Balto: Real-time AI guidance and agent-assist platform that coaches contact-center and sales agents live during calls. Plaud: AI note-taking platform that records conversations and meetings, then transcribes them and generates summaries and action items, via dedicated hardware recorders and a desktop/mobile app. Here's where each one pulls ahead on pricing, features, and the meetings it suits best.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Balto when guiding agents live through objections and compliance requirements matters most, and Plaud when capturing action items and decisions from conversations matters most. Test each on your own meetings; the right choice tends to become obvious quickly.
Real-time AI guidance and agent-assist platform that coaches contact-center and sales agents live during calls.
AI note-taking platform that records conversations and meetings, then transcribes them and generates summaries and action items, via dedicated hardware recorders and a desktop/mobile app.
Balto is a contact-center AI platform centered on real-time guidance during live customer and sales calls. Rather than focusing on post-call review, Balto listens to conversations as they happen and surfaces dynamic prompts, objection-handling cues, compliance checklists, and knowledge-base answers to the agent in the moment. Its Agent Assist pulls relevant information so reps can respond to customer questions instantly, while real-time QA automatically scores interactions across all calls and flags compliance risk early, maintaining an audit trail for supervisors. Coaching automation tailors recommendations to each agent's performance, and real-time note generation produces call summaries without manual write-ups. Balto also offers voice AI agents to handle high-volume, repeatable calls and supports omnichannel context across voice and digital channels. It integrates with CRMs and telephony systems such as Salesforce and RingCentral. The platform is used across industries including healthcare, insurance, banking, collections, and home improvement, and is aimed at contact centers and sales teams that want in-the-moment guidance, compliance assurance, and automated quality management at scale. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Plaud is an AI note-taking platform that turns conversations and meetings into transcripts, structured summaries, and action items. It pairs dedicated hardware recorders (Plaud Note, Note Pro, and the NotePin wearables) with iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and web apps. Its desktop app captures audio natively from online meetings in Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams (and other conferencing apps) without joining as a bot, and can auto-detect when a meeting starts. Plaud transcribes in 112+ languages and offers 10,000+ summary templates. The Starter (free) plan includes 300 transcription minutes per month. Paid tiers add the "Ask Plaud" natural-language search across recordings plus Zapier, Google Calendar, and a beta MCP server integration. Plaud states it holds ISO 27001/27701, SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance, and describes itself as trusted by over 2 million users globally.
Best suited for
Balto is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Plaud is from $0/mo (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Balto | Plaud |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Real-time, in-call guidance with dynamic prompts and objection cues | AI transcription |
| Standout feature | Agent Assist that surfaces knowledge-base answers live | Meeting summaries & action items |
| Team usage | Automated quality assurance scoring across 100% of calls | Online meeting capture |
| Integrations | Real-time compliance monitoring with audit trails | Ask Plaud search |
| Languages & capture | Automated call summaries and coaching recommendations | Summary templates |
| Best-fit workflow | Integrations with CRMs and phone systems such as Salesforce and RingCentral | AI transcription |
Balto
Choose Balto if you need guiding agents live through objections and compliance requirements — strengths include guides agents during the call rather than only analyzing afterward.
Plaud
Choose Plaud if you need recording and summarizing in-person and online meetings — strengths include free starter plan includes 300 transcription minutes per month.
Balto
Plaud
It depends on your workflow. Balto is strong for guiding agents live through objections and compliance requirements, while Plaud is strong for recording and summarizing in-person and online meetings. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Balto is a free tier with paid upgrades and Plaud is from $0/mo. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Often yes: teams combine tools when one handles capture and another handles analysis.
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