Best Call Recorder Apps for iPhone

Which call recorder app for iPhone should you get? For most people the answer is none: since iOS 18 the iPhone's own Phone app records calls for free. If Apple doesn't offer that in your country, TapeACall, Cube ACR and Call Recorder iCall all record by merging a recording line into your call. Google Voice records incoming calls to a Voice number at no charge.

That's the short version. The longer one matters because every paid app below needs a subscription to record, and the ones that explain their method all depend on your carrier.

Tomás is a freelance translator in Denver. A client in Madrid phones him with changes to a contract, and he wants the details on record.

He searches the App Store for "call recorder" and gets a wall of near-identical apps, each "free" with a price list underneath. Which one actually records? (Tomás is an illustration, not a real customer.)

This guide sorts that wall out. You'll see how each app captures the call, what it costs, what the free part really includes, and where it stops working.

How this list was built. Nobody at ParrotNotes placed test calls for this article, and there's no ranking. We took the call recorders that keep appearing in App Store search and in other roundups, then read each one's US App Store listing and support pages on November 11, 2026. Prices, ratings and quotes below come from those pages. They change often, so check the listing before you pay.

One thing up front: ParrotNotes is a recording and note-taking app, and it doesn't capture phone-call audio. It's in this article only where it honestly fits, which is in-person conversations and meetings. If that's what you need to record, you can download ParrotNotes and skip the rest.

Call recorder apps for iPhone at a glance

All figures are from the US App Store, as of November 11, 2026. "In-app prices" is the range the listing shows; listings don't always say which billing period each price covers.

How a call recorder app for iPhone captures the call

This is the part most lists skip, and it decides everything else. Apple doesn't let a downloaded app listen to a normal phone call. So a phone call recorder app for iPhone can't simply "press record" on your call the way a voice recorder does. There are three ways around that.

1. Apple records it. The Phone app is the only software on the iPhone that can record a regular call directly. It's built in and free.

2. A third line joins the call. This is how App Store call recorders work. The app dials its own recording number, and you merge it into your call as a three-way conference.

The recording happens on the company's servers, not on your phone. That's why these apps all carry the same warning about carriers: no three-way calling, no recording.

3. The call runs through a different number. Services like Google Voice give you a second phone number. Calls to that number pass through the service, which can record them. Calls to your regular iPhone number aren't covered.

There's a fourth route that isn't an app for calls at all: put the call on speaker and record the room with a second device. More on that under ParrotNotes below.

The iPhone's own call recorder: check this first

Before you pay for anything, look at the Phone app. Apple's support article says you can record "a phone call or FaceTime audio call" on iPhone starting in iOS 18. During a call, tap More, then Call Recording. Both people hear an audio notice, and the recording is saved to the Notes app.

It has limits. Apple's iPhone User Guide says call recording isn't currently available in the European Union and a list of other countries, and it only works when you're talking to one other person. Transcripts come in a short list of languages.

That's all this article will say about it. Our guide on how to record phone calls on iPhone has the full steps, the country list and the transcript languages. If the button is there and your call has one other person on it, you don't need a call recorder app.

Merge-call recorder apps for iPhone

These four apps record with a merged third line. They differ mostly in price, trial terms and how much the listing tells you.

TapeACall and TapeACall Pro

TapeACall is the best-known name in call recording software for iPhone, and it has two App Store listings from the same seller, Mosaic S.r.l.

TapeACall: Call Recorder is a free download with in-app purchases from $7.99 to $89.99. It's rated 4.3 from 38K ratings. The listing advertises "Automatically record outgoing phone calls (No more call merging!)" and transcripts of recordings. It also states the catch plainly: "NOTE: TapeACall requires your carrier supports 3-way calling," and it names SimpleTalk and H2o Wireless as US carriers that don't offer it.

What's free? The download. The listing says "certain features will be available exclusively through in-app purchases" and mentions a free trial, but it doesn't state how long the trial lasts. Several plans share similar names at different prices, so read the purchase screen.

