Plaud hits $100M ARR after shipping 2 million AI notetakers — hardware-first actually worked

AI hardware has a graveyard of failed gadgets, but Plaud is quietly building one of the rare success stories. The company just announced it has shipped more than 2 million of its AI-powered notetakers — those credit-card-sized devices that stick on the back of your phone, plus the newer Plaud Pins. More importantly, its subscription business has crossed $100 million in annualized recurring revenue.

That’s not nothing. In a world where most AI startups are pure software plays, Plaud bet on hardware first, and it’s paying off.

The pitch is simple: no screens, no typing, just real conversations. You wear or attach the device, it records meetings and conversations, then spits out summaries and action items. Nathan Xu, co-founder and CEO, put it this way: “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.”

It’s a bit grandiose, but the numbers back him up. Last year they launched the $179 Plaud Pro, and this year added the Plaud Pin S at a similar price point. The hardware is just the entry point though — the real money is in subscriptions.

Users get 300 minutes of free transcription with the device. That sounds generous until you realize anyone in back-to-back meetings will burn through that in a couple of days. Plaud knows this. Xu told TechCrunch that nearly 50% of device users upgrade from the basic plan to pro or unlimited plans. That’s an impressive conversion rate for any hardware-software combo.

What’s interesting is that Plaud doesn’t sell standalone software subscriptions. You have to own the hardware to pay for the software. That creates a natural moat — competitors can clone the features, but they can’t easily replicate the installed base of 2 million devices.

The company has been pushing software development harder too. Earlier this year they launched a desktop app that can take notes via system audio for online meetings — basically ripping off Granola‘s approach. Last month they introduced Plaud Teams with shared memory, targeting enterprises that want consistent note-taking across their workforce.

The competition is real though. Anker is in this space. Transsion-backed Viaim, Sequoia China-backed Vibe, and YC-backed Pocket are all chasing the same market. Everyone wants to be the default AI note-taker for professionals drowning in meetings.

But Plaud has a head start on hardware distribution and a subscription engine that’s already generating real revenue. The question is whether they can keep the conversion rate high as competition heats up and as more people realize their phone’s existing voice memos plus an AI app can do 80% of what a Plaud device does.

For now though, Plaud has something most AI hardware companies don’t: a business that’s actually making money.