Aiko Alternative for iPhone: Audio Notes vs Aiko (2026)

If your recordings are sensitive or you are often offline, Aiko is a strong choice: it transcribes on the phone, with no internet and no account. If you want the transcript turned into something you can act on — a summary, action items, a translation, answers to questions about the note, a link to share — Audio Notes is the one that does that. They solve different halves of the job.

Aiko (by Sindre Sorhus) is a paid app: its US App Store listing shows $24.00 as of October 2026. The listing says transcription is done locally on your device, supports audio in 100 languages, can import audio and video from your photo library, and exports text with timestamps or as subtitles. Its listing does not mention summaries or action items, and it says there is no live transcription while recording and no speaker detection.

Audio Notes transcribes on our server with Whisper, in 60+ languages including Cantonese, then adds a summary, action items, translation, chat about the note and AES-256 encrypted share links. The honest trade-offs: Audio Notes needs an internet connection and sends the audio to our server to transcribe, and its free tier is 60 lifetime minutes before Pro. Aiko keeps everything on the phone and you pay once. The wider field is in our alternatives buyer's guide.

Side-by-Side: Aiko vs Audio Notes AI

Price & Free Tier

Aiko, as of October 2026: a paid app, listed at $24.00 on the US App Store, with no subscription shown on its listing. Prices differ by country, so check your own store. Audio Notes, as of October 2026: free includes 60 minutes of lifetime transcription (the first 3 notes or 60 minutes, whichever comes first), then Pro gives 10,000 minutes per month with up to 90 minutes per recording. The Pro price is shown in the app and on the App Store page.

So the money question is simple. Aiko is cheaper over years if you transcribe a lot and only need text. Audio Notes costs nothing to try and is cheaper for a few recordings, but it becomes a subscription if you keep using it.

Privacy & Working Offline

This is where Aiko wins. Its listing states transcription runs locally on the device, so it works without a connection and the audio never leaves the phone. It also needs a recent phone: the listing requires iOS 26 or later and an A12 chip or newer, and the app is about 1.8 GB. Audio Notes uploads the audio to our server over an encrypted connection to transcribe it, so it needs internet. Shared notes are encrypted on your iPhone before upload and the key lives only in the link, but the transcription step itself is server-side. We say this plainly because it decides the choice for confidential interviews or medical notes.

What You Get After the Transcript

Aiko's listing describes the transcript, search, timestamps, word replacement and text or subtitle export. It does not say it writes summaries or action items, and it says editing text inside the app is not planned. Audio Notes returns the transcript, a summary, action items and a translation in one pass, lets you ask questions about the note in chat, searches across your library, and makes a link that expires after 24 hours. Neither app labels speakers: Aiko's listing says there is no speaker detection, and Audio Notes returns a single block of text.

Getting Audio In

Both import audio and video files. Aiko's listing describes importing from the photo library and sharing from Voice Memos, and it says the Voice Memos share does not work on iOS 26 because of an OS bug. Audio Notes imports audio (m4a, mp3, wav, caf, aac, aiff) and video (mp4, mov, m4v, avi, mkv) from Files, takes WhatsApp and other voice messages through the iOS share sheet, and records up to 90 minutes. For the voice-message workflow see our voice-message guide.

Sources for Aiko's facts: its App Store listing, read October 2026. If a detail has changed, the listing is the authority.

Feature	Audio Notes AI vs Aiko (as of Oct 2026)
Price	Free to start; Pro subscription (price in the app) \| $24.00 paid app on the US App Store
Free tier	60 lifetime minutes \| Not applicable (paid upfront; listing mentions a trial without details)
Languages	60+ (100-entry picker incl. Cantonese) \| 100 per its listing
Transcription location	Server-side (Whisper), needs internet \| On-device, no internet needed
Summary / action items	Yes, built in \| Not mentioned in its listing
Translation	Yes \| Not mentioned in its listing
Chat about a note	Yes \| Not mentioned in its listing
Speaker labels	No \| No (listing says no speaker detection)
Imports files	Audio and video (mp4, mov, mkv...) \| Audio/video from the photo library; Voice Memos share
Sharing	Encrypted link, expires in 24 hours \| Text and subtitle export
Platforms	iPhone only \| iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision
Requirements	Internet connection \| iOS 26 or later, A12 chip or newer, about 1.8 GB

FAQ

Is Audio Notes better than Aiko?

Not for privacy or offline use: Aiko transcribes on the phone and Audio Notes uses our server. Audio Notes is better when you want a summary, action items, translation, chat about the note or a share link on top of the transcript. Many people try the free 60 minutes first and keep whichever fits.

Does Aiko work offline?

Yes. Its listing says the transcription is done locally on the device. Audio Notes needs an internet connection.

Does Aiko write summaries?

Its App Store listing does not mention summaries or action items. It lists transcription, search, timestamps, word replacement and export.

Which one is cheaper?

Aiko is a paid app, listed at $24.00 on the US App Store as of October 2026. Audio Notes is free for the first 60 lifetime minutes, then Pro is a subscription shown in the app. If you only need text and transcribe often, a one-time purchase is hard to beat; if you transcribe a few recordings, the free minutes may be all you need.

Which handles Dutch or Cantonese?

Audio Notes lists Cantonese explicitly and covers 60+ languages including Dutch. Aiko's listing says 100 languages but does not list them, so test your language in its trial before paying. See our any-language guide.

Audio Notes AI is a one-tap voice recorder and transcription app for iPhone: server-side Whisper transcription in 60+ languages, automatic translation and summaries, action items, and search across your whole library. Every account includes 60 minutes of lifetime transcription for free; Pro unlocks 10,000 minutes per month with a 90-minute cap per recording. Shared notes are encrypted with AES-256 on your iPhone before upload — the decryption key lives only in the link.

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Download Audio Notes AI free on the App Store — 60 minutes of lifetime transcription included.