TapeACall Pro costs $10.99 up front, with in-app purchases from $5.99 to $129.99, and is rated 4.5 from 18K ratings.

The up-front price isn't a lifetime purchase. The listing says payment gives "unlimited recordings for one year. After the year ends, your plan will expire." Its last listed version is from February 13, 2025, and it adds a warning for UK readers: "EE in the UK no longer supports 3-way conference calling on new plans."

For the merge steps, the complaints in its reviews and a pre-call test, see our full TapeACall review.

Call Recorder - Cube ACR

Cube ACR is better known on Android. Its iPhone app, Call Recorder - Cube ACR from Cube Apps Limited, is rated 4.5 from 1.3K ratings and promises "recording of incoming & outgoing calls" and "transcribing any recordings into text."

It works like TapeACall. The listing says, "Your phone carrier needs to support three-way calls for Cube Call Recorder to work!" In a reply to a review, the developer explains that you call the service number before or during the conversation and merge the calls.

The price list is the shortest and clearest of the group: one week at $7.99, six months at $34.99 and one year at $49.99. The free part is narrow. The listing describes "a free recording app for your voice memos," with call recording behind the Premium subscription. The weekly plan is labeled as a free trial.

Call Recorder iCall

Call Recorder iCall, from AppInnovations, has the highest rating here: 4.6 from 23K ratings. It needs iOS 17 or later.

Its listing is direct about the method: "Call Recorder iCall uses your carrier's conference call feature to record conversations." It promises unlimited call length for subscribers and mentions timestamped transcription in its release notes.

In-app prices run from $5.99 to $49.99. Most of the listed items are one-week passes at different prices, from $5.99 to $12.99, next to an annual subscription at $49.99. The listing names a "1-week subscription with a 3-day trial version." There's no ongoing free plan described, so the free part is those three days.

Call Recorder for iPhone Calls

Call Recorder for iPhone Calls is sold by MWM, with a copyright line for AppYogi Software. It's rated 4.4 from 9.9K ratings and needs iOS 15.6 or later.

Its pitch leans on AI notes: the listing says it will "automatically convert calls into accurate text across more than 100 languages." In-app prices range from $7.99 to $99.99, and the listing mentions "weekly renewal with a 3-day free trial."

Here's the gap. The listing says it records "incoming and outgoing calls" but doesn't say how. A user review on the page describes merging the call once the other person answers, which points to the same three-way method, but that's a reviewer's account and not the developer's. Since the listing doesn't state a carrier requirement, test it during the trial before you rely on it.

A weekly plan is where people get caught. Picture Ines, a recruiter in Chicago, who starts a 3-day trial on a Monday to record one reference call. She records it Tuesday and forgets the app.

By the end of the month she's been billed four times for a weekly pass, about $32 at $7.99 a week, for a single call. A reminder on day two would have cost her nothing. (Ines is an illustration.)

Google Voice: a second number that records

Google Voice takes the third route. It's free, rated 4.3 from 62K ratings, and its listing says it's "currently only available in the US" for personal Google accounts, with Workspace accounts in select countries.

According to Google Voice Help, personal accounts can record incoming calls. You turn on Incoming call recording in Voice settings, then tap 4 during a call to start or stop. Google's page says, "All participants hear an announcement that the recording has begun." Recordings appear in the Calls tab.

The limits are clear. It only covers calls to your Voice number, and personal accounts can't record outgoing calls. Workspace accounts need the right Google Voice license. If your callers already use your Voice number, though, it's the only free recorder on this list besides Apple's.

Two call recorders that are gone

Older roundups still send people to two apps that no longer record iPhone calls.

• Rev Call Recorder. It used to be the free pick on nearly every list. Rev's help center now carries a page titled "Rev Call Recorder App Discontinued," which says support ended on October 31, 2025. Rev's current app, Rev: Record & Transcribe, states in its own listing: "Call recording not supported."
• Truecaller. TechCrunch reported on August 1, 2025 that Truecaller was discontinuing call recording on iOS from September 30, 2025. The report says the company wanted to focus on caller ID and spam blocking.

