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Plaud Note: what it does, what it costs, and alternatives

Updated 3 November 2026 · 7 min read
Short answerThe Plaud Note is a card-sized recorder ($159 on 3 November 2026) that records meetings in the room and, attached to the back of your phone, phone calls. Recordings go to the Plaud app, which transcribes and summarizes them in Plaud's cloud. It includes 300 transcription minutes a month; Pro ($99.99 a year) gives 1,200 and Unlimited ($239.99 a year) removes the monthly cap. It suits people who record many calls or want a one-button recorder. If your meetings are mostly in the room, a phone app may do the job without another device.

This is not a hands-on review: we haven't tested the Plaud Note. Everything about it here comes from Plaud's own published pages, linked below. We make VoiceVault, a meeting recorder app for Android that we mention as one alternative.

If you're reading Plaud Note reviews, you probably want to know three things: what it does, what it really costs once you add Plaud's AI plans, and whether you need it at all. This isn't a hands-on review; we haven't used the device. It's a plain summary of what Plaud itself publishes, with the alternatives side by side, so you can decide what to test.

What the Plaud Note is

The Plaud Note is a recorder about the size of a credit card: 3.37 by 2.13 inches, 0.12 inches thin, and 1.06 oz, according to Plaud. It has two modes:

You press and hold to record and press briefly to highlight a moment. Plaud lists up to 30 hours of continuous recording, 60 days on standby and 64 GB of storage. Recordings go to the Plaud app over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, where they're transcribed in 112 languages with speaker labels and summarized using one of more than 10,000 templates. You can add typed notes and photos for context, and ask questions across your recordings with Ask Plaud. Plaud also has a desktop app for recording online meetings with a Plaud device.

What the Plaud Note costs

ItemPriceTranscription
Plaud Note$159Includes Starter: 300 minutes a month, free
Pro plan$99.99 a year, or $17.99 a month1,200 minutes a month
Unlimited plan$239.99 a year, or $29.99 a monthUnlimited (Plaud notes 24 hours a day)
Plaud Note Pro (other model)$189Same plans

US prices on plaud.ai, 3 November 2026. Plaud also has a Team plan for businesses.

So the Note costs $159 if 300 minutes a month is enough, which is about five hours of meetings. A first year with Pro comes to about $259, and with Unlimited about $399. After that, it's the plan each year. For how this compares with apps that don't charge every year, see AI note takers with no subscription.

Where your recordings go

The Note records on the device, but the AI work happens in Plaud's cloud. Plaud's Trust Center says "all data is transferred to the cloud for processing". It also says:

Plaud lists ISO 27701, GDPR, SOC 2 Type 2, HIPAA and EN 18031 compliance. That's a serious set of commitments. The practical point is simpler: to get a transcript, you need a connection, a Plaud account, and to be comfortable with the audio passing through a cloud service. If you'd rather it didn't, see AI notes for confidential meetings.

Who the Plaud Note suits

It's less of a fit if your meetings are mostly online (a bot such as Otter's joins those for you), if you don't want another device to carry and charge, or if your audio shouldn't leave your phone.

Plaud Note alternatives

OptionBest forCost
Plaud NotePinWearing a recorder all day, in person only$159 plus optional plan
Samsung Phone app and Voice RecorderCall recording and summaries on Galaxy phones with One UI 7 or higherBuilt in
Google RecorderIn-person meetings on a Pixel, transcribed on the phoneBuilt in
OtterZoom, Teams and Google Meet, team sharingFree tier; Pro $8.33/month billed yearly
VoiceVaultIn-person meetings on any Android 13+ phone, no cloud30 days free, then US$49.99 once

VoiceVault, which we make, takes the opposite approach to the Note: no extra device and no cloud. It records the room with your phone's microphone and makes the transcript, speaker labels, summary and to-dos on the phone, with no account and no VoiceVault servers; it works in airplane mode. Summaries need a phone that supports Gemini Nano or VoiceVault's downloadable on-device model. It doesn't record phone calls or join video calls, and speaker labels work within each recording rather than across them. If calls are why you're looking at the Note, the Note is the better fit.

Every meeting, written up. Right on your phone.

VoiceVault for Android: transcripts, summaries and to-dos with no account, no servers and no subscription. 30 days free, then pay once.

Get it on Google Play

For more detail, compare Plaud vs Otter, or see all the phone apps in our Plaud alternatives guide. Recording calls or meetings in the US? Read one-party and all-party consent states first.

Questions

How much does the Plaud Note cost?

On 3 November 2026, Plaud listed the Plaud Note at $159, including a magnetic case, magnetic ring, charging cable and the free Starter plan with 300 transcription minutes a month. Pro was $99.99 a year or $17.99 a month for 1,200 minutes a month, and Unlimited was $239.99 a year or $29.99 a month.

Do you need a subscription to use the Plaud Note?

No. Plaud says it's free to use for up to 300 minutes of transcription a month. You need a paid plan only if you transcribe more than that.

Does the Plaud Note work offline?

It records without a connection and stores up to 64 GB on the device. But Plaud's Trust Center says all data is transferred to the cloud for processing, so you need to be online to get a transcript and summary.

How does the Plaud Note record phone calls?

In phone call mode, you attach it to the back of your phone with its magnetic case. Plaud says a vibration conduction sensor picks up sound directly from the phone's speaker. Check your local consent rules before recording calls.

What is the difference between the Plaud Note and Note Pro?

According to Plaud's comparison page, the Note Pro ($189) has four microphones instead of two, a longer pickup range (up to 16.4 feet versus 9.8), a small display, Apple Find My, and an Endurance mode of up to 50 hours. Both have 64 GB of storage and record calls.

Is the Plaud Note HIPAA compliant?

Plaud says it complies with SOC 2 Type 2, HIPAA, GDPR, ISO 27701 and EN 18031. Whether that's enough for your use is a question for your organization's compliance team.

Sources

Prices, plans and specifications were checked on Plaud's own pages on 3 November 2026 and change often; check plaud.ai before you buy.

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