Comparison · Updated 2 November 2026
A Plaud alternative without the device: Scribe vs Plaud
Plaud sells AI voice recorders. The Plaud Note Pro costs £169 in the UK and comes with a free Starter plan of 300 transcription minutes a month. Paid plans go up to Pro (1,200 minutes) and Unlimited. Scribe is an iPhone app, so there’s nothing extra to buy or charge. Tap record and you get a speaker-labelled transcript, summary, action items and formal meeting minutes, from £9.99 a month. Choose Plaud if you want a dedicated recorder that pins to your phone or sits in your pocket for long days. Choose Scribe if you’d rather use the iPhone you already carry and skip the hardware cost.
Download on the App Store
iPhone · Standard from £9.99/mo · Pro Live annual includes a 7-day free trial
At a glance
Scribe | Plaud (Note Pro) | |
What you buy | An iPhone app. No extra hardware. | A £169 recorder (Note Pro), which includes the free Starter plan |
How it records | Your iPhone’s microphone | Four-microphone card-sized recorder, up to 5 metres; detects calls and in-person conversations. Plaud Desktop for online meetings. |
Upfront cost | £0 to download | £169 for Note Pro (VAT included) |
Subscription | Standard £4.99/wk, £9.99/mo or £69.99/yr; Pro Live £24.99/mo or £149.99/yr | Starter free (300 min/month); Pro £17.99/mo or £8.33/mo billed annually (1,200 min/month); Unlimited £29.99/mo or £18.75/mo billed annually |
Outputs | Speaker-labelled transcript, summary, action items, meeting minutes, Ask Scribe | Speaker-labelled transcripts, summaries, 10,000+ templates, Ask Plaud, AutoFlow, Plaud Agent |
Live help in the meeting | Pro Live: live transcription, Live Copilot, Question Radar | Not listed on the pricing page |
Platforms | iPhone | Plaud App, Web and Desktop |
Sources: Plaud AI plan pricing (UK), Plaud Note Pro (UK). Competitor details are taken from Plaud’s official UK pages, checked 2 November 2026. Prices and features can change, so check their site before you buy.
Where the two differ
Hardware or no hardware. Plaud is built around a dedicated recorder. Its Note Pro page lists four microphones, pickup up to 5 metres, up to 30 hours of recording in Enhance mode (50 hours in Endurance mode) and 64GB of storage (Plaud Note Pro). Scribe uses the microphone on your iPhone, so there’s no device to buy, carry or charge.
What it costs in year one. With Plaud you pay for the recorder first: £169 for Note Pro. That includes the Starter plan with 300 minutes a month. If you need more, Pro is £8.33 a month billed annually and Unlimited is £18.75 a month billed annually (Plaud pricing). Scribe has no upfront cost. Standard is £69.99 a year, or £9.99 a month.
Minutes. Plaud plans come with a monthly transcription allowance. Plaud says unused minutes reset each billing month and don’t carry over, and you can buy one-off top-ups.
Platforms. Plaud recordings sync across the Plaud App, Web and Desktop, and Plaud Desktop captures online meetings without a bot. Scribe is iPhone-only.
During the meeting. With Scribe Pro Live you can follow a live transcript and get Question Radar talking points when someone asks you something.
What Scribe does
Speaker-labelled transcripts: Every recording becomes a transcript that shows who said what.
AI summaries: A short summary of the conversation as soon as you stop recording.
Action items: Tasks and owners pulled out of the conversation into a checklist.
Meeting minutes: Structured minutes organised by topic, ready to share.
Ask Scribe: Ask questions about a recording, like “What did James say about the timeline?”
Folders & calendar timeline: Organise recordings in folders and see them linked to the meetings on your calendar.
Pro Live: Live Copilot: Real-time live transcription while the meeting is happening, plus Question Radar talking points when someone asks you a question.
Disclosure: this page is published by the makers of Scribe. We’ve tried to be fair and only state competitor facts that appear on their official pages.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an app like Plaud without the device?
Yes. Scribe is an iPhone app that records through your phone’s microphone and turns the conversation into a speaker-labelled transcript, summary, action items and meeting minutes, with no recorder to buy.
How much does Plaud cost in the UK?
On Plaud’s UK site (checked 2 November 2026), the Note Pro recorder is £169. It includes the free Starter plan with 300 transcription minutes a month. Pro is £17.99 a month, or £8.33 a month billed annually, and Unlimited is £29.99 a month, or £18.75 a month billed annually.
Do I need a Plaud subscription?
Not to start. Plaud says every device includes the Starter plan with 300 transcription minutes a month. Paid plans add more minutes.
Which is better for in-person meetings and lectures?
If you want a dedicated recorder with its own battery and microphones, Plaud is built for that. If you’d rather put the iPhone you already have on the table and tap record, Scribe does that without extra hardware. Try both on a real meeting.
How much is Scribe in the UK?
Standard is £4.99/week, £9.99/month or £69.99/year. Pro Live is £24.99/month or £149.99/year, and the annual plan has a 7-day free trial.
Stop taking notes. Start listening.
Scribe for iPhone: transcripts, summaries, action items and minutes from any meeting or lecture.
Download on the App Store
