ScreenMind is live · free · last verified 8 Nov 2026 · viability healthy
ScreenMind
ScreenMind builds a local, searchable AI screen memory with on-device Gemma 4 vision analysis.
ScreenMind is the Recall alternative you can actually audit — code, models, and storage all in your hands, with an MCP server that turns your own screen history into context for Claude Desktop or Cursor. The tradeoff is real: you clone a repo, install requirements, and pull a multi-gigabyte Gemma 4 model before your first capture, and there's no shared or multi-device setup.
Verdict generatedVerified 5d ago · liveness 76/100 · cite: rightaichoice.com/tools/screenmind
- Privacy-first users who want Recall-style screen memory with local inference and zero telemetry
- Developers wiring screen history into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VS Code through the MCP server
- Knowledge workers who need to search their day by meaning, not exact keywords
- Meeting-heavy professionals wanting local Zoom/Teams/Meet transcription without a subscription
- Teams needing shared dashboards, centralized screen history, or admin controls
- Buyers who require a vendor SLA or paid support before adopting a tool
- Anyone needing cloud sync or multi-device access to their screen memory
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Skip ScreenMind if you need shared team dashboards, centralized admin policy, or cloud sync across devices, or if you won't clone a GitHub repo and install Python dependencies before first capture.
Running the 12B model in BF16 is several gigabytes of download and wants far more VRAM than the 4GB baseline the README cites — most laptops will end up on E2B or E4B in Q4_0.
ScreenMind costs $0 under the MIT license, with no seats, usage meters, or per-capture fees — you pay only in local GPU time and disk. That puts it below screenpipe if you care about license terms rather than price, and far below subscription screen-memory or meeting-transcription products that charge per seat per month. The honest comparison for a small team is engineering time: the paid alternatives charge money to remove the setup and support work you take on here.
In short
ScreenMind — ScreenMind builds a local, searchable AI screen memory with on-device Gemma 4 vision analysis. Best for Privacy-first users who want Recall-style screen memory with local inference and zero telemetry, Developers wiring screen history into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VS Code through the MCP server, Knowledge workers who need to search their day by meaning, not exact keywords. Free to use.
What is ScreenMind?
ScreenMind — ScreenMind builds a local, searchable AI screen memory with on-device Gemma 4 vision analysis. Best for Privacy-first users who want Recall-style screen memory with local inference and zero telemetry, Developers wiring screen history into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VS Code through the MCP server, Knowledge workers who need to search their day by meaning, not exact keywords. Free to use.
ScreenMind is an MIT-licensed desktop app that captures your screen, runs each frame through Gemma 4 vision locally, and turns the result into a screen memory you can search by meaning or interrogate in chat. It's built for the crowd Microsoft Recall alienated — the README says so outright — and for anyone who wants an AI screen recorder whose data never leaves the machine. The network is only touched to pull llama-server, models, and integrations you switch on. Capture is content-aware: pHash change detection fires when the screen actually shifts instead of on a fixed timer, and a 3-tier per-app cache refreshes communication apps on a tighter staleness window than IDEs. Each frame gets Gemma 4 analysis covering app detection, activity category, mood, scene description, and spatial layout regions, at three speeds you pick — Accurate (~76s), Balanced (~40s), or Fast (~12s). Games, video editors, and 3D software auto-pause capture. Retrieval pairs MiniLM semantic embeddings with FTS5 keyword matching, so vague recall works about as well as an exact string. Chat is conversational RAG with follow-up support, and it cancels in-flight analysis to free the GPU in under a second. Around that core: Ctrl+Shift+V hold-to-record voice memos transcribed by Gemma 4's audio encoder, auto-detected meeting transcription for Zoom, Teams, Webex, Slack, Discord, and Google Meet (off by default), an analytics dashboard with an hourly heatmap, and Day Rewind timelapse playback. An in-app Model Hub pulls Gemma 4 E2B, E4B, or 12B in Q4_0, Q8_0, or BF16 without a terminal. Extensibility separates it from plain recorders: an Agent Platform for Markdown or Python automations, an MCP server exposing screen history to Claude Desktop, Cursor, and VS Code, Obsidian and Notion sync, HMAC-signed webhooks to Slack, Discord, and IFTTT, and keyword-triggered auto-bookmarks on things like git push or deploy. It's Python/FastAPI around llama.cpp, so it rewards tinkerers more than it rewards teams
Key features
- Content-change screen capture using pHash instead of a fixed timer
- On-device Gemma 4 vision analysis: app, activity, mood, scene, spatial layout
