Cleft vs Google Recorder
Cleft
cleftnotes.com
Google Recorder
recorder.google.comSide by side
| Figure | Cleft | Google Recorder |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $3.33/mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 0 |
| Spec score · Voice Note Apps | 8.3 (#10) | 7.6 (#27) |
| Headquarters | Dublin, Ireland | Mountain View, California, United States |
| Integrations | Plus sends notes to Notion and Zapier, while export and Local Sync support workflows including Apple Notes, Obsidian, Bear, NotePlan, Drafts, Ulysses, and Logseq. | Users can share transcripts to Google Docs or NotebookLM and export transcripts as text files. |
| Support | Plus includes priority support, and the About page says every email is read personally by co-founders Jonathan or Justin. | Google Play lists [email protected] as the Recorder app support email. |
Plans
In their own words
Cleft
Cleft is an iOS and macOS app that turns spoken thoughts into notes with main points, actions, summaries, and transcripts. Its built-in output styles are Structured, Structured Prose, and Clean Transcript; Plus users can also save custom styles. Cleft says it works offline and supports 99 languages, including switching languages mid-sentence. Transcription runs locally using Whisper, and temporary audio is deleted afterward unless Keep Audio is enabled. Optional cloud formatting sends transcript text, not audio, to OpenAI, with Groq as a backup. Cleft lists support for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and CarPlay. Its Basic plan includes recordings up to five minutes, on-device transcription, tags, search, and export. Plus raises the recording limit to 30 minutes and adds attachments, Notion and Zapier integrations, and Family Sharing for up to five. Plus costs $6.99 per month or $39.99 per year through the App Store, with automatic renewal unless canceled. Cleft says notes are encrypted at rest and in transit.
Google Recorder
Google Recorder has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.