What each one is
Screenpipe's own description is a continuous local recorder that gives context to AI agents: screen, audio, and accessibility data stored in a local database on your device, queried through MCP from tools like Claude Desktop or Cursor. It is source-available under a commercial licence, with personal non-commercial use permitted and cross-platform support.
Nod does one narrower thing and finishes it: capture the conversation, write the notes, and let you ask across everything afterwards. There is nothing to wire up and no agent to configure.
| Nod | Screenpipe | |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | A finished app you open. | A capture layer you build on. |
| What is recorded | Conversations. The focused window as text only if you opt in. | Continuous screen, audio and input capture, by its own description. |
| Where it is stored | Your account, encrypted at rest in the EU. | Locally on your device. |
| Platform | macOS. | macOS, Windows and Linux. |
| Licence | Commercial, closed source. | Source-available; commercial use needs a licence. |
| Who it suits | Anyone who takes calls. | Developers assembling their own setup. |
Where Screenpipe is the better answer
If your requirement is that nothing leaves the machine at all, Screenpipe's fully local storage meets that in a way Nod does not. Nod transcribes in the cloud: audio goes through a European proxy to a hosted model under Zero Data Retention and is discarded the moment the text returns, and the transcript is then stored in your account. That is a real architectural difference and it is the honest reason to pick them over us.
If you want to build your own thing on a stream of screen and audio data, that is what Screenpipe is for and Nod is not a substitute.
Where Nod is the better answer
When you want an answer today rather than a project. Nod is installed and useful on the first call, with no agent to configure and nothing to self-host.
When the subject is conversations rather than everything. Nod captures meetings, calls and voice notes with speaker labels and summaries in fourteen languages, and only reads your screen if you switch ambient context on.
When you would rather record less. Nod does not capture keystrokes or continuous screen video, and its screen reading is opt-in, one focused window, text only, with an expiry you set.
Frequently asked questions
Is Nod local like Screenpipe?
Partly, and it is worth being precise. Capture and voice detection run on your Mac. Transcription does not: chunks go through a European proxy to a hosted model under Zero Data Retention, and the audio is discarded once the text returns. Transcripts and summaries are stored in your account, encrypted at rest in the EU.
Is Nod open source?
No. Screenpipe is source-available and auditable, which is an advantage if reading the code matters to you. What we can offer instead is a specific, checkable security page and export or deletion of everything from inside the app.
Does Nod record my screen all day?
No. Ambient context is off until you switch it on, and even then it reads the text of the focused window rather than recording video, skips your blocklist before reading anything, and expires entries on a clock you set. See ambient context.