- Hybrid search combining MiniLM embeddings with FTS5 keyword matching
- Conversational RAG chat over screen history with follow-up context
- Voice memos via Ctrl+Shift+V, transcribed by Gemma 4's audio encoder
- Meeting transcription for Zoom, Teams, Webex, Slack, Discord, Google Meet
- Three analysis modes: Accurate (~76s), Balanced (~40s), Fast (~12s)
- Per-app pHash cache with 3-tier app-aware staleness windows
- Sensitive data filter redacts credit cards, SSNs, API keys, passwords
- AES encryption at rest with key in the OS keyring, plus PBKDF2 dashboard PIN
- Incognito mode and auto-delete retention (default 7 days)
- In-app Model Hub for Gemma 4 E2B, E4B, 12B in Q4_0, Q8_0, or BF16
- MCP server exposes screen history to Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code
- Agent Platform for Markdown or Python automation agents
- Day Rewind timelapse playback and analytics dashboard with hourly heatmap
Behind the verdict
We'd reach for ScreenMind in one specific situation: you liked the idea of Recall, read how Recall handled data, and decided you'd rather run the whole thing yourself. That's the pitch and it holds up — local inference, no telemetry, AES encryption with the key in the OS keyring, redaction of cards and keys before storage, and a default 7-day retention you can tune. The engineering choices aren't decorative. pHash change detection means you stop burning GPU on a static screen, and the per-app staleness tiers acknowledge that Discord moves faster than your IDE. Hybrid MiniLM plus FTS5 search fixes the usual failure of pure semantic recall, where an exact string you remember gets fuzzy-matched into nonsense. The sleeper feature is the MCP server. Pointing Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VS Code at your own screen history is a workflow no cloud tool can match, and the Agent Platform plus keyword auto-bookmarks on git push or deploy make it a personal event log as much as a memory. Voice memos and local meeting transcription round it out without a subscription in sight. Where it bites: setup. Expect an evening for clone, requirements, and a multi-gig model download before you capture anything, and CPU-only machines will feel the ~76s Accurate mode. Global hotkeys don't work on macOS yet — you drive things from the dashboard — and Linux hotkeys need root or input-group membership. If your team needs shared dashboards, admin controls, or a support SLA, this isn't the tool. The closest alternative is the thing it's copying: Recall, if you're Windows-only and comfortable with Microsoft's handling. Rewind is the polished commercial route. ScreenMind's edge is inspectable source and the MCP/agent layer; its cost is that you're the sysadmin.
Models under the hood
as of 2026-11-08
Limitations
- ScreenMind is an open-source project distributed via GitHub, so documentation and support rely on the maintainer and community; the repo showed 247 stars and 20 forks at the time of scraping.
- All analysis runs locally on Gemma 4, so performance and storage depend on your hardware and the model size you download through the in-app Model Hub.
- Frames are captured only when screen content changes (pHash-based), so static screens are not repeatedly re-analyzed.
as of 2026-10-20
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Is ScreenMind still active?
ScreenMind is live · free · last verified 8 Nov 2026 · viability healthy.
Viability score
How well maintained and how widely used is ScreenMind? Built from what the vendor actually publishes (docs, changelog, tutorials, integrations, pricing), whether the site is live, and how much real users discuss it. How we calculate this
Last calculated: November 2026
How we score →What do users say about ScreenMind?
What people actually say about ScreenMind — is it worth it?
Our community sentiment research written Jul 26, 2026 is more than 90 days old, so it is being re-reviewed against current data and is not shown.
How we verified this
Every listed fact about ScreenMind — pricing, features, links, status — is re-read from the vendor's own pages by our verification pipeline and each change is logged with a date; the last pass ran on 8 Nov 2026. Analysis is drafted with AI models and checked against our editorial standards before publishing; see how we verify.
Verification history
We have re-verified ScreenMind 17 times since . Each pass re-reads the vendor's own pages and re-checks every listed field against that evidence; passes where nothing had changed are marked as such.
- — changed pricing page, limitations, who should skip it, features, who it suits, description, our verdict, summary, pricing tiers
- — changed who should skip it, features, our verdict, summary, pricing tiers, description
- — changed limitations, pricing page
- — changed description, summary, who it suits, pricing tiers, features, our verdict
- — changed models, limitations, pricing page
- — changed models, who should skip it, description, who it suits, summary, our verdict, setup time, features, pricing fit, hidden costs, limitations, switching in, use cases, switching out, pricing tiers
Showing the 6 most recent of 17 verification passes.
