A credit-card-sized AI voice recorder that magnets onto the back of your phone and turns every conversation into summaries and action items with ChatGPT-powered transcription.
The PLAUD Note is a card-shaped recorder about 2.99mm thick that attaches magnetically to the back of a smartphone and records calls and in-person conversations using a four-microphone array, including bone-conduction-style capture for iPhone calls. Recordings are processed by OpenAI, Claude and Google models to produce transcripts, summaries and action items in the companion app. It launched on Kickstarter in June 2023 at around $159, later expanding to the Note Pro and the wearable NotePin. The hardware-plus-subscription model gives users 300 free transcription minutes per month, with paid PLAUD Intelligence plans (roughly $99-240 per year overseas) unlocking advanced AI features; subscriptions now account for close to half of company revenue. Its key differentiation was being first to market with a polished, design-led answer to the iPhone's inability to record phone calls natively, priced at roughly three times the industry average yet still outselling rivals.
The company behind PLAUD is Shenzhen-based PLAUD.AI (founded around 2021 by Nathan Xu), built by a compact team with backgrounds at Sogou, DJI and Anker. The first product launched on Kickstarter in June 2023, raising about $1.14 million, followed by an Indiegogo campaign that added another $2.38 million. The real breakout came in 2024: the product entered regular retail on Amazon, hit the No.1 spot in Amazon's Best Sellers ranking by July 2024, and passed 100,000 units delivered in early 2024. By November 2024 the company had reached about $100 million in annualized revenue. By July 2025 cumulative sales passed 1 million units across 170 countries, and the company reported annualized revenue around $250 million (about $56 million revenue in 2024 alone) with roughly 20% profit margins and two consecutive years of 10x growth. PLAUD built its growth on a decentralized influencer-review strategy rather than heavy ad spend, and in September 2025 returned to the Chinese domestic market with a Shenzhen launch event.
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