How we compare
Everyone records.
We keep it on your device.
Stonekept is the only product where the whole pipeline, capture, transcription, memory extraction, the knowledge graph, search, and chat, runs on the device you already own. No account. Your memories never leave it unless you choose. Every competitor either runs the AI in the cloud, or, if it processes on-device, stops at transcription and is not a memory system at all.
The empty quadrant
One corner the rest of the field cannot reach.
Plot every tool on two axes: where the AI actually runs, and what it produces. The top-right, on-device and a real memory system, has exactly one occupant.
On-device players (Apple, Superwhisper, Cleft) only transcribe and stop. Everyone who actually extracts, links, and lets you chat with your memories does that work in the cloud.
Not minutes. Not a transcript.
We build memory that thinks like a brain.
A recorder gives you a transcript. A meeting tool gives you minutes and action items. Stonekept reads each recording and keeps the gist the way a mind does, as typed memories linked into a graph you can search, revisit, and ask about.
Task, decision, reasoning, preference, fact. None of the recorders or meeting tools produce typed, queryable memory. That is the difference between a recording and a memory.
Line by line
The comparison, with nothing hidden.
The closest competitors by job. Marked honestly: partial where it is partial, cloud where the AI leaves your device.
| Stonekept | Plaud | Otter | Voicenotes | Omi | Apple Voice Memos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where the AI runs | On-device | Cloud | Cloud | Cloud | Cloud | Transcribe only |
| Account required to use | No account | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Zero-knowledge: the vendor cannot decrypt your stored data | Yes | At-rest only | At-rest only | At-rest only | At-rest only | Opt-in (ADP) |
| Typed memory (task, decision, fact, ...) | Yes | No | Partial | Partial | Partial | No |
| Knowledge graph of people, places, topics | Yes | No | Team, cloud | Partial | Partial | No |
| Chat with your memories on-device | Yes | Cloud | Cloud | Cloud | Cloud | No |
| Unlimited capture, never metered | Yes | 300 min free | 300 min free | Limited | 1,200 min | Yes |
| Hardware to buy | None | US$159+ | None | None | US$89+ | None |
| Works fully offline | Yes | No | No | No | Partial | Yes |
| Connect your own AI (Claude) | Yes, Pro | No | MCP | Integrations | Bring your own | No |
On "zero-knowledge": nearly every competitor encrypts data in transit and at rest. The difference is whether the vendor still holds the keys and can decrypt your stored content. Plaud, Otter, Voicenotes, and Omi all do. Voicenotes even states that true end-to-end encryption is "not feasible" for AI features. Stonekept holds no keys to your synced data.
Need meeting bots and CRM? Otter, Fireflies, and Granola win that job. Need always-on hands-free capture? A wearable wins. Stonekept is for a private, owned memory of your own life.
The thing nobody else can match
We never meter your minutes.
Every wearable and meeting tool caps your minutes, because their capture runs in their cloud and every minute costs them money. Stonekept records on your own silicon, so unlimited capture, forever, at every tier including free, costs us nothing to give you. The only thing we ever meter is how much you choose to back up.
They charge to record and process in their cloud. We charge $0 to make it, about a hundredth of a cent a month to back it up. See all 21 tools and how we got the numbers →
Billed annually. Storage is the only meter: generous backup is included, and you only ever pay to keep more audio history in the cloud. See full pricing on the home page.