# Gong vs Plaud: pricing, features, and which is better > Gong and Plaud compared across pricing, capture, speaker labels, recordings, notes, sharing, automations, integrations, AI-agent access, and administration. - Canonical HTML: https://circleback.ai/compare/gong-vs-plaud - Structured JSON: https://circleback.ai/compare/gong-vs-plaud.json - Comparison directory: https://circleback.ai/compare - Language: en-US - Editorial perspective: Neutral competitor comparison. Circleback appears only as a clearly labeled third option. ## Short answer Gong goes deeper on pipeline, forecasting, and rep coaching. Plaud combines portable recorders with desktop capture and reusable Skills and Routines for work beyond sales. Test both products on meetings that reflect your work, such as a customer call, planning session, or in-person conversation. Compare the notes, speaker labels, sharing defaults, and follow-up you still need to do by hand. ## Gong at a glance Gong turns customer calls, meetings, and email into sales coaching, deal intelligence, pipeline inspection, forecasting, and sales engagement. Its tools, pricing, and administration are designed around revenue teams. **Best for:** Mature go-to-market organizations that want rep coaching, deal inspection, pipeline forecasting, conversation intelligence, and sales engagement in one suite. **Less ideal for:** A whole company looking for a light, shared memory across engineering, product, recruiting, leadership, and internal conversations. **Price:** Custom quote: per-user licenses plus a platform fee Gong does not publish a self-serve price. Its pricing page says cost combines a per-user license with a platform fee, and capabilities such as Forecast, Engage, Enable, and Data Cloud are organized as additional packages. **Free option:** No self-serve free plan or free trial is advertised; request a demo and quote. ### Gong strengths - Sales coaching, call libraries, scorecards, deal inspection, pipeline analytics, and forecasting in one platform. - Captures calls, meetings, and email in a customer-account context designed for revenue teams. - Native Zoom recording avoids a Gong bot for eligible company-hosted Zoom calls, while iOS and Android cover face-to-face conversations. - A public API, data exports, and MCP give engineering teams and AI tools access to sales conversations and account context. - Gong Engage has a sales to-do system with AI-recommended follow-ups, due dates, completion state, rep and manager views, and direct email or call execution. ### Gong tradeoffs - Pricing is opaque and includes a platform fee; important workflows are split across packages. - Its data model, terminology, and analytics focus on sales; other departments may still need a separate meeting tool. - It is a substantial platform to administer when the actual need is meeting notes, shared context, and reliable follow-through rather than revenue operations. - Standard retention is the shorter of three years or the customer term, but calls placed in the company library are excluded. Shortening retention can also reduce the history behind Gong insights. - MCP is read-only and focused on account and deal questions: it answers questions about one account or deal and generates briefs rather than returning raw transcripts. MCP and some AI APIs also consume a shared pool of Gong credits. - Gong’s meeting-follow-up to-dos require the separately packaged Engage product, are fully supported only in English, and auto-dismiss after seven days if no other completion rule fires. ### Choose Gong when - Forecasting, rep coaching, and deal inspection are the center of the buying decision. - Your organization wants a full revenue platform and can support an enterprise rollout. - Sales leaders need opinionated analytics and manager workflows, not just searchable conversation context. ## Plaud at a glance Plaud combines dedicated phone-mounted and wearable recorders with desktop capture and an AI workspace. Its Note family records calls and room audio, while NotePin models focus on in-person conversations. Plaud Intelligence adds templates, search, Agent actions, Skills, and Routines; transcription minutes and Agent credits are separate allowances. **Best for:** People who prefer a dedicated recorder or wearable, and teams that want Plaud’s capture hardware, templates, and Agent workflows in one ecosystem. **Less ideal for:** People who want in-person recording directly from their existing phone or Watch, or organizations that require SSO and flexible external meeting access. **Price:** Devices list at $159–$189; AI plans priced separately Standard device prices are $159 for Note or NotePin, $179 for NotePin S, and $189 for Note Pro; promotions may lower these prices. Pro costs $99.99/year or $17.99/month; Unlimited costs $239.99/year or $29.99/month. Team requires at least two seats and costs $25/user/month with annual billing or $35 with monthly billing. Launch offers reduce those rates to $20 for the first year or $28 through November 30, 2026, respectively. Agent credits are separate from transcription. **Free option:** Starter is free with a device and includes 300 