Comparison

Plaud vs Read AI

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Plaud

Capture and transcribe meetings, calls, and conversations to generate summaries, notes, and finished work. Leverage AI to extract context, automate tasks, and create documents from your discussions. Seamlessly syncs across devices with unlimited cloud storage.

Highlights
  • AI-powered transcription and summarization
  • Capture in-person, phone, and online meetings
  • Generate custom documents and reports
  • Integrates with Slack, Notion, Google Calendar
  • Unlimited cloud storage
  • Custom vocabulary support
  • Voice differentiation
Features
Read full description

Plaud is the AI work companion trusted by over 3 million professionals worldwide. Capture meetings, calls and conversations, then turn them into the work you need next. Plaud Intelligence helps you transcribe, summarize, find past context and get work done from every conversation. At the center is Plaud Agent. Give it a task in plain language and it sees it through: drawing on the right context from your Knowledge base, producing finished work in the format you need, and delivering it where it needs to go. CAPTURE IN-PERSON MEETINGS, PHONE CALLS, AND ONLINE MEETINGS Use a Plaud device for in-person meetings, phone calls and conversations on the go. Use Plaud Desktop for online meetings, with no meeting bot required. Capture more than audio. Highlight key moments as they happen, add notes and include images to give Plaud richer context. Everything stays together across Plaud Mobile, Plaud Web and Plaud Desktop. TURN RECORDINGS INTO TRANSCRIPTS AND CLEAR NOTES Get transcripts and AI summaries after every recording, with support for over 112 languages, and custom vocabulary. GET WORK DONE WITH PLAUD AGENT Tell Plaud Agent what you need in plain language. It finds the right context from your conversations and knowledge, then turns it into the work you need. Use Plaud Agent to: - Turn customer calls into a research brief - Draft follow-ups and emails from meetings - Create project updates, reports, and presentations - Bring back relevant context from weeks or months ago - Reuse your preferred workflows with Skills - Automate recurring work with Routines - Work across Slack, Notion, Google Calendar, Linear and more Create ready-to-use documents, presentations, reports and more, with links back to the relevant moments in the original recording for verification. Plaud asks for your confirmation before anything is sent or posted on your behalf. USE PLAUD EVERYWHERE Your recordings, transcripts and knowledge stay in sync across Plaud Mobile, Plaud Web and Plaud Desktop, with unlimited cloud storage. CHOOSE THE PLAN THAT FITS HOW YOU WORK Every Plaud device includes the Starter Plan, so you can start recording, transcribing and using Plaud Intelligence right away. Starter Plan Includes 300 transcription minutes each month. Pro Plan Includes 1,200 transcription minutes each month for professionals who record and transcribe more regularly. Unlimited Plan Unlimited transcription for professionals who capture conversations throughout their day. Team Plan Built for teams, with centralized management, file sharing and shared knowledge capabilities. GLOBAL SECURITY STANDARDS Plaud is compliant with GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 27701 and EN 18031. PLAUD Terms of Service & END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT : https://app.plaud.ai/user-agreement Terms of Use : https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Read AI

This app records audio from your device and generates real-time AI-powered transcripts and summaries. It's ideal for capturing lectures, meetings, or brainstorming sessions, providing comprehensive reports that can be shared or kept private.

Highlights
  • Live transcription and summaries
  • Speaker detection
  • In-person meeting recording
  • Integration with communication channels
  • Cross-platform sync
  • Meeting notifications
Read full description

Record any in-person conversation and get a transcript, summary, and action items when you're done. Read AI turns your iPhone into an AI notetaker for client meetings, interviews, lectures, and brainstorms. Open Read AI, tap record, and stay in the conversation. Read transcribes and summarizes in real time, then builds a full report you can keep private or share with others. Your in-person notes appear next to your Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams meeting reports, so everything you discussed lives in one place. Key Features: Live Transcription and Summaries Follow along with a real-time transcript and get a concise summary at the end, so you never have to ask what was decided. Speaker Detection Read AI tells speakers apart, so you can see who said what. Built for In-Person Meetings Record face-to-face meetings, classes, and brainstorming sessions without opening a laptop. Easy Sharing Send your notes to Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Teams, and your CRM to share and review them. Sync Across Devices Access your notes and summaries on any device, alongside your Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams meetings. Meeting Reminders Get notified before upcoming meetings, when a new report is ready, and with a recap before recurring meetings, so you never forget to record.

