Granola alternatives for financial advisers in Australia

Why advisers try Granola, and why some move on

Granola is popular for good reasons. Its security page says it does not add a bot to your call. It transcribes your microphone and meeting audio in real time on macOS or Windows, and it does not store the audio. For a busy adviser who dislikes a bot turning up in a client review, that is appealing.

The same page is where the adviser questions start.

• Notes are stored in the United States. Granola says notes sit in a US-hosted AWS environment. Your client's goals, balances and health details would leave Australia, which is a cross-border disclosure under Australian Privacy Principle 8. Some licensees will not allow it.
• Model training. Granola does not let third parties such as OpenAI or Anthropic train on your data, but it does train its own models on anonymised data unless you opt out. Training is off by default on Enterprise.
• It is still listening. Capturing device audio without a bot is quieter, but the consent rules still apply. In NSW, WA, SA, Tasmania and the ACT the listening devices laws generally require every party's consent to record a private conversation. You have to tell the client yourself.
• The output is a meeting note. Granola writes good notes. An advice file note is a different document, one that has to show how you met the best interests duty.
• No adviser software. Granola's pricing page lists HubSpot, Affinity and Attio on Business and Salesforce on Enterprise. There is nothing for Xplan or AdviserLogic.

What an adviser's file note has to carry

Section 961B of the Corporations Act 2001 requires you to act in the client's best interests when giving personal advice. Section 961B(2) lists the steps that, if you can prove you took them, mean you are taken to have met the duty. Your file notes are much of that proof. Judge any tool on whether its note captures:

• The client's objectives, financial situation and needs, as they told you (s 961B(2)(a)).
• The subject matter of the advice sought, and what is in and out of scope (s 961B(2)(b)).
• The reasonable inquiries you made where information was incomplete or inaccurate (s 961B(2)(c)).
• Whether the advice is within your expertise (s 961B(2)(d)).
• The client's own words where they matter, such as risk tolerance, a preference or a decision against your recommendation.

Retention matters too. Records of personal advice to retail clients must be kept for seven years from the day the advice was given, under s 912G of the Corporations Act as inserted by ASIC Instrument 2024/508. ASIC's Regulatory Guide 175 sets out how it expects advisers to meet the best interests duty and related obligations. Our s 961B safe harbour steps explainer goes step by step, and the best interests duty file note checklist turns it into a test you can run on any tool's output.

The alternatives side by side

Prices are per adviser per month as published in September 2026. Where a vendor's pricing page does not say which currency it uses, we have left the number out. Some Australian vendors quote excluding GST, so compare like with like.

The Australian adviser-built tools

Claras

Claras turns client meetings into structured file notes for Australian advisers. You record in the app or upload from Teams, Zoom or your phone. Its support site says all data is stored in AWS data centres in Sydney, and practices set their own retention for recordings and transcripts. Every plan includes Word and Xplan export. Pricing starts at A$50 a month for four notes, or A$139 per adviser for unlimited notes (A$39 per assistant), excluding GST.

Better than CallNote if you work in Xplan and want an export built for it, or you want one tool to record the meeting and write the note. See CallNote vs Claras.

Paradino

Paradino goes past the file note into advice documents. You record live in the app or on your phone, or upload a recording or a transcript, and it writes the file note. It also drafts Statements of Advice and Records of Advice from the meeting and your practice templates. Its site says data is hosted in Australia and that video and audio recordings are deleted automatically after 30 days. Starter is A$149 a month (A$134 a month billed annually), Pro A$239 and ProMax A$349, excluding GST.

Better than CallNote if you want the meeting to flow into paraplanning and advice documents, or you use intelliflo office. See CallNote vs Paradino.

Marloo

Marloo covers the widest range of capture. Its site says it works with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex calls, phone conversations, in-person meetings through its mobile app, and voice notes. Its privacy policy says data for Australian and New Zealand customers is stored in Sydney, and that customer data and transcripts are not used to train any large language model. Pricing is free for the first 10 meetings, then A$99 per user for Plus and A$299 for Pro, with support staff included on Plus.

Better than CallNote if you want capture across video, phone and in-person in one tool at a low price per adviser. See CallNote vs Marloo.