transcription minutes/month. Pro includes 1,200/month; Unlimited and Team allow up to 24 hours/day. Unused monthly minutes do not roll over. Paid Team users can record on desktop without buying hardware. ### Plaud strengths - Choose a phone-mounted recorder for calls and meetings or a wearable for in-person conversations. The devices capture independently and provide physical recording controls. - Desktop capture combines audio, highlights, typed notes, and screenshots. Use templates to format summaries and ask questions across recordings. - Plaud offers MCP and CLI access to recordings and transcripts, plus Skills, Routines, connected Agent actions, and a managed Team workspace. ### Plaud tradeoffs - Portable hardware capture adds a device to buy and charge. NotePin models do not record phone calls; that requires Note or Note Pro. Team desktop capture does not require hardware. - An unlimited transcription plan does not mean unlimited Agent use. Ask Plaud, connected actions, Skills, and Routines consume separate credits; the launch grant does not renew monthly. - Team sharing is limited to workspace members, and SSO is not yet supported. Existing AutoFlows do not migrate automatically to Routines. ### Choose Plaud when - You want a dedicated phone-mounted or wearable recorder with physical controls. - You value summary templates, highlights, screenshots, and Agent-generated documents. - You want Plaud hardware and desktop recordings in a managed workspace with MCP and CLI access. ## Feature comparison | What matters | Gong | Plaud | | --- | --- | --- | | Capture options | Broad support — Meeting bot, native Zoom recording, telephony, and mobile capture. Gong captures supported web meetings, calls, and email. Eligible company-hosted Zoom calls can use Zoom-native recording with no Gong bot; other web-conferencing paths generally use the bot. Its mobile app records scheduled or ad-hoc face-to-face conversations. | Broad support — Dedicated recorders, bot-free desktop, and imports. Press and hold a device’s recording control to start. Note and Note Pro capture calls and room audio; NotePin and NotePin S capture in-person conversations. Desktop records computer audio without a meeting bot and offers manual, prompted, or automatic recording. Team users can record on desktop without hardware; individual Starter activation requires a bound device. | | Desktop and mobile | Available with limits — Web plus iOS and Android; sales workflows are cloud-first. Mobile apps support recording and review. Gong is primarily an enterprise web platform rather than a general-purpose botless desktop recorder; only its Zoom integration offers native provider recording without the Gong bot. | Available with limits — Recorders, iOS, Android, web, macOS, and Windows. Mobile apps manage devices and recordings; web and desktop provide access to the same account or workspace. Desktop records from a Mac or Windows computer. Without a Plaud device, Team capture is through desktop or audio imports. A native Apple Watch recorder is not documented; NotePin is separate wearable hardware. | | In-person capture and speaker labels | Available with limits — Mobile face-to-face audio recording. iOS and Android can capture scheduled or ad-hoc room meetings. Gong separates speakers, but same-room voices may appear as room-name Speaker 1, Speaker 2, and so on until someone edits them; noisy rooms can reduce quality. | Broad support — Portable hardware with automatic speaker labels. All four Note/NotePin models record in-person conversations and support speaker-labeled transcription. NotePin S has a tactile button and highlight control; the original NotePin uses a pressure-sensitive control and lacks device highlights. Both need charging and transfer recordings for processing. Neither NotePin model supports phone-call recording. | | Recordings, playback, and clips | Broad support — Rich call playback, libraries, snippets, and coaching review. Recording review is a core Gong workflow, with synchronized transcript, comments, snippets, libraries, trackers, and manager coaching tools. | Available with limits — Saved audio, highlights, exports, and desktop screenshots. Keep and play back audio, export recordings and text, and mark important moments. Desktop can attach screenshots and typed notes to enrich summaries. Screenshots are not a continuous meeting-video recording. MCP and CLI can retrieve audio download links, full speaker-labeled transcripts, and generated notes. | | Notes, action items, and search | Broad support — Sales summaries, next steps, account search, and conversation intelligence. Gong excels at finding deal moments, objections, topics, rep behaviors, and next steps. With Engage, recommended meeting follow-ups become due-dated to-dos that can be completed, dismissed, reviewed by managers, and acted on through email or calls. A recommendation can auto-dismiss after seven days if no other completion rule fires. The experience is optimized around customer and revenue questions rather than general company knowledge. | Broad support — Templates, action items, and questions across recordings. Plaud generates speaker-labeled