Earkeep
The Plaud alternative with no device to buy
Last updated: · Reviewed quarterly
Plaud is a $159+ pocket recorder that goes where a laptop can't, and uploads what it hears to its cloud for transcription. Earkeep is software: it hears what your computer hears, transcribes on the device, and costs €39 once.
14-day full trial, no account required.
- No device to buy, charge or lose
- Transcribed on your computer, never uploaded
- €39 once, not $159 plus a yearly plan
The short answer
If your conversations happen away from a computer, on a factory floor or on hospital rounds, Plaud does something Earkeep can't. If your week is calls and meetings with the laptop open, you are paying for a second device and a cloud round trip to capture what your computer already hears.
Why people look for a Plaud alternative
Transcribed on your device, not in Plaud's cloud
Every Plaud AI feature, transcription included, runs in Plaud's cloud. It backs that with ISO 27001/27701, SOC 2, GDPR and HIPAA claims and a no-training policy: real commitments, about audio that has already left your device. Users have returned devices over privacy, and the app once ran without multi-factor authentication.
Earkeep's answer is architecture: there's no cloud pipeline at all. Audio is transcribed locally, in memory, never written to disk.
A whole day you can grep, not the sessions you remembered to start
Plaud's devices are manual, and missed recordings from finicky touch controls are its most-cited complaint. Earkeep records continuously; you select the meeting on the timeline afterwards, or let a calendar mark it, and pause from the transcript when you need to. Each day is a plain .jsonl file in your folder.
Your own agents read the record, not a chat box you can't leave
Plaud's intelligence lives inside Plaud: GPT and Claude summaries with templates per profession, and the closed "Ask Plaud" chat. Earkeep writes no summary of its own; in-app ACP agents and an MCP server read the transcript and write the notes.
Side by side
| Capability | Earkeep | Plaud |
|---|---|---|
| Always-on, zero-interaction capture | Spans you mark afterward | Manual start/stop on the device |
| Bot-free | No participant joins | No participant joins |
| Captures away from the computer | Only what your device hears | The hardware's core strength |
| Audio processed on your device | Whisper or Parakeet, never written to disk | Transcription and summaries run in Plaud's cloud |
| Captures system audio | Native | Only via Plaud's 2026 desktop app |
| Retroactive meeting spans | Any span on the timeline, afterward | Discrete sessions you start and stop |
| AI summary when it ends | No, but an agent you connect writes them from the transcript | GPT and Claude, with templates per profession |
| Labels who said what | Not yet | Speaker labels, in 112 languages |
| Your own agents can read it | ACP agents plus an MCP server | A closed "Ask Plaud" chat only |
| Share and export what it captured | No, but your agent files the notes where your team already reads | A web workspace, exporting to Notion and Word |
| No hardware to buy | The computer you already have | A dedicated Plaud device |
| Pricing | €39 one-time, one device, no subscription | $159-189 hardware plus a subscription up to $239.99/yr |
Built inNo, but an agent you connect canPartlyNot available
What each one costs by year five
Switching takes an afternoon
- Install it, then let a normal day run. Earkeep listens from launch. Nothing migrates out of Plaud's cloud; Earkeep starts from today.
- Mark yesterday, or connect a calendar. Drag a span where a meeting was, or let Google, Apple, Outlook or any ICS calendar title the spans.
- Stop paying for minutes once you trust it. Fourteen days shows how much of your week happens at the computer. If it's most of it, cancel the plan and keep the device for the rest.
Which one fits you
Choose Earkeep if
Your meetings happen where your computer already is.
- Your week is online calls and meetings with the laptop open
- The audio must not leave the machine, by architecture
- You'd rather pay €39 once than roughly $460-890 over two to three years for a Note or NotePin plus its plan
- You don't want to ration minutes: 300 a month free, 1,200 on Pro
- Your own agents should read your meetings directly
Choose Plaud if
Away from a computer, Plaud does something Earkeep can't.
- Your work is off-computer: a factory floor, hospital rounds, courtrooms, field sales, lectures, a conference
- You need phone calls recorded on the handset
- You want an AI summary the moment a session ends
- You need speaker labels, across 112 languages, which Earkeep does not do yet
- You accept the hardware cost: $159-189 for a device, then $99.99/yr for Pro or $239.99/yr for Unlimited
For product and engineering roles meeting at a computer, see Earkeep for product managers.
Other tools people weigh this against
Granola, Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai, Fathom, tl;dv, Jamie, MacWhisper, Limitless, Notta, Krisp, or all sixteen side by side.
Frequently asked questions
Is Earkeep a good Plaud alternative?
If your meetings happen where your computer is, yes: no hardware, on-device transcription, €39 once. It can't follow you away from the computer, label speakers or write a summary on its own.
Is Plaud always-on like Earkeep?
No. You start and stop Plaud on the device. Earkeep captures continuously and you mark meetings afterwards.
Does Plaud process audio locally?
No. The device syncs audio to Plaud's cloud for transcription and summaries. Earkeep transcribes on-device and never writes audio to disk or uploads it.
How much does Plaud actually cost over time?
A device is $159-189. Beyond the 300-minute free tier, Pro is $99.99/yr and Unlimited $239.99/yr: typically $260-430 in year one and $100-240 a year after. Earkeep is €39 once.
Can Earkeep capture in-person meetings and phone calls away from my device?
Only where your computer is: online calls, and in-person meetings with the laptop open. For field work and all-day wearable capture, Plaud is the better tool.
Does Plaud support agents or MCP the way Earkeep does?
Plaud has "Ask Plaud," a closed chat over your recordings. Earkeep runs in-app ACP agents on your meetings, plus an MCP server any MCP-capable tool can read.
Try Earkeep free
14-day full trial, no account required.