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Plaud has announced the launch of Plaud Desktop, a new application designed to capture and transcribe online meetings directly from a computer without requiring meeting bots to join video calls. The software represents an expansion of the company’s existing AI note-taking ecosystem, which previously focused on dedicated hardware devices for in-person recording.
The San Francisco-based company positions Plaud Desktop as a solution that bridges the gap between capturing face-to-face conversations and recording online meetings, all within a single unified platform. The application is currently available in beta for existing Plaud device owners, with support for Windows immediately available and macOS support listed as coming soon.
Understanding the Problem Plaud Aims to Solve
Modern professional work increasingly depends on conversations across multiple formats. Team meetings happen on Zoom, client calls take place on Microsoft Teams, and important discussions occur in person without any digital record. The challenge for many professionals is that critical information shared during these conversations often gets lost or inadequately documented.
Traditional approaches to capturing online meetings typically involve AI meeting assistants that join calls as visible participants. While functional, these meeting bots can create friction in professional settings. They appear in participant lists, often announce their presence, and many organisations have policies that block such third-party bots from joining meetings entirely.
Plaud Desktop takes a different approach by capturing audio directly from the computer’s system audio and microphone, eliminating the need for any bot to join the actual meeting. This means the recording happens locally and invisibly, though the company does recommend informing other participants when recording is taking place.
How Plaud Desktop Works
The application operates through what Plaud describes as smart audio capture. Once installed and configured with the appropriate permissions, the software can detect when a video meeting begins and either automatically start recording or prompt the user to begin capture.
Three recording modes are available to accommodate different preferences and situations. The automatic recording mode begins capture the moment a supported meeting application starts. The prompt-before-recording mode detects meetings but waits for user confirmation before beginning. Manual recording allows users to start and stop capture at any time, regardless of whether a meeting is detected.
The software supports major video conferencing platforms including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, and Slack. When a meeting is detected on any of these platforms, Plaud Desktop can capture both the system audio from the meeting and the user’s microphone input simultaneously.
Beyond meeting capture, the system-wide audio recording capability means users can also record audio from video playback, live streams, webinars, and other audio sources playing through their computer. This extends the utility beyond scheduled meetings to include on-demand content that professionals might want to reference later.
Multimodal Capture Features
One of the distinguishing aspects of Plaud Desktop is its multimodal input system, which allows users to supplement audio recordings with additional context during a meeting. This feature is marked as coming soon in the current documentation but represents a significant part of the product’s planned functionality.
The audio highlight feature lets users mark specific moments during a recording as particularly important. These timestamps are then flagged for the AI system, which incorporates them as priority cues when generating summaries. Rather than relying entirely on algorithmic importance detection, this gives users direct input into what the AI should emphasise.
Text notes can be typed directly into the application during a recording. These notes are added to the AI’s context when processing the meeting, allowing the generated summaries to incorporate information that might not be audible in the recording itself. For example, a user could note the name of a client being discussed or add context about a project that would help the AI produce more relevant output.
Screenshot capture provides a way to include visual information in the meeting record. When a presenter shares slides containing charts, diagrams, or specific figures, users can capture these images and have them processed alongside the audio. The AI then incorporates this visual information into its understanding of the meeting content.
AI Transcription and Summary Generation
The core intelligence features of Plaud Desktop are powered by what the company calls Plaud Intelligence, its backend AI processing system. This handles transcription, summary generation, and the conversational Ask Plaud feature.
Transcription supports 112 languages and uses a combination of Whisper Large V3 and Azure models for speech-to-text conversion. Speaker labels can be applied to transcripts, distinguishing between different voices in a conversation. Custom vocabulary support allows users to define industry-specific terminology, proper nouns, or technical terms that the transcription system should recognise correctly.
The summary generation system draws on multiple large language models including GPT, Claude, and Gemini. Rather than producing a single summary style, Plaud offers what it calls multidimensional summaries. This means a single recording can generate multiple summary formats tailored to different purposes or roles.
For example, a product meeting might generate an action item list for the development team, a strategic overview for leadership, and a detailed technical summary for documentation purposes. The system includes over 10,000 pre-built templates covering various use cases, and users can create custom templates for their specific needs.
The AI recommends appropriate templates based on the content of the recording, the user’s role, and their previous usage patterns. This automatic template selection aims to reduce the friction of choosing the right summary format for each recording.
Ask Plaud Conversational Interface
Beyond static transcripts and summaries, Plaud Desktop recordings are accessible through a conversational interface called Ask Plaud. This feature allows users to query their recorded content using natural language questions.
Users can ask questions about specific recordings or search across their entire library of captured conversations. The system provides reference-based answers, meaning responses include citations to the specific parts of recordings that contain the relevant information. This allows users to verify the AI’s interpretation against the source material.
Smart suggestions prompt users with relevant follow-up questions based on the content and context of their queries. Answers can be saved directly as notes for future reference or sharing with colleagues.
A global search function allows users to find information across all their stored recordings. Rather than manually reviewing hours of meeting content, users can ask questions like “What did we decide about the project timeline?” or “What were the main concerns raised about the budget proposal?” and receive relevant excerpts and summaries.
