Alternatives/Rewind AI·Screen memory

Best Rewind AI Alternatives in 2026

Rewind stopped capturing on December 19, 2025. Seven replacements compared on where your screen data is processed, which platforms they run on, and what they cost — including one discontinued product and one research preview, listed for context.

Download LUCI, freeLUCI vs Rewind →
CategoryScreen memory
Tools compared7
Platforms coveredMac · Windows · Linux
01 — Context

What happened to Rewind — and what it means for your replacement

Rewind pioneered searchable screen history on the Mac: it screenshotted your screen every few seconds, extracted the text, and let you scroll back through your own work. Its parent company rebranded to Limitless, pivoted toward a cloud-connected wearable Pendant, and was acquired by Meta in December 2025. Screen and audio capture in the Mac app was disabled on December 19, 2025, and the rewind.ai domain now serves a parked page.

That history matters when you pick a replacement, because Rewind covered two distinct workflows. One is the screen-history firehose — everything you saw, searchable. The other is meeting recall, which a bot-free notetaker serves better. The table below separates them, so you can replace the half you actually used rather than the whole product.

The other lesson is about who holds the data. Rewind was popular partly because it stored history locally, and the shutdown was possible because the company was acquirable. Keeping the record on your own disk reduces the risk that an acquisition or a cloud shutdown makes your existing history inaccessible.

02 — Criteria

How to judge a Rewind replacement

Four questions decide this, and only the first two are usually on a pricing page.

Q1

Where does the screen data get processed?

Your screen is the most sensitive stream you produce — messages, documents, credentials, other people's names. A tool that uploads captures to build its index turns all of that into someone else's database. There is a falsifiable test: turn off Wi-Fi and see whether search still works.

Q2

Screen memory, or just screenshots plus OCR?

Rewind was OCR over screenshots. Some replacements stop there, which means you can find a string you remember but cannot ask what you were working on. Tools that understand the capture — and keep a searchable record underneath — answer questions instead of returning a grid of thumbnails.

Q3

Does it capture audio and meetings too?

Microsoft Recall, by design and per its own documentation, does not record audio. If half your Rewind usage was recalling what was said on a call, a screenshots-only tool replaces half the product.

Q4

Can your AI tools reach the memory?

In 2026 the useful question is not only "can I search it" but "can Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor search it". A memory exposed over MCP stops being an app you visit and becomes context your agents fetch on their own.

03 — Side by side

Rewind AI alternatives compared

Capability and pricing details reflect each vendor's own public documentation and pricing pages as of July 2026. Vendors change tiers frequently — check before you buy.

ToolCaptureProcessingPlatformsPriceBest for
LUCIOur pickScreen + audio, bot-free100% on-device, encrypted at restMac & WindowsFree (sessions up to 4 h)Best for replacing Rewind’s meeting recall and chosen screen capture while keeping the record local
Screenpipe24/7 screen capture + audioOn-deviceMac, Windows, LinuxFree tier; $21/mo or $250/yr (Sept 2026)Best for developers who want the raw local capture pipeline and will build on top of it
Microsoft RecallScreenshots every few seconds — no audioOn-device (Copilot+ PC required)Windows 11 24H2+ onlyFree with a Copilot+ PCBest for Windows users who already own a Copilot+ PC and only want to retrace their own steps
OpenAI Codex ChronicleResearch previewScreen, scoped to coding workScreenshots sent to OpenAImacOS onlyRequires ChatGPT ProBest for Codex-only users on macOS who want the agent to stop asking the same questions
RemioScreen + browser auto-capture, audioCloudMac & WindowsFreemium + paid tiersBest for people who want automatic capture across apps and are fine with cloud processing
LimitlessDiscontinuedWearable Pendant, audio onlyCloudPendant + appNot available for new usersNot a viable migration — listed because search results still send people here
GranolaBot-free meeting capture — no screenCloud transcription, US-hosted AWSMac & WindowsFree tier; $14–$35/user/moBest for ex-Rewind users who only ever used it for meetings and want polish over privacy
04 — In detail

Every option, in detail

LUCI

Our pick

Best for replacing Rewind’s meeting recall and chosen screen capture while keeping the record local

Capture
Screen + audio, bot-free
Processing
100% on-device, encrypted at rest
Platforms
Mac & Windows
Price
Free (sessions up to 4 h)
Maintenance
Actively developed and shipping; your memory lives on your own disk regardless of what happens to any one vendor

LUCI covers the two workflows Rewind was used for — a searchable record of what you saw and what was said — on your own machine. Capture, understanding, and storage all happen on-device and encrypted at rest, so it keeps working with Wi-Fi off and the record lives on your own disk rather than in a vendor account. One deliberate difference: it captures meetings and screen activity you opt into rather than reproducing Rewind’s always-on firehose — the design behind Rewind’s battery-drain and accidental-capture complaints.

