# Plaud review (2026): is the free plan enough?

> AI voice recorder devices with an app for transcripts and summaries

Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA.

Plaud sells pocket and wearable voice recorders, and a mobile app, web app and desktop app that transcribe recordings and write summaries from templates. The desktop app captures online meetings without a bot. Transcription is sold as a monthly plan that is separate from the hardware.

- **Category:** AI Meeting Notes
- **Made by:** Plaud Inc.
- **Website:** https://www.plaud.ai
- **Runs on:** Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
- **Who should skip it:** Pricey if you add the recorder: $189 for the Note Pro, on top of the plan.
- **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026

## Pricing

As of Nov 12, 2026, Plaud has a free plan, and paid plans start at $8.33 per month on Pro, billed annually ($17.99 billed monthly).

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **Free plan:** Starter plan: 300 transcription minutes a month, 112+ languages, summary templates, Plaud Desktop and export and sharing.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Starter | $0 | 300 transcription minutes a month; all plans include 112+ languages and 10,000+ summary templates. |
| Pro | $8.33 per month, billed annually ($17.99 billed monthly) | 1,200 transcription minutes a month for one user. |
| Unlimited | $20.00 per month, billed annually ($29.99 billed monthly) | Unlimited transcription minutes, up to 24 hours a day, for one user. |
| Team | $25 per user / month, billed annually ($35 billed monthly) | Everything in Unlimited plus shared team files, centralized billing, seat and device management and priority support. |

Read from https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-ai-plan-pricing on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Plaud before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **Save up to 54% with annual billing** (Annual discount): Plaud's pricing page shows Pro at $8.33 a month annually against $17.99 monthly, and Unlimited at $20.00 against $29.99. Source: https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-ai-plan-pricing
- **10% off for students, educators and healthcare** (Education): Plaud lists 10% off for students and grads, educators, healthcare workers, military and first responders. Source: https://www.plaud.ai/pages/eligible-discount
- **Team launch offer: $20 per user for the first year** (Other savings): Annual Team seats are $20 per user a month for the first year, then $25. The page says the offer ends November 30, 2026. Source: https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-ai-plan-pricing

## Key features

- **Recorder devices:** Plaud Note, Note Pro, NotePin and NotePin S capture in-person talks and calls; the Note Pro page lists it at $189.
- **Transcription in 112+ languages:** Recordings, imported audio and desktop captures are transcribed, with a monthly minute allowance on each plan.
- **Summaries from templates:** Choose from 10,000+ summary templates or build custom ones; the vendor says summaries are traceable to the transcript.
- **Bot-free desktop capture:** Plaud Desktop records online meetings without a meeting bot and can detect when a meeting starts.
- **Searchable knowledge base:** Timeline view, nested folders, merged recordings and search by keyword, name or topic.
- **Connectors in preview:** Google Calendar, Zapier, MCP, Notion, Slack, Linear and Salesforce connections are all marked as preview.

## Good for

- People who want a pocket recorder for in-person meetings and calls
- Professionals who prefer not to add a bot to online meetings
- Teams in healthcare, legal and finance that want compliance claims listed

## Worth knowing

- The devices are separate purchases; the Note Pro page lists $189, and the plans are for transcription minutes.
- Pro is capped at 1,200 minutes a month; Unlimited runs up to 24 hours a day.
- A Team launch offer of $20 per user a month for the first year, then $25, ends November 30, 2026.
- Many integrations are labeled preview, and Plaud One is shown as pre-order.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.8 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Plaud sells voice recorders and an app, web and desktop transcription service with templated summaries, and its desktop app records online meetings without a bot. The free plan is 300 minutes a month, but the recorder is a separate purchase and many integrations are still in preview.

- **Value for money: B.** $8.33 a month on Pro, billed yearly, for 1,200 minutes, at the cheaper end of the category. Monthly it's $17.99, and the recorder is a separate buy, from $189 for Note Pro.
- **Free plan and trial: B.** Starter is free with 300 transcription minutes a month and 112+ languages. That covers light use.
- **Features: B.** Recorder devices, transcription, 10,000+ summary templates, bot-free desktop capture, search and folders. Connectors such as Notion, Slack and Salesforce are in preview.
- **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. You buy and pair a recorder, or use the apps, and choose templates.
- **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, with Zapier, Notion, Slack and MCP, though those connectors are marked preview.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Plaud's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among AI meeting note takers

- Plaud's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 51 of the 68 other AI meeting note takers we grade, and level with 6.
- It stands best on value for money (B, above 60 of 68) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
- Its paid plans start at $8.33 a month, against a middle price of $11.99 for the category: 15 of the 62 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 8 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 Plaud 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. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.8 is higher than 51 of the 68 other AI meeting note takers we grade. It costs $99.96 a year.

- You could make: Templates: an app builder makes this well.
- You could not: A bot that joins your calls and turns the talk into notes.
- You could not: Speech turned into text you can trust.
- You could not: Apps for macOS, Windows, iOS and Android that stay in step with each other.
- You could not: It plugs into other products, Google Calendar, Zapier and Notion among them.
- You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

## Works with

Google Calendar, Zapier, Notion, Slack, Linear, Salesforce

**Tags:** Meeting notes, Transcription, AI features, Templates

## Alternatives

- [Bee](https://toolgpa.com/tools/bee): Wearable AI recorder that summarizes conversations and suggests to-dos. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bee-vs-plaud)
- [Otter.ai](https://toolgpa.com/tools/otter): Live meeting transcription with summaries and AI chat. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/otter-vs-plaud)
- [TwinMind](https://toolgpa.com/tools/twinmind): All-day transcription and memory app for meetings and conversations. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/plaud-vs-twinmind)
- [Notta](https://toolgpa.com/tools/notta): AI notetaker and transcription for meetings, files and recordings. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/notta-vs-plaud)
- [Jamie](https://toolgpa.com/tools/jamie): Bot-free AI note taker with EU data hosting. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/jamie-vs-plaud)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026:

- https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-ai-plan-pricing
- https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-desktop
- https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-note-pro
- https://www.plaud.ai/pages/eligible-discount
- https://www.plaud.ai/

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/plaud
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).