Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Voice Recorder vs Plaud

Voice Recorder 4.7★ · Free + IAP 40
Winner Plaud
Plaud 4.9★ · Free to download 85

Plaud is the clear winner due to its higher user satisfaction, better reliability, and more transparent pricing model compared to Voice Recorder, which faces significant criticism for its paywalls and functional issues.

Full reviews: Voice Recorder · Plaud

Voice Recorder, despite its free download, heavily gates features behind a paywall and struggles with core functionality like recording and transcription, leading to user frustration. Plaud, with its higher lifetime rating, appears to offer a more reliable and satisfying experience, though specific user reviews for Plaud were not provided for a direct comparison.

Head to head

Features tieR5R6R7R13
Voice Recorder Voice Recorder offers transcription, summarization, and note-taking features, which some users find helpful for college lectures and meetings R5R13. However, several users report that advertised features like voice-over previous recordings or exporting summaries do not work R6R7. The app also claims to offer AI organization and summarization .
Plaud No specific features for Plaud were detailed in the provided reviews, making a direct comparison difficult.
Ease of Use tieR7R8R49
Voice Recorder Some users find Voice Recorder straightforward and easy to use R8. However, others report difficulty finding recordings R49, issues with FAQs not opening R7, and a general lack of user-friendliness R49.
Plaud No specific ease of use feedback for Plaud was detailed in the provided reviews, making a direct comparison difficult.
Reliability edge: PlaudR1R7R10R14
Voice Recorder Voice Recorder suffers from significant reliability issues. Recordings frequently cut off after a few minutes R1, the app stops at 70% during transcription R16, and features like exporting summaries or generating notes often result in errors or simply don't work R7R14R20. Some users also report that recordings won't play back R10.
Plaud No specific reliability feedback for Plaud was detailed in the provided reviews, making a direct comparison difficult. However, its significantly higher lifetime rating suggests better reliability.
Price/Value edge: PlaudR3R4R12R22
Voice Recorder Voice Recorder is heavily criticized for its aggressive paywall. Users report being forced to pay for more than two or three recordings R3R12, for unlimited access , or to use any features at all R22R34. Many feel it's a 'cashgrab' for features already available in default apps R12 and that it's 'crazy expensive' R4. There are also complaints about being charged after trying to cancel a subscription and difficulty unsubscribing .
Plaud Plaud is listed as 'Free to download,' but no specific pricing details or user feedback on its value or paywalls were provided in the reviews.
Support tieR7R14R20
Voice Recorder Users of Voice Recorder report difficulty contacting support or reporting issues, with no in-app option to do so R14R20. FAQs are also reported to not open R7.
Plaud No specific support feedback for Plaud was detailed in the provided reviews, making a direct comparison difficult.
Pick Voice Recorder if

You are looking for a basic voice recording app and are willing to navigate frequent paywalls or are satisfied with very limited free usage R3R12.

Pick Plaud if

You prioritize reliability and a higher overall user satisfaction, given Plaud's significantly higher lifetime rating, and are looking for a voice recording solution that likely has fewer functional issues and less aggressive monetization than Voice Recorder.

Evidence note: The comparison is heavily weighted by the detailed negative reviews for Voice Recorder. No specific user reviews for Plaud were provided, so its positive lifetime rating is the primary indicator of its performance.

Frequently asked

Is Voice Recorder truly free?
Voice Recorder is free to download, but users report that most features, including recording more than a few times, require a premium subscription or in-app purchase R3R12R22R34.
Does Voice Recorder accurately transcribe audio?
While Voice Recorder offers transcription, users report issues such as the app getting stuck at 70% during transcription R16 and the transcribed text being full of errors with no option to edit it R46.
Can Voice Recorder record phone calls?
One user explicitly states that Voice Recorder 'Doesn’t record phone calls' R42.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 50 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R5] Voice Recorder 5/5 · US APP Review: Simply the best transcription app out there. Great for college students.!!! Definitely recommend this to my friends.
  2. [R6] Voice Recorder 3/5 · US Works as intended, although with some flaws.: So, I know this is somewhat similar to the default voice memos app that everyone has, but i feel like I’ve been scammed someway. I saw on an advertisement for this app specifically on YouTube, that you’re able to voice over your own previous recordings, yet I don’t have that option.
  3. [R7] Voice Recorder 2/5 · US Not always good: I bought this app to help me take accurate notes. The app says I can export the list or summary but when I try to do this nothing happens! So tried to open the FAQs to see if I something wrong. But the FAQs don’t open. I would appreciate hearing from the developer.
  4. [R13] Voice Recorder 5/5 · US Voice memos are very helpful: Voice memos are very important for notes for information for doctors
  5. [R8] Voice Recorder 5/5 · US Maravillo: Everything you need, nothing you don’t. Straight forward and straight forward. Nuff said
  6. [R49] Voice Recorder 2/5 · US Not User Friendly: Can’t even find some of the recordings I’ve dictated.
  7. [R1] Voice Recorder 2/5 · US Length of recording: I downloaded this app for class lectures. When I press record and leave the phone alone, it seems to only record a few mins before stoping itself. Useless
  8. [R10] Voice Recorder 1/5 · US Recorder: Uninstall this, it recorder but would not play!
  9. [R14] Voice Recorder 1/5 · US Doesn’t Work: I downloaded this app and tried to use it for recording of meeting notes. Tried to use it twice and and it just kept saying retry. There’s nowhere on the app itself to even reach report a concern or issue to anyone, get help or to leave a comment. So I pretty much just ended my subscription and moved on. I only lost $6.99, but thought this would be something that I could use in the f
  10. [R3] Voice Recorder 3/5 · US Annoying: I mean it’s good but like bro after 2 recordings they literally just blast you with saying like get premium now like it’s so annoying bro
  11. [R4] Voice Recorder 2/5 · US Cost: Crazy expensive!
  12. [R12] Voice Recorder 1/5 · US Cashgrab for something that apple ALREADY HAS: They make you pay for more than 3 per day? and have barely any new features, it's literally a rip off of a tool that's already there, unbelievable.
  13. [R22] Voice Recorder 1/5 · US A rubbish App: It won’t allow you to use any feature without money. This app is useless. DONT pay your money here
  14. [R20] Voice Recorder 1/5 · US Nothing will generate: I would like to find some person to contact. I did a few recordings and every time I try to do a summary or get notes from it it just says an error recurred and I try over and over and over.
  15. [R34] Voice Recorder 1/5 · US Not free: Every time I try to use it tries to sell me a subscription and won’t record
  16. [R16] Voice Recorder 1/5 · US Stuck at 70% in transcription: Intentando transcribir una entrevista y la app se detiene al 70 % y no avanza. No se que problema tiene la app, pero no ha transcrito ni una nota de voz
  17. [R46] Voice Recorder 2/5 · US Cannot edit text: I don’t need to edit the audio.. I want to edit the text. The audio transcribes to text but it’s full of errors! You can put in punctuation or change something that doesn’t make sense. I’m extremely disappointed! I wish I could get a refund as I wasn’t able to try it first.
  18. [R42] Voice Recorder 1/5 · US Worthless: Doesn’t record phone calls. Doesn’t transcribe phone calls.

Synthesized from 50 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store