Can You Use Plaud Without a Subscription? What the Free Starter Plan Covers

If you want unlimited real-time transcription from the plan that comes with the device, skip to what Comu AI includes with no minute cap. Comu makes Comu Note Pro and Comu Action Pro.

Does a Plaud recorder come with a free plan?

Every Plaud device includes the Starter plan at no extra cost, and no subscription is required to start. The 300 free minutes a month unlock after you bind a Plaud device to your account.

Each of these Plaud recorders comes with Starter:

The device price is the only payment that Plaud requires. Everything after it is a choice between staying on Starter and buying more transcription minutes.

What does the Plaud free plan include?

The Plaud free plan, Starter, includes the same AI features as the paid plans. Starter, Pro and Unlimited differ in how many minutes of audio you can transcribe each month.

Pro and Unlimited both include the full Plaud Intelligence feature set, and the only difference between them is transcription capacity. Between the free plan and a paid plan, the table shows one difference: minutes.

How many minutes does the Plaud free plan give you?

Starter gives 300 transcription minutes a month, which is 5 hours of audio. Minutes reset at the start of each billing month, and unused minutes do not carry over.

The way Plaud counts minutes decides how far 300 stretch:

• Minutes are deducted when transcription starts.
• Transferring a file from the device to the app does not use minutes.
• Deleting the audio afterward does not restore the minutes.

Recording does not use minutes. You can record every conversation of the month and spend minutes only on the recordings you choose to transcribe.

Arithmetic from the minute counts, with meetings of 30 and 60 minutes:

Paid minutes replace the Starter minutes. Pro is 1,200 minutes in total, not 1,200 plus 300.

A heavy month on Starter needs a paid plan.

What can you do with Plaud without subscription costs?

Using Plaud without a subscription means one purchase, the device, and a monthly routine built around 300 minutes. The routine has four steps:

1. Record as much as you like. Recording is not metered.
2. Sync the files to the Plaud App. Transferring files does not use minutes.
3. Choose which recordings to transcribe. Each transcription spends minutes at the moment it starts.
4. Read the summary and use Ask Plaud and AutoFlow on those recordings. Both are Starter features.

The hardware keeps recording whether or not you have minutes left. Plaud Note Pro has 64G of storage and up to 30 hours of recording in Enhance mode or up to 50 hours in Endurance mode, and Plaud NotePin S has 64G of storage and up to 20 hours of continuous recording.

What happens when your Plaud free minutes run out?

When the free minutes reach zero, only transcription pauses. Recording, playback, file management and Private Cloud Sync keep working. Transcription resumes at the next monthly reset or when you upgrade to a paid plan.

Plaud separates recording from transcription, so the quota limits the text and not the capture. A meeting that runs after you hit zero is still recorded and still synced to the app.

What does the Plaud free plan not do?

Three limits sit outside the minute count, and all three apply to Plaud's paid plans as well, so a subscription does not remove them.

Real-time transcription. Plaud does not support real-time transcription. Plaud processes the audio after the recording ends, so you read the transcript after the meeting, not during it (Plaud help center).

Automatic speaker names. Plaud separates speakers and labels them Speaker 1, Speaker 2 and so on. It automatically recognizes only your own voice, from a voice profile that needs at least 30 seconds of your speech. You name the other speakers by hand, one recording at a time. Labels apply at transcription time only, and they work from the voice regardless of the language spoken.

Translation between languages. Plaud does not currently support translation between languages. The workaround is to transcribe the same recording again in another language, which is a new transcription and not a translation, and accuracy is not guaranteed.

Speaker labels are a Starter feature, so a free-plan transcript separates the voices as Speaker 1, Speaker 2 and so on.

What do Plaud Pro and Unlimited add, and what do they cost?

Pro and Unlimited add minutes. Nothing else in the feature table changes.

Annual billing is the cheaper way to buy either plan. Twelve months of Pro at the monthly price is $215.88, so $99.99 a year saves 54%. Twelve months of Unlimited at the monthly price is $359.88, so $239.99 a year saves 33%.

The choice between Pro and Unlimited follows your recording hours. Pro covers up to 20 hours of transcription a month, and Unlimited has no minute cap. Plaud also sells a Team plan priced per seat.

Whether the device is worth its price before any plan is a separate question. Is Plaud Note Pro worth it? covers the hardware, and Plaud alternative without subscription covers the options if you want to avoid paying Plaud for minutes at all.

What does a Plaud recorder cost over 1 and 2 years?

A Plaud recorder costs its device price on Starter, and the device price plus a plan if you need more than 300 minutes a month.

The Comu rows use only what the free plan that comes with the device includes: unlimited real-time transcription, speaker identification, basic summaries and 113 languages. Plaud Starter caps transcription at 300 minutes a month, so the Plaud rows add Pro or Unlimited for higher volume and show the Starter row for reference. No Plaud plan adds real-time transcription. Each table pairs the Comu device with the Plaud device in the same price tier. Comu prices are euro prices from the EU store (Nov 6, 2026); competitor prices are US dollar prices from each company's own site. Plaud plan prices were checked on Nov 12, 2026, and the totals are device price plus the plan for the period.

Comu Note Pro against Plaud Note:

Comu Action Pro against Plaud Note Pro:

Monthly billing costs more. Plaud Note Pro with Pro billed monthly comes to $404.88 in year 1 and $620.76 over two years.