Free to cite with attribution — this page re-verifies continuously.
How much does ScreenMind cost in 2026?
ScreenMind: Free to use. Pricing last verified 8 Nov 2026.
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where ScreenMind's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
ScreenMind costs $0 under the MIT license, with no seats, usage meters, or per-capture fees — you pay only in local GPU time and disk. That puts it below screenpipe if you care about license terms rather than price, and far below subscription screen-memory or meeting-transcription products that charge per seat per month. The honest comparison for a small team is engineering time: the paid alternatives charge money to remove the setup and support work you take on here.
Has ScreenMind's pricing changed?
No plan price for ScreenMind has moved since we began logging in Aug 2026; the pricing page is re-read on every verification pass.
Who should pick ScreenMind?
Pick ScreenMind if you are Privacy-first users who want Recall-style screen memory with local inference and zero telemetry, Developers wiring screen history into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VS Code through the MCP server, Knowledge workers who need to search their day by meaning, not exact keywords, Meeting-heavy professionals wanting local Zoom/Teams/Meet transcription without a subscription.
Look elsewhere if you are Teams needing shared dashboards, centralized screen history, or admin controls, Buyers who require a vendor SLA or paid support before adopting a tool, Anyone needing cloud sync or multi-device access to their screen memory, Users unwilling to clone a repo, install requirements, and download a Gemma 4 model first.
Skip it if Skip ScreenMind if you need shared team dashboards, centralized admin policy, or cloud sync across devices, or if you won't clone a GitHub repo and install Python dependencies before first capture.
GeneratedReal-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas ScreenMind actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
You hit a stack trace in a tutorial video two days ago and never copied it. You open ScreenMind's chat and ask what the error was, then point Claude Desktop at the MCP server to pull the surrounding screen history into your editor.
Outcome: The error text comes back from the FTS5 index even though you only half-remember the wording, and you fix the bug without re-watching the video.
You enable audio in Settings → Audio, then sit through three Zoom and Google Meet calls. ScreenMind detects voice, records, transcribes locally, and generates structured summaries alongside the captured frames.
Outcome: You have searchable transcripts and summaries for each call, stored encrypted on your own disk with no transcription subscription.
You leave ScreenMind running at startup in Balanced mode with the sensitive data filter on and a lengthened retention window, then use Day Rewind at the end of the week to see where the hours went on the hourly heatmap.
Outcome: You get a private, encrypted record of your week that never left the machine, and you can delete it on your own schedule.
Use cases
- Recall a code snippet you saw in a tutorial but never bookmarked.
- Search screen history for an exact error message that appeared days ago.
- Chat with your screen memory to retrieve meeting notes or project ideas.
- Auto-detect and transcribe Zoom, Teams, or Meet calls locally with structured summaries.
- Build a custom Markdown or Python agent that uses screen history as decision context.
- Keep a private, encrypted archive of everything displayed on your monitor.
- Dictate voice memos with Ctrl+Shift+V and have them transcribed on-device alongside a screenshot.
- Bookmark automatically when a keyword like git push or deploy appears on screen.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of ScreenMind — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
Developer: roughly 20-40 minutes — clone the repo, install the Python requirements from requirements.txt, launch, and pull a Gemma 4 E2B model in Q4_0 through the Model Hub. Privacy-first power user: an extra 10-15 minutes to enable audio in Settings, set retention, and turn on incognito or the PIN lock. Expect longer if you go for 12B BF16, since the download dominates.
Switching to or from ScreenMind
How to bring data in from common predecessors and how to get it back out — written for the switcher, not the buyer.
- →From Microsoft Recall: disable Recall, clone the ScreenMind repo, run the Model Hub download, and set a retention window long enough to keep the history you were relying on.
- →From screenpipe: keep your existing archive, install ScreenMind alongside it, and re-point any MCP client at ScreenMind's server once your history has built up.
- →From manual screenshots or bookmarks: turn on keyword-triggered auto-bookmarks for terms like deploy or git push and let capture replace the habit.
- ↗To screenpipe: export your ScreenMind history first, since there is no documented direct import path into screenpipe and its license terms differ from MIT.
- ↗To a hosted screen-memory product: treat moving as a fresh start — your encrypted local store and OS-keyring Fernet key do not transfer to a cloud service.
