AudioPen vs Cleft
We give AudioPen and Cleft the same GPA: 3.2 out of 4.0. AudioPen grades higher on platforms. Cleft grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
AudioPen
Voice notes rewritten into clear text in a chosen style
Cleft
Voice notes turned into structured notes on Apple devices
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAAudioPenVery good | 3.2GPACleftVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPrime is $33 for 3 months, so $11 a month, or $99 for a year, which works out to $8.25. That's the dear end for this category, where plans typically start at $5.99. But it's a notes app and voice typing in one, and passes are charged once and never renew themselves. | ACleft Plus is $39.99 a year, well under what a typical notes subscription here costs, and Family Sharing covers up to 5 people. Pay monthly and it's $6.99, which is a much worse deal. The pricing page calls the yearly plan a 52% saving. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree gives you the real thing with limits: recordings up to 3 minutes, each one transcribed and rewritten in your chosen style. Three minutes is short, though. Voice typing is limited to a set number of sessions, and audio uploads need Prime. | ABasic is free and has the main event: on-device transcription, structured notes, 3 built-in styles, tags, search, export and Local Sync. The limit is 5 minutes a recording. For quick thoughts, most people could stay here. |
| Features | BTranscribe then rewrite, a library of styles plus your own, three levels of editing, and speaking one language while it writes another. Voice typing works inside other apps. But there are no speaker labels, and 15 minutes is the longest recording. | BIt does one job and does it fully: transcription in 99 languages, notes shaped by AI, recording from the Watch, CarPlay, the Lock Screen or Siri, and a Markdown editor with tags and search. It's about capture more than filing, and appending, attachments and custom styles are Plus only. |
| Ease of use | BWe have no App Store rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. The whole thing is one button: talk, stop, read. Picking a style and a rewrite level is the only setup. | BPress record and talk, from the Lock Screen or the Action Button if you like. You do have to sign in, and a note is only finished once the device is back online. There's no App Store rating on record to go by, so a B. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android and a browser extension. Notes go onward through Zapier or webhooks, and on Prime an MCP lets ChatGPT or Claude search and read them. | CiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and CarPlay. Notes can go on to Notion and Zapier with Plus, or to Obsidian and Apple Notes through the share sheet and Local Sync. All Apple, though. No Android, Windows or web version is listed. |
| Best for | rambling out loud and getting tidy text back | talking a thought into a tidy note on Apple gear |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: AudioPen and Cleft. How we grade
Where they differ
- AudioPen starts at $33 for 3 months of Prime, charged once ($11 a month). Cleft starts at $39.99 per year (or $6.99 billed monthly).
- Only AudioPen lists a web app.
- Only AudioPen lists Windows and Android apps.
- Only AudioPen lists a browser extension.
- AudioPen also covers dictation.
- Cleft also covers Markdown.
At a glance
| AudioPen | Cleft | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $33 for 3 months of Prime, charged once ($11 a month) | $39.99 per year (or $6.99 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Recordings up to 3 minutes, each transcribed and rewritten in a chosen style, plus a limited number of voice typing sessions. | Basic plan: recordings up to 5 minutes with on-device transcription, structured notes, 3 built-in output styles, tags, search, export, Local Sync, widgets and Siri Shortcuts. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Nicheless, Inc. | Cleft AI Limited |
| Price read from | audiopen.ai | cleftnotes.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
AudioPen
- Writers and creators who draft by talking
- Capturing ideas on the move from a phone or watch
- People who find typing slow or painful, such as with RSI or dyslexia
Cleft
- People who think out loud and want the ramble turned into a tidy note
- Apple users capturing ideas from a Watch, a car or the Lock Screen
- Passing voice notes on to Notion, Obsidian or Apple Notes
Worth knowing
AudioPen
- Free recordings stop at 3 minutes, and free voice typing is limited to a set number of sessions.
- Prime is sold as fixed-term passes charged once ($33, $99 or $159), not as an auto-renewing subscription.
