Side-by-side comparison · Productivity & Notes
Box AI vs Fathom vs Granola
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Companies that already keep their contracts and documents in Box and want AI to work on them securely.
Pick it if: Sales and customer-facing teams who want every call recorded and summarised without paying per seat to start.
Pick it if: Founders, consultants and managers who sit in back-to-back calls and hate the awkward recording bot.
Granola scores highest overall, but Fathom gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.
Overview
| Attribute | Box AI | Fathom | Granola |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Ask questions of, summarise and pull data from your company's Box files. | Records your video calls and sends you a summary, action items and transcript. | Takes meeting notes from your computer's audio, so no bot ever joins the call. |
| Pricing model | Paid | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | From $5/user/mo | $20/mo | $14/user/mo |
| Free plan | No | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Box AI | Fathom | Granola |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 3.8 | 4.2 | 4.4Winner |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Box AI | Fathom | Granola |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | No | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | – | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | – | – | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | No | No |
| Understands images | Yes | No | No |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | – | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | No | No |
| Learns your brand or style | – | No | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 10/ 17 | 7/ 17 | 8/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Box AI | Fathom | Granola |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Business Starter From $5/user/mo billed yearly Small teams that just need file storage. | FreeOur pick Free Anyone who wants every call recorded without paying. | Basic Free Trying it, or anyone who only needs the last month of notes. |
Business See website Teams wanting AI on one file at a time. | Premium $20/mo, or $16/mo billed yearly One person who wants the fuller summaries every time. | BusinessOur pick $14/user/mo Anyone in regular client or sales calls. | |
Enterprise See website Companies with compliance needs and light AI use. | Team $19/user/mo, or $15/user/mo billed yearly Small teams sharing calls with each other. | Enterprise $35/user/mo Companies that need admin control over who records what. | |
Enterprise PlusOur pick Custom, billed yearly Teams that want AI across many files. | Business $34/user/mo, or $25/user/mo billed yearly Sales teams living in a CRM. | ||
Enterprise Advanced Custom Large companies building custom AI agents. | Enterprise Custom Larger organisations needing SSO and rollout help. | ||
| Which plan to pick | If you want Box AI to be genuinely useful, Enterprise Plus is where multi-file questions and Box Agent start. On Business you only get single-file questions and must buy AI units. Ask sales to estimate your AI unit use before signing. | Most people should simply use Free; it covers more than the paid tiers of its rivals. Only move to Team or Business when several people need to search each other's calls or you want notes landing in HubSpot or Salesforce without lifting a finger. | Start on Basic and see how it fits your week. If you find yourself wanting a call from six weeks ago, that's your signal to move to Business. Enterprise is only for IT-managed rollouts. |
Key features
| Attribute | Box AI | Fathom | Granola |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Box AI | Fathom | Granola |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Box AI | Fathom | Granola |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Box AI, Fathom or Granola?
Granola scores highest overall in our ratings (Box AI 3.8/5, Fathom 4.2/5 and Granola 4.4/5). Box AI is best for questions and summaries on long contracts and pulling key fields out of contracts and invoices. Fathom is best for recording sales and client calls and sharing call clips with the team. Granola is best for client and sales calls and interviews and one-on-ones.
Which is cheaper, Box AI, Fathom or Granola?
Box AI: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at From $5/user/mo. Fathom: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo. Granola: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $14/user/mo.
Which is easier to use, Box AI, Fathom or Granola?
Granola rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Founders, consultants and managers who sit in back-to-back calls and hate the awkward recording bot.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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