transcripts, default summaries, and action items. Template summaries offer different views of a conversation. Ask Plaud searches across transcribed files with references; Agent can create documents and take actions in connected apps. Default meeting outputs use transcription allowances, while Agent questions and new work use separate credits. | | People, companies, and context | Broad support — Account and deal history for revenue teams. Calls, meetings, and email roll into account and deal context. This is powerful for revenue work but is not positioned as a shared memory for every internal and external company conversation. | Available with limits — Recording knowledge base and connected Agent context. Plaud Intelligence organizes recordings into a searchable knowledge base. Agent can use shared Team recordings and connected tools to answer questions and complete tasks. The cited documentation does not establish dedicated person/company pages with rolling summaries and email relationship timelines. | | Automatic sharing and workspace defaults | Available with limits — Permissioned call, snippet, and folder sharing. Calls and snippets can be shared internally or externally, and shared folders can grant access to every call they contain. Gong documents automatic capture rules, while post-meeting distribution centers on direct shares, folders, teams, accounts, and coaching libraries. | Available with limits — Personal sharing, Team member access, and Routines. Personal plans include sharing and exports. Team files are private until shared with workspace members, with member-restricted links rather than public external links. Routines can deliver notes through connected tools, but this does not grant access to the source recording or establish workspace-wide sharing defaults. | | Automations | Broad support — Purpose-built revenue workflows and engagement sequences. Gong automates CRM activity, deal signals, alerts, coaching, and sales engagement. Engage flows and AI-recommended to-dos centralize rep work and let managers inspect team queues. It is highly capable inside revenue operations, but this task system is package-gated and less open-ended for arbitrary company workflows. | Broad support — Conditional Routines, Skills, and connected actions. Plaud Intelligence replaces AutoFlow with Routines, which can run on schedules or conditions such as a completed recording. Skills define reusable tasks and can be shared on Team. Existing AutoFlows do not carry over automatically. Running Skills and Routines consumes Plaud Credits, separate from transcription minutes. | | Integrations | Broad support — Deep CRM, calendar, conferencing, and sales-stack integrations. The integration strategy is strong where revenue teams live: CRMs, dialers, calendars, meeting platforms, and sales engagement systems. | Broad support — Agent connectors, Zapier, and developer tools. Agent lists Slack, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Outlook, Notion, Linear, and Zapier connectors. More Microsoft 365 integrations and a Salesforce note-sync connector are described as upcoming. Connected Agent actions use credits. MCP and CLI provide another route for assistants and custom workflows. | | API, MCP, CLI, and data portability | Broad support — Mature APIs, exports, data cloud, and a focused MCP server. Gong exposes calls, full speaker-segmented transcripts, users, CRM-linked objects, exports, and data-warehouse tables. Its 2026 MCP server supports personal or organization-wide authorization for ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and custom agents, but is read-only and limited to account/deal questions and generated briefs—not raw meeting retrieval. Those MCP tools and some AI APIs consume Gong credits. There is no documented first-party CLI. | Available with limits — MCP and CLI retrieval; separate Embedded SDK/API. Plaud MCP and CLI retrieve recording metadata, speaker-labeled transcripts, summaries, and audio links. CLI search matches recording names across up to 500 recent files, rather than semantic transcript search. The Embedded device SDK and transcription API are separate offerings; the cited docs do not establish a full REST API for the consumer workspace. | | Security, privacy, and admin | Broad support — Mature enterprise administration and governance. Gong supports large deployments, granular access, SSO/SCIM, retention configuration, deletion, and compliance workflows. Standard retention is the shorter of three years or the customer term and data is deleted 30 days after the relationship ends; company-library calls sit outside the standard rule. | Available with limits — Security certifications and Team administration. Plaud lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001/27701, GDPR, and HIPAA support. Team adds billing, seat and device management, secure offboarding, and workspace-level data residency. Content remains private until shared. The Team FAQ says SSO is not yet supported; a workspace has a two-seat minimum. | | Languages | Broad support — More than 70 languages; some AI features remain English-only. Gong documents more than 70 transcription