Resources & guides
- Resourcegithub.com
ScreenMind · ScreenMind
Helpful link from github.com
- Resourcegithub.com
README · ScreenMind
Helpful link from github.com
- Resourcegithub.com
MCP SETUP · ScreenMind
Helpful link from github.com
- Resourcegithub.com
Architecture · ScreenMind
Helpful link from github.com
- Resourcegithub.com
CONTRIBUTING · ScreenMind
Helpful link from github.com
- Resourcescreenmind.space
Home · ScreenMind
Helpful link from screenmind.space
Tutorials & Learning
YouTube returned 6 videos for “ScreenMind”, and we withheld 6: 6 could not be judged, because “ScreenMind” is a single word that other videos use for other things. We are showing none, because we could not prove any of them are about ScreenMind.
Official links
What are the best ScreenMind alternatives?
The closest alternatives to ScreenMind we list are Screenpipe, Clipto and MyScript Notes. Ranked by direct product-type match, not category overlap.
| Alternative | Pricing | Starts at | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screenpipe | Freemium | Pricing not published | — |
| Clipto | Freemium | Pricing not published | — |
| MyScript Notes | Paid | Pricing not published | — |
Alternatives to ScreenMind
View all
Screenpipe
Screenpipe records your screen and audio locally, turning your computer history into AI memory your agents can search.
Clipto
Clipto is a local-first AI memory platform that makes local video, audio, images and documents searchable by what's inside them
MyScript Notes
Handwriting-to-text AI notepad that converts pen notes to typed text, searchable ink and AI-generated study quizzes.
Tools that pair well with ScreenMind
Common stack mates teams adopt alongside ScreenMind, with the specific reason each pairing earns its keep.
Screenpipe
Screenpipe records your screen and audio locally, turning your computer history into AI memory your agents can search.
Clipto
Clipto is a local-first AI memory platform that makes local video, audio, images and documents searchable by what's inside them
MyScript Notes
Handwriting-to-text AI notepad that converts pen notes to typed text, searchable ink and AI-generated study quizzes.
ScreenMind vs its closest rival
ScreenMind's closest head-to-head is with Sublime Security — These two products are not competitors — they solve unrelated problems for unrelated buyers, so a head-to-head pick doesn't really exist. Choose ScreenMind if you're a macOS user who wants a free, private, on-device log of your screen and meetings you can chat with. Choose Sublime Security only if you run an enterprise SOC drowning in phishing reports and want AI agents that auto-triage user reports and write org-specific detections — and you have the analyst headcount to review them. Verdict generated
Head-to-head comparisons
Screenmind vs Sublime Security
These two products are not competitors — they solve unrelated problems for unrelated buyers, so a head-to-head pick doesn't really exist. Choose ScreenMind if you're a macOS user who wants a free, private, on-device log of your screen and meetings you can chat with. Choose Sublime Security only if you run an enterprise SOC drowning in phishing reports and want AI agents that auto-triage user reports and write org-specific detections — and you have the analyst headcount to review them.
GeneratedScreenmind vs Polycam
These are not competitors. Polycam is the tool you pick when you need to turn a physical space, object, or drone pass into a 3D model, floor plan, or point cloud — it competes with Matterport, magicplan, and DroneDeploy, not with anything on a Mac desktop. ScreenMind is a free macOS utility for people who want Recall-style screen memory and local meeting transcription without cloud calls or telemetry; it competes with Recall and paid meeting-notes subscriptions. If your problem is 'document this building,' buy Polycam (expect to move up to Business for exports). If your problem is 'remember what I saw on screen today,' download ScreenMind.
GeneratedScreenmind vs Push Security
These two don't compete — a buyer would never shortlist both. Push Security is a paid enterprise control ($5/user/month starting point for mid-market teams) that stops AiTM, ClickFix, device-code and consent phishing in the browser and governs shadow AI, sold to security and identity teams. ScreenMind is a free MIT-licensed macOS app that records your own screen, analyzes it locally with Gemma 4, and builds a private, searchable memory for individuals. If you're protecting an organization from phishing and rogue OAuth apps, buy Push Security. If you're an individual who wants Recall-style screen memory without telemetry, install ScreenMind. There is no trade-off to weigh here.
GeneratedFrequently asked questions
Best-of guides
For makers of ScreenMind
- Get a Verified Listing for ScreenMind ($39): a written decision within 1 working day.
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