Cleft vs Noted

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.

Noted records audio and links timestamped notes to recordings for lectures, meetings, interviews, and conferences. Live transcription displays speech as it happens and labels speakers. Noted+ can summarize key points, decisions, and action items, with each plan allowing up to 100 summaries a month. Ask AI can answer questions about recordings and notes and jump to relevant audio, but requires a supported Apple device with Apple Intelligence enabled. Intelligent Playback detects and skips background noise and silence. Notes sync through iCloud; third-party cloud services can import files but do not sync notes between devices. The app can use the Apple calendar for reminders linked to notes. Notes can be exported as PDF or plain text, audio as M4A, and notes can be shared with non-users by web link. Noted is available on iOS and macOS and supports offline access. The free download is listed at free. Noted+ Monthly costs $9.99 a month and has no trial; a seven-day trial is listed for the yearly plan, whose price is not provided. The maker says it cannot access created content or imported files, while text or generated transcriptions are sent to Google Gemini for AI summaries.