zoom | No bot ever — listens to your device audio | | Stores audio? | Per Zoom policy | No — recording is discarded | | Platforms | Zoom (deep) | Zoom, Teams, Meet, in-person (Mac/Windows/iOS; no Android) | | Data residency | Australian data residency available | US only | | Best for | Zoom-centric teams wanting onshore data | Solo operators who take their own calls | | Score (out of 25) | 22/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 18/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ## What both tools actually do Both write up your meetings, but their whole design philosophies differ. **Zoom AI Companion** is built into the paid Zoom you may already use. Version 3.0 (generally available 15 December 2025) is agentic — it summarises the call, searches across your transcripts, notes and connected Drive/OneDrive, drafts follow-ups, and runs recurring workflows. It's included free on a paid Zoom Workplace plan. (Note: Zoom's separately-paid ZoomMate "AI teammate" is North America-only at launch, so this is about AI Companion, the part Australians can buy.) **Granola** takes the opposite approach to privacy. There's no bot, no banner, no extra participant. It runs as a desktop app, listens to your computer's own audio, writes clean notes from your messy shorthand plus the transcript, then **throws the recording away — it never stores audio at all**. It works on any call your laptop can hear: Zoom, Teams, Meet, even in-person. The contrast is the interesting part. Zoom's privacy story is *control and residency* — your data stays in-region and isn't used for training. Granola's privacy story is *minimisation* — no bot announces itself and no audio is ever kept. ## Pricing in Australia **Zoom AI Companion** is included free with a paid Zoom Workplace plan, and Workplace Pro is sold in Australian dollars at A$21.66 a user per month on annual billing, excluding GST — so if you already pay for Zoom, the agentic AI costs nothing extra. Critically, it's genuine AUD billing with Australian data residency available. **Granola** bills in US dollars: Business at US$14/user/month (about A$20 ex-GST). There's a free tier, but it caps note history at the last 30 days. No AUD pricing, no Australian data region. For an existing Zoom shop, Companion is effectively free where Granola is another \~A$20 a seat — but Granola earns its keep if you're not a Zoom-centric team. ## Where Zoom AI Companion wins - **Free with the Zoom you already pay for**, on the plan most small businesses hold. - **Australian data residency** — the decisive advantage for sensitive or regulated work, and it doesn't train on your content. - **Agentic, not just summaries** — searches your tools, drafts follow-ups, runs workflows. - **AUD billing** on the base plan, with a clean local invoice. ## Where Granola wins - **No bot, no banner.** Nothing announces itself in the meeting — a softer presence for client and sales calls. - **No stored audio.** The recording is discarded after notes are written — a genuine privacy edge. - **Platform-agnostic and works in person.** It captures any audio your laptop hears, not just Zoom. - **"Make my messy notes good."** You jot shorthand; Granola fills the gaps from the transcript. ## Which to pick — decision framework If you're a **Zoom-centric team on a paid plan**, pick Zoom AI Companion — free, agentic, onshore data. There's little reason to pay for a second tool. If you're a **solo operator, founder or consultant** who takes your own calls across Zoom, Teams, Meet and in person, Granola's no-bot, no-stored-audio model is the more flexible and arguably more private fit. If **onshore data residency is a hard requirement**, Zoom wins outright — Granola stores everything in the US. If **not putting a recording bot in front of clients** matters most, Granola wins. Either way, you manage recording consent yourself. ## The verdict For most Australian businesses already paying for Zoom, **Zoom AI Companion is the pick**, and at 22/25 it's the higher scorer. Free, agentic, and — rare in this category — offering genuine Australian data residency, it's the strongest Australian-fit story among notetakers. If your week runs on Zoom, paying separately for another tool is hard to justify. Granola is the better choice the moment Zoom isn't your centre of gravity. Its no-bot, never-store-the-audio design is a genuinely different privacy model, and for a consultant or founder taking their own calls it's about as close to invisible as meeting AI gets. At 18/25 it's held back only by the Australian fit — USD billing, US-only data, no Android. The honest deciding question is your setup: all-Zoom and want data onshore, Companion; mixed platforms and want minimal footprint, Granola. Update history - **21 Sep 2026** — **Granola's US$14 Business plan lost its “\~A$22 if GST is charged” gross-up.** The ex-GST figure beside it, **A$20**, was already correct at USD→AUD 1.4045 (ECB reference rate, 18 September 2026) and is unchanged. A GST-registered Australian business that supplies its ABN is not charged GST on an imported digital service, so the second figure asserted a cost most of our readers do not carry. No USD price moved and no score changed. Superseded figure kept visible per our price-history rule. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Zoom AI Companion or Granola better for Australians? Zoom AI Companion if you're on a paid Zoom plan — it's free, agentic, and offers Australian data residency (22/25). Granola is the no-bot, no-stored-audio option for solo operators who take their own calls across mixed platforms (18/25). ### Does Granola put a bot in the meeting? No. Granola never sends a bot or shows a banner. It runs as a desktop app, listens to your computer's own audio, writes the notes, then discards the recording — it never stores audio at all. ### Which keeps data in Australia? Zoom AI Companion offers Australian data residency and doesn't train on your content. Granola stores data in the US only with no Australian region. For onshore-sensitive work, Zoom is the safer fit. --- ## Sources - Zoom AI Companion — Zoom Workplace pricing (AU), AI Companion 3.0 and data-residency pages. See our [full Zoom AI Companion review](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/review-zoom-ai-companion-australia-2026/) for primary citations and Wayback snapshots. - Granola — Granola pricing and privacy pages. See our [full Granola review](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/granola-review-australia-2026/) for primary citations and Wayback snapshots. --- *The AI Directory Australia is an independent editorial publication. Read our* [*Methodology*](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/methodology/)*.* ---