A multilayer plate with isotropic (or transversally isotropic) layers strongly differing in rigidity is considered. This plate is reduced to an equivalent homogeneous transversally isotropic Timoshenko–Reissner plate whose deflections and free transverse vibration frequencies are close to those of the multilayer plate. By comparison with the exact solution of test three-dimensional problems of elasticity, the error of the proposed method is estimated both for the static problem and for free vibrations. This comparison can readily be carried out for the hinged edges of the plate, and explicit approximate formulas are obtained for the vibration frequencies. The scope of the proposed model turned out to be rather wide (the Young moduli of soft and rigid layers can differ by a factor of 1000). In the case of boundary conditions other than hinged support, a closed-form solution cannot be constructed in general. For rigidly fixed edges, the asymptotic method proposed by V. V. Bolotin is generalized to the case of a Timoshenko–Reissner plate.