# Cockatoo review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Upload-based AI transcription with speaker labels and translation Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Cockatoo turns audio and video files and live recordings into timestamped, speaker-labeled transcripts in more than 90 languages. Its Canvas workspace adds summaries and chat over a transcript, and transcripts can be translated and exported. It suits recorded meetings and interviews more than live in-call note taking. - **Category:** AI Meeting Notes - **Made by:** Cockatoo - **Website:** https://www.cockatoo.com - **Runs on:** Web, iOS - **Who should skip it:** Pricey if you pay monthly, as Pro is $30 against $22.50 on yearly billing, and Max is $100 a month. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Cockatoo has a free plan, and paid plans start at $22.50 per month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly). - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Free: try audio and video transcription, read and edit transcripts, file translation previews and Canvas. No credit card required. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | $0 | A small allowance to try transcription, translation previews and Canvas. | | Pro | $22.50 per month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly) | Unlimited V4-Fast transcription, monthly V4-Pro limits, diarization, 90-language translation, bulk export, Canvas and 2 TB storage. | | Max | $100 per month for 5x Pro usage, billed monthly | Everything in Pro with 5x the V4-Pro allowance; 10x costs $200 a month. Adds early access and priority at busy times. | | Team | $12 per user / month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly) | Starts at three users ($432 a year). Each member gets Pro features and 2 TB storage, with shared files and central billing. | Read from https://www.cockatoo.com/pricing on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Cockatoo before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **Annual billing lowers Pro and Team** (Annual discount): Pro is $270 a year ($22.50 a month) against $30 monthly, and Team for three people is $432 a year against $45 a month. Source: https://www.cockatoo.com/pricing ## Key features - **Upload or record:** Drag in MP3, MP4, M4A, MOV, WAV and other formats for a timestamped, speaker-labeled transcript, or record and dictate live on Pro. - **Two transcription models:** V4-Fast is unlimited on paid plans; V4-Pro supports 36 languages and has monthly limits that Max raises to 5x or 10x. - **Canvas:** Summaries, insights, chat and edits over a transcript. Canvas is available to try on the free plan and in full on Pro. - **Translation and exports:** Translate transcripts into 90 languages, and documents such as PDF, Word and PowerPoint. Export as PDF, DOCX, TXT or subtitles. - **Voice Notes for iOS:** A companion iPhone app, Cockatoo AI Voice Notes, handles voice capture and dictation on the go. ## Good for - Recorded interviews, podcasts and meeting files that need a clean transcript - Teams that want speaker labels and exports without a meeting bot ## Worth knowing - It works from uploaded files and live recording; the pages read do not describe a bot that joins calls. - Pro needs $30 a month on monthly billing; the $22.50 figure applies to annual billing. - Team plans start at three users, and Max is billed monthly only. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Cockatoo transcribes uploaded audio and video files and live recordings, with speaker labels, translation and an editor. Pro is $30 a month if you pay monthly, the pages describe no bot that joins calls, and there is no integration list. - **Value for money: C.** Pro is $22.50 a month on yearly billing and $30 monthly, past the dearer quarter ($18) of meeting-note tools but below its dearest tenth. - **Free plan and trial: C.** A free plan to try transcription, read and edit transcripts and preview translation, no card needed. It is a taste, not a plan to live on. - **Features: C.** Upload or record, two transcription models, translation, exports and a Canvas. The pages describe no bot to join calls. - **Ease of use: B.** No store rating on record, but you upload a file or record and get a transcript back with nothing to set up. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Web and iPhone only, with no integrations or desktop app listed. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Cockatoo's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among AI meeting note takers - Cockatoo's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 20 of the 89 other AI meeting note takers we grade, and level with 27. - It stands best on ease of use (B, above 56 of 89) and worst on features (C, above 1). - Its paid plans start at $22.50 a month, against a middle price of $12 for the category: 66 of the 76 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 45 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/ai-meeting-notes ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Cockatoo you would be making a bot that joins your calls and turns the talk into notes. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 42 of the 89 other AI meeting note takers grade higher. It costs $270 a year. - You could not: A bot that joins your calls and turns the talk into notes. - You could not: Dictation that types into any app on your computer. - You could not: An AI model, which you can rent by the request but not make. - You could not: Speech turned into text you can trust. - You could not: A real app for iOS. Something home-made would be a web page. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## What people say - **App Store rating of the iPhone and iPad app:** 4.7 out of 5 from 786 ratings in the United States, read Nov 13, 2026. This is the store's rating of the app, not a score from ToolGPA. Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6499500731 **Tags:** Transcription, Meeting notes, Dictation, AI features, Chat assistant ## Alternatives - [Otter.ai](https://toolgpa.com/tools/otter): Live meeting transcription with summaries and AI chat. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cockatoo-vs-otter) - [Notta](https://toolgpa.com/tools/notta): AI notetaker and transcription for meetings, files and recordings. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cockatoo-vs-notta) - [Transkriptor](https://toolgpa.com/tools/transkriptor): AI transcription for files, recordings and meetings. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cockatoo-vs-transkriptor) - [Sonix](https://toolgpa.com/tools/sonix): Browser-based transcription, translation and meeting recorder. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cockatoo-vs-sonix) - [Trint](https://toolgpa.com/tools/trint): Transcription and live capture platform built for newsrooms. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cockatoo-vs-trint) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://www.cockatoo.com/pricing - https://www.cockatoo.com/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/cockatoo Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).