Two things it adds over Rewind. It transcribes meetings without sending a bot into the call, with on-device speaker identification, so "what did the CFO push back on?" is answerable. And the Agent Bridge hands the whole memory to the agents you already use — works with Claude, Cursor, and Codex, and LUCI connects itself — so your tools pull the context instead of you re-pasting it.

LUCI vs RewindAI screen recorder

Screenpipe

Best for developers who want the raw local capture pipeline and will build on top of it

Capture
24/7 screen capture + audio
Processing
On-device
Platforms
Mac, Windows, Linux
Price
Free tier; $21/mo or $250/yr (Sept 2026)
Maintenance
DIY — you run and maintain the stack yourself

Screenpipe is the most literal Rewind successor: continuous local screen recording with OCR and text search, source-available, scriptable through community "pipes". If what you miss is the firehose itself and you are comfortable with setup, it is the closest architectural match, and Linux support is a genuine advantage.

The gap is the layer above capture. It is OCR and text search rather than real-time understanding, there is no persistent memory across your work, and no way for agents to query it. You are buying a pipeline, not answers.

LUCI vs ScreenpipeScreenpipe alternatives

Microsoft Recall

Best for Windows users who already own a Copilot+ PC and only want to retrace their own steps

Capture
Screenshots every few seconds — no audio
Processing
On-device (Copilot+ PC required)
Platforms
Windows 11 24H2+ only
Price
Free with a Copilot+ PC

Recall is screen memory built into Windows, and it keeps snapshots on the device with keys held in a VBS enclave. If you own qualifying hardware it costs nothing extra. It is also the narrowest option here: Windows-only, gated on a Copilot+ PC (40-TOPS NPU, 16 GB RAM), and per Microsoft's own documentation it does not record audio — so meetings are out of scope entirely.

Two practical limits worth knowing before you rely on it. Its sensitive-information filter has been shown in hands-on testing to miss credit card and Social Security numbers (as tested by Tom's Hardware, and retested by The Register in August 2025), and it is disabled and removed by default on managed enterprise devices, so IT has to opt you back in. Signal, Brave, and AdGuard also block Recall from capturing their windows.

LUCI vs Microsoft Recall

OpenAI Codex Chronicle

Research preview

Best for Codex-only users on macOS who want the agent to stop asking the same questions

Capture
Screen, scoped to coding work
Processing
Screenshots sent to OpenAI
Platforms
macOS only
Price
Requires ChatGPT Pro

Chronicle is the most interesting design in this list: a two-stage pipeline where one model extracts candidate memories and another consolidates them in the background, deliberately keeping only durable context — preferences, recurring workflows, your stack, project conventions, known pitfalls — and storing pointers to better sources rather than copies.

It is also the most tightly boxed: macOS only, ChatGPT Pro only, Codex only, and it uploads screenshots to OpenAI to build the memories. Because the extraction is deliberately lossy, detail it judges one-off is discarded and cannot be recovered — there is no raw record underneath to drill back into.

LUCI vs Codex Chronicle

Remio

Best for people who want automatic capture across apps and are fine with cloud processing

Capture
Screen + browser auto-capture, audio
Processing
Cloud
Platforms
Mac & Windows
Price
Freemium + paid tiers

Remio covers a similar surface to Rewind — continuous screen capture, browser activity, audio transcription — with agentic retrieval over what it collects, and it runs on both Mac and Windows.

The trade-off is the one Rewind users are usually most sensitive to: it is cloud-based, so the capture leaves your machine. If you are replacing Rewind specifically because you liked that the archive was local, this is the wrong shape.

