Anarlog

The free alternative toGranola

🟢 Beginner⏱️ ~5 min to installYou save €12/mo

Anarlog is Granola without the cloud. Same starting idea: no bot barging into your call, the app listens to your computer's audio, transcribes, and hands you a clean note you rework like a document. The difference is where it happens. Your transcripts and notes live in a SQLite database on your machine, recordings are plain local files, and on a recent Mac transcription runs on the device. For summaries you plug in what you want: a local model through Ollama or LM Studio, your own API key, or their hosted AI if you choose it. The project used to be called Hyprnote, it changed names, and the community app remains MIT-licensed with over 9,000 stars on GitHub. You can read it, fork it, or build it yourself.

9.3kView on GitHub ↗

Versus Granola: the match

Price
Anarlog
€0, forever
Granola
€12 per person per month
Bot in the call
Anarlog
None, it listens to your computer
Granola
None either, that is their strength
Your notes and transcripts
Anarlog
On your machine, as readable files
Granola
On their servers

Granola ↗

VS	Anarlog	Granola ↗
Price	€0, forever	€12 per person per month
Bot in the call	None, it listens to your computer	None either, that is their strength
Your notes and transcripts	On your machine, as readable files	On their servers
The model writing summaries	Yours: Ollama, LM Studio or your API key	Theirs, no choice
Platforms	Mac, Windows, Linux	Mac, Windows, iPhone
Code	MIT, to read and fork	Closed

How to install it (even from zero)

A desktop app to download, like Granola. The only part worth a hand is choosing the AI that writes the summaries: locally on your machine, or with your own key.

Paste this prompt into Claude (Code or Desktop)

It installs the app from the official project, sets up transcription and wires a local model for summaries:

Installe Anarlog sur ma machine (le bloc-notes de réunion open source et local, repo GitHub fastrepl/anarlog) : télécharge la dernière version depuis anarlog.so/download ou depuis les releases du repo pour mon système d'exploitation, installe-la, et guide-moi pour autoriser le micro et l'audio du système. Ensuite, dans les réglages, mets la transcription en local si ma machine le permet, puis branche un modèle local via Ollama ou LM Studio pour les résumés, adapté à la puissance de ma machine (ou ma propre clé API si je préfère). Vérifie sur un court test que la transcription et le résumé fonctionnent. Explique chaque étape simplement, je débute.

Review the GitHub repository and check whether it is safe to install given my machine and my infrastructure. Ask me as many questions as possible, using widgets, to clarify my request and be as precise as you can.

2
Allow the microphone and your system audio
To hear both sides of a call, Anarlog needs your microphone and your computer's audio. Your system asks on first launch, and the app stays hidden during screen sharing.
3
Choose where your AI runs
In settings, two sections: Transcription and Intelligence. On a recent Mac, transcription happens on the device. For summaries, pick your local model or your key. Their hosted AI exists too, but nothing forces you to use it.

What you actually do with it

Your calls become notes you polish

You type three words during the call, Anarlog handles the rest. At the end the minutes are there, and you fix them like a document before sending them or pasting them into your second brain.

Sensitive meetings, no bot and no cloud

Nothing shows up in the participant list, and nothing goes to a server. For a client call, a legal matter or a partners' meeting, that is peace of mind with no clause to get signed.

A memory in Markdown

Every note exports to Markdown. Six months later you find what was said, promised, decided. Your meetings feed your second brain instead of sleeping inside a vendor's app.

Project health, at a glance

Before installing an open-source tool, one question matters: is the project alive? These scores are computed from public GitHub data. They are not made up.

88/100

Excellent

Very active, well-maintained project: go ahead with confidence.

Activity: 100
Maintenance: 100
Community: 72
Maturity: 70
Momentum: 100

The repo in numbers

GitHub stars: 9.3k
Forks: 765
Contributors: 35
Commits: 9.5k
Project age: 1.8 yrs
Last commit: today
Size: 870.8 MB
License: MIT

Built with

TypeScript 53.7%
Rust 34.3%
PLpgSQL 5.2%
MDX 3%
JavaScript 1.3%

Scores computed automatically from the GitHub API (last-30-days activity, update freshness, community size, project age). Refreshed daily.

Loucash’s take

8/10

If you like Granola, this is the one. Same philosophy, no bot in the call, a note that writes itself while you listen, but everything stays on your machine and it costs nothing. The Mac version is the most polished: on-device transcription, zero setup. Two things to know. The team launched another product, and Anarlog is presented as the community meeting notepad they keep maintaining in open source. It runs, it is clean, but keep an eye on the update pace. And on Windows or Linux, transcription goes through a local model to install or a provider to pick: that is where the install prompt saves you time. Against Meetily, the line is clear. Meetily is local by construction, with no cloud option at all. Anarlog is closer to Granola in daily use, with notes you actually edit, and the cloud stays an option you can simply never turn on.

It’s for you if: You use Granola, or wanted to, and you want the same experience with no subscription and without your meetings leaving for a third party.