languages plus AI translation. Email labels, red-flag alerts, Gong-recommended to-dos, and example-based smart trackers are still English-only, so global teams should verify the exact workflow rather than relying on the headline count. | Broad support — 112 transcription languages. Plaud documents transcription in 112 languages with speaker labeling and custom vocabulary. Validate performance on the languages, accents, and specialized terminology you use; the supported-language count is not an independent accuracy comparison. | Ratings describe documented breadth rather than overall product quality: - **Broad support:** Broad native support across the product or relevant paid plans. - **Available with limits:** Documented support with meaningful scope, mode, or plan limits. - **Narrow or indirect:** Narrow, indirect, beta, or substantially plan-gated support. - **Not documented:** No current first-party documentation for a native option. ## Detailed analysis ### Capture options **Both products document broad support for capture options, with different scope and plan limits.** **Gong:** Meeting bot, native Zoom recording, telephony, and mobile capture. Gong captures supported web meetings, calls, and email. Eligible company-hosted Zoom calls can use Zoom-native recording with no Gong bot; other web-conferencing paths generally use the bot. Its mobile app records scheduled or ad-hoc face-to-face conversations. Evidence: [Gong web-conferencing capture](https://help.gong.io/docs/web-conferencing-integrations), [Gong mobile recording](https://help.gong.io/docs/record-meetings-on-mobile). **Plaud:** Dedicated recorders, bot-free desktop, and imports. Press and hold a device’s recording control to start. Note and Note Pro capture calls and room audio; NotePin and NotePin S capture in-person conversations. Desktop records computer audio without a meeting bot and offers manual, prompted, or automatic recording. Team users can record on desktop without hardware; individual Starter activation requires a bound device. Evidence: [Plaud devices](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-device-comparison), [Plaud recording controls](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/55643286546329-How-to-Record), [Plaud desktop](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-desktop), [Plaud desktop requirements](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/53795026112409-Device-binding-required-notice-on-Plaud-Desktop), [Plaud Team requirements](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/57466295856537-What-is-Plaud-Team). ### Desktop and mobile **Both products support desktop and mobile, with different scope and plan limits.** **Gong:** Web plus iOS and Android; sales workflows are cloud-first. Mobile apps support recording and review. Gong is primarily an enterprise web platform rather than a general-purpose botless desktop recorder; only its Zoom integration offers native provider recording without the Gong bot. Evidence: [Gong web-conferencing capture](https://help.gong.io/docs/web-conferencing-integrations), [Gong mobile recording](https://help.gong.io/docs/record-meetings-on-mobile). **Plaud:** Recorders, iOS, Android, web, macOS, and Windows. Mobile apps manage devices and recordings; web and desktop provide access to the same account or workspace. Desktop records from a Mac or Windows computer. Without a Plaud device, Team capture is through desktop or audio imports. A native Apple Watch recorder is not documented; NotePin is separate wearable hardware. Evidence: [Plaud desktop](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-desktop), [Plaud desktop requirements](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/53795026112409-Device-binding-required-notice-on-Plaud-Desktop), [Plaud Team requirements](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/57466295856537-What-is-Plaud-Team). ### In-person capture and speaker labels **Plaud has broader documented support for in-person capture and speaker labels.** **Gong:** Mobile face-to-face audio recording. iOS and Android can capture scheduled or ad-hoc room meetings. Gong separates speakers, but same-room voices may appear as room-name Speaker 1, Speaker 2, and so on until someone edits them; noisy rooms can reduce quality. Evidence: [Gong mobile recording](https://help.gong.io/docs/record-meetings-on-mobile), [Gong speaker identification](https://help.gong.io/docs/how-gong-identifies-speakers). **Plaud:** Portable hardware with automatic speaker labels. All four Note/NotePin models record in-person conversations and support speaker-labeled transcription. NotePin S has a tactile button and highlight control; the original NotePin uses a pressure-sensitive control and lacks device highlights. Both need charging and transfer recordings for processing. Neither NotePin model supports phone-call recording. Evidence: [Plaud devices](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-device-comparison), [Plaud recording controls](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/55643286546329-How-to-Record), [Plaud plans](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-ai-plan-pricing). ### Recordings, playback, and clips **Gong has broader documented support for recordings, playback, and clips.