The Plaud Starter rows cost $159 and $189 and stop transcribing at 300 minutes a month. Every Plaud row with more minutes costs at least $258.99 in the first year, and only the Unlimited rows remove the minute cap.

Who can stay on the Plaud free plan, and who cannot?

Starter fits a person whose transcribed audio stays within 5 hours a month and who reads transcripts after the recording ends.

Starter is enough if you:

• Transcribe five or fewer one-hour meetings a month.
• Record often but transcribe only the recordings you need, since minutes are spent at transcription, not at recording.
• Are comfortable naming other speakers by hand.

Starter is not enough if you:

• Have a daily meeting. By arithmetic, 30 minutes a day on 20 working days is 600 minutes, twice the 300-minute Starter allowance.
• Transcribe more than 5 hours a month. Pro covers up to 20 hours, and Unlimited covers more.
• Need a transcript while the conversation is happening. Plaud does not support real-time transcription on any plan.
• Need translation between languages. No Plaud plan translates.

A paid plan adds minutes, which solves the first two cases. It does not add real-time transcription or translation.

What happens to recordings if you cancel a paid Plaud plan?

You can cancel a paid Plaud plan at any time, and the service stays active until the end of the billing period. The account then reverts to Starter, and your existing recordings and transcriptions stay accessible.

A monthly Pro plan covers a busy stretch: $17.99 buys 1,200 minutes for a month, and after you cancel the account returns to 300 free minutes with every recording still accessible. The annual price of $99.99 equals 5.6 months of the $17.99 monthly price.

Let Comu AI transcribe with no minute cap

Comu Action Pro costs €179.99 and Comu Note Pro costs €139.99 (Nov 6, 2026). Each comes with the Starter plan at €0, and that plan includes unlimited real-time AI transcription, speaker identification, basic summaries and 113 languages.

Speaker identification is an app feature, so it works the same on both Comu devices and on every Comu tier. Basic summaries are unlimited on the free plan, and the free plan also includes Deep Dive analysis 3 times a month.

On the plan that comes with the device (Starter), you tap to transcribe and summarize a recording that has synced to the app. Premium and Elite do it automatically. Both are bought inside the Comu app through the Apple App Store or Google Play, and they add unlimited translation and deep analysis, custom vocabulary and automatic transcription.

Comu Action Pro has six microphones and records phone calls with its built-in bone-conduction microphone placed against the phone. Comu encrypts files, does not sell data to third parties, does not use data to train AI and lets you delete your data at any time. Comu is GDPR, HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant. For details on the hardware, see the Comu Action Pro product page and the Comu Note Pro product page.

Can you use Comu without buying a device?

Yes. Comu also works as software only. You can subscribe in the Comu app without buying hardware and upload audio files to be transcribed and summarized.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you use Plaud without a subscription?

Yes. Every Plaud device includes the free Starter plan with 300 transcription minutes a month, speaker labels, AI summaries and transcription in 112+ languages. Above 300 minutes (5 hours) a month, you add Pro with 1,200 minutes or Unlimited.

How many free minutes does Plaud give each month?

Plaud gives 300 free transcription minutes a month on the Starter plan, which equals 5 hours of audio. The minutes unlock after you bind a Plaud device to your account, reset at the start of each billing month and do not carry over.

Does Plaud transcribe in real time on the free plan?

No. Plaud does not support real-time transcription on any plan. Plaud processes a recording after it ends, so the transcript is ready after the meeting and not during it.

Do Plaud speaker labels work on the free plan?

Yes. Plaud labels speakers as Speaker 1, Speaker 2 and so on on every plan, including Starter. Plaud automatically recognizes only your own voice, from a voice profile of at least 30 seconds, and you name other speakers by hand for each recording.

What happens to my Plaud recordings if I cancel Pro?

Your existing recordings and transcriptions stay accessible. The paid plan stays active until the end of the billing period, then the account reverts to the Starter plan with 300 free minutes a month.

Does Comu need a subscription to transcribe?

No. Comu Action Pro and Comu Note Pro come with the Starter plan at €0, which includes unlimited real-time AI transcription, speaker identification, basic summaries and 113 languages. Premium and Elite are optional and are bought inside the app.

Related reading

• Is Plaud Note Pro worth it?: the device-price question that comes before the plan question.
• Credit-card-sized AI voice recorders with free transcription: Comu vs Plaud: the two slim recorders side by side.
• Is there a free AI note taker for Zoom, Google Meet and Teams? Otter, Fireflies and more: free tiers of software note takers.
• Plaud alternative without subscription: three paths if you do not want to pay Plaud for minutes.

Sources

Checked Nov 12, 2026 unless noted.

1. Plaud: AI plan and pricing, Plaud Note Pro, Plaud NotePin S
2. Plaud Help Center: Comparison, Plaud AI Membership FAQ, What are the transcription minutes for?, Does Plaud support real-time transcription?, Auto speaker labeling for v4.0.x or later, Does Plaud support translation?
3. Comu store prices from the product feeds (checked Nov 6, 2026): Comu Action Pro and Comu Note Pro
4. Comu product knowledge base (Oct 27, 2026 edition): Starter plan, tiers, speaker identification, languages, security and privacy