Perfect Memory vs Microsoft Recall: screen history for any PC, and for Mac
Recall is Microsoft's version of the idea Perfect Memory is built on: take snapshots of your screen, read the text on them on your own PC, and let you search the result later. If you have a Copilot+ PC, it is already in Windows 11 and costs nothing. If you don't, you can't run it at all. I build Perfect Memory, so read this with that in mind. I have tried to say plainly where Recall is the better choice.
Who can run Recall
Recall needs a Copilot+ PC: Windows 11 with a neural processing unit of at least 40 TOPS, 16 GB of RAM, 256 GB of storage with 50 GB free, BitLocker or Device Encryption, and Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security. Most PCs sold before mid-2024 do not qualify, and neither does any Mac. It is off until you turn it on. Microsoft's Recall support page has the full list.
The version shipping today is not the one Microsoft first showed in May 2024. Security researchers found that the early preview kept its database unencrypted, and Microsoft postponed it, made it opt-in and rebuilt its security before releasing it.
Side by side
| Perfect Memory | Microsoft Recall | |
|---|---|---|
| Computers | Any PC with Windows 10 or 11, and Macs with Apple silicon (macOS 14+) | Copilot+ PCs with Windows 11 only |
| Screen history | A screenshot every 15 seconds and whenever you switch apps. The text is read on your computer | A snapshot every few seconds and whenever the active window changes. Analysed on your PC |
| Search | By the words that were on screen | By words, or by describing what you saw, including pictures |
| Meetings | Detects Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Webex, Slack and WhatsApp (plus FaceTime on Mac) and transcribes them on your computer, with no bot joining the call | No audio |
| Sensitive information | Skips private and incognito browser windows and any app you exclude | Also filters passwords, national ID numbers and card numbers by default, and lets you exclude apps and websites |
| Encryption | Windows: the database, including the text, is encrypted automatically; screenshots are encrypted with AES-256 when you turn it on. Mac: screenshots are always encrypted. Details | Snapshots and the search index are always encrypted, with keys held by the TPM and used only inside a VBS enclave. Opening Recall needs Windows Hello |
| Ask Claude or ChatGPT | Yes, through an MCP connector. The search runs on your computer | No. Microsoft says Recall does not share snapshots with third parties |
| Several computers | One account covers your Macs and PCs, and Claude can search all of them at once | Each PC keeps its own history |
| Price | Free: unlimited recording, search and meeting transcripts, 10 AI prompts and 30 meeting summaries a month. Pro: $15 a month billed yearly, or $19 monthly. Pro Offline: $79 once, with your own AI. Pricing | Included in Windows 11 on a Copilot+ PC |
Where Recall is the better choice
If you already have a Copilot+ PC and only use that one computer, give Recall a fair try first. Specifically:
- Its security goes further. Recall keeps its keys in the TPM, only decrypts inside a VBS enclave, and asks for Windows Hello before it shows you anything. Perfect Memory on Windows encrypts its database automatically, but screenshots only once you turn on encryption (Settings → Privacy & Security), and its search index, which holds the text, is not encrypted. It relies on BitLocker and your Windows account for that.
- It filters sensitive text. Recall tries to leave out passwords, ID numbers and card numbers on its own. Perfect Memory does not look for them. It skips private browser windows and the apps you exclude, so exclude your password manager and banking apps on day one.
- It can find pictures. Recall uses the NPU to match a description such as “the blue chart” against what was on screen. Perfect Memory searches text.
- It is part of Windows. Nothing to install, nothing to update, and it costs nothing.
Where Perfect Memory is different
It runs on the computer you already have. Any Windows 10 or 11 PC, with no NPU requirement, and Macs with Apple silicon. If you split your week between a PC and a Mac, one account covers both.
It hears your meetings. Recall records what is on screen, not what is said. Perfect Memory notices when a Zoom, Teams, Meet, Webex, Slack or WhatsApp call starts, transcribes it on your computer, and writes a summary afterwards. Nobody else in the call sees a bot join. How meeting transcripts work.
Your assistant can use it. Add the connector to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor and ask “what did I promise in Tuesday’s 1:1?” or “find the pricing page I looked at last week”. The request is relayed to the app on your computer, the search happens there, and only the answer travels back. MCP calls are unlimited on every plan, including Free. Here is how that works.
It isn't tied to one vendor. Your history lives in Perfect Memory's own folder, and both apps export your screenshots and meetings to an ordinary folder, so you can take them with you.
Trying it
- Install Perfect Memory from the download page or the Microsoft Store.
- Exclude what you never want recorded: password managers and banking apps first. Private browser windows are skipped already.
- On Windows, turn on encryption in Settings → Privacy & Security if you want the screenshots encrypted as well as the database.
- Give it a day. Search only finds what it has seen, so the first useful search is usually the next morning.
- Connect your assistant (optional). Turn on “Enable MCP server” in the app (Windows: Settings → Advanced Settings & Statistics; Mac: Settings → AI), then add
https://proxy.perfectmemory.ai/api/mcpto Claude or ChatGPT as a custom connector and sign in with your Perfect Memory account. Step-by-step setup.