** **Gong:** Rich call playback, libraries, snippets, and coaching review. Recording review is a core Gong workflow, with synchronized transcript, comments, snippets, libraries, trackers, and manager coaching tools. Evidence: [Gong plans and seats](https://help.gong.io/docs/plans-and-seats), [Gong data retention](https://help.gong.io/docs/data-retention-policy). **Plaud:** Saved audio, highlights, exports, and desktop screenshots. Keep and play back audio, export recordings and text, and mark important moments. Desktop can attach screenshots and typed notes to enrich summaries. Screenshots are not a continuous meeting-video recording. MCP and CLI can retrieve audio download links, full speaker-labeled transcripts, and generated notes. Evidence: [Plaud devices](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-device-comparison), [Plaud desktop](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-desktop), [Plaud plans](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-ai-plan-pricing), [Plaud Agent credits](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/piplcrinto), [Plaud MCP](https://docs.plaud.ai/plaud-mcp-cli/mcp), [Plaud CLI](https://docs.plaud.ai/plaud-mcp-cli/cli). ### Notes, action items, and search **Both products document broad support for notes, action items, and search, with different scope and plan limits.** **Gong:** Sales summaries, next steps, account search, and conversation intelligence. Gong excels at finding deal moments, objections, topics, rep behaviors, and next steps. With Engage, recommended meeting follow-ups become due-dated to-dos that can be completed, dismissed, reviewed by managers, and acted on through email or calls. A recommendation can auto-dismiss after seven days if no other completion rule fires. The experience is optimized around customer and revenue questions rather than general company knowledge. Evidence: [Gong plans and seats](https://help.gong.io/docs/plans-and-seats), [Gong recommended to-dos](https://help.gong.io/docs/gong-recommended-to-dos), [Gong team to-do management](https://help.gong.io/docs/working-with-todos). **Plaud:** Templates, action items, and questions across recordings. Plaud generates speaker-labeled transcripts, default summaries, and action items. Template summaries offer different views of a conversation. Ask Plaud searches across transcribed files with references; Agent can create documents and take actions in connected apps. Default meeting outputs use transcription allowances, while Agent questions and new work use separate credits. Evidence: [Plaud plans](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-ai-plan-pricing), [Plaud cross-recording questions](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/51041335681689-Ask-Across-All-Files-Ask-Plaud), [Plaud Skills and Routines](https://www.plaud.ai/blogs/news/plaud-intelligence-skills-routines), [Plaud Agent credits](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/piplcrinto). ### People, companies, and context **Gong has broader documented support for people, companies, and context.** **Gong:** Account and deal history for revenue teams. Calls, meetings, and email roll into account and deal context. This is powerful for revenue work but is not positioned as a shared memory for every internal and external company conversation. Evidence: [Gong plans and seats](https://help.gong.io/docs/plans-and-seats). **Plaud:** Recording knowledge base and connected Agent context. Plaud Intelligence organizes recordings into a searchable knowledge base. Agent can use shared Team recordings and connected tools to answer questions and complete tasks. The cited documentation does not establish dedicated person/company pages with rolling summaries and email relationship timelines. Evidence: [Plaud cross-recording questions](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/51041335681689-Ask-Across-All-Files-Ask-Plaud), [Plaud Intelligence Team update](https://www.plaud.ai/blogs/news/get-ready-new-plaud-intelligence-for-team), [Plaud Skills and Routines](https://www.plaud.ai/blogs/news/plaud-intelligence-skills-routines). ### Automatic sharing and workspace defaults **Both products support automatic sharing and workspace defaults, with different scope and plan limits.** **Gong:** Permissioned call, snippet, and folder sharing. Calls and snippets can be shared internally or externally, and shared folders can grant access to every call they contain. Gong documents automatic capture rules, while post-meeting distribution centers on direct shares, folders, teams, accounts, and coaching libraries. Evidence: [Gong call and folder sharing](https://help.gong.io/docs/enable-call-and-folder-sharing). **Plaud:** Personal sharing, Team member access, and Routines. Personal plans include sharing and exports. Team files are private until shared with workspace members, with member-restricted links rather than public external links. Routines can deliver notes through connected tools, but this does not grant access to the source recording or establish workspace-wide sharing defaults. Evidence: [Plaud plans](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-ai-plan-pricing), [Plaud Team sharing](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/57138357578649-Sharing-content-in-Plaud-Team), [Plaud Intelligence Team update](https://www.plaud.ai/blogs/news/get-ready-new-plaud-intelligence-for-team), [Plaud Skills and Routines](https://www.plaud.ai/blogs/news/plaud-intelligence-skills-routines). ### Automations **Both products document broad support for automations, with different scope and plan limits.