The best Screenpipe alternatives for Mac

Screenpipe records what happens on your computer, your screen and your audio, and makes that history searchable by you and by AI tools. It reads text through the Mac's accessibility data and from screen frames, transcribes audio, and lets you scrub back through your day. AI apps reach it through a local API and an MCP server. Its site says raw history stays local by default, and you can exclude apps, windows and URLs and hide sensitive fields on your device. It runs on macOS 13 or later, Windows 10 or later, and Linux.

It has changed a lot this year. Its GitHub page now describes it as a way to record your company's computer work, map workflows and power agents, and on June 10, 2026 the core code moved from the MIT license to the Screenpipe Commercial License (Screenpipe on GitHub). Personal, non-commercial use of the source is still free; business use needs a license. New lifetime licenses are no longer sold, though existing ones stay valid.

We make Koi, the first pick below, so read this with that in mind. Prices and features for every app come from their own sites and GitHub pages, checked October 21, 2026, in USD.

• It isn't open source anymore. Since June 10, 2026 the code is source-available under its own commercial license, and work use needs a paid license.
• It's a subscription now. Free covers one device; full searchable history and MCP context are in Basic at $21 a month, or $250 a year. Business is $42 a seat.
• It's heavy by nature. Its pricing page plans for 600 MB to 4 GB of memory and about 30 GB of storage a month, depending on settings.
• You wanted an assistant, not a database. Screenpipe is built for people who wire up AI agents; it doesn't answer you out loud or show you where to click.
• You don't want everything recorded. Even with exclusions, an always-on recorder sees most of your day.

A lot of people run Screenpipe so that an AI app knows what they've been working on. Koi does a narrower version, from what you've kept rather than everything you saw:

1. Open Koi's Settings and go to Connections, then AI apps.
2. Pick Claude, Cursor or Codex, and Koi adds itself to that app's MCP settings beside what's there. For Claude Code, it copies the command for you.
3. In that app, ask about your work: “find what we said about the pricing page in last week's calls”.
4. The app searches and reads your Koi documents, calls and dictations on your Mac, and can write pages and keep your calendar too.
5. To stop it, remove Koi from that app's MCP settings.

Nothing of it goes through our server; what the AI app reads goes to its own AI under its own terms. Our post on Koi and MCP lists every tool.

More than most always-on tools. Its site says raw history stays local by default, the database lives on your computer, and you can exclude apps, windows and URLs and hide fields like passwords and API keys on your device before anything is stored. What leaves is what you send: context you share with an AI app goes to that app's AI, and the Business plan syncs your context across your devices. Its site doesn't spell out where that sync is kept.

The bigger question is how much you want recorded at all. Screenpipe sees your day unless you exclude it. Koi sees one picture of the screen when you ask a question, takes none while a password is being typed, and sends it with your voice to the AI provider during that call. Our server keeps what the call cost, not what was said or shown, as the trust page lists.

• Want help with what's on screen, plus calls and notes kept on your Mac? Koi.
• Want a screen history that's free and open source? OpenRecall.
• Want an always-on memory without the setup? Littlebird, or Highlight AI.
• Want to ask about your screen out loud, for free? HeyClicky.

If Screenpipe's draw was Rewind, read Rewind AI alternatives. For the wider field, see the best AI assistants for Mac and our guide to an AI that controls your Mac. Koi's plans list everything; Lifetime is $59 for the first 25 buyers, rising to $199.