Plaud says its software business topped $100M in ARR after shipping over 2M AI notetakers

Plaud announced its software business surpassed $100 million in annualized recurring revenue after shipping over 2 million AI-powered notetakers. The company targets professionals with screenless devices that record and summarize meetings, with nearly 50% of users upgrading to paid plans.

There aren’t many success stories to refer to when it comes to AI hardware. Plaud https://www.plaud.ai/ , which makes AI-powered notetakers https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/27/plaud-launches-a-new-ai-hardware-notetaker-the-179-note-pro/ , is trying to become one by targeting professionals who take a lot of meetings. The company said it has sold more than 2 million of its devices, including Plaud Pins and credit-card-styled gadgets that stick on the back of the phone. It also said that its subscription business has reached over $100 million in annualized revenue run rate. Plaud pointed out that many AI companies often rely on digital documents and prompts typed from memories. Its argument is that its devices, which don’t have any screens, help people have conversations in real life and recall important points along with summaries and action items later. “Most AI companies have scaled through software behind a screen. We took a different path. The conversations that actually move things forward don’t happen on a keyboard. We built the interface for the post-screen world. And the market validated it,” said Nathan Xu, co-founder and CEO of Plaud. Last year, the company launched the $179 Plaud Pro, and this year, it added the new Plaud Pin S at a similar price https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/04/plaud-launches-a-new-ai-pin-and-a-desktop-meeting-notetaker/ . Besides hardware, the company has accelerated its software development, too. Earlier this year, it launched a desktop app that can take Granola-style notes via system audio for online meetings. Last month, it also introduced Plaud Teams https://www.plaud.ai/blogs/news/introducing-plaud-team?srsltid=AfmBOoqk-zVh1CAHcvfph9RN7RG2WvPGMXWJUypeQTWkK 6Ekduj0Zpl with shared memory to target enterprises. Plaud users can buy the hardware and get 300 minutes of transcription for free. However, if someone has many meetings a day, the free limit is likely to run out quickly. For extra minutes and other features, users can get monthly, annual, or add-on plans https://www.plaud.ai/collections/plaud-ai-membership . Xu told TechCrunch that its revenue is largely powered by nearly 50% of the device users upgrading from the basic plan to the pro or unlimited plans. The company doesn’t yet sell standalone software subscriptions. That means, typically, it’s the users who own a Plaud device who are buying its paid plans. The meeting note-taking hardware market has a lot of competition, including accessories company Anker, Transsion-backed Viaim, Sequoia China-backed Vibe, and YC-backed Pocket https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/20/ai-notetaker-hardware-devices-pins-pendants-record-transcribe/ .