DejaVu vs Screenpipe
Both remember your screen and let you search it. They are built for different people. Here is the factual comparison, as of October 2026.
In short
- Screenpipe is a powerful, cross-platform, scriptable platform — screen, audio and keyboard input — built for developers and teams.
- DejaVu is a Mac-only consumer app focused on one job — finding what you saw — with no audio and no keystrokes, opened with Touch ID.
- Screenpipe’s core moved to a source-available commercial licence on June 10, 2026; Basic costs $21/month or $250/year. DejaVu Pro is $79 once, $9/month or $59/year, and free with 3 days of memory.
We make DejaVu. We’ve tried to be fair: every claim about another product links to a public source.
Screenpipe is the best-known open project in this space, with about 22,000 stars on GitHub. It does a lot, on three operating systems, and developers build on it. DejaVu does less, on purpose, on one. The right choice depends on what you need.
At a glance
| DejaVu | Screenpipe | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Mac (macOS 26 or later, Apple silicon) | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Built with | Swift, ScreenCaptureKit, Vision, Apple’s hardware video encoder | Rust; desktop app in Tauri (Rust + TypeScript) |
| What it keeps | Compressed pictures of your screen when it changes, and their text | Event-driven screenshots, the accessibility text of your screen, audio (microphone and system, optional), keyboard input, app switches |
| Audio | Never | Yes, optional, transcribed locally or through a cloud service |
| What you type | Never kept | Keyboard input is captured |
| Where it is processed | On your Mac | On your computer by default; optional cloud AI, transcription and sync |
| Opening your history | Touch ID (your memory is encrypted on your Mac) | Not documented in the README |
| Analytics | None in the app | Product analytics and crash reporting on by default; can be turned off |
| For AI agents | Planned (local MCP server, later version) | SDK and MCP server today |
| Licence | Proprietary app | Source-available commercial licence since June 10, 2026 (personal non-commercial use free) |
| Price | Free with 3 days of memory; Pro $79 once, $9/month or $59/year; Family $119 (5 Macs) | Free tier; Basic $21/month or $250/year; Business $42/seat/month; new lifetime licences no longer sold |
| Status | Private beta | Active (latest desktop release October 14, 2026) |
Where Screenpipe is the better choice
- You need Windows or Linux. DejaVu is Mac only, and will stay that way.
- You want audio. Screenpipe can transcribe your meetings and calls. DejaVu never touches sound.
- You want to build on it. Screenpipe’s SDK, plugins and MCP server let you pipe your history into your own tools and agents today.
- You want to read the code. Screenpipe’s source is public (under its commercial licence); DejaVu’s is not.
Where DejaVu is the better choice
- You want a memory, not a log. DejaVu keeps what was on your screen and nothing about what you typed. It doesn’t hear anything. That makes it easier to trust, and easier to leave on.
- You want it to feel like a Mac app. DejaVu lives in the menu bar, opens with ⇧⌘Space like Spotlight, and is built on Apple’s own frameworks rather than a cross-platform layer.
- You want your history locked. Your memory is encrypted on your Mac and opens with Touch ID. The part of DejaVu that remembers can’t read the past back.
- You want a simple price. Free with 3 days of memory, or Pro once for $79. No seats, no tiers of history.
Privacy, in detail
Both apps keep your screen on your computer by default, which already sets them apart from cloud assistants. The differences are in the edges:
- Keyboard input. Screenpipe’s README lists keyboard input among what it captures. Keystrokes reveal more than screens: passwords typed in ordinary fields, messages you deleted before sending. DejaVu never logs keystrokes, and keeps nothing while you type a password.
- Analytics. Screenpipe ships product analytics and crash reporting, on by default, which you can turn off. DejaVu’s app has no analytics or telemetry at all, and your memories never leave your Mac.
- Opening the history. DejaVu requires Touch ID (or your password, depending on the level you choose) to search or scroll back. Recording needs nothing from you.
To compare any two apps yourself, use our screen memory privacy checklist.
Performance and disk
Both projects use event-driven capture: a frame is kept when something changes, not every second. DejaVu goes further on Mac by using the change regions macOS reports, a quick fingerprint of each frame, and Apple’s hardware video encoder; we explain how in How DejaVu decides what to keep. We will publish measured battery and disk figures from a MacBook Air before launch. Until then we won’t quote numbers for either app.
The bottom line
Choose Screenpipe if you want the most complete, scriptable record across platforms, including audio, and are happy to configure it. Choose DejaVu if you want a quiet, private Mac app that remembers what you saw — and nothing else.
Questions
Is Screenpipe still open source?
Not in the OSI sense. On June 10, 2026 its core moved from MIT to the “Screenpipe Commercial License”, which is source-available. Personal non-commercial use is free; commercial use needs a paid licence. Versions released earlier under MIT stay MIT.
Does DejaVu record audio like Screenpipe?
No. DejaVu never uses the microphone or system sound, and it never logs what you type. If you need meeting transcription, Screenpipe or a dedicated meeting tool fits better.
Does DejaVu work on Windows or Linux?
No. DejaVu is a Mac app, written in Swift on Apple’s frameworks, for macOS 26 or later on Apple silicon.
Can I use DejaVu with AI agents, like Screenpipe’s MCP server?
Not in version 1. A local MCP server, protected by Touch ID like the rest of your memory, is planned for a later version.
Sources
- Screenpipe README (platforms, capture, analytics, pricing note), GitHub · October 19, 2026
- Screenpipe Commercial License, GitHub · June 10, 2026
- Screenpipe pricing, Screenpipe
Public information as of the date above. If something has changed, write to [email protected] and we’ll correct it.