Screenpipe Alternative

The short answer

Screenpipe is infrastructure. DoneThat is a product built on top of the same idea.

Screenpipe records your screen text and audio into a local database and exposes it through an MCP server and a local API, so you and your AI tools can query what you saw, said or heard. What you do with that is up to you — and for a lot of people that is exactly the appeal. DoneThat takes the same raw material and hands you a finished thing: a reconstructed day, goals, and a coach that reaches out while you are still working.

Note the rename

This project was Mediar.ai and is now Screenpipe; screenpi.pe redirects to screenpipe.com. Older comparisons using the Mediar name are describing this tool.

What Screenpipe gets right

Local by default, properly. Screen frames, audio, transcripts and the search index are stored on your device, in a SQLite database and media files. Transcription can run locally with Whisper, and AI can run on a local model such as Ollama, so with the cloud features off nothing has to leave the machine. That is the strongest local position in the category — stronger than ours — and the main reason to pick it.

It queries. An MCP server lets Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code and other MCP clients search your history, and a REST API on localhost does the same for your own scripts. If you want to build something — meeting notes into your CRM, a custom daily digest — this is the substrate for it.

Full platform coverage. Desktop apps for macOS, Windows and Linux, with source builds as well. That matches DoneThat and beats most of this category. The README notes that Linux capture depends on the distribution and desktop environment, so test your setup first.

Screen text and audio. It reads screen text through the accessibility tree, with OCR as a fallback, and records system audio and microphone, so meetings and calls are searchable, not just what was on screen.

Source-available. The code is on GitHub under the Screenpipe Commercial License, so the capture path can be inspected, which for a tool that records everything is close to a requirement.

It is the Rewind successor. For people displaced when Rewind shut down in December 2025, this is the closest thing to a continuation, and we would point them here before pointing them at ourselves if raw recall is what they want.

Where they genuinely differ

Infrastructure versus workflow. Screenpipe gives you a searchable record, an MCP server and an API, and its pipes let you build automations on top. Turning that into "am I working on the right things?" is work you do. DoneThat has already done that work, and the answer is the product.

Reactive versus proactive. Screenpipe answers questions you and your agents ask it. Don reaches out first — nudging you onto goals, blocking calendar time, flagging low-value work while you can still fix it, checking your mood, reminding you of meetings, suggesting breaks.

Recall versus reconstruction. Screenpipe is optimised for finding a specific thing you saw or heard. DoneThat is optimised for summarising what you were doing and how long it took. Both read the screen; they are answering different questions.

Two answers on storage

Both products face the same problem and solve it in opposite directions, and neither is universally right.

Screenpipe keeps everything, locally by default. Continuous screen and audio capture into a database on your machine. The optional cloud features change that when you use them: cloud AI, cloud transcription, sync and integrations send the data each one needs to the service you configure. Product analytics and crash reports are on by default and can be turned off in Settings. The cost of keeping everything is that a complete record of your working life now exists on your disk — yours to secure, back up and eventually delete — and continuous capture of both screen and audio has a real resource footprint.

DoneThat keeps none of it. Screenshots are processed in real time and immediately deleted; only the derived structured activity persists. Excluded apps are redacted on your machine before anything is sent. With your own Gemini or OpenAI-compatible model, raw activity never reaches our servers. The desktop app is open source.

If your threat model is "I do not want a vendor to have this", Screenpipe wins. If it is "I do not want this recording to exist at all", we do.

Licence

Screenpipe is source-available, not open source. Source builds come under the Screenpipe Commercial License, which allows free personal, non-commercial, educational and research use, plus a seven-day evaluation at any organisation; commercial use needs a licence. Official builds come under Screenpipe's terms of service and plans. If licensing matters to you, read the terms before committing.

Pricing

Screenpipe publishes its prices. As of 5 October 2026:

DoneThat is subscription-based with a 14-day free trial; current prices are on the DoneThat download page.

Where Screenpipe is the better choice

• You want everything local. Nothing here beats a local database with the cloud features off.
• You are building something. The MCP server, the local API and pipes are the point.
• You want raw recall, including audio, rather than a summary.
• You are replacing Rewind and want the closest equivalent.
• You want to read the code before you let something record your screen.
• You want to start free. The free plan covers local capture and recent search; DoneThat is trial-then-paid.

Where DoneThat is the better choice

• You want a finished workflow, not a substrate to build on.
• You want coaching during the work, not a database to query afterwards.
• You want goals tracked and something that notices when you drift.
• You do not want a recording to exist. Processed and deleted beats stored-but-local, if that is your concern.
• You want a team dimension — summary-level dashboards, relative trends rather than per-person hours, visibility set per summary, optional mood tracking.
• You want peer accountability. Follow others, share summaries, Slack and Discord, accountability groups — all opt-in.
• You do not want continuous audio recording running on your machine.

How we compared these

Everything stated about Screenpipe comes from its public site, pricing page, README and licence, read on 5 October 2026 and linked below. In October 2026 a Screenpipe maintainer asked us to include it in our AI memory comparison and sent a summary of its capture, platforms, storage and licence; we checked each point against those public sources before using it. Nothing was paid for.

Claims about DoneThat are first-hand: we build it. Screenpipe's local-first storage is a stronger privacy position than ours, its API is more open, and for anyone who wants raw searchable recall it is the better tool — all said plainly above.

Questions people ask about Screenpipe

Is Screenpipe the same as Mediar.ai?

Yes — this is the same project, now under the Screenpipe name. Older comparisons referring to Mediar.ai are describing this tool, and the screenpi.pe domain now redirects to screenpipe.com.

Where does Screenpipe store my data?

On your device by default. Screen frames, audio, transcripts and the search index sit in a SQLite database and media files, served by a REST API on localhost. Cloud AI, cloud transcription, sync and integrations send the data each feature needs to the service you configure, and product analytics and crash reports are on by default until you turn telemetry off in Settings. With those off, it is the strongest local position in this category and stronger than DoneThat's.

Is Screenpipe open source?

It is source-available under the Screenpipe Commercial License. The code is on GitHub, and source builds are free for personal, non-commercial, educational and research use, plus a seven-day evaluation at any organisation; commercial use needs a licence. Official builds come under Screenpipe's terms of service and plans. That is a different status from an OSI licence such as Dayflow's MIT.

How much does Screenpipe cost?

There is a free plan with local capture and recent work search. Basic is $21 a month or $250 a year and adds full searchable history; Business is $42 per seat a month or $500 a year and adds device sync and team seats; Enterprise is priced per deployment. Checked 5 October 2026.

Does Screenpipe work with Claude and other AI tools?

Yes. It runs an MCP server for Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code and other MCP clients, plus a REST API on localhost. DoneThat also has an MCP server, at mcp.donethat.ai. The difference is what comes back: Screenpipe returns raw screen and audio history, DoneThat returns the reconstructed day, summaries and goals.

Screenpipe vs DoneThat?

Screenpipe gives you a local, queryable memory layer and leaves what to do with it up to you and your agents. DoneThat gives you a reconstructed day, goals and a coach that reaches out during the work. One is infrastructure, the other is a finished workflow — pick based on whether you want to build or to be coached.