Cube ACR vs Heilo: Phone App or Business Number Recording?

In short: Cube ACR is an app that records calls on a single phone: on Android 9 and later together with a second app, Cube ACR Helper, and on iPhone through a three-way call under a paid subscription. Heilo records calls on a business number: with Heilo Line each rep has their own +48 number, and inbound and outbound calls land in one shared dashboard with a transcript, a summary, tasks and call coach notes. Cube ACR is enough for one person's own recordings; a team that needs a shared customer history and data in its CRM will be better served by Heilo.

This comparison is written by the Heilo team, which makes one of the tools described. We checked Cube's official FAQ, its Google Play listing, its App Store listing and Heilo's current product on 19 October 2026. We have not run a controlled comparison on the same devices or audio, and the examples below describe proposed workflows, not observed customer results. Our criteria: where the recording is made, which calls it covers, what happens to it after the call, team access, delivery to a CRM and cost.

Two approaches to the same problem

Every customer call can turn into an order, a complaint, an agreed date or a price. If you rely on memory or handwritten notes after the call, sooner or later something is lost. That is why businesses look for a way to have every call at hand: in writing, searchable, ready to hand to a colleague and to check a month later.

Two quite different worlds meet here: a local recorder such as Cube ACR (installed on the phone) and recording at the level of the number, as in Heilo (in the cloud).

What is Cube ACR?

Cube ACR (“Call Recorder - Cube ACR” on Google Play, published by Cube Apps) is a call recorder for Android with a separate version for iPhone. On Android the app uses Accessibility services, and on Android 9 and later it needs an extra app, Cube ACR Helper, which the publisher distributes outside Google Play. On iPhone the recording is made by dialling a service number and merging the calls, so your carrier must support three-way calls. You can listen to recordings in the app, star them, export them or send them on.

What Cube does well:

• Local audio files of the calls you answer or place yourself
• A free version with ads, and paid Premium features
• Quick recordings for your own use
• Export or backup of recordings off the phone, if you set it up

What Cube does not do (and why that matters for a business):

• It does not create a shared company record of calls with customers, cases and statuses
• On Android 9 and later it needs the extra Cube ACR Helper app with its connector switched on, which can be sensitive to system updates and Google's policy
• It does not record calls you did not answer: when a customer rings and you do not pick up, there is nothing for Cube to record
• It offers no shared dashboard with summaries and tasks; only the iPhone app's description mentions transcription
• Every employee needs their own setup and has to remember to handle the recordings

Cube ACR reviews and prices

The figures below come from the app stores and the publisher.

• Google Play: in the US store, Cube ACR shows 50M+ downloads and 4.1 stars from 912K reviews, and the listing says it contains ads and in-app purchases (checked 19 October 2026).
• App Store: the iPhone app has 4.5 stars from 1.3K ratings in the US store (checked 19 October 2026).
• Premium on Android: the publisher says a Premium subscription only gives access to extra features and does not change the quality of call recording. Premium prices on Android are shown by Google Play inside the app (checked 19 October 2026).
• Premium on iPhone: call recording needs a Premium subscription: $7.99 a week, $34.99 for six months or $49.99 a year (subscription prices in the US App Store, checked 19 October 2026).

Store ratings do not tell you how an app will work in a team with different phones. Your own test decides how it works on a specific phone; see what to do when Cube ACR is not recording.

What is Heilo?

Heilo records calls at the level of the number, not with an app on the employee's phone. It has three plans.

Heilo Line: each rep gets their own Heilo business number, a Polish +48 number. Heilo connects inbound calls to the phone named in the dashboard, and the rep starts outbound calls in the dashboard with “Call via Heilo” (+48 numbers only). Calls through the number are recorded automatically, and by default a new number plays a recording notice to the other person. After the call Heilo prepares a transcript, a summary, suggested tasks and call coach notes.

Heilo Select: you keep your own number and add Heilo to a chosen call through conference calling. Heilo records from the moment it joins, and you inform the other person yourself.

Heilo Voicemail: once you set up forwarding at your carrier, a customer you do not answer can leave a missed-call message. Forwarding does not cover calls you answer, so calls answered on your private number are not recorded this way.