LUCI vs Remio

Limitless

Discontinued

Not a viable migration — listed because search results still send people here

Capture
Wearable Pendant, audio only
Processing
Cloud
Platforms
Pendant + app
Price
Not available for new users
Maintenance
Requires wearing hardware; memory lives in their cloud. New Pendant sales stopped after the December 2025 Meta acquisition (verified 2026-08-16 — check their site for current status)

Limitless is where Rewind went, not an escape from it: same company, acquired by Meta in December 2025, with new Pendant sales stopped and the service pulled in several regions including the EU, UK, and Brazil. Existing Pendant customers were grandfathered for a period.

It appears in this table only because "Rewind alternative" searches still surface it. Migrating from a discontinued product to its discontinued sibling solves nothing.

LUCI vs Limitless

Granola

Best for ex-Rewind users who only ever used it for meetings and want polish over privacy

Capture
Bot-free meeting capture — no screen
Processing
Cloud transcription, US-hosted AWS
Platforms
Mac & Windows
Price
Free tier; $14–$35/user/mo

If you look honestly at your Rewind usage and it was almost all "what did we agree on that call", a dedicated notetaker is a better fit than a screen recorder. Granola is the most polished of them — clean notes, good templates — and it captures without sending a bot into the meeting.

Know what you are trading. Per Granola's own documentation, audio is passed to a cloud transcription provider with transcripts stored on US-hosted AWS, non-Enterprise accounts train on anonymized data unless you opt out, it cannot sign BAAs, and the desktop app has no live speaker diarization — speech is labelled "Me" or "Them". It also does not capture your screen, so the Rewind half of the product is gone.

LUCI vs GranolaGranola alternatives
05 — Decision

Which one, given what you used Rewind for

You want meeting recall plus screen capture, and the record has to stay on your machine

LUCI

You want the raw local capture pipeline and intend to build on it

Screenpipe

You are on Windows, own a Copilot+ PC, and only need to retrace your own steps

Microsoft Recall

You only care about your coding agent remembering your setup, on macOS

Codex Chronicle

You mostly used Rewind for meeting recall and want the most polished notes

Granola — or LUCI if the audio must stay local

06 — FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is Rewind AI shut down for good?

The original Mac product is. Rewind's parent company (renamed Limitless AI) was acquired by Meta in December 2025, and screen and audio capture in the Mac app was disabled on December 19, 2025. The rewind.ai domain no longer serves the Mac app; as of August 2026 it resolves to an unrelated AI-tools site (checked 2026-08-17). Existing Pendant customers were grandfathered onto a paid plan for a period, but the Rewind Mac app is no longer sold or developed.

What is the closest thing to Rewind that still works?

It depends which half you used. For searchable screen capture plus meeting recall, all processed and stored on-device, LUCI is the closest actively shipping option on Mac and Windows — though it captures what you opt into rather than reproducing Rewind's always-on firehose. For that continuous capture pipeline specifically, Screenpipe is the nearest architectural match. Microsoft Recall covers screen history on Windows but records no audio.

Can I import my old Rewind data?

Only what you exported before the December 19, 2025 shutdown. If you have exported transcripts, LUCI can import them as searchable memory; LUCI does not support raw Rewind screen-recording archives, and check whatever tool you pick for what it accepts. Either way, the practical move is to start a new local record now rather than later.

Is there a free Rewind alternative?

Yes. LUCI is free and processes everything on-device, with sessions of up to four hours and no monthly quota. Microsoft Recall is included with Windows 11 but requires a Copilot+ PC and captures no audio. Meetily is free and open source (MIT) for meeting notes but does not do screen memory. Screenpipe has a limited free tier, with paid plans from $21 a month as of September 2026; the old $400 lifetime licence is no longer sold.

Do any Rewind alternatives avoid the battery drain?

The drain came from screenshotting everything every couple of seconds — users reported roughly 10% per hour on laptops. Tools that capture deliberately rather than continuously avoid most of it. Continuous-capture tools like Screenpipe make the same trade Rewind did, since the cost is inherent to the firehose.

Which alternatives keep my screen data off the cloud?

LUCI, Screenpipe, and Microsoft Recall all process and store on-device. Codex Chronicle uploads screenshots to OpenAI, and Remio and Granola are cloud-based. The test that settles it for any tool: disconnect from the network and see whether capture and search still work.

LUCI vs RewindRewind shut down: what to doAI screen recorderWhat is screen memory?All comparisons
Switching from Rewind AI?

Meetings and screen, remembered on your own machine.

Free on Mac and Windows. No bot in the call. Your agents can read it.

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