Plaud's software subscription business crossed $100M in annual recurring revenue, backed by more than 2 million physical AI recording devices shipped to customers.
The company sells dedicated AI notetaker hardware, small physical recorders rather than a browser extension or phone app, and has now moved over 2 million of them. The software subscriptions that ride on that hardware base have collectively reached $100M ARR. It is an unusual playbook in a category where most competitors are pure-software plays, betting that an app or a web dashboard is all users need.
That hardware-first funnel creates a different dynamic than software-only rivals. A user who has already paid for a physical device has more reason to keep paying for the subscription that powers it. The AI meeting notetaker market is crowded with software alternatives, many of them priced low or bundled into collaboration platforms people already pay for, and Plaud's hardware layer is its main argument for why users should pay separately.
Whether that argument holds long-term is the real question. Platform vendors keep adding transcription and summarization as table stakes, often for free. Hitting $100M ARR is a genuine milestone; staying there while the software competition gets cheaper is the harder task.