Heilo never holds a conversation with the caller. Playing a greeting or recording a voicemail message does not make it an AI receptionist.

For a B2B team, the destination is the company's existing CRM, through the configured API, webhooks, Zapier or Make. Built-in contacts, projects and tasks serve smaller firms without their own CRM; they do not make Heilo a replacement for a sales team's CRM. To check that a call really reaches your CRM, use the missing call in CRM checklist.

An employee does not need to install anything on their phone. They open the dashboard in a browser, see the list of calls, read the text, listen to the recording and call back.

Recording calls you answer

An example: after a week with Cube you have dozens of files on your phone named with a number and a date. To find the call in which a customer agreed a Thursday visit, you listen to several of them. In Heilo you open that customer's calls and read the summaries, and you put the question about all calls (“who asked for a visit on Thursday?”) to Heilo Studio.

Outbound calls

Cube ACR also records outbound calls made from the phone, if the setup works (Android) or after merging with the service number (iPhone). With Heilo Line you start an outbound call in the dashboard with “Call via Heilo”; a number dialled in the ordinary Phone app does not go through Heilo, so that call is not recorded. More in how to record outbound calls.

Recording calls you do not answer

Cube ACR does not record unanswered calls. There is no technical way to do it: the app can start only when you physically pick up the phone and the conversation begins. If you are on another phone, in the field, in the middle of a procedure or in a meeting, the customer simply hangs up. What they wanted, what they needed, what it was worth: you do not know.

Heilo takes them after you forward unanswered calls (Heilo Voicemail, also included in Heilo Select; on a Heilo Line number you switch on the “Voicemail” mode). A customer who cannot get through directly is passed on to Heilo. They hear your greeting (for example, “Hello, you have reached company XYZ. I am busy on another call, so please leave a message and I will call you back as soon as I can.”). They say what they need. Heilo:

1. records the whole message,
2. transcribes it into text,
3. extracts the key data: name, contact number (from caller ID), what it is about, when they want a call back, location,
4. summarises the request in a few sentences,
5. sends an SMS with the caller's details, the topic and a link, if you switch notifications on.

The result appears in the dashboard once the message has been processed; we do not promise a specific time. You call back knowing the context, instead of ringing blind to ask “did you call?”.

Organising the information from calls

Cube hands you audio files. The rest — pulling the information out of them, remembering it, connecting it to the previous call, assigning it to an employee — is up to you.

Heilo hands you organised data:

• Number history — the calls with a given number in one place
• Call topic — Heilo describes in one or two sentences what it was about
• Concrete facts — dates, prices, places and deadlines are highlighted in the transcript
• Status — To do / In progress / Done
• Customer potential — your own 1–10 rating of the chance of a sale
• Tasks and Planned — the next step and the date of the next call
• Your own notes — the employee adds what was agreed after calling back

In other words: Cube is a dictaphone, Heilo is a system that remembers for you.

No MP3 files to pass around

In Cube a business workflow often looks like this: the recording lands on the phone → you have to find it in the app → export it to Google Drive or email it → someone else has to download it → listen → write down by hand what was in it. That may be bearable for a single call. With 30 calls a week it is unworkable.

In Heilo there is no “send the file” phase. The call arrives in the dashboard after processing and is available to everyone with permission, with a transcript you can copy into the CRM, an offer or a work order. Recordings take up no space on the phone and are not lost with it, and nobody has to be taught “how to export a file from Cube”.

Rolling out to a team

Cube ACR requires every employee to:

• have a compatible phone and carrier,
• have the app or connector installed correctly,
• have the permissions and the recording method set properly,
• remember to check the recordings,
• pass the important files on by hand.

Typical problems in a team: after a system update recording needs setting up again, after a phone reset the local files disappear unless a backup was switched on, and a colleague with an iPhone needs a different way of recording than on Android.

To an employee, Heilo is an ordinary website. They log in, see the calls, read and call back. The dashboard opens in a browser, whatever the phone, system or Android version. You invite a new person to the team and give them a role. If they are to answer and place calls through Heilo, they get their own Heilo Line number; with Heilo Select their phone and carrier must support conference calling.

