Plaud alternative

Your ideas aren't meetings. Don't record them like one.

AI recorders like Plaud are built for hour-long meetings — speaker labels, summary templates, mind maps. A ten-second idea gets the same treatment and ends up as one more dated recording in a long list. SpeakPen is built for the thought itself: say it on your phone or in a browser, and it comes back as a sentence with a title that names it.

Try SpeakPen free on iPhone Or record in your browser

iPhone app (iOS 17+) · Any browser · Free plan included

Side by side

SpeakPen vs Plaud

What you get	SpeakPen	Plaud
Hardware	None — your iPhone or any browser	A Plaud device (Note, NotePin and others)
Built for	Quick ideas and spoken drafts	Meetings, calls and long recordings
A 10-second recording becomes	One sentence, titled by what you said	A template-based summary (10,000+ templates)
Into Obsidian	Markdown synced into your vault by the SpeakPen Sync plugin	Export, Zapier or MCP (beta); no official Obsidian sync
Languages	99, detected automatically	112+
Free plan	3 recordings / month, up to 5 min each	300 transcription minutes / month, with a device
Paid plan	$9.90 / month — 60 recordings, up to 20 min each	Pro $17.99 / month (1,200 min), or $8.33 / month billed yearly

Plaud details from plaud.ai's pricing page as of October 2026. Plaud is a trademark of its respective owner; plans change — please check their site.

When SpeakPen is the better fit

And when it isn't: if you mostly record meetings or calls, a Plaud device is built for that. SpeakPen is for everything that happens between them.

Nothing to buy, charge or carry

Record on the iPhone already in your pocket, or in a browser on any computer or phone. No device to pair, no recordings to transfer.

A thought stays a thought

A ten-second idea comes back as one plain sentence with a title that names it — the slogan, the task, the decision — not a summary template and a mind map.

It lands in your own vault

Notes arrive in Obsidian as plain Markdown files through the SpeakPen Sync plugin. Stop paying and every note is still there.

FAQ

Plaud alternative FAQ

Is SpeakPen a replacement for a Plaud device?

Not for everything. Plaud is built for recording meetings and calls, with speaker labels and long recordings. SpeakPen is built for capturing your own ideas: you talk into your phone or a browser and get back a short, titled note. Some people use both — Plaud for meetings, SpeakPen for the thoughts in between.

Do I need any hardware?

No. SpeakPen is an iPhone app (iOS 17+) and also works in any modern browser, on a computer or on a phone that isn't an iPhone.

Can I get my notes into Obsidian?

Yes. Install SpeakPen Sync from Obsidian's community plugin store and paste an API token from the SpeakPen web app. New notes then arrive in your vault as Markdown, with a title, summary and full transcript.

What happens to a very short recording?

It stays short. A quick thought comes back as one sentence that states it, with a title that names what you said, and the full transcript underneath. Longer recordings get the summary style you chose.

How much does SpeakPen cost?

The free plan includes 3 recordings a month, up to 5 minutes each. Pro is $9.90 a month for 60 recordings, up to 20 minutes each. There's no device to buy.

Mostly want ideas in Obsidian the moment you have them? Here's how quick capture by voice works.

Just want spoken notes in your vault, whatever you record with? Start with voice-to-text for Obsidian.

Comparing note-taking apps rather than devices? See SpeakPen vs AudioPen.