The best AI voice assistants for Mac in 2026
The best AI voice assistants for Mac: Koi, HeyClicky, Vellum Ambient, VoiceOS, Siri AI, Raycast, Highlight and more, compared on screen, actions and price.
Why switch
Why look for a Littlebird alternative?
Littlebird calls itself your always-on AI assistant. It learns by reading the window you're working in, takes meeting notes without a bot, runs routines like a morning briefing and remembers your work so you can ask about it later. People who look elsewhere usually want one of these:
- Less watching. It reads the active window all day; some people would rather an assistant looked only when asked.
- Their history at home. Littlebird stores what it captures encrypted on AWS. Some want it kept on their own computer.
- A voice. Littlebird's site doesn't mention talking to it or dictation.
- An Intel Mac. The Mac app needs Apple silicon and macOS 13 or later.
We make Koi, the first pick below, so read this with that in mind. Every fact about the other apps comes from their own sites, checked October 16, 2026, in USD.
Before you go
Stay on Littlebird if
- You want a memory that builds itself, without you saving anything. Koi only knows what you show it or keep in its documents.
- You use its routines, MCP access or integrations. Koi has no routines and no MCP connectors.
- You need Windows or a phone companion. Koi is Mac only.
- You want a free plan, or a student price: Plus is $15 a month for students. Koi has neither.
- Your company needs SOC 2 Type II or HIPAA. Littlebird lists both; Koi has no such report.
The picks
5 Littlebird alternatives for Mac
1. Koi
Best for: An assistant that looks only when you call it, with calls kept on your Mac
Koi is the opposite bet. It sees nothing until you ask: tap Fn + ⌘ once, talk, and it answers out loud. A picture of the screen goes with each question, or only when you ask, or never. It circles the button you need, draws diagrams over the screen, rewrites selected text in any app and clicks for you, and never buys, sends, posts, deletes or signs in.
For meetings, tap Fn + ⌃ and pick Online call or In person. No bot joins, You and Them are transcribed on your Mac, and notes come only if you say yes. Your documents, calls and what Koi remembers about you are files on your Mac, with no cloud copy. Ask “what did Sam say about pricing?” and it searches them on the Mac. The AI itself is online, so your voice and the screen picture go to the AI provider during a call.
The catches: no memory of what you didn't keep, no routines, no integrations beyond Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and Reminders, and no free plan. It's Mac only (macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel). Pro is $20 a month after a 3-day trial that needs a card, or pay once for Lifetime from $59.
2. Highlight AI
Best for: The same always-on idea, with briefs, recaps and drafts
Highlight is Littlebird's closest rival. Its privacy page says it continuously observes your screen to find moments where it can help, minus the apps, sites and windows you exclude, and classifies what it sees for sensitive data on your device first. It writes meeting summaries, pre-meeting briefs, a morning brief and an end-of-day recap, and drafts emails, docs and Slack messages that wait for your approval.
It costs more: Lite is $35 a month, Pro $60 and Max $200, after a 14-day trial on Lite and Pro, with no free plan. It lists SOC 2 Type 2. See Highlight AI alternatives for more.
3. Screenpipe
Best for: An always-on memory kept on your own computer
Screenpipe calls itself your computer history, open to any AI. It records your screen, audio and app history, and AI tools search it through its API or MCP. Its site says raw history stays local by default. It runs on Mac, Windows and Linux.
It's free on one device. Basic is $21 a month, and Business $42 a seat, which syncs across devices. It's built for people wiring up AI agents more than for someone who wants a ready-made assistant, and its site now calls it source-available.
4. Granola AI
Best for: Bot-free meeting notes on every device, free to start
If Littlebird's meeting notes were the part you used, Granola AI is the best-known swap. You jot during the call and it fills your notes in from the transcript afterwards. No bot joins, and it runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and Apple Watch, in 32 languages.
Basic is free with 30 days of meeting history, and Business is $14 per user a month. Its security page says Granola trains its own models on anonymized data unless you opt out. More in Granola AI alternatives.
5. Shadow
Best for: Cheap bot-free notes, transcribed on the Mac
Shadow captures what's said and shown in meetings, with no bot and with transcription on the Mac, and keeps screenshots of what's shared. Action Skills on a hotkey paste their results where your cursor is. There's a free plan, and Plus is $8 a month.
Comparison
Littlebird vs the alternatives, side by side
| Best for | Watches all day | History kept | Price to start | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Littlebird | A work memory that builds itself | Yes, the active window | Encrypted on AWS | Free, Plus $17 a month yearly |
| Koi | On-call help, calls kept on your Mac | No, only with a question | On your Mac | 3-day trial, then $20 a month |
| Highlight AI | Briefs, recaps and drafts | Yes, minus what you exclude | Encrypted in its cloud | 14-day trial, then $35 a month |
| Screenpipe | A memory on your own computer | Yes, screen and audio | Local by default | Free on one device |
| Granola AI | Meeting notes everywhere | No | Its cloud | Free, 30 days of history |
| Shadow | Cheap meeting notes | Meetings only | On the Mac, it says | Free, Plus $8 a month |
The real choice
Always on, or only when you call?
Littlebird's pitch is that you never have to save anything: it saw it, so you can ask about it. Its Product Hunt reviews are warm, with the odd note that it sometimes gets a detail wrong. The cost is that it reads your work all day and keeps it in its cloud, which it blocks for passwords, cards and banking sites and never uses for training.
Koi's pitch is the reverse: it sees only what you show it, when you ask, and keeps your documents and call transcripts on your Mac. That's less to worry about and less to work with. It won't remember a tab you closed an hour ago. Decide which of those you'd miss more. Our trust page lists what Koi sends and keeps.
Choosing
Which Littlebird alternative should you pick?
- Same idea, more polish, bigger budget? Highlight AI.
- Same idea, but your history on your own computer? Screenpipe.
- Mostly meetings? Granola AI on every device, Shadow for less, or Koi with the call's video on your Mac.
- An assistant you talk to, that looks only when asked and does things for you? Koi.
See also the best AI note takers for Mac and how Koi records calls.
Keep exploring
The best Highlight AI alternatives for Mac
Highlight AI has no free plan and costs $35 to $200 a month. Six Mac alternatives, from always-on memory to help that looks only when asked. Checked Oct 2026.
The best HeyClicky alternatives for Mac in 2026
HeyClicky (Clicky AI) alternatives for Mac: Koi, Vellum Ambient, Guidy, VoiceOS, Highlight, Raycast and Siri AI. Who points, who clicks, and what it costs.
An AI that can see your screen, on your Mac
Koi for Mac is an AI that sees your screen. Tap two keys and ask out loud: it points, draws, rewrites text and clicks, but never pays, sends or deletes.
Support
Frequently asked questions
Basic is free with daily credits and limited meeting notes. Plus is $17 a month billed yearly, Power $42 a month billed yearly and Pro $100 a month, per its pricing page on October 16, 2026. Students get Plus for $15 a month.
No. Its Mac app needs Apple silicon and macOS 13 or later. It also has a Windows app and phone companions. Koi runs on Intel and Apple silicon Macs with macOS 14 or later.
Screenpipe says raw history stays local by default. Koi keeps documents, call transcripts and memory on your Mac, though its AI is online during a call.
Littlebird reads your active window all day and remembers it for you. Koi looks only when you ask, answers out loud, points and clicks on the screen, and records calls on your Mac. It has no routines or integrations, and no free plan.