** **Gong:** Purpose-built revenue workflows and engagement sequences. Gong automates CRM activity, deal signals, alerts, coaching, and sales engagement. Engage flows and AI-recommended to-dos centralize rep work and let managers inspect team queues. It is highly capable inside revenue operations, but this task system is package-gated and less open-ended for arbitrary company workflows. Evidence: [Gong automation rules](https://help.gong.io/docs/introduction-to-automation-rules), [Gong recommended to-dos](https://help.gong.io/docs/gong-recommended-to-dos), [Gong team to-do management](https://help.gong.io/docs/working-with-todos). **Plaud:** Conditional Routines, Skills, and connected actions. Plaud Intelligence replaces AutoFlow with Routines, which can run on schedules or conditions such as a completed recording. Skills define reusable tasks and can be shared on Team. Existing AutoFlows do not carry over automatically. Running Skills and Routines consumes Plaud Credits, separate from transcription minutes. Evidence: [Plaud Skills and Routines](https://www.plaud.ai/blogs/news/plaud-intelligence-skills-routines), [Plaud Agent credits](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/piplcrinto). ### Integrations **Both products document broad support for integrations, with different scope and plan limits.** **Gong:** Deep CRM, calendar, conferencing, and sales-stack integrations. The integration strategy is strong where revenue teams live: CRMs, dialers, calendars, meeting platforms, and sales engagement systems. Evidence: [Gong plans and seats](https://help.gong.io/docs/plans-and-seats). **Plaud:** Agent connectors, Zapier, and developer tools. Agent lists Slack, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Outlook, Notion, Linear, and Zapier connectors. More Microsoft 365 integrations and a Salesforce note-sync connector are described as upcoming. Connected Agent actions use credits. MCP and CLI provide another route for assistants and custom workflows. Evidence: [Plaud Intelligence Team update](https://www.plaud.ai/blogs/news/get-ready-new-plaud-intelligence-for-team), [Plaud Skills and Routines](https://www.plaud.ai/blogs/news/plaud-intelligence-skills-routines). ### API, MCP, CLI, and data portability **Gong has broader documented support for API, MCP, CLI, and data portability.** **Gong:** Mature APIs, exports, data cloud, and a focused MCP server. Gong exposes calls, full speaker-segmented transcripts, users, CRM-linked objects, exports, and data-warehouse tables. Its 2026 MCP server supports personal or organization-wide authorization for ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and custom agents, but is read-only and limited to account/deal questions and generated briefs—not raw meeting retrieval. Those MCP tools and some AI APIs consume Gong credits. There is no documented first-party CLI. Evidence: [Gong transcript API](https://help.gong.io/apidocs/retrieve-transcripts-of-calls-by-date-or-callids-v2callstranscript-2), [Gong API overview](https://help.gong.io/docs/what-the-gong-api-provides), [Gong MCP server](https://help.gong.io/docs/about-gong-mcp-server), [Gong MCP setup](https://help.gong.io/docs/create-an-integration-to-connect-to-the-mcp-server), [Gong AI credits](https://help.gong.io/docs/about-gong-credits), [Gong transcript downloads](https://help.gong.io/docs/view-a-call-transcript), [Gong media downloads](https://help.gong.io/docs/download-a-call-or-snippet). **Plaud:** MCP and CLI retrieval; separate Embedded SDK/API. Plaud MCP and CLI retrieve recording metadata, speaker-labeled transcripts, summaries, and audio links. CLI search matches recording names across up to 500 recent files, rather than semantic transcript search. The Embedded device SDK and transcription API are separate offerings; the cited docs do not establish a full REST API for the consumer workspace. Evidence: [Plaud MCP](https://docs.plaud.ai/plaud-mcp-cli/mcp), [Plaud CLI](https://docs.plaud.ai/plaud-mcp-cli/cli), [Plaud developer platform](https://docs.plaud.ai/overview). ### Security, privacy, and admin **Gong has broader documented support for security, privacy, and admin.