If a list leads with either one, it hasn't been checked in a while.

Where ParrotNotes fits, and where it doesn't

ParrotNotes doesn't capture phone-call audio. It can't hear the other side of a call on the same iPhone, and it isn't a replacement for any app above. If you need a phone call recorded on your phone, use the Phone app or one of the recorders in the table.

It fits a different job: conversations that happen in the room. A client meeting, an interview across a desk, a site walk, a long planning session. There, ParrotNotes records through the iPhone's microphone, keeps recording with the screen locked, and gives you a transcript and a summary afterwards. Our guides to recording a conversation on iPhone and recording a meeting on iPhone cover that.

Two honest overlaps with calls exist. You can put a call on speaker and record the room with ParrotNotes on a second device. And if you already have a call recording, from Notes or from one of the apps above, you can import the audio and get a transcript and summary; how to transcribe a phone call walks through it.

What the free plan includes: 100 minutes of recording a month, up to 30 minutes per recording, an AI summary on every recording, and three audio or video imports a month. Pro is $19.99 a month, or $14.99 a month billed annually, with 3,000 minutes of recording a month and transcription in 99+ languages. Transcription needs an internet connection.

Recording a meeting, not a call? Download ParrotNotes and try it on your next in-person conversation. For one short file, the free audio to text tool transcribes up to 10 minutes.

Which iPhone call recorder app to pick

Go by your situation, not by star ratings. The ratings above are within a few tenths of each other.

On an Android phone too? The options are different there; see how to record a phone call on Android.

Before you pay: a four-point check

Merge-call apps fail quietly, and App Store subscriptions renew on their own. Five minutes of checking saves both problems.

1. Test three-way calling yourself. Call a friend, tap add call, dial a second number and merge. If your phone won't merge, none of the merge-call apps will record.
2. Read the purchase screen, not the store page. The store lists prices without billing periods. The real period, weekly, monthly or yearly, shows when you tap to subscribe.
3. Record one test call each way. One incoming, one outgoing. Play both back and make sure you hear the other person, not just yourself.
4. Set a reminder for the trial's end. Listings here mention trials as short as 3 days. If you're done, cancel the subscription in your App Store account before it renews.

Consent: tell the other person first

Recording a call has legal rules, and no app handles them for you. What follows is general information, not legal advice.

In the US, federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2511) generally allows a person to record a call they're part of.

States add their own rules. California, for example, requires everyone's consent to record a confidential call (Penal Code § 632). Our guide to one-party consent states lists every state's rule with the statutes, and explains what happens when callers are in different states.

Google's own help page puts it this way: "Recording calls without the consent of all call participants may not be legal in some jurisdictions." Outside the US, check your country's law and your employer's policy.

Here's the practical gap. Apple's Phone app and Google Voice announce the recording to everyone. The merge-call listings we read don't describe any announcement.

So say it yourself, at the start: "I'd like to record this so I get the details right. Is that okay?" Let the yes be the first thing on the recording. Don't record anyone secretly.

Conclusion

Choosing a call recorder app for iPhone comes down to a few plain facts:

• Start with the Phone app. On iOS 18 or later it records one-to-one calls for free, where Apple offers it.
• App Store recorders use a merged line. TapeACall, Cube ACR and iCall all say they need your carrier's three-way or conference calling.
• "Free" means free to download. Recording needs a subscription or a short trial.
• Skip the dead ones. Rev Call Recorder and Truecaller's iPhone recording are both gone.
• Ask before you record. Only the built-in recorder and Google Voice announce it for you.

Back to Tomás in Denver. His iPhone shows the Call Recording button, so he doesn't buy anything. When the Madrid client calls again, he asks first, taps record, and has the contract changes saved in Notes before lunch. (Still an illustration.)

And when the conversation isn't a call at all, when it's a meeting or an interview in the same room, that's the job for ParrotNotes. For more recorders built for in-person audio, see our guide to the best AI voice recorder apps.