The best Rewind AI alternative in 2026: ThreadRecall
Looking for a Rewind AI replacement after Meta acquired Limitless? If what you wanted was a private way to remember your AI conversations, ThreadRecall is the focused alternative.
Rewind's original idea was powerful: your computer should remember the work you have already done. It captured screen and audio activity and made that history searchable. The pitch resonated because everyone doing serious work on a Mac knows the pain of losing context.
But there are two very different problems hiding under the word memory. One is remembering everything your computer displayed. The other is remembering the thinking you did with AI tools. ThreadRecall is built for the second one.
What happened to Rewind AI?
In December 2025, TechCrunch reported that Meta acquired Limitless, the AI startup formerly known as Rewind. The company said it would no longer sell new hardware devices, and that non-pendant software including Rewind would be wound down.
9to5Mac also reported that the Rewind Mac app would be discontinued, with screen and audio capture disabled starting December 19, 2025. For many original Rewind users, that changed the trust story overnight.
Why ThreadRecall is the narrower replacement
Rewind tried to record everything: every meeting, every browser tab, every app window, every private screen. ThreadRecall does not do that. It captures conversations from the AI tools where your active thinking now happens: Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Gemini, and Perplexity.
That narrower scope is not a limitation we are trying to hide. It is the point. AI conversations are already high-signal. You asked a question, tested an idea, drafted something, debugged something, or made a decision. ThreadRecall saves that thread without recording your screen or your audio.
- Local-first: captured AI conversations stay on your Mac.
- No screen recording: ThreadRecall captures supported AI conversations, not your whole desktop.
- No account required for core local use: the memory layer is on your machine.
- Obsidian sync: export captured sessions as Markdown notes into the vault you choose.
- Apple Silicon beta: the current public beta requires an Apple Silicon Mac.
ThreadRecall vs Rewind vs Screenpipe
If you want the closest spiritual successor to Rewind's full-screen capture model, Screenpipe is the obvious tool to evaluate. If you want the memory of your AI work without storing every moment on your screen, ThreadRecall is the cleaner fit.
| Question | ThreadRecall | Rewind / Limitless | Screenpipe |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it captures | AI conversations across supported tools | Historically screen and audio activity | Screen and mic activity |
| Privacy surface | Narrow: AI chat content only | Broad: desktop activity | Broad: desktop and audio activity |
| Current status | Early access Mac app | Rewind app discontinued after Limitless acquisition | Active local-first project |
| Best for | People who think through AI tools every day | Former Rewind users evaluating what to replace | Developers and power users who want wider capture |
| Obsidian workflow | Built-in Markdown export to your vault | Not the core workflow | Possible through configuration and plugins |
Who should choose which tool?
Choose Screenpipe if you want full computer memory
Screenpipe says it records your screen and mic 24/7 on your own machine, and its GitHub page describes it as local, private, and open source. If your goal is to reconstruct meetings, revisit browser activity, or give agents a wide view of what happened on your computer, Screenpipe is closer to the original Rewind shape.
Choose ThreadRecall if you want AI conversation memory
ThreadRecall is for the person whose valuable context lives in AI chats. You do not need a recording of every screen to remember the product positioning you worked through in Claude, the refactor you debugged in Codex, or the research path you explored in Perplexity. You need those conversations saved, searchable, and portable.
Join early access and keep your Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Gemini, and Perplexity context on your Mac.
Frequently asked questions
Is ThreadRecall a screen recorder?
No. ThreadRecall does not try to record your full screen or your microphone. It captures supported AI conversations and indexes them locally.
Does ThreadRecall replace every Rewind use case?
No. If you used Rewind to find a random webpage, a meeting moment, or a non-AI app interaction, a wider capture tool is more appropriate. ThreadRecall replaces the AI-thinking part of the workflow.
Does ThreadRecall upload my AI conversations?
During normal product use, ThreadRecall stores captured AI conversations locally on your Mac and does not upload the content of your AI conversations to ThreadRecall servers. The formal details live in the Privacy Policy.
Does it work on Intel Macs?
The current beta requires an Apple Silicon Mac. Intel is not supported.