** **Gong:** Mature enterprise administration and governance. Gong supports large deployments, granular access, SSO/SCIM, retention configuration, deletion, and compliance workflows. Standard retention is the shorter of three years or the customer term and data is deleted 30 days after the relationship ends; company-library calls sit outside the standard rule. Evidence: [Gong plans and seats](https://help.gong.io/docs/plans-and-seats), [Gong data retention](https://help.gong.io/docs/data-retention-policy). **Plaud:** Security certifications and Team administration. Plaud lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001/27701, GDPR, and HIPAA support. Team adds billing, seat and device management, secure offboarding, and workspace-level data residency. Content remains private until shared. The Team FAQ says SSO is not yet supported; a workspace has a two-seat minimum. Evidence: [Plaud Team requirements](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/57466295856537-What-is-Plaud-Team), [Plaud Team administration](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-team), [Plaud plans](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-ai-plan-pricing). ### Languages **Both products document broad support for languages, with different scope and plan limits.** **Gong:** More than 70 languages; some AI features remain English-only. Gong documents more than 70 transcription languages plus AI translation. Email labels, red-flag alerts, Gong-recommended to-dos, and example-based smart trackers are still English-only, so global teams should verify the exact workflow rather than relying on the headline count. Evidence: [Gong language support](https://help.gong.io/docs/what-languages-are-supported-in-gong). **Plaud:** 112 transcription languages. Plaud documents transcription in 112 languages with speaker labeling and custom vocabulary. Validate performance on the languages, accents, and specialized terminology you use; the supported-language count is not an independent accuracy comparison. Evidence: [Plaud plans](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-ai-plan-pricing). ## A third option to consider: Circleback Circleback records online meetings with a meeting bot or bot-free desktop app, then turns them into detailed notes, speaker-labeled transcripts, and automatically assigned action items. Automatic sharing, search, and automations turn those meetings into shared company memory. People and AI agents can use the same complete record through the app, API, MCP, and CLI. In-person conversations captured on mobile or Apple Watch, plus imported recordings, flow through the same system. Circleback can also search connected apps and take action in them. It is built for people and AI agents: the same complete meeting data available to a person is available programmatically to ChatGPT, Claude, other agents, and internal tools through the API, MCP, and CLI. Free; Pro from $15/user/month annually; Business from $25/user/month annually; Enterprise $35/user/month, billed annually. ## Frequently asked questions ### Which is better: Gong or Plaud? Gong goes deeper on pipeline, forecasting, and rep coaching. Plaud combines portable recorders with desktop capture and reusable Skills and Routines for work beyond sales. ### Which is less expensive, Gong or Plaud? Gong: Custom quote: per-user licenses plus a platform fee. Plaud: Devices list at $159–$189; AI plans priced separately. Compare the paid seats, included usage, recording access, and admin features you actually need. ### Can Gong and Plaud record without a bot? Gong: Meeting bot, native Zoom recording, telephony, and mobile capture. Plaud: Dedicated recorders, bot-free desktop, and imports. Check whether your preferred recording method preserves video and speaker labels. ### Which is better for a whole company? Compare automatic sharing, permissions, retention, and the defaults admins can enforce. Gong: Permissioned call, snippet, and folder sharing. Plaud: Personal sharing, Team member access, and Routines. ### Can I access and move the full meeting data? Gong: Mature APIs, exports, data cloud, and a focused MCP server. Plaud: MCP and CLI retrieval; separate Embedded SDK/API. Check the selected plan, authentication model, transcript scope, export format, and retention window for the workflow you need. ### How was this comparison researched? We use first-party pricing pages, product pages, help docs, and release notes for both products. Links appear in each feature comparison and in the Sources section. ## Methodology Circleback reviews first-party pricing pages, product pages, help docs, and release notes. Prices and features change; confirm the details that matter to your decision in the linked sources. Every feature dimension links to the exact first-party documents used for that claim. Ratings describe documented breadth, not an overall score or winner. This page is a neutral competitor-to-competitor comparison. There are no paid placements or affiliate rankings. ## First-party sources ### Gong sources - [Gong pricing](https://www.gong.io/pricing): Custom pricing structure, per-user licenses, platform fee, and package model. - [Gong web-conferencing capture](https://help.gong.io/docs/web-conferencing-integrations): Bot capture across providers and native bot-free recording for eligible Zoom meetings. - [Gong transcript API](https://help.gong.io/apidocs/retrieve-transcripts-of-calls-by-date-or-callids-v2callstranscript-2): Documented call-transcript endpoint, pagination, filters, and authorization scope. - [Gong API