The US adviser platforms

Zocks is built for US advisers. Its site says client conversations are never recorded and that data is processed and stored in the US. It captures through plugins for Zoom, Teams, Google Meet and Webex. Its pricing page lists three per-user plans billed annually, without stating a currency. Its integrations centre on the US wealth stack, such as eMoney. See CallNote vs Zocks.

Jump calls itself AI software for financial advisors. Its help centre explains how to have the notetaker sent to your calendar meetings automatically, and its site says recording is optional: transcript only, summary only, or full audio and video. Its integrations page lists Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Redtail and Wealthbox, and we did not see Xplan or AdviserLogic. Its pricing page lists the Meet plan per adviser per month without stating a currency.

Better than CallNote if your practice runs on a US CRM or planning stack, or you want meeting prep, onboarding and follow-up automation in one platform and US hosting is acceptable to your licensee.

Microsoft Teams recap and Copilot

Microsoft's admin documentation says intelligent recap needs a Teams Premium or Microsoft Copilot licence, with transcription turned on, and recording allowed for the full recap. Data stays in your tenant, and Microsoft says new Australian tenants can have Teams data stored in Australia. The output is a meeting recap in Microsoft's format. It is useful, but it will not lay out objectives, scope and inquiries in your licensee's file note headings.

CallNote: where it fits and where it does not

CallNote never records, never joins a meeting as a bot and never stores call audio. It takes a transcript that already exists and turns it into a file note in your practice's format. For advisers on Microsoft 365, the Teams connection is the useful part: each adviser connects their own Microsoft account, your Teams admin turns on transcript access once, and notes arrive from transcribed Teams meetings without anyone pasting anything. Phone calls can come in from Aircall or Dialpad. Zoom and Google Meet transcripts are uploaded as .vtt or .txt files, and an in-person review can be dictated as a voice memo straight afterwards.

Paste one of your own past file notes and CallNote builds a template with your headings, order and shorthand, keeping nothing about that client. There is also a financial advice system template. You review the note, then Publish to CRM. It is sealed with a SHA-256 checksum and locked, later changes are append-only amendments, and there is a full audit log. Data is hosted in Sydney and not used to train AI. Solo is A$149 a month and Team is A$99 per seat, with a 14-day free trial.

The Xplan and AdviserLogic reality

CallNote has no native integration with Xplan or AdviserLogic. The honest route today is copy and paste, a PDF saved to the client file, or Zapier where your system supports it. If Xplan is where every note must land and you want a purpose-built export, Claras is the better fit on that point alone.

Practices on Dynamics 365 or HubSpot

CallNote publishes directly to Microsoft Dynamics 365 and HubSpot. With Dynamics, each adviser connects their own Microsoft account and the note is written as them, on the client's contact or account record. With HubSpot, the note lands on the matching contact. A note goes to the one CRM your practice has connected.

CallNote is the wrong pick if you need the tool to record in-person meetings for you, you want Statement of Advice drafting, or you need a native Xplan link. It suits practices whose meetings already produce transcripts, who want notes in their own format stored in Australia, and whose licensee does not want another vendor holding audio. More on our financial advisers page.

What a good adviser file note looks like

Run a real meeting through any tool you trial and compare the result with this fictional call.

That note shows scope, objectives, changes in circumstances, the inquiries made and the client's own view. Our guide to what to record in a financial advice file note covers each part.

Quick guide: which alternative for which practice

• You live in Xplan: Claras, for its Xplan export.
• You want paraplanning and advice documents from the meeting: Paradino.
• You want one low-cost tool for video, phone and in-person, hosted in Australia: Marloo.
• Your practice runs on a US stack and US hosting is fine: Zocks or Jump.
• You already pay for Teams Premium or Copilot and a recap is enough: Teams intelligent recap.
• Your meetings already produce transcripts, you want notes in your own format stored in Sydney, and you use Dynamics 365 or HubSpot: CallNote.

For how bot-based and transcript-only tools differ on consent and data, read meeting bots vs transcript-only note tools, or see every head-to-head on our comparison hub, including CallNote vs Granola. This article is general information, not legal or compliance advice. Check the current law, ASIC guidance and your licensee's policies before you change how you record client meetings.

Common questions