Your personal memory, on your machine.
Find anything you saw, read or did — without recording your screen, without the cloud, without a subscription.
Free to join. No spam. We'll only email you when the beta is ready.
"Wait… where did I see that?"
That article. That message. That price. That setting you changed last week. You know you saw it — you just can't find it again. Your browser history is a mess, search doesn't cover apps, and your own memory has limits.
Tabs, apps, PDFs, chats — your day is scattered across a dozen tools that don't talk to each other.
You remember seeing it, not where. The detail you need is gone right when you need it.
The tools that promised to fix this either died, got bought, or want your whole screen in their cloud.
How Trace works
Three quiet steps. Everything happens on your computer — nothing leaves it.
Light capture
Trace notes lightweight signals: your browser history, the active app/window, and clipboard text. No 24/7 screen recording. Screenshots with OCR are optional and off by default.
Local indexing
Everything is indexed and encrypted on your machine. The exclusion filter runs before anything is written, so private apps, domains and incognito windows never get recorded.
Search & timeline
Search any word you remember, or scroll a timeline to answer "what did I do on Tuesday?". Instant, fully offline, and yours alone.
Privacy you can actually verify
Most "private" memory apps still phone home. Trace is built so you don't have to take our word for it.
Verifiable zero-network
Trace works with your firewall closed. No telemetry, no accounts, no sync. If it can't reach the internet, it doesn't need to.
Exclusions before capture
Block apps, domains and private/incognito windows. The filter runs before anything is written to disk — not after.
Encrypted at rest
Your index lives in an encrypted store on your own disk. Delete any moment, any day, or wipe everything in one click.
Open-core engine
The capture-and-storage engine is open source and auditable. See exactly what's collected — and what never is.
How Trace compares
The honest version. Here's where the other tools stand today.
| Trace | Rewind / Limitless | Screenpipe | Microsoft Recall | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still alive & independent | Yes | Bought by Meta, app killed Dec 19, 2025 | Yes | Tied to Microsoft |
| Truly local / offline | Yes — works firewall-closed | Cloud-leaning | Local, but cloud upsell | Local, but controversial |
| Lightweight | Light signals, not 24/7 video | Heavy screen recording | >10GB RAM, >100% CPU | Constant snapshots |
| Pricing | Single payment ($39 early-bird) | Subscription (discontinued) | $25–49/mo cloud | Needs a "Copilot+ PC" |
| Hardware requirement | Any modern PC | Mac-first | Beefy machine | Copilot+ PC only |
Comparison reflects publicly reported facts as of mid-2025 and is provided in good faith. Product names belong to their respective owners.
Detailed comparisons: Rewind alternative for Windows · Limitless alternative · Microsoft Recall alternative · Screenpipe alternative
Simple, honest pricing
Pay once. Own it forever. An optional AI tier is coming later — entirely local, never required.
Lifetime
one-time payment
- Full local memory: capture, search & timeline
- Windows, macOS & Linux
- Open-core engine, encrypted at rest
- All future updates of the desktop app
Waitlist members get the $39 price locked in.
Pro AI
per month · optional
- Semantic chat over your own memory
- Runs on a local AI model — still no cloud
- "What was that tool I researched in March?"
- 100% optional — Lifetime works without it
Planned after the desktop app ships.
Be first in line
Trace is in early development. Join the waitlist to get the beta, lock in the $39 lifetime price, and help shape what gets built.
Frequently asked questions
Does Trace record my screen all the time?
No. That's the whole point. Trace captures lightweight signals — browser history, the active window, clipboard text — instead of recording continuous video. Screenshots with OCR are an opt-in extra, off by default, and only fire when you switch focus.
Is any of my data sent to the cloud?
No. Trace has no servers and no accounts. It's designed to run with your firewall closed, and the open-core engine lets you verify there's no network activity.
How is this different from Microsoft Recall?
Recall is tied to "Copilot+ PCs", takes constant snapshots, and has drawn serious privacy criticism. Trace runs on any modern PC, captures far less, filters exclusions before writing anything, and is transparent and optional by design.
What happened to Rewind / Limitless?
Rewind (later Limitless) was acquired by Meta and its app was shut down on December 19, 2025. Trace exists to be the independent, truly-local successor for people who still want this without a big-tech owner.
Which platforms are supported?
Trace targets Windows, macOS and Linux. Waitlist members will be told which platform builds are ready first.
When can I use it, and what does it cost?
It's in early development. Joining the waitlist locks in the $39 early-bird lifetime price (regular price $59). A local-AI "Pro" tier is planned later and is fully optional.