A deep thinking mode offers two response styles. The default mode provides quick answers, while deep thinking produces longer, more structured responses with additional reasoning and organisation. Voice input for queries is listed as a coming soon feature.
AutoFlow Automation
For users who want to minimise manual intervention in their workflow, Plaud Desktop integrates with the AutoFlow automation system. This allows users to configure automatic processing pipelines that trigger when new recordings are uploaded.
A typical AutoFlow configuration might automatically transcribe new recordings, generate summaries using a specified template, and email the results to a designated address. Once configured, this process runs without user intervention, delivering processed meeting content directly to inboxes or connected services.
The system supports integration with various external services for sharing and exporting content. Recordings, transcripts, summaries, and mind maps can be exported in over 27 formats or shared directly to platforms including Google Drive, Notion, Slack, Gmail, and others.
Connected Workspace Architecture
Plaud Desktop does not operate in isolation but rather as part of a connected ecosystem that includes the Plaud mobile app and Plaud Web interface. Recordings captured on any platform automatically sync to Plaud’s private cloud storage, making them accessible from any device.
This connected approach addresses a key limitation of desktop-only solutions. A meeting recorded on a laptop at the office becomes immediately available on a mobile device during a commute or through the web interface on another computer. All AI processing, including transcription and summary generation, happens in the cloud and syncs across platforms.
For users who also own Plaud’s hardware recording devices, such as the Plaud Note, Plaud Note Pro, or Plaud NotePin, all recordings feed into the same unified workspace. In-person conversations captured on dedicated hardware appear alongside online meetings recorded through the desktop application, creating a comprehensive archive of professional conversations regardless of where they occurred.
Security and Compliance
Given that meeting recordings often contain sensitive business information, Plaud emphasises its security credentials prominently. The company has obtained certifications including ISO 27001 for information security management and ISO 27701 for privacy information management.
GDPR compliance addresses European data protection requirements, while SOC 2 Type II certification demonstrates adherence to security, availability, and confidentiality controls. HIPAA compliance makes the platform suitable for healthcare organisations handling protected health information. EN 18031 certification addresses radio equipment security requirements.
The Private Cloud Sync feature provides secure storage for recordings with encryption during transfer and at rest. Users maintain control over their data through the platform’s settings, including the ability to manage sync preferences and delete recordings.
The trusted setup process guides users through enabling necessary permissions including microphone access for capturing their own voice, system audio access for capturing meeting audio, and cloud sync configuration. The application clearly explains what each permission enables and why it is required.
Pricing Structure
Plaud Desktop is included as part of Plaud’s AI Membership plans, which provide access to the company’s transcription and AI features across all platforms.
The Starter Plan is free and includes 300 minutes of transcription per month. This plan provides access to all core features including speaker labels, multimodal input, multidimensional summaries, and the Ask Plaud feature. AI processing uses GPT, Gemini, and Claude models.
The Pro Plan costs $99.99 per year and increases transcription allowance to 1,200 minutes per month. All features from the Starter Plan are included, with identical AI model access.
The Unlimited Plan costs $239.99 per year and removes transcription limits entirely. Users on this plan receive unlimited transcription minutes per month while retaining all other features.
All plans include access to over 10,000 summary templates, custom template creation, audio import capabilities, export and sharing features, and smart audio trimming tools. Enterprise-grade security certifications apply across all subscription tiers.
It is worth noting that Plaud Desktop is currently only available to existing Plaud device users. The company has not announced when or whether the desktop application will become available as a standalone product for users without Plaud hardware.
Practical Applications
Plaud has outlined several target use cases for the desktop application, each addressing specific professional workflows.
For executives managing multiple conversation streams across leadership meetings, investor calls, and strategic discussions, the unified workspace provides a single location to review and search across all interactions. The multidimensional summary feature can generate different output formats for different audiences from the same source recording.
Project managers dealing with cross-functional teams using various meeting platforms benefit from automatic capture across Zoom, Teams, Meet, and Slack. Consistent summaries and action item extraction help maintain alignment across distributed teams.
Sales professionals conducting client calls face particular sensitivity around meeting bots, as many organisations block third-party participants from joining calls. The bot-free capture approach allows recording without the visibility and potential disruption of a meeting bot appearing in the participant list.
Legal professionals requiring accurate documentation of consultations, hearings, and client discussions can use the high-fidelity audio capture and detailed transcription for case preparation and record-keeping.
Consultants running workshops and strategy sessions can combine audio capture with screenshot capture of presented materials, ensuring that visual content shown during meetings is preserved alongside the discussion.
Recruiters conducting interviews across online and in-person formats can build consistent candidate records using the unified workspace, with structured summaries enabling easier comparison across candidates.
Availability and Access
Plaud Desktop is currently in beta testing and available exclusively to existing owners of Plaud recording devices. The download is accessible through the Plaud Web interface at app.plaud.ai, where users can navigate to the Explore section and select Plaud Apps to download the desktop application.
Windows support is currently available, with macOS support indicated as coming soon. Users need to create or log into a Plaud account and grant the necessary system permissions before the application can begin capturing audio.
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