- It is not a meeting recorder: the vendor says it will not join a Zoom call or label who said what.
- Audio uploads need Prime and are capped at 100 files every 4 weeks, with a 100 MB limit per file.
Cleft
- Apple only: the apps are for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and CarPlay, with no Android, Windows or web version listed.
- Basic recordings stop at 5 minutes; 30-minute recordings need Cleft Plus.
- Notion and Zapier integrations, attachments, custom styles, appending and password-protected links are Plus only.
- Sign-in is required. Recording and transcription work offline, but the note is finished once the device is back online.
Key features
AudioPen
- Transcribe, then rewrite
- Each recording is transcribed and then rewritten into structured text, and the plain transcript is kept alongside the rewritten note.
- Writing styles and rewrite level
- A style library covers formats such as email, memo and bullet points, custom styles are built from a description or a writing sample, and the edit can be set to low, medium or high.
- Voice typing in other apps
- A hotkey on Mac and Windows, a keyboard on iPhone and iPad, and a floating bubble on Android place dictated text wherever the cursor is.
- Speak one language, write another
- The spoken language and the written language do not have to match, so a note dictated in Spanish can come back in English.
- Offline transcription option
- The iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows apps can transcribe on the device so audio never leaves it. The AI rewrite step still needs a connection.
- Zapier, webhooks and MCP
- Saved notes can be passed on through Zapier or webhooks, and the Prime-only MCP gives ChatGPT or Claude read-only access to search and read notes.
Cleft
- On-device transcription
- Recordings are turned into text locally on iPhone, iPad or Mac using Whisper, in 99 languages, including when the speaker switches language mid-sentence.
- Structured notes from rambles
- An AI step pulls out the main points and actions and titles the note. Three built-in styles are Structured, Structured Prose and Clean Transcript; Plus adds custom styles.
- Capture from Watch, CarPlay and Siri
- Recording can start from an Apple Watch, the CarPlay screen, the Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, Control Center, the iPhone Action Button or a Siri request.
- Send notes to other apps
- Notes go to any app through the share sheet. Local Sync writes Markdown and optional audio to a folder, and Plus adds direct Notion and Zapier integrations.
- Markdown editor, tags and search
- Notes can be edited with headings, bold, lists and code blocks, tagged by project or topic, and searched across the whole collection.
- Append and continue
- With Plus, a new recording can be added to an existing note so one topic stays in one place, and recordings can run to 30 minutes.
Plans
AudioPen
Free$0
Recordings up to 3 minutes, transcribed and rewritten in a chosen style, with a limited number of voice typing sessions.
Prime 3 months$33
one-time payment for 3 months
Unlimited recordings up to 15 minutes, unlimited voice typing and rewrites, unlimited note storage, audio file uploads and SuperSummaries.
Prime Yearly Pass$99
one-time payment for 1 year
The same Prime features for one year, charged once. The vendor works this out to $8.25 a month and labels it a 25% saving.
Prime 2 Year Pass$159
one-time payment for 2 years
The same Prime features for two years. The vendor works this out to $6.63 a month and labels it a 40% saving.
Cleft
Basic$0
5-minute recordings, on-device transcription, structured notes, 3 built-in output styles, tags, search and export.
Cleft Plus$39.99
per year, or $6.99 per month billed monthly
30-minute recordings, append to existing notes, custom output styles, attachments, Notion and Zapier integrations, and Family Sharing for up to 5.
Ways to pay less
AudioPen
- Annual discount
Longer Prime passes cost less per month
Against the 3-month pass at $11 a month, the vendor labels the 1-year pass ($99) a 25% saving and the 2-year pass ($159) a 40% saving.
- Other savings
20% off multiple Prime licenses
Buying several one-year Prime licenses through the bulk purchase page, up to 100 per order, carries a 20% discount. Bulk purchases are not refundable.
Cleft
- Annual discount
Save 52% with annual billing
Cleft Plus costs $6.99 a month or $39.99 a year. The pricing page labels the annual plan a 52% saving, under $3.50 a month.
