Comparison

Kernio vs Summarly

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

Head to head
About

Kernio

Features
Read full description

Unlimited voice notes with free transcription in 35+ languages. Works offline. No account needed. Kernio is the voice note app that doesn't stop at recording. Free on-device transcription turns every voice memo into searchable text. When you're ready, AI shapes your notes into drafts — articles, chapters, posts — in your voice. Free: unlimited voice recording, unlimited text notes, free transcription (35+ languages), offline mode, location context. UNLIMITED VOICE RECORDING + FREE TRANSCRIPTION - Record hands-free with real-time waveform — commuting, between meetings, after a breakthrough - Transcribe any voice note instantly, on-device, in 35+ languages - No internet needed. No account needed. No credits needed - No recording limits. No monthly caps. Unlimited, free, forever - Smart safety: auto-stop at 60 minutes, silence detection alerts - Import audio files from other apps UNLIMITED TEXT NOTES — FREE - Write with rich formatting (bold, italic, lists, headings) - Auto-save every 3 seconds — never lose a thought - Tag notes with #hashtags for easy organization NOTES REMEMBER WHERE YOU ARE - Optional location capture tags each note with where you were - "At Starbucks", "Home Office", "Between meetings" — context that matters - AI uses location to add richer context when creating content on the web WORKS COMPLETELY OFFLINE - All notes stored locally on your device first - Full-text search across all notes, even without internet - No account required — start capturing immediately BUILT FOR PEOPLE WHO KNOW MORE THAN THEY WRITE You're a consultant with frameworks clients pay for. A coach whose sessions are full of quotable insights. A founder who solves hard problems daily. You have the expertise — you just don't have time to write about it. Kernio fixes that. HOW IT WORKS 1. Open the app and tap Record or Write 2. Capture your idea — a client insight, a process you figured out, a lesson learned 3. Your notes sync to Kernio on the web, where AI turns them into articles, chapters, or posts — in your voice, from your knowledge SYNC & BACKUP - Notes sync automatically when you're online - Voice recordings upload to secure cloud storage (Starter & Pro) - Cloud sync is optional — keep everything local if you prefer PRIVACY FIRST - All notes stored locally on your device first - On-device transcription never sends audio to any server - No data leaves without your explicit action - Delete your account and all data with one tap UPGRADE TO AI TRANSCRIPTION (Starter & Pro) - Studio-quality accuracy with Deepgram Nova-3 - Timestamped paragraphs you can tap to jump - Speaker diarization (who said what) - 2 free daily credits to try it — then 150–500 monthly credits on paid plans - Perfect for long recordings, interviews, and client calls - Plus: cloud voice backup, AI drafts articles/chapters/posts on the web SUBSCRIPTION PLANS (auto-renewable) - Kernio Starter — Monthly or Yearly - Kernio Pro — Monthly or Yearly - Payment charges to your Apple ID at purchase confirmation - Subscriptions auto-renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period - Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple ID → Subscriptions - Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription Privacy Policy: https://kernioai.com/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Download Kernio and stop losing the ideas that could build your career.

About

Summarly

Read full description

A forty minute meeting leaves you with a forty minute recording. Summarly leaves you with six lines. Record, and the app turns the speech into text on the iPhone itself. Then, if you want it, it pulls out what the recording was actually about: the points, the decisions that were settled, the questions nobody answered, and the things people said they would do. NOTHING LEAVES THE PHONE There is no account to create and no server of ours to sign in to. Recordings, their text and their summaries stay on the device. Speech recognition runs offline, so it works in a basement meeting room with no signal. If you want a backup you can turn on iCloud sync, and that is your own iCloud, not ours. RECORDING AND TRANSCRIPTION ARE FREE Apple's own Voice Memos records and transcribes for nothing, so charging for that would be dishonest. Recording, transcription, search and the archive are unlimited on the free plan, and always will be. Pro is for the summaries. WHAT IT DOES • One tap to record, and it keeps going when you leave the app or lock the screen • A live indicator on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island while it runs • Mark a moment while recording, name it later, jump back to it in one tap • On-device transcription in English and Turkish • Long recordings handled in pieces, so an hour-long lecture transcribes fully • Search every word you have ever recorded • Folders, for keeping a project's recordings together • Fix anything the recogniser misheard • Export as plain text, Markdown, SRT subtitles, or the audio file itself • Delete the audio and keep the text, when storage matters more than the voice • A Home Screen widget that starts recording without opening the app • Works completely offline ABOUT THE SUMMARIES On iPhone 15 Pro and later, Summarly uses Apple's on-device intelligence to read the transcript and pull out what mattered. Nothing is sent anywhere for this. On earlier iPhones the summary feature is unavailable, but recording, transcription, search and export all work exactly the same. The summary is built only from what was said. It does not add advice, opinions or conclusions of its own, and where the recording is unclear it leaves the passage out rather than guessing. Check anything you plan to act on, the same as you would with your own notes. FREE AND PRO Five summaries a month are free. Pro removes the limit and unlocks Markdown and subtitle export. Pro has one price, not a list: a yearly plan, or a single payment if you would rather never think about it again. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://pinkontin.com/legal/summarly/

Screenshots

Kernio4 screens
Summarly3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Kernio at 3 against Summarly's 1. Kernio also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Kernio sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $18.99 per month and Summarly sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 3 level
Kernio versus Summarly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKernioSummarly
PriceFreeFree
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size190 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKien NguyenMuhammed Furkan Kfrevi

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Kernio

Subscriptions4
  • Starter Monthly$18.991 Month
  • Kernio Pro$48.991 Month
  • Kernio Starter Yearly$149.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Kernio Pro Yearly$389.991 Year
2 purchases

Summarly

Subscriptions1
  • Summarly Pro Yearly$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Summarly Pro Lifetime$34.99

Questions

Is Kernio free?
Kernio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Summarly free?
Summarly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Kernio or Summarly have ads?
Neither Kernio nor Summarly shows ads.

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