Comparison table

When Cube ACR is enough

Let us be honest: Cube is not useless to everybody.

• Personal use. You want a recording of a call with an office, a bank's helpline or a contractor, so you can go back to what was said. Cube may be enough for that, especially if your setup works reliably.
• One-off situations. Occasional recordings for your own purposes, with no ambition to build a database.
• You work alone, have a well-configured phone and do not handle many customers by phone. Cube may be enough.

In these scenarios Heilo is overkill. You would be paying for a business system you do not need.

When Heilo is the better choice

• You run a sales team. Each rep has their own Heilo Line number, and the calls, agreements and call coach notes land in one dashboard and in your CRM. Everyone sees the same base of calls, not five phones with different MP3 files.
• Part of the team has different phones and carriers. Cube then needs a separate setup for each person.
• You run a small service business and lose customers to unanswered phones: Heilo Voicemail takes a message when you do not pick up.
• You need an audit trail. A customer says “we agreed on Tuesday”, and you remember “Thursday”. The transcript lets you check what was said in the call.
• You want the other person to hear a recording notice. New Heilo Line numbers play one before the call by default. Heilo keeps a recording for 365 days by default and then deletes it, while the transcript stays; a call moved to the Trash is erased completely after 30 days. The legal basis and the duty to inform rest with your company as the data controller.

How to compare the two tools in practice

Compare the same job: an answered call against an answered call, not a Cube recording of a conversation against a Heilo voicemail message. Use the headset and the way of calling that the team actually uses. Check the recording first, then the names, amounts and next steps in the transcript. Record the failed attempts too, not only the successful ones.

What Heilo costs

Plans and prices are on the pricing page. Billing is monthly, per number. Each rep who answers and calls through Heilo needs their own Heilo Line number. Heilo Line starts after company verification, and the time depends on that verification. Heilo Voicemail and Heilo Select work with your current number. Cube ACR sells a subscription in the app store, while Heilo bills per number.

Checked: 19 October 2026

Summary

Cube ACR is a good call recorder for a single person, provided it works reliably in their setup. Heilo is a shared base of calls for a team, with a transcript, a summary, call coach notes and delivery to the CRM, including for calls nobody answered. For customer calls, the key question is not “what do we record with” but “how do we make sure no call is lost and that everyone on the team can reach it”. Cube answers that question only in part.

For other options, see the roundup of call recording apps; for the general rules, read how to record phone calls.

FAQ

Does Heilo also record calls that I answer myself?

Yes, if the call goes through Heilo. With Heilo Line, calls through the business +48 number are recorded automatically, inbound and outbound. With Heilo Select, Heilo records the call from the moment you add it through conference calling. Heilo Voicemail records only messages left after unanswered calls.

Does Heilo work on iPhone?

Yes. Heilo is not a phone app but a service at the level of the number, and you open the dashboard in a browser on any device. With Heilo Select, the phone, the plan and the carrier must support conference calling.

How does Heilo inform the other person, and how long are recordings kept?

On each number you set how Heilo informs the other person: new numbers start with the notice played before the call, and the text can be changed. With Heilo Select you inform the other person yourself. Recordings are kept for 365 days by default and then deleted, while the transcript stays. A call moved to the Trash is erased completely after 30 days. The legal basis and the duty to inform rest with your company as the data controller; see recording customer calls and GDPR.

Do I need a second number?

It depends on the plan. Heilo Voicemail and Heilo Select work with your current number: with the first you set up forwarding of unanswered calls at your carrier, with the second you add Heilo to the call. Heilo Line is a new business +48 number for each rep, which you answer on your own phone.

Can I listen to the original recordings, or only read the transcript?

You can do both. The dashboard has a player and a transcript with timestamps; selecting a timestamp takes you to that point in the recording. The recording is available for 365 days by default, after which Heilo deletes it and the transcript stays.

What if I already use Cube and want to move my old recordings to Heilo?

You cannot. Heilo transcribes only the calls that went through Heilo: through a business number, after you add it to a call, or on voicemail. Keep the old Cube files under your company's own rules, and try Heilo on new calls.