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Side-by-side comparison ยท Productivity & Notes

Box AI vs Granola vs Notion

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Box AI

3.8

From From $5/user/mo

Best overall

Granola

4.4

From $14/user/mo

Notion

4.3

From $10/member/mo

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.

Best overallEasiest to use

Pick it if: Founders, consultants and managers who sit in back-to-back calls and hate the awkward recording bot.

Best value

Pick it if: Anyone who wants one place for their notes, plans and team knowledge, from solo creators to whole companies.

Granola scores highest overall, but Notion gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.

Overview

AttributeBox AIGranolaNotion
In one lineAsk questions of, summarise and pull data from your company's Box files.Takes meeting notes from your computer's audio, so no bot ever joins the call.One workspace for notes, docs, wikis and project tracking, with AI built in.
Pricing modelPaidFreemiumFreemium
Starting priceFrom $5/user/mo$14/user/mo$10/member/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.

AttributeBox AIGranolaNotion
Overall rating3.84.4Winner4.3
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.0
5.0
3.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.0
4.5
5.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.0
4.5
4.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
3.0
4.0
4.5
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.

AttributeBox AIGranolaNotion
Access & platform
Free plan No Yes Yes
Mobile app Yes Yes Yes
Desktop app Yes Yes Yes
Browser extensionโ€“ No Yes
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 Yes
Understands images Yes No Yes
Makes images No No No
Makes video No No No
Writes codeโ€“ No Yes
Runs agents or automations Yes No Yes
Learns your brand or styleโ€“ No No
Works in many languages Yes Yes Yes
Capabilities score10/ 178/ 1713/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeBox AIGranolaNotion
Plans

Business Starter

From $5/user/mo billed yearly

Small teams that just need file storage.

Basic

Free

Trying it, or anyone who only needs the last month of notes.

Free

Free

One person getting organised.

Business

See website

Teams wanting AI on one file at a time.

BusinessOur pick

$14/user/mo

Anyone in regular client or sales calls.

Plus

$10/member/mo billed yearly

Small teams who want shared docs without the AI.

Enterprise

See website

Companies with compliance needs and light AI use.

Enterprise

$35/user/mo

Companies that need admin control over who records what.

BusinessOur pick

$20/member/mo billed yearly

Teams who want the AI properly switched on.

Enterprise PlusOur pick

Custom, billed yearly

Teams that want AI across many files.

Enterprise

Custom

Larger companies with security and compliance needs.

Enterprise Advanced

Custom

Large companies building custom AI agents.

Which plan to pickIf 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.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.Solo users can stay on Free for a long time. For a team the honest answer is Business, because Plus leaves out the AI that makes Notion interesting now. Note that yearly billing is what gets you the $10 and $20 prices, and monthly billing costs more.

Key features

AttributeBox AIGranolaNotion
Standout features
  • Ask a document
  • Multi-file and Hubs Q&A
  • Box Extract
  • Box Agent
  • AI Studio, API and MCP server
  • Bot-free capture
  • Notes built on yours
  • Ask across meetings
  • Templates
  • Phone apps
  • Claude connection
  • Pages and databases
  • Notion AI and Agent
  • AI Meeting Notes
  • Templates
  • Sites and forms
  • Claude connection

Pros and cons

AttributeBox AIGranolaNotion
Pros
  • AI works on files where they already sit, with existing permissions
  • Choice of OpenAI, Anthropic and Google models
  • Box Extract turns documents into structured data
  • Strong security and compliance for regulated industries
  • API and MCP server for developers
  • No bot in the call keeps clients and candidates relaxed
  • Notes read like something you wrote, not a wall of transcript
  • Quick to set up and almost nothing to learn
  • Cross-meeting chat is genuinely useful for follow-ups
  • Phone apps cover in-person meetings
  • Replaces a handful of separate apps with one workspace
  • Databases are flexible enough to model almost any business process
  • Generous free plan for individuals
  • Official Claude connection makes it a shared memory for your AI tools
  • Huge template library and community
Cons
  • Best AI features locked to Enterprise Plus and above
  • AI units are confusing, don't roll over and add cost
  • Most plan prices aren't published
  • No point buying it unless your files already live in Box
  • No video recording or shareable clips
  • The free plan locks notes older than 30 days
  • No annual discount shown, so $14 a user adds up for a team
  • Needs the desktop app running; it won't record from a phone call on your laptop if the app is closed
  • No imposed structure, so workspaces get messy without discipline
  • The useful AI is held back for the $20 Business plan
  • Can feel slow with large databases and on patchy connections
  • Offline support is still limited
  • Easy to spend more time organising Notion than doing the work

Who each one is for

AttributeBox AIGranolaNotion
Best for
  • Questions and summaries on long contracts
  • Pulling key fields out of contracts and invoices
  • Searching a collection of company documents
  • Regulated industries that need tight file security
  • Client and sales calls
  • Interviews and one-on-ones
  • Bot-free recording
  • Asking questions across past meetings
  • Team wikis and documentation
  • Personal notes and planning
  • Content calendars
  • Lightweight project tracking
  • A knowledge base Claude can read
You'll find it used by
  • Legal teams
  • Finance teams
  • HR teams
  • Operations teams
  • Regulated businesses
  • Founders
  • Consultants
  • Managers
  • Sales teams
  • Recruiters
  • Startups
  • Marketers
  • Agencies
  • Solo founders
  • Students

Questions people ask

Which is better, Box AI, Granola or Notion?

Granola scores highest overall in our ratings (Box AI 3.8/5, Granola 4.4/5 and Notion 4.3/5). Box AI is best for questions and summaries on long contracts and pulling key fields out of contracts and invoices. Granola is best for client and sales calls and interviews and one-on-ones. Notion is best for team wikis and documentation and personal notes and planning.

Which is cheaper, Box AI, Granola or Notion?

Box AI: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at From $5/user/mo. Granola: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $14/user/mo. Notion: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $10/member/mo.

Which is easier to use, Box AI, Granola or Notion?

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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