overview](https://help.gong.io/docs/what-the-gong-api-provides): Calls, full transcripts, analyzed conversation data, users, activity, and CRM-linked API capabilities. - [Gong MCP server](https://help.gong.io/docs/about-gong-mcp-server): Read-only account/deal questions and brief generation for external AI clients. - [Gong MCP setup](https://help.gong.io/docs/create-an-integration-to-connect-to-the-mcp-server): Paid-seat requirement, personal or shared authorization, OAuth setup, and official MCP endpoint. - [Gong AI credits](https://help.gong.io/docs/about-gong-credits): Shared annual credit pool and consumption behavior for MCP, AI APIs, and continuous AI processing. - [Gong transcript downloads](https://help.gong.io/docs/view-a-call-transcript): Per-call transcript download and synchronized transcript behavior. - [Gong media downloads](https://help.gong.io/docs/download-a-call-or-snippet): Permissioned audio, video, and snippet downloads on any Gong plan. - [Gong plans and seats](https://help.gong.io/docs/plans-and-seats): Foundation platform and Enable, Forecast, Engage, and Data Cloud packages. - [Gong mobile recording](https://help.gong.io/docs/record-meetings-on-mobile): iOS and Android in-person recording behavior and quality considerations. - [Gong speaker identification](https://help.gong.io/docs/how-gong-identifies-speakers): Speaker separation, same-room generic labels, platform behavior, and optional voice identification. - [Gong data retention](https://help.gong.io/docs/data-retention-policy): Standard and custom retention behavior. - [Gong language support](https://help.gong.io/docs/what-languages-are-supported-in-gong): More than 70 transcription languages, AI translation, and the AI capabilities that remain English-only. - [Gong call and folder sharing](https://help.gong.io/docs/enable-call-and-folder-sharing): Company permissions for external call sharing and internal shared folders. - [Gong automation rules](https://help.gong.io/docs/introduction-to-automation-rules): Plan availability, supported triggers and actions, and future-only rule application. - [Gong recommended to-dos](https://help.gong.io/docs/gong-recommended-to-dos): Engage eligibility, AI meeting follow-ups, source timestamps, due dates, completion rules, seven-day expiry, and language limits. - [Gong team to-do management](https://help.gong.io/docs/working-with-todos): Personal and manager task views, filters, due dates, bulk completion, CRM context, and execution controls. ### Plaud sources - [Plaud devices](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-device-comparison): Model-specific controls, phone-call/in-person capture, charging, storage, and list prices. - [Plaud recording controls](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/55643286546329-How-to-Record): Press-and-hold recording and model-specific highlight controls. - [Plaud plans](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-ai-plan-pricing): Individual and Team prices, transcription allowances, launch offers, and included features. - [Plaud desktop](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-desktop): Bot-free capture, meeting detection, recording modes, screenshots, highlights, and typed notes. - [Plaud desktop requirements](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/53795026112409-Device-binding-required-notice-on-Plaud-Desktop): Individual Starter activation requires a device bound to the account. - [Plaud Team requirements](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/57466295856537-What-is-Plaud-Team): Two-seat minimum, roles, privacy, and Team desktop capture without hardware. - [Plaud Team administration](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/plaud-team): Team management, data residency, and the FAQ stating SSO is not yet supported. - [Plaud Team sharing](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/57138357578649-Sharing-content-in-Plaud-Team): Private-by-default recordings and member-only file sharing and links. - [Plaud cross-recording questions](https://support.plaud.ai/hc/en-us/articles/51041335681689-Ask-Across-All-Files-Ask-Plaud): Questions across transcribed recordings and source-file references. - [Plaud Skills and Routines](https://www.plaud.ai/blogs/news/plaud-intelligence-skills-routines): Conditional automation, shared Skills, Agent credit costs, and AutoFlow migration limits. - [Plaud Intelligence Team update](https://www.plaud.ai/blogs/news/get-ready-new-plaud-intelligence-for-team): Shared Agent context, launch connectors, forthcoming integrations, and account updates. - [Plaud Agent credits](https://www.plaud.ai/pages/piplcrinto): Transcription versus Agent usage, nonrenewing launch grants, and paid credit top-ups. - [Plaud MCP](https://docs.plaud.ai/plaud-mcp-cli/mcp): Recording, summary, transcript, and audio-link retrieval through authenticated MCP. - [Plaud CLI](https://docs.plaud.ai/plaud-mcp-cli/cli): Command-line retrieval and name-based search limited to 500 recent recordings. - [Plaud developer platform](https://docs.plaud.ai/overview): Distinguishes the Embedded device SDK/transcription API from access to Plaud account data.