Screenshots

Plaud4 screens
Read AI4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Read AI at none against Plaud's 10. Plaud's advantage is ratings volume (24K vs 1.1K) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Plaud sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month. Read AI asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Plaud against 4.9 for Read AI. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Plaud has 24K ratings behind it against 1.1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 72% of Plaud's written reviews are positive against 69% of Read AI's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Plaud ships an update weekly, Read AI every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Plaud versus Read AI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlaudRead AI
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (24K ratings) — better4.9 (1.1K ratings)
Positive reviews72.4% of reviews — better68.5% of reviews
Number of ratings24K — better1.1K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
Best chart rank#26 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size207 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPLAUD LLCRead AI

Customer experience

Plaud

All ratings24,123 ratings
Positive98.0%
Neutral1.0%
Negative1.1%
Written reviews1,511 reviews
Positive72.4%
Neutral6.3%
Negative21.3%

Read AI

All ratings1,014 ratings
Positive98.1%
Neutral0.7%
Negative1.2%
Written reviews54 reviews
Positive68.5%
Neutral1.9%
Negative29.6%

User reviews

Plaud

From 24K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Accurate transcription and summarization
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly app
  • 🔒 Secure and reliable device
  • 💡 Innovative features like voice differentiation
  • 🚀 Seamless integration with phone

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes and freezes
  • 🔧 Buggy and unreliable software
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🔧 Inconsistent UI and language issues
  • 🔋 Battery life concerns

Read AI

From 1.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Productivity booster
  • 👍 Great app
  • 👍 Useful features
  • 👍 Convenient mobile access
  • 👍 Helpful for in-person meetings

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Privacy concerns
  • 🐛 Buggy with playback and other functions
  • 🐛 App loading issues

Bugs and requests

Plaud

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Transcription errors, especially for non-English languages
  • Exporting issues with audio and text files
  • Inconsistent performance and app crashes
  • Connectivity problems between device and app

Requested features

6 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to pause and resume recordings
  • Improved summary quality and customization
  • Better organization and folder structure for notes
  • Integration with other productivity tools
Show 1 more
  • Support for more languages beyond English

Read AI

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • Uploading issues causing lost recordings

Requested features

4 requests
  • Chromecast and AirPlay support
  • Full-screen video playback
  • Cloud sync for transcripts and summaries
  • Better mobile support and file format compatibility

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Plaud

Subscriptions8
  • Pro Plan(Monthly)$17.991 Month
  • Unlimited Plan(Monthly)$23.991 Month
  • Unlimited Plan(Monthly)$29.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • Pro Plan(Annually)7 Days trial$99.991 Year
  • Pro Plan(Annually)3 Days trial$99.991 Year
  • Unlimited Plan(Annually)7 Days trial$239.991 Year
  • Unlimited Plan(Annually)$239.991 Year
  • Annual Unlimited3 Days trial$239.991 Year
One-time2
  • 120 Minutes Package$2.99
  • 600 Minutes Package$12.99
None

Read AI

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Plaud free?
Plaud is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Read AI free?
Read AI is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Plaud or Read AI?
Plaud is rated higher. Plaud averages 4.9 out of 5 from 24K ratings, while Read AI averages 4.9 from 1.1K ratings.
Do Plaud or Read AI have ads?
Neither Plaud nor Read AI shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Plaud or Read AI?
Plaud ships an update weekly, and Read AI every 3 weeks. Most recently, Plaud was updated on November 10, 2026 and Read AI on November 8, 2026.

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