A Plaud alternative that is the phone you already have
Plaud makes good AI voice recorders: a card that clips to the back of a phone, a pin you wear, and a Pro model with four microphones. Roomtone does the same job — record, transcribe, write up — with the iPhone's own microphone, so there is nothing to buy, charge or carry.
Free to start · 30 minutes a month, no card
The problems you know too well
$159 before the first note
Plaud Note and NotePin are $159, NotePin S $179, Note Pro $189 — and the AI plan comes on top.
Minutes on a meter
The free Starter plan has 300 minutes a month; Pro has 1,200 for $99.99 a year; Unlimited is $239.99 a year.
One more thing to charge
A recorder is one more device to keep charged and remember to bring. The phone is already in your hand.
Side by side
| Roomtone | Plaud | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware | None — your iPhone or iPad | Note $159, NotePin $159, NotePin S $179, Note Pro $189 |
| Free AI plan | 30 minutes a month | Starter: 300 minutes a month, with a recorder |
| Paid AI plan (US) | $119.99/year or $14.99/month, no minute count | Pro $99.99/year (1,200 min a month); Unlimited $239.99/year |
| First year with unlimited recording | $119.99 | $398.99 (Plaud Note + Unlimited) |
| Phone calls | On speaker, recorded from the room | Plaud Note, pressed to the back of the phone; NotePin records in person only |
| Records without the phone | No | Yes — up to 30 hours on Note, 20 on NotePin |
| Video meetings | Notetaker joins Zoom, Meet or Teams (Pro) | Plaud Desktop (beta) captures the computer's audio |
| Languages | 100+ | 112+ |
| US App Store rating | 5.0 from 2 ratings | 4.9 from about 23,700 ratings |
Compiled from each product's own published material, checked October 21, 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
What you get
No hardware
Your iPhone or iPad is the recorder.
No minute meter on Pro
$119.99 a year, or $14.99 a month.
Video calls too
Send a notetaker into Zoom, Meet or Teams (Pro).
100+ languages
The notes come back in the language that was spoken.
Perfect for
- Client meetings
- Interviews
- Site visits
- Anyone who already carries an iPhone
Questions
Is a Plaud worth it over a phone app?+
If you record for hours away from your phone, need phone calls picked up from the handset itself (Plaud Note), or want a dedicated button you press without unlocking anything, yes. If your phone is in the meeting with you anyway, an app records the same conversation without a $159 device.
Can Roomtone record a phone call the way Plaud Note does?+
Not the same way. iOS gives the microphone to the call, so Roomtone records a call played on speaker, from the room. Plaud Note picks the call up through a vibration sensor pressed to the back of the phone.
Does a bot join my meeting?+
Only if you send one. Paste a Zoom, Meet or Teams link and a notetaker joins that meeting, visible to everyone in it. For anything else — a table, a car, a site walk — Roomtone records the room from your phone, where no bot can go at all.
Is there a free plan?+
Yes: 30 minutes of recording a month, with the transcript, the summary, the action items and a share link — no card. A recording you start with minutes left is finished in full, however long it runs, and the minutes reset on the 1st. Pro makes recording unlimited and adds the notetaker for Zoom, Meet and Teams, importing files and YouTube links, chat across all your notes, and export.
What languages does it handle?+
Over 100. The notes come back in the language that was spoken, not translated into English first.
What happens to my recordings?+
The audio is used to produce the transcript and then deleted from the server; your phone keeps its own copy until you delete it. Nothing is used to train a model.
Record the next one
Free for 30 minutes a month. No card.
Download for iPhone