Plaud for recruiting: an AI voice recorder for in-person interviews and phone screens

Plaud sells small AI voice recorders (Plaud Note, Note Pro, NotePin and NotePin S) and a free desktop app, and turns each recording into a transcript and an AI summary in its app. For recruiting it covers the two conversations most meeting note takers miss: in-person interviews, which any Plaud device records from the table or your lapel, and phone screens on your mobile, which Plaud Note and Note Pro record by sitting on the back of the phone. As of October 2026 the devices cost $159 to $189, each includes 300 free transcription minutes a month, and Plaud lists no applicant tracking integration and no notice to the person you are recording.

This page covers which device fits which kind of interview, Plaud's plans in interview terms, how to get a usable write-up out of it, the consent and data settings to decide first, and where it stops. Every product fact links to Plaud's own site or help center and is dated October 2026. For setting up a room, see our guide to an AI note taker for in-person interviews.

How does Plaud capture an interview?

Plaud is hardware first. A recording starts on the device, transfers to the Plaud app on your phone over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and is transcribed and summarized there. Online meetings are handled by a separate computer app. Specifications and prices below are from Plaud's device comparison and store pages, as of October 2026.

Phone screens: how the call recording works

Plaud's help center explains that Plaud Note must be attached to the back of your phone because its vibration conduction sensor picks up sound directly from the phone's speaker. Three practical consequences for recruiters:

• You press Record every time. Plaud Note does not record calls automatically, so a screen you forget to start is a screen with no transcript.
• No earphones. With earphones in, Plaud Note Pro cannot pick up the other person's voice. Plaud suggests phone volume of 60 to 80% for the best result.
• It covers calls a computer never hears. An ordinary carrier call works, and Plaud says Plaud Note records WhatsApp calls the same way. Desktop note takers cannot reach a call on your mobile at all.

Video interviews: Plaud Desktop

Plaud Desktop for Windows and macOS captures computer audio without a bot joining, and Plaud's Desktop FAQ lists the meeting apps it detects: Google Meet, Zoom and Teams in the browser, the Zoom and Teams desktop apps, Slack Huddles, Webex Desktop and Lark Desktop. You can set it to record automatically, prompt you when a meeting starts, or record only when you click. Plaud's help center says the app and membership are built around a device bound to your account, so Desktop is an add-on to a recorder rather than a stand-alone note taker.

What does Plaud cost for a recruiter?

Prices from Plaud's plan pricing page, as of October 2026. Every device includes the Starter plan. The last column is our arithmetic.

Minutes reset each billing month and do not roll over. If you run out, recording still works and only transcription pauses; one-time top-ups cost $12.99 for 600 minutes, $59.99 for 3,000 and $99.99 for 6,000 on Plaud's store. As an example, a recruiter who buys Plaud Note and Pro on annual billing pays $159 plus $8.33 × 12 = $99.96, or $258.96 for the first year.

How do you get an interview write-up out of Plaud?

Plaud's templates article describes a template as the format of a summary, and names an interview report as one example. You can keep the automatic summary and add a second note from another template, which Plaud calls multidimensional summaries. A custom template for a structured interview might read:

Template: Structured interview – [Role]

Use only what is in the transcript.
For each competency below, list what the candidate did, with numbers,
and up to two exact quotes with timestamps. Quote word for word.
If there is no evidence, write "No evidence".

1. [Must-have 1]
2. [Must-have 2]
3. [Must-have 3]

Then list: compensation expectation, notice period, location or work
setup, work authorization, other interview processes. Write "not
discussed" for anything missing.

Do not rate the candidate. Do not describe tone, appearance, accent,
age, family or health.

Exports are documented in Plaud's export article: transcripts as TXT, SRT, DOCX or PDF, summaries as TXT, Markdown, DOCX or PDF, and audio as MP3 or WAV, one file at a time. "Copy to clipboard" keeps timestamps and speaker labels, which is the quickest route into an ATS note.

Check speaker labels before you quote

In a room, one device hears both voices, and Plaud's transcript labels them Speaker 1, Speaker 2 and so on. Plaud's speaker labeling tips are the same as for any room recording: less crosstalk, the device close to the speakers, less background noise. Rename the speakers, then check every line you plan to quote in a scorecard or submittal.

What should you set up before recording candidates?

Plaud's help center is direct that it does not obtain recording consent on your behalf. A recorder on the table is at least visible; a device on the back of your phone during a call is not, and Plaud's call recording articles for Note and Note Pro describe no announcement to the other person. (Plaud documents a spoken announcement only for automatic call recording on Plaud One, a newer product listed for pre-order.)

1. Say a consent line before you press Record, on calls and in person, and stop if the candidate declines. Some states require everyone's consent: see two-party consent states and is it legal to record a job interview.
2. Decide where the recordings live. With Private Cloud Sync on, files upload to Plaud's cloud; with it off, they exist only on the device and phone. In a Team workspace sync is always on, and recordings stay private unless shared.
3. Know what the AI providers see. Plaud's AI processing article names OpenAI, Google and Microsoft as transcription and summary providers under zero-retention agreements, and says customer data is not used to train models.
4. Delete on a schedule. A device with 64GB of storage can hold months of candidate conversations. Deleting from Trash is permanent, which is what a retention policy needs.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Where does Plaud stop for recruiting?

These are gaps on Plaud's own pages as of October 2026. Check again before you buy.

• No ATS. Plaud's connectors are Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Google Calendar, Notion, Google Docs, Linear and Zapier. Zapier can fire when a transcript or summary is generated, which is the only automated route toward an ATS.
• Nothing during the call. There is no question guide or live scorecard; the summary arrives after the recording uploads.
• Hardware to manage. A device to charge, carry and not lose, holding candidate data.
• Mixed-language interviews. Plaud transcribes one language per recording; a screen that switches languages needs splitting.
• No consent workflow for Note and Note Pro, as above.

Which Plaud setup fits which interview?

Who should use Plaud for interviews?

A good fit if:

• You interview in person a lot: onsite hiring days, field and light industrial roles, campus events.
• Your phone screens happen on your mobile, not a computer, and you want a transcript of them.
• You want one place for in-person, phone and video recordings and are happy to paste notes into your ATS.

Look elsewhere if:

• Most of your interviews are on video, where a software note taker such as those in our Otter and Granola reviews needs no hardware.
• You need notes posted to an ATS automatically, or a scorecard and client submittal rather than a summary.

We make Interview Signal, one alternative for interviews at a computer: a Windows and macOS app with no bot that captures video calls and phone screens run through the computer, keeps a question guide on screen during the call and drafts the scorecard and submittal afterward, with no ATS integration (you paste the output) and no mobile app, so it is the weaker choice for in-person interviews. Everything about Plaud on this page comes from its own site, linked and dated. If a laptop is in the room anyway, our Noota review covers